If you’ve been reading us for awhile, you may have noticed that after our relaunch this year, we now have a Spirituality Section, as well as three sections dedicated to wellness, including wellness products and wellness stays. It’s an integral part of a life journey and Transformative Travel — our tagline — is as much about our internal journey as it is our external one.
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We plan to add more coverage on spirituality, which will include conferences and events, including those where science and spirituality meet, like Wisdom 2.0 and SAND, which we love, crystals, spiritual books, meditation products and best practices for mind/body balance, pundits and authors, essential oils, philosophy and SUFI intellectualism, exploring our intuitive, psychic abilities and beyond. Even, suggestions on great spiritual destinations.
Here are three books that came to me intuitively. One literally jumped off the shelf at a new age bookstore and as for the other two, we reached out to the authors because we were interested in exploring their work and reviewing their books. So yes, these fabulous spiritual reads intuitively found us.
Your Psychic Self by Melissa Alvarez
We love how organized this book is, making it a great read for both left and right brains. Melissa breaks things down into digestible sections, starting with recognizing your intuitive self and how to better understand it, with practice sessions and tips on how to deepen your internal voice.
She dives into Chakra balancing, honoring your spiritual gifts as well as how to identify your “clair” abilities. Let’s face it — all of us have some intuitive ability, some stronger than others. What’s clear to me on my own spiritual path, is that the more we hone our spiritual abilities, the stronger they get.
Melissa compares and contrasts examples of what we have all experienced in some way shape or form in our lives, such as perhaps one of the more common ones: thinking about a person and suddenly they call. Or, having a unsettling feeling about a family member and then learning they were rushed to the hospital at about the same time. Is it deja vu, a coincidence, synchronicity or simply a gut instinct? Are these premonitions and intuitions real, even if they don’t have any scientific grounding? The world of spiritual exploration goes far beyond what science can prove today, at least in a traditional lab.
Melissa guides you how to use your intuitive abilities in your day-to-day life and how to actually see signs that it’s working. By working, I mean that your intuitions grow and start to help you in your daily life. I love that she includes a guide of simple things you can practice to see how those talents of yours can actually show up and better yet, improve over time.
Other great aspects of this book include easy-to-understand explanations of lucid dreaming, extra sensory perception (ESP), precognition, general karma and overcoming fears by finding the source in a past life.
We’ll be writing about past lives soon. She also gives you tips on how to protect yourself from negative energy around you and influences in your life. (this life and your past life). Her book will teach you what you need to know in a very approachable way, and is a great read if you have always wanted to explore more of the spiritual realm but didn’t know where to begin. It’s easily accessible if you want to order a copy of this Psychic 101 gem online.
Setting Spirits Free by Diana Palm
A renowned paranormal expert, Diana Palm is a fascinating woman who helps spirits cross over, people connect with loved ones and clear out negative energy that hold people back, whether that be people or situations in their current life, a belief system held over from a past life, or unwanted spirits in their home. Yes, really.
You’ve got to be somewhat open to the notion that spirits live among us on earth to really benefit from this book. Chances are that you are if you’re reading this article, or at least are curious. Curiosity will get you pretty far if you continue to read on.
Ever feel that negative energy surrounds you more often than your neighbor or work friends? Do you sometimes wonder if its in your house, or part of some past experience you can’t quite explain? Or, perhaps connected to a past relationship?
Maybe there was a family incident in your past you’re not proud of or that haunts you. Maybe you feel that you’ve lost someone in the physical world but that they visit you more often than you’d like and it’s unsettling.
Spirits who haven’t crossed over fully into the Spiritual Realm and Healing Light, can linger and drain your energy. Diana’s incredible insights show up in her book as she recounts her own paranormal encounters, and work with what she refers to as “lost souls”, loved ones in spirit, possessed vehicles and objects, spirits in disguise and more.
She also takes a nose dive into energy vortexes and tools for spirit communication as well as tips on how to protect yourself. BTW, even if you’re not experiencing abnormalities in your life or believe that spirits are among us, it doesn’t hurt to incorporate some of her protection techniques into your life.
Whether you’re religious or not, whether your belief is in one God, Goddesses, the universe, Buddha or none of the above, I found this section beneficial. A friend who is an Atheist, brought up Saint Michael the Archangel as a great helper on his journey, and since this very same Saint was also brought up in Diana’s book, I thought I’d mention it here. In other words, you don’t have to be religious or even a believer in God in the traditional sense to have had an experience with or communicate with angels.
She includes a prayer you can use at random, whereas others who don’t believe in archangels, angels or “spiritual guides” may choose a different mantra instead of a prayer.
She also recommends wearing a personal amulet, which I’ve seen recommended in other books and articles as well. Some suggest having it blessed (Diana does too btw) whereas others suggest “clearing” its energy so it only has your positive energy and not tainted by past experiences or souls. A few people I know use white sage — I have too and find it useful.
Her book also suggests dipping the amulet in holy water or using a high-vibrational incense like Frankincense, which I’m a fan of in general. Sea salt is also known to repel dark energies and is often used as a way to clear old energy (feng shui books often bring this up) and/or as a means of protection. And of course, there are crystals — black tourmaline and smoky quartz are both great. I’m a huge fan of Judy Hall’s Crystal Bible as well as her second book which expands upon her first one. They’re fabulous and she has others as well but these two are the best place to start.
Setting Spirits Free is a great introductory book on spirits and the spirit world and easy to find and order over on Amazon. Two thumbs up!
The Awakened Psychic by Kala Ambrose
I love Kala’s writing style and will be writing about a few of her other books in the near future. Simply put, she draws you in with her comfortable and easy-to-understand overview of the spiritual world, starting with basic experiences you may have had in your life but haven’t been able to explain….at least in a way that makes sense to yourself or anyone else.
I still have a ton of sticky notes in this easy 198 page read, mainly because there are a lot of great references you can refer to on a regular basis, including tips on how to enhance your spiritual abilities.
For example, one such tip includes asking your higher self to take an active role in your dreams before bed each night. She suggests you can speak to your “higher self” or your spirit guides, depending on where you are in your journey. It’s not the first time I’ve heard about the power of keeping a dream journal, but here, she does so in a way that helps enhance knowledge you’re getting elsewhere in your life.
She goes through all of the types of spiritual abilities, and how to tell the difference between what you think might be a simple hunch and a real premonition or gut feeling that equates to something real. Like a warning. Like a decision. Like an important insight on a person. Intuitive hunches can help you make a decision about something that is directly affecting you, whether it be something more concrete like signing a contract (or not) or going on a trip at a particular time.
I love her section (including the exercises) on advancing your gut feelings to psychic ability. When we are more relaxed, we’re more able to tune into our higher self and our intuitive feelings. In other words, when we are stressed and tense, we tend to close down our psychic ability, so it’s important that we maintain a positive and serene state.
Like Melissa’s book (above), she breaks down the different types of clairvoyant “gifts”, posing questions that will help you determine which one best describes you. You’ll be surprised by what you already know about your abilities after reading this section – it’s very powerful. Kala also suggests asking for guidance from your spiritual guides and if you’ve never worked with one before or even know where to begin, there’s information and useful pointers to help you.
Her books are magical (more on her other books soon, which we’ll do in a standalone review in our Books and Spirituality sections). The Awakened Psychic is available over on Amazon and is a must buy if you’re eager to better understand your spiritual gifts or aren’t quite sure if you have any. It’s a gentle introduction to the spiritual world that doesn’t overwhelm – bravo!
BTW, we are all gifted — what comes to the surface is what we embrace. I’ll close by saying that it’s important to listen your internal voice – so much of what we need to know is already within us.
All three of these reads will expand your knowledge, make you more comfortable with the spiritual world and help guide you on your life journey.