Category: Exercises

  • Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Intuition

    Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Intuition

    Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Intuition

    Intuition is a little like a muscle. The more you use it, the easier it becomes to recognize its voice.

    The problem is that most people spend years talking themselves out of their instincts. They second-guess themselves, dismiss feelings as “silly,” or ignore the quiet inner nudges that do not seem logical enough to trust.

    But intuition rarely arrives as a booming announcement.

    More often, it slips in softly. A feeling. A hesitation. A sudden certainty. A tiny inner whisper saying, “Pay attention.”

    The good news is that intuition can absolutely be strengthened through practice. You do not need special gifts, expensive tools, or complicated rituals to begin. In fact, some of the best exercises are simple enough to fit into everyday life.

    The Card Exercise

    Take a deck of playing cards or tarot cards and shuffle them well.

    Before turning over the top card, pause for a moment and try to feel what is there. Do not overthink it. Notice the first impression that comes to mind:

    • red or black
    • major or minor arcana
    • hearts or spades
    • masculine or feminine energy
    • fast or slow feeling

    Then flip the card over and see what you got right.

    This exercise is not about perfection. It is about learning the feeling of intuition before the logical mind barges in wearing muddy boots and shouting opinions.

    The “Who Is Calling?” Practice

    Before checking your phone when it rings or buzzes, stop for one second and guess who it is.

    Again, do not force it. Let the first impression rise naturally.

    Most people are surprised how often they begin getting little hits once they start paying attention.

    Bibliomancy

    This is an old divination method that is beautifully simple.

    Take a favorite spiritual book, poetry collection, Bible, folklore book, or even a beloved novel. Quiet your mind, ask a question silently, then open the book at random and place your finger somewhere on the page.

    Read the sentence or paragraph.

    Sometimes the answer is startlingly direct. Sometimes symbolic. Sometimes oddly comforting in exactly the right way.

    The Dream Notebook

    Dreams are one of the oldest roads into intuition.

    Keep a notebook beside your bed and write down anything you remember immediately upon waking, even fragments:

    • colors
    • people
    • symbols
    • emotions
    • repeating locations
    • unusual animals
    • phrases

    Over time, patterns often emerge. Certain symbols may become deeply personal to you. Water may always appear before emotional events. Roads may show up during periods of transition. Specific people may repeatedly appear as messengers or warnings.

    The act of recording dreams also signals to the subconscious that you are listening.

    The Two-Choice Exercise

    When faced with a small decision, pause before choosing.

    For example:

    • Which route should I drive?
    • Which book should I read next?
    • Which candle should I light tonight?
    • Which email should I answer first?

    Hold one option in your mind, then the other.

    Notice how each one feels in your body. Light? Heavy? Calm? Tight? Open? Resistant?

    Intuition often speaks through physical sensation before words.

    Sit in Silence for Five Minutes

    This sounds deceptively easy.

    Most people are so surrounded by noise that they rarely hear their own inner voice anymore. Phones buzz. Videos autoplay. Thoughts race constantly like raccoons fighting in a dumpster behind the mind.

    Five quiet minutes can feel strangely uncomfortable at first.

    But silence creates space for intuition to rise.

    Light a candle if you wish. Sit comfortably. Breathe slowly. Do not demand messages or visions. Simply become still enough to notice what naturally surfaces.

    Pay Attention to Repetition

    One of the strongest intuition exercises is simply observing your own life more carefully.

    Notice:

    • recurring dreams
    • repeating songs
    • certain animals appearing frequently
    • names that keep surfacing
    • strange coincidences
    • sudden emotional pulls toward places, objects, or people

    The goal is not paranoia or obsession. Not every bird is a prophecy from the universe. Sometimes a crow is simply a crow being gloriously loud and judgmental from a fence post.

    But repetition often carries meaning.

    Trust the First Whisper

    One of the biggest intuition killers is over-analysis.

    Many people receive an intuitive impression immediately, then spend the next twenty minutes arguing with themselves until the original feeling disappears under a pile of mental paperwork.

    Practice honoring the first whisper.

    Not every feeling will be correct. That is normal. Intuition develops through use, patience, and discernment over time.

    The important thing is learning to recognize the difference between genuine inner knowing and fear-driven spiraling.

    Intuition usually feels calm and clear.

    Fear usually feels loud and urgent.

    Final Thoughts

    Strengthening intuition is less about becoming “psychic” and more about rebuilding trust with yourself.

    Your inner voice has likely been speaking your entire life.

    The real practice is learning how to hear it again.

    In Service,

    Sister Bridget

    spellmaker.com

  • Signs Spirit Is Trying to Get Your Attention

    Signs Spirit Is Trying to Get Your Attention

    Have you ever had one of those strange stretches of time where the same thing keeps happening over and over again? The same song follows you from place to place. A certain name appears everywhere you look. You dream vividly about someone you have not thought about in years. A feather lands at your feet at exactly the moment you are praying for guidance.

    Most of us have experienced moments like this, even if we are hesitant to talk about them out loud.

    In many spiritual traditions, these little moments are seen as signs that spirit is trying to get your attention. Not always in some dramatic movie-style way with thunder and glowing lights, but quietly. Repeatedly. Gently tapping at the edge of your awareness until you finally stop long enough to notice.

    The truth is, spirit often speaks softly.

    Sometimes the signs are comforting. Sometimes they are warnings. Sometimes they are simply reminders that you are not alone.

    One of the most common ways spirit communicates is through repetition. If something keeps appearing again and again, pay attention. Repeating numbers, recurring symbols, hearing the same unusual phrase multiple times in one day, or constantly crossing paths with the same type of animal can all carry meaning. The important thing is not only what appears, but how it makes you feel. Spirit communication often carries a certain emotional weight to it. Something inside you pauses and says, “Wait a minute…”

    Dreams are another powerful doorway.

    Many people receive spiritual messages while sleeping because the mind is quieter and less guarded. You may dream of loved ones who have crossed over, old homes, water, roads, babies, storms, or unfamiliar places that somehow feel deeply important. Some dreams fade quickly. Others cling to you all day like cobwebs in the mind. Those lingering dreams are often the ones worth exploring more carefully.

    Animals have long been connected with spiritual symbolism as well. A hawk circling overhead during a difficult decision. A butterfly appearing after the loss of a loved one. A crow calling loudly outside your window when you have been asking for clarity. Different traditions interpret these encounters differently, but many people instinctively feel when an animal encounter carries unusual significance.

    Then there are the moments that cannot easily be explained at all.

    You think about someone moments before they call. You suddenly feel strongly urged not to take a certain road. You walk into a room and feel the energy shift immediately. A memory surfaces out of nowhere and later proves important. These experiences often arrive quietly and disappear quickly if ignored.

    Modern life trains people to dismiss their intuition constantly. We are taught to explain everything away, rush past our instincts, and second-guess ourselves at every turn. But intuition is one of the oldest spiritual languages there is.

    That does not mean every flickering lightbulb is a ghost or every coincidence is destiny. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes the smoke detector simply needs batteries. Good spiritual practice requires balance, grounding, and common sense alongside intuition.

    Still, there are moments that reach beyond coincidence.

    Usually, spirit signs become stronger when we are standing at crossroads in life. During grief. During heartbreak. During major transitions. During periods where we feel lost, lonely, exhausted, or uncertain about the future. It is almost as if the spiritual world leans closer during those vulnerable moments, trying to remind us that we are still connected to something larger than ourselves.

    The hardest part is often slowing down enough to notice.

    Spirit rarely competes with noise. It tends to arrive in stillness. In the quiet drive home. In the few minutes before sleep. In the early morning hours when the world is soft and half-awake. Sometimes the signs have been there all along, waiting for us to become calm enough to see them.

    If you feel spirit may be trying to reach you, begin simply.

    Keep a small notebook beside your bed for dreams and unusual experiences. Pay attention to repeated patterns. Spend a few moments in silence each day. Light a candle and pray in your own words. Ask sincerely for clarity, wisdom, and protection. You do not need elaborate rituals to begin strengthening your spiritual awareness. Often, openness and honesty matter far more than perfection.

    And perhaps most importantly, trust your own inner knowing.

    Deep down, most people can tell the difference between random noise and a moment that carries meaning. Spirit communication often arrives with a feeling that is difficult to describe but impossible to ignore. A hush. A pull. A sudden certainty that something important is brushing against the edges of your life.

    The world is far more mysterious than most people allow themselves to believe.

    Sometimes spirit whispers.

    Sometimes it knocks.

    And sometimes it keeps placing the same sign directly in your path until you finally stop and listen.

    In Service,

    Sister Bridget

    spellmaker.com

  • Earthing.

    Have you ever heard of “Earthing”? Up until 2 days ago, I had not. I happened to notice a link to an article as I scrolled through my Twitter feed.  Turns out, it is basically the practice of connecting with the Earth, and feeling better.  Sounds pretty simple, right? Admittedly, when time and weather permit, and I get to spend time in my back yard, sitting on the ground under my favorite tree, I do feel happier, calmer, more relaxed. And naps under said tree, well, they are the best. I got to wondering if there might be any evidence to back up the article I had read, and I did uncover some interesting reading. I tried to provide links to full text articles, so you could read for yourselves if you so desired.

    This is a link to a pdf of an introductory article on Earthing  co-authored by Dr Oschman.

    http://74.63.154.231/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/understanding_earthing.pdf The conclusions

    ”Earthing reduces every measure of stress we have used in our studies.”

    ’The most important health benefit of Earthing is providing the body with abundant electrons from the Earth. The scientific research and hypotheses related to Earthing point to a major impact on the inflammatory process as a result of this electron transfer.”

    “We do not describe Earthing as a "treatment" or a "cure" for any disease or disorder. Instead, it can be said without any equivocation that the human body evolved in contact with the Earth and needs to maintain this natural contact in order to function properly.”

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576907/ Links to a study which you can read for free on Pub Med Central that states there “were measurable decreases in cardiovascular risk factors after 2 hours of grounding.” However, for you science minded folks, the sample size for this study was 10.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15650465 “Results indicate that grounding the human body to earth ("earthing") during sleep reduces night-time levels of cortisol and resynchronizes cortisol hormone secretion more in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm profile. Changes were most apparent in females. Furthermore, subjective reporting indicates that grounding the human body to earth during sleep improves sleep and reduces pain and stress.”

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/ A pretty comprehensive review article on the subject, not terribly long and the full text is available for free. The conclusion —  “The research done to date supports the concept that grounding or Earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity.”

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21856083 “Earthing generates immediate changes in electroencephalography (EEG), surface electromyography (SEMG), and somato-sensory evoked potentials …..Earthing significantly influences on the electrical activity of the brain. “

    I think the statement that struck me most was this:

    “the human body evolved in contact with the Earth and needs to maintain this natural contact in order to function properly”

    Seems so simple and so true.  Naturally, there is a commercial element that has cropped up to help “promote” this practice. Earthing shoes, sheets, chairs, matts, etc. To me, adding more “stuff” seems to defeat the whole idea, which seems pretty simple – Go out and connect with the Earth!  

    I am glad that I clicked on that link in my Twitter feed J I think I know a little more than I did a couple days ago. And the next time I nap under my favorite tree, I will feel a little less guilty when I wake up.

    Love

    Sister Bridget

  • A Chest for Agwe!

    Agwechest 005 

    Hey, y'all!

    Check out the new pictures of the treasure chest I painted for Capitaine Agwe in my photo album!

    have a great day!

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget