Spiritual Tools: The Journal

June 17, 2014 / soulinteraction / 1 Comment

The journal. Some people love them, others find them deeply challenging to keep. I love keeping a journal. The journal is sacred space. It allows us a space to reflect, to come into communion with our intuition, and to catch snapshots of our lives. Life happens quickly, and having a quite place that we can gather ourselves is necessary–the journal provides this. I also tell my clients that it is important to keep a pen and paper journal. I know we live in the age of technology, but with our fancy devices comes a lot of distractions. From time to time I’ll keep quick notes, or reminders to myself of things that I should write about in my journal, but I love the tangibility of a paper journal. When we write things out longhand we are also connecting to each word that kisses the pages of our journal. When we write things out we are also inviting our bodies into this process, we are able to make mistakes, scratch things out, and we tend to not be as polished as we are on our electronic devices. You can also keep an art journal if you are more connected to the visual realm.

Another things I tell my clients is that it is not so much about journaling everyday, but it is important to carry your journal with you daily. Daily access to the journal is giving yourself permission to write when it feels right to do so. Not having it with you, or leaving it at home puts distance between the intention to write and the action. Most of us might “want” to, or might be able to remember those insights later… but we also often forget. I keep my journal at arm distance. I like to have access to it at the gym, in the grocery store, or when I’m waiting in the car. I sometimes will just open it up to a blank page and sit. The blank page is possibility. I can rest on that page, reflect and energetically fill that page with my thoughts and intentions. I find that the simple act of opening the journal is entering sacred space. Things get quite, and my focus is now on the page, which also helps me enter into stillness. Everyone will have their own ideas surround what a journal is or isn’t. These are just my thoughts, and my personal connection to the journal. Feel free to develop your personal connection to it.

What to write?!

The next big question is: What do I write in my journal?!

Anything and everything you want. For a while I would keep a separate journal for different areas of my life, and still do to a lesser extent. I find that keeping my thoughts focused in one space helps to keep me focused in one space. I write my thoughts, my ideas, my struggles, my intuitive insights, my paranormal experiences, what foods I’m eating, manifesting lists, yoga postures and sequences that I am working on, show topics, drams and interpretations, self readings, tarot card exercises and readings, research..etc. The list is truly limitless. The idea is try not to limit yourself. You can do the “Dear Journal” and write about your day, or you can just allow consciousness to flow in whatever direction it wants to go in.

After making some big life transitions I felt that I needed to come back to center. I pulled out all of my old journals and began to sift through my personal story, my journey into the spiritual. I found myself again in those pages. They gave me a chance to reflect on the reasons I started doing this work, and also allowed me to have gratitude for my evolution along the path. Journals are our record keepers, they are our friends, and they at some point will become our legacy.

Do you journal? What do you like journaling about? If you are not currently keeping a journal, what is your resistance?

You are loved. You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

Mike Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

www.facebook.com/soulintuitive

Coming into 2014 alignment

January 1, 2014 / soulinteraction / 1 Comment

We made it through another year.

2013 has brought a lot of opportunity, and also a lot of change. Stepping into the new year has brought me a chance to align with deeper parts of my own journey. This is going to be a year of exploration, growth, and movement.

One thing that I have always wanted to do, but have for one reason or another have not gone all the way is shifting to eating raw. So, this is the year I plan on going all the way with it. Making the shift gives me better connection to the foods that are entering my body, my health, and my spiritual practice. I do feel that what we eat should be part of our spiritual practice.

I’m spending more time writing poetry this year. I got away from it for a while. Poetry brings us face to face with the raw elements of our life. Poetry is alive, it moves, it lasts mere moments–but echos deeply. So, my goal is going to be to write a poem a day. I’ll post some of them here. I am also going to work a bit harder to get some of my work published. I’ve wanted to do a chapbook for sometime, and now is the perfect year to make that a reality. So, stay tuned for that. I am also going to start attending open mics/slams again. There is something beautiful and sacred about sharing your work in the public space.

I am spending more time with sacred texts, writing my own commentaries, and will be posting some of that here as to open deeper dialogue. Too often we trust only the templates of others. It is important for us to explore our personal relationship with spirituality. 2013 was a year of exploration for me. I had the opportunity to dive into the study of paganism and witchcraft. I learned a lot about myself, got to attend and meet some wonderful teachers, and saw how the dynamics of magick play a role in the ever-changing landscape of life, but as with all things that change, those are no longer my avenues of study. I still practice personal forms of ritual, but I am moving those to the deeply personal, and no longer engaging the public sphere in that way. I closed up the Yogawitch.com blog site, but will leave it up as an archive of my journey into intersecting Magick and Yoga practice.

2014 is going to be my year of placing spirituality in action. I am diving deeper into soul specific work, working with intuition, and going back to my core spiritual work. Journaling daily helps to connect to my soul journey. My core practice has always been rooted in Christianity and the Eastern traditions. I have a wonderful bible journal that I use to do study, soul dialogue, and daily tune ins. Each day I take a moment to dialogue with my soul. Intuition always has a lot to say if we pause and listen deeply. The next step is capturing this dialogue, referring back to it, and trusting what is coming through.

I am going to start blogging with greater frequency. Last night at the New Years Eve Psychic Fair at Sacred Circle Books, I kept hearing that I need to finish my book (from other psychics, and a few of my clients). I am going to bring that through this year as well.

Diving deeper into my yoga practice (both professional and personal) is also on my list. I am going to be posting flow videos, technique study, and taking yoga on the road (big project in the works, stay tuned).

Travel is also on my agenda this year. I plan to take my life to the road a bit, to do a spiritual adventure of sorts. I am looking for places to visit, people to engage, and communities to share space with (place your suggestions below, or send them to me via email soulinteraction@gmail.com)

So, this is going to be a very engaging year. This is the year of action, but also closure. My mantra is: I am READY.

What are you shifting into this year?

You are loved. You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

The Spiritual Journal

January 18, 2013January 18, 2013 / soulinteraction / 1 Comment

I’ve done a few posts on journaling, but I really don’t think it is something that can be overstated… journal are one of the most powerful spiritual tools that we have access to. Journals are places we can catch our thoughts, our moments of gratitude, our struggles, our fears, and whatever else our soul desires. Journaling allows us to engage in self-reflection. There really are not any rules or right/wrong ways to journal, but I would propose on rule- Don’t hold back!

There are times we begin to go beneath the surface. We scratch through one layer of our life experience and then we go a bit deeper, then we become afraid of what we will find when we go all the way through… We become trapped in that middle layer, and that creates stagnation. We have to push deeper, and this can be a lonely process for many of us. Journals are companions that we can access without judgement. We can dive deeper into our psyche and it holds our memories in spaces that allow us to access when we are ready. Diving below the surface of our lives allows us to gain insight.

Many newbie spiritual practitioners always ask me how to hone their psychic skills… Journal your spiritual experiences Too often we have profound moments and we forget to capture them. When we take the time to journal the experience we can go back to it, learn from it, and evolve it. Write down the readings that you are doing for yourself, write down the insights gained in that meditation you just completed, and capture inspirations as they occur to you through the day. Magickal practitioners often create a “Book of Shadows” to capture their spellwork, lessons, and thing relating to their spiritual path work. Many in the new age community could really learn from this. I would encourage everyone to keep an ongoing psychic journal, dream journal and life experience journal. Do a google search for “keeping a book of shadows“, and read up.. add what works, leave what doesn’t.

There are a lot of people who prefer to use electronic journal (online, voice recorder, laptop, etc), but I prefer good ol’ pen and paper. There is something about putting pen to paper. It slows us down, it allows us to be a bit more tangible with our journaling. I also carry a smaller journal in my back pocket for those on the go inspirations that tend to grab me in my randomness.

If you have not started a journal, I would encourage you to start today. Allow it to be a traveling companion, take it through your day. Walk with it. Capture whatever inspires you.

You are Loved. You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

Michael Brazell