Before you can begin to recognize the presence of your spirit guides, you must first take note of your own beautiful spirit. Learning to see yourself in this way may be a brand-new concept, but it’s the truth of who you are - who we all are.
While growing up, my mother often referred to us as spirits, and we did the same to her. She’d often ask, ‘What does your spirit want?’ or ‘What does your spirit say?’ in casual conversation. Knowing that I was one of them made it much easier to connect with spirits who could help me, both on this and other planes.
Your spirit has its own presence - a unique vibration that’s totally distinct from your personality (which, to a large degree, is formed as a defensive shield around your spirit). The best way to connect with your own spirit is to start recognizing what makes you come alive.
Begin by exploring what your unique spirit is really like. How would you describe the eternal, fiery life force called you: Is it gentle, passionate, commanding, tentative, creative, shy, or playful? Where in your life do you feel the most competent? What lifts and inspires your soul?
Next, begin noticing what feeds your spirit. That is, what experiences, activities and energies give you strength and fortify and nourish you at your core, leaving you feeling satisfied, content with life, and comfortable in your own skin? What delights and surprises you; draws you into life, helping you to embrace it head-on; and brings you to peace within yourself?
Take notice of what fortifies and feeds your own unique spirit, paying special attention to how sensitive and aware you are of it. Do you nurture it with the experiences it needs in order to thrive?
Psychic anorexia
I’m reminded of a reading I once did for a woman named Valerie who suffered from severe depression, fatigue, and, in my opinion, extreme spiritual boredom. Consequently, she was unable to get through a single day without collapsing half way through from exhaustion. Not knowing what mysterious illness caused such a loss of power, she visited every doctor, healer and psychic in sight for answers, and was tested for everything from hypothyroidism, Lyme disease, and mould and metal poisoning, to the Epstein-Barr virus - with nothing but negative results and no concrete answers.
Feeling desperate, she called me. I immediately identified her problem: She had a severe case of what I call ‘psychic anorexia,’ or starvation of the spirit. Her guides showed me that she was an artist and musician at her core, a spirit who loved making beautiful music and creating enchanting gardens. She was a contemplative person whose soul thrived on periods of quiet meditation and prayer. Her spirit was gentle and needed the company of animals, the beauty of flowers, and the calm of a low-key, consistent life in nature.
Valerie had experienced all of this in a small Wisconsin town years earlier, and she had been very healthy and happy until she married her high-school sweetheart, who worked as an airline mechanic and ambitiously applied for new jobs on a regular basis. Since marrying this man, Valerie had moved six times in five years, mostly to large cities where they shared small apartments with strangers because they couldn’t afford to rent a place of their own. His spirit loved the adventure and excitement, but hers was shell-shocked and dying.
Because of her loyalty to her husband, my client lost her connection to herself, and her energy gave out completely. Her guides said that she needed to get back to the quiet, natural life and leave all the abrupt and sudden changes to which she had been subject - that’s what it would take to revive her spirit and heal her body.
‘Do you mean I should divorce him?’ she asked after I told her all this. Not wanting to make that decision, I replied, ‘All I’m saying is that you should become more aware of what feeds your soul and then do whatever you need to do to get better.’
The solution
A funny thing about your spirit is that when you become sensitive to it and choose to pay attention, everything in you becomes calm and clear. Valerie heard me, agreed, and listened to her spirit for the first time in years. She moved away from her husband, back to quiet, natural surroundings where she could have animals, walk in nature, relax alone, and practise playing the piano. Her husband didn’t divorce her - instead, he worked ten-day stretches in New York, then came back to Wisconsin for four or five days, then left again. Because she loved being alone and he loved adventure, the arrangement worked beautifully. Gradually she recovered her strength as she recovered her spirit, proving that the guides were correct in directing her back to what nurtured her.
When asked, many of my clients admit that they have very few moments that feed and nurture their spirit, and that they just push through life with a sense of duty and responsibility. They feel more like they’re enduring life rather than living it - and forget about enjoying it!
If you find yourself feeling this way, know that you’ve also become hardened and insensitive to your spirit and, consequently, cut off from the spirit world and all its gifts.
In our puritanical culture, where people are encouraged from childhood to put others ahead of themselves and to call any personal interest or care ‘selfish’, it’s easy to understand how this type of deadening occurs. Until you reverse this debilitating thinking, your spirit will suffer, and you’ll shut out the guidance of the spirit world. So learn to allow your heart - the seat of your spirit - to speak freely and uncensored. Then it will direct you to exactly what nurtures and feeds you.
From Ask Your Guides, © 2006 by Sonia Choquette, published by Hay House.
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