On a recent trip to Arizona I met up with my friend Michelle for a couple of days.  She lives about 90 mins from Sedona; neither of us had ever been there, so we decided to take a day trip. 

I was curious as to how I would feel or if I would feel any of the talked about energy of the place.  I have to say that driving through the different communities along the way I did experience very strong vibrations emanating from the land.  Some of which had me physically vibrating, which was an interesting experience. I don’t know why I vibrated, I just did.

As we got close to Sedona itself, I felt a deep sense of internal and physical calm. Something that is rare outside of meditation.  It is hard to explain, except to say, norm for me is a constant state of energetic push and pull. Being clairsentient (clear feeling) can be exhausting.

This was a very interesting and restful experience for me.  In that moment of inner and outer peace, I could see myself wanting to return here just to experience that feeling again.

I also wanted to see/feel what all the fuss was about with vortexes: concentrated spirals of energy.  Sedona has several of these and people come from all over the world to experience them.  Each vortex has its own unique energy signature, or at least that is what the brochures say.  So I had to find out for myself.

We were not going to be able to get to all of them in one day, many of them require long hikes, so we chose two.  For the purpose of this story, I’m sharing my experience with the first one, the one closest to the Airport.  This one is said to represent masculine energy and lucky for us, was rated mild for hiking.

Mild if you are NOT afraid of heights and are used to climbing; neither of which described me or Michelle.  It was a hill really.  It had no clear path to the top; you had to find your own way up.  It had lots of loose rock and prickly bushes. Oh, this hill was at the top of a mountain we had driven up, so anywhere you looked was down.

We just focused on one step at a time and finding the next best place to move.  About ¾’s of the way up, there were no obvious steps left to take.  We could hear people on the top, but we could not see them.  We were shaking from the nerves of making it this far. (Did I mention that both Michelle and I are afraid of heights?) We decided to sit to try to relax and hopefully work up the courage to continue.  Of course this just gave us a clear view of DOWN.  Not my idea of relaxing.

At this point, we were discussing continuing or going back down.  I wanted to find a way up, after all, I was this far already right?  However, finding a way up was not nearly as challenging as finding a way past our fear.  We decided to wait and see how the people who were at the top made their way down.  Strategy trumps fear.

Eventually, 2 couples made their way down from the top.  I noticed they were seniors, which is not unusual. I know lots of seniors that are very active.  One couple came down towards where Michelle and I were sitting. The first thing I noticed as they were coming towards us was that the woman was wearing flip-flops. Flip-Flops!  She walked up this hill of loose rock, prickly bushes, and downward views  in flip-flops and I am sitting here shaking.  Going up was the only option left for me.

To reinforce the theme of the vortex, as they were walking by, she said to us to “do only what you are comfortable doing, don’t push yourself.” Her husband said, “you have made it this far, you have to go the rest of the way.”  Remember this vortex represented masculine energy.  Hmmm.

Michelle and I looked at each other and instantly understood the message of the vortex for us.  We were going to find our way up to the top.  We did.  We worked together one step at a time.  No going back.

When we found ourselves on the solid ground at the top, I cried.  It was an absolute moment of connection.  I cried tears of joy and elation. We had heard the message and followed its lead; we were rewarded with the knowledge and confidence of conquering our fears.

We took in the glorious view that greeted us at the top. We made it. We conquered our fears.

I reinforced two beliefs that day:

The other side of fear is unimaginable joy.

There is power in sharing the journey.

How will you challenge your inner self  today?

What will you do to reach the side of unimaginable joy?

How will you share the journey?

Technorati Tags: fear heights vortex sedona Amanda Maynard Michelle Beitzel spiritual

I received a feedback comment today saying I was too vague in an audience reading during an interview. She was right I was being vague.

Why?

I have a personal philosophy of NOT giving out personal information about people who are not present and asking for themselves. I did not make that clear at the beginning of the call.  The caller asked about a friend and the friend’s family. Once a question is asked, I am tuned in.

I am clairsentient, which means I FEEL the emotions of the person I connect to first, then I have to interpret the story of the emotion. If I was clairvoyant, I would be clear Seeing.

Also, once the emotion comes through my body I have to feel it through. I cannot just shake it off. I have to share a message, if there is one. I also want to share a message in a way that honors the person or persons involved.

This means, in public arenas, I sometimes have to say things without saying it. Hoping the person can read between the lines. Sometimes I will say that what is coming through is best not shared in front of a group.

Personally this is tough for me. I am very direct and it takes a lot more energy for me to hold back than just saying it like I see it. Something my clients and those closest to me know very well.

Most of us are used to everything being easily available on TV and the internet. People voluntarily expose all their darkest secrets for the world to see. We start to think that this is the norm.

From my personal experience, this is definitely not true. While people are becoming more open generally, most are still very selective as to who and how they expose their pain.

When I am in the role of a private Coach and/or Intuitive, people feel safe having their deepest sorrows and fears exposed. We all have deep seated pain, the only difference is the stories wrapped around the pain.

When I am doing a public workshop I am very conscious of the fact that information often comes through that the person may not want spoken in front of a group of strangers.

I am also aware that PEOPLE DO NOT EXPECT that information to come through, I have seen this time and time again over the years.

We are also desensitized to the pain of others. We are bombarded by stories of incest, rape, murder, suicide, catastrophes both real and created. We forget that the real stories are about real people with real emotions. How would you feel if it were you or your family?

Would you want your personal pain shared for the world to see without your permission?

Technorati Tags: Amanda Maynard, Medium, Psychic, Readings, Teleclass, workshop

I’ve been doing a lot of intuitive consultation and coaching sessions lately which seem to have a common thread – TRUST.

 Trusting ourselves to make the right decisions. We decide not to trust ourselves for a variety of reasons:
 

• We made a decision that seemed to turn out wrong;

• We are told early on not to listen to our instincts;

• We are afraid to make the wrong decision so we don’t make a decision.

Ultimately it is about learning to tune inward and listen to our inner guidance. This inner guidance never steers us in the “wrong” direction. It ALWAYS has our higher purpose in sight. Sometimes it may seem like it does not, however, given hindsight we can see it does.

For some, it has been so long since they even attempted to listen to that inner voice that they have no idea what it even sounds/feels like.

For others they are afraid of where it will lead them – the unknown.

Either way it can be accompanied by fear that is even physical. It certainly has been for me.

My first “Messages From The Other Side” workshop was preceded by  A LOT of internal turmoil that had me feeling intense anxiety. I was afraid of where it would take my business, what people would think about this new direction, would I lose the clients I had etc. The pressure was so intense I could feel it in my chest like a ton of bricks pressing down – crushing me.

However, I had learned from past experience that THAT fear was a good fear. It meant I was on the right track, a track my ego wanted no part of. It was not the fear of warning that shows up in my stomach that tells me there is danger. It was the fear of the unknown and stepping out into something new.

I knew what was on the other side of it would be greater than what I could imagine right then.

If you can’t learn to trust yourself, you will never pick the right people to trust outside of your self. Simply because your radar of personal values is now dictated by others. Their values, their experiences their desires.

If trust is a big issue for you and you need to start somewhere, start inside. Start by learning where your inner guidance lands in your body when it is speaking to you. Then PRACTICE.

Practice with small things:

• which route should I take home today
• which food does my body need today
• which event should I attend this month that will be to my benefit

You get the idea.

BTW my business is growing in a direction that makes me very happy, my clients were elated and I gained more clients because there was a need that needed someone to fill.

I’m glad I stepped into the fear.

Want to use this article in your Blog, ezine or website?  You can as long as you use the following blurb with it:

Amanda Maynard, The Alignment Coach and Energy Balancing Specialist, Intuitive Healer, Speaker and Trainer.  She works with individuals and groups to help them tap into their authentic core, release blocks and create new paths to a happy life.
For more information visit: http://www.amandamaynard.com

Technorati Tags: Amanda Maynard, consulations, inner guidance, intuitive, self-discovery, trust

For most if not all of my life God/Higher Power/Source/the Universe has been more than belief – it has been a knowing. As real to me as the physical body or anything else you can see, touch or feel. It is where I/we came from and where I/we will return to.

While there have been many periods of my life I have felt extreme loneliness, I never felt alone spiritually.  I understood I was here for a purpose and to learn, it was the “How?” that had eluded me.

For the most part, I always felt and saw the presence of 2 guides sometimes 3.  I understood they were with me always; ready to offer guidance when requested. Others came at various pivotal times in my life and continue to come and go.

Conversations were never like you and I talking, it was more images and signs: music playing, a line in a book, random conversations with people that related to the questions I had asked.

I think I knew instinctively from a very early age that most people did not “see” their guides once they were born.  Many children do but it is brushed off as imaginary friends or active imagination.

I feel it is important to mention that guides are just that – guides. They are here to watch over us and help when asked. They cannot interfere and they do not “direct” us to do things.

It was as I started my work as an energy healer that I really began to see and interact with the guides of others. It was working with my first pregnant client that allowed me to “see” the progress of the soul entering and guides appearing. The guides showed up shortly before birth.

We feel alone because we “leave” a place of wholeness and oneness to be “born” into a separate body, separate from all the other souls. At least that is how is seems to us. The path we take will lead us back to a feeling of wholeness or keep us locked in the illusion of separation.

The path to wholeness comes when we decide to stop living on default and live by choice. This requires us to really look at who we are and who we want to be, what is serving us and what is not. It is a journey of self-discovery. The more we allow ourselves to learn and grow the more “attractive” we become.  We stop seeing ourselves as separate but as part of a whole.

If you are reading this, you have already started your journey of self-discovery – Congratulations! Everything around you has something to teach you, pick something and ask yourself what it is.  The answers may surprise you.

Know this, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. You are never more than a thought away from every other living being, your guides or God.

Technorati Tags: alone, guides, healing, loneliness, self-discovery, spiritual

A friend dropped by to visit this week and mentioned an acquaintance that is going through a rough time.  It seems this person is starting over. She has a roof over her head but very little else. My friend did not know much about the situation other than this person’s co-workers and friends want to help in whichever way they can.   The person they want to help is someone who has always been kind and giving, a pleasure to be around.

The challenge is this person is embarrassed by her situation and is resisting the help that is being offered to her. The help she has been asking God/the Universe/Source for.  I know she has been asking because of the number of people who are lined up WAITING to help in some way.

This story really got me thinking in two directions.

First, I wanted to help. Not because I felt sorry for this person, but because I have been there. I’ve been there emotionally and physically.  In my case, people I had briefly met or had just heard of me came to offer assistance. One gave me an affordable place to live, others donated old (to them) furniture, and the ones that brought groceries to my door because THEY FELT INSPIRED to do so, brought me to tears. It brings emotion to me to this day many years later.

It was overwhelming and beautiful to be a part of, I was at a place where no resistance existed anymore.  God/the Universe/Source was responding to my pleas for help.  It wasn’t a lottery win or a big fat cheque in the mail. It was exactly what I needed.

I needed the things they were bringing, but what I needed more and didn’t realize was the restored faith in human kindness/service. I was lost and alone. I needed to know God was listening.

I vowed from that day forward, when I felt the call, I would answer.  I feel called to help this woman in some way.  She has inspired me to write this article, so it may be as simple as someone leaving a copy of it on her desk.  I don’t know who she is, but I trust.  When she reads it, I want her to know, it was a message from God in response to her prayers.

Secondly, what she can not possibly know is that her story was a message from God to me.  It is actually one of several that came over a 24 hour period.  God wanted to be sure I got the message.  I had kept asking for signs (after sign), I just wasn’t necessarily being receptive to them.

You see, I’ve been lost myself lately. Lots of changes going on and, I’ve been asking God to show me where my areas of resistance are and show me how to let them go.  Show me where all these changes are leading.

Her story was a clear reminder that all that I have asked for is right around me.

People/situations are lined up waiting for me to be receptive to receiving. Receptive to receiving is the KEY to getting what you have asked for and more. It means letting go of all the subconscious and conscious barriers we put up – not good enough; don’t deserve it; no one is listening; etc..

The answers we ask for come in many many ways. A song on the radio, a random conversation with a stranger, a passage from a book or movie, direct offers of help, there are more ways than we can conceive of.  Rarely  do they show up in the specific limited form we ask them to show up in.

So, what whisperings have you been ignoring lately?

To the stranger who inspired this article – Thank You!

Technorati Tags: Amanda Maynard, changes, feeling lost, overwhelmed, receiving, signs

1. Will I win the lottery
   or any version of this question like, “what are my lucky numbers”, “what are the winning loto numbers”, “where should I buy a ticket”.  Seriously, if he or she could answer a question like that they would have picked the numbers for themselves and not be doing readings for a living.Focus on asking questions that will allow you to live your life to the fullest
2. Is my spouse cheating?If you have to ask, chances are you already know but are unwilling to see the answer. Do a little research and ask him/her the questions you need until you are satisfied with the answers.
3. How long will I live? or When or how am I going to die?No one can give you that answer, including your doctors. Your time here is a contract between you and God. Live your life to the best of your ability.I have an uncle who was told at a very young age that he was going to die tragically at the age of 25. He is 65 now and enjoys his life fully.  However, he spent many years in dread of dying at 25.

Every psychic has varying degrees of intuitive insight. They are reading your energy as it is in this very moment. In the moment you are looking to a psychic for validation you are most often in an emotional state, which is why you are looking for answers in the first place.  As soon as your emotions change or you make a decision about anything, you have changed your energy and the direction of your life.

If a psychic ever tells you anything that feels wrong – listen to your own instincts first and foremost. There are a lot of good ones out there who only want to be of service. In that role they are there to reinforce your own guidance system and help you move forward.

These are my top 3 – what are yours?

Amanda Maynard

This site is brand new. I am preparing posts as you read.  My friends will be helping me make it look pretty over the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned for my tips of what NOT to ask a fortune teller:)

Amanda