6 Herbal Bath Recipes for Winter Self-Care

Herbs have been used for centuries as magical tools for healing, meditating, and accessing the spirit realm. Whatever your need is, there’s definitely an herb for it!

They are said to be so powerful because they hold the energy of Mother Earth within them.

Using herbs in your bath is a great way to practice self-care, especially in the colder, cozier months. Unwinding and decompressing from the constant stimulation your senses face in the modern world is important for tuning back into yourself. Herbal baths can boost your mood and be incredibly relaxing and healing.

Science actually backs this up. A 2002 study found that a daily bath significantly improved the mood and optimism of the participants. Plus, hot baths can relieve muscle pain and improve your sleep.

Adding herbs to your bath brings this mind-body practice to the next level, positively affecting all aspects of your being, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

I recommend filling a muslin bag with your herbs (if you’ve ordered jewelry from us before the muslin bag that comes with your order works perfectly!). The measurements don’t need to be exact, but I recommend using about a ¼-⅓ cup of dried herbs. Then loop the bundle onto the faucet and let your tub fill with steaming water as it runs through the bag. When the tub fills, drop your bag into the water. Let the water cool down for 20-30 minutes as it infuses with the herbs, and climb in!

For an extra dose of self-care, light candles and burn incense or diffuse essential oils as you soak. If you can’t find all of the herbs listed in the recipes below you can substitute with essential oil, leave it out completely, or substitute with a different herb.

Scroll down to check out six herbal bath recipes for those cozy nights when it’s way too cold to go outside.

Herbal Bath to Tap into the Divine Feminine

Dried violet, yarrow, calendula, and lavender

Tapping into the feminine, lunar energy within you is all about accessing the energy of being, manifesting, and opening yourself to your truth, creativity, and compassion.These herbs help you do exactly that. Dried violet leaves stimulate creativity and draw prophetic dreams and visions. Yarrow promotes psychic opening and love. Calendula brings healing and energetic protection, and lavender soothes and calms to promote the passive energy of being.

Bonus: Calendula also soothes the skin and promotes cell repair.

Optional: Add a moonstone crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Attract Abundance

Chamomile, lemongrass, and patchouli

Chamomile relaxes you and opens you to receiving abundance (plus, it’s antioxidant-rich and soothes your skin). Lemongrass brings focus and clarity of purpose, and patchouli is a powerful herb for helping you attract and manifest your dreams. Patchouli also balances the sacral chakra, which governs emotions, sexuality, wealth, and prosperity.

Optional: Add a jade crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Promote Self-Love

Rose-hips, lavender, elecampane, and balm of gilead

Rose-hips promote healing, compassion, and self-love. Lavender balances and calms while elecampane opens the heart chakra. Balm of gilead promotes love and helps you manifest your desires.Optional: Add a rose quartz crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath for Amazing Sleep

Vetiver, chamomile, and passionflower

Vetiver’s soothing qualities create a state of tranquility. Chamomile relaxes the mind, and passionflower eases stress and calms the “monkey mind.” If you have trouble sleeping, try this bath!

Optional: Add a selenite crystal to your bath. Please note, selenite is very water-soluble! If you want to keep your selenite as-is, keep it on the edge of the tub. It’s safe to add it to your bath but may come out a little smaller ;)

Herbal Bath for Emotional Healing

Aloe, motherwort, and lemon balm

Aloe promotes inner healing and overcoming blockages, while motherwort soothes the nerves and emotions to bring rest to your mind. Lemon balm promotes healing and helps treat insomnia from heartbreak and stress (and it soothes and heals your skin while stimulating blood circulation).Optional: Add a rhodochrosite crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Tap into Intuition

Rosemary, juniper, and honeysuckle

Juniper balances the third eye chakra, the center of intuition, inner vision, wisdom, and deep perception. Honeysuckle aids confidence and sharpens intuition, and rosemary clears unwanted thoughts and negative thought patterns.

Optional: Add an amethyst or sodalite crystal to your bath.

Which bath do you need today? Take a photo of your tub while it cools and tag us at @cassieuhl!

How to Balance your Solar Plexus Chakra

Do you feel worthy of love and comfortable setting boundaries? Do you feel a sense of peace and understanding in taking action on things you can control and allowing things you have no control over to happen?

When your solar plexus, or Manipura, chakra is open and balanced, you experience a strong sense of authentic power, and use that power to make a difference in the world. You fully understand your worth and have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence.

This chakra, located right above the navel, is also where the ego lives. It is the seat of fire in the body, overseeing your emotions, motivating you to achieve your goals, and governing your self-esteem and self-discipline.

But like any other chakra, this chakra can become unbalanced.

Signs that your solar plexus chakra is unbalanced:

1. You feel powerless or like a victim.

2. You often feel anxious and insecure.

3. You either feel the need to control and manipulate everything or you let others control you.

4. You experience frequent stomach or lower back pain.

5. You feel like you have to give your power away in order to keep the peace.

6. You have addictive tendencies and tend to form co-dependent relationships.

The good news is there are many simple ways to balance the solar plexus chakra. Use one tip or combine several, and find what works for you to get you back to a place of authentic power and control.

10 Ways to Open the Solar Plexus Chakra

Get Outside

The solar plexus chakra is associated with the color yellow and the element fire, so getting outside in the sun can be a big help. Try doing one of the tips below outside, like yoga or meditation, go rock climbing, go for a hike, or simply take a walk around the neighborhood.

Drink Tea

Ginger, chamomile, and mint all work well to open this chakra.

Yoga

Poses that light a fire in the belly— aka focus on the core— are perfect for balancing Manipura. Try Boat Pose, Warrior 2, or a series of Sun Salutations to light that Agni.

Pranayama

Speaking of fire, “breath of fire” or Agni Sara pranayama can help balance the solar plexus chakra. It is similar to kappalabhati breathing, but both inhales and exhales are forceful. The idea is to contract and release the core muscles.

Start in a standing position with the knees gently bent and the hands on the knees. As you inhale, press the stomach out. As you exhale, draw it in.

Affirmations & Mantras

Affirmations and mantras are all about becoming that which you wish to see. Try these mantras for balancing this chakra:

• The bija mantra Ram.

• I am worthy.

• I rule from a place of authentic control and power.

• I love and accept myself.

• I am open and free from the need to control everything.

• I use my power for the highest good.

• I release judgment of myself and others.

Scents

Citrusy oils like grapefruit, lemon, orange, and even peppermint are great for healing the solar plexus chakra because they aid digestion, a solar plexus issue. You can also try ginger, fennel, and ylang-ylang to clear negative energy and bring in positive energy.

Burn candles or incense with these scents, diffuse essential oils, or mix these oils with a carrier oil like sesame or coconut and massage them onto the body. It can be particularly powerful to rub them on the belly, the center of this chakra.

Crystals

There are many different crystals you can use to balance the solar plexus chakra. Yellow-hued stones tend to work best since yellow is the color of this chakra. Try citrine, yellow topaz, honey calcite, amber, yellow jasper, or tiger’s eye.

Incorporate them into your yoga practice, meditate with them, create a crystal grid on the ground or on the body over the navel area, or wear them.

To create a crystal grid, choose a few stones from the list above that resonate with you, plus clear quartz. Decide on your purpose for the grid, and write that intention down. It could be something like “I reclaim my personal power” or any of the affirmations and mantras above.

Then, cleanse your crystals (learn more about crystal cleansing here) and place them in a geometric pattern on the bare skin of your navel with the clear quartz in the center to amplify the energy of your grid.

Spend at least a few moments with the crystals on your skin, meditating on your intention.

Play with Color

Wearing yellow and eating yellow foods such as corn, bananas, yellow peppers, lemons, and sunflower seeds are easy ways to work on opening this chakra throughout the day.

Meditation

Try imagining a glowing golden ball of light, a burning flame, or a bright yellow flower opening over your navel to open Manipura. Try this guided chakra balancing meditation if you feel called to.

Switch It Up

Sometimes all it takes to balance the solar plexus chakra is a little change. Try switching up your routine, releasing anger by yelling as loudly as you can (in your home alone!), or attending a laughing circle.

These activities allow you to activate your personal power, release control, introduce a little joy, and create a positive flow of energy in the body.

How to Perform a Samhain House Cleansing & Blessing

Around Samhain and Halloween is the most magical and powerful time to bless and cleanse your house. So, if you haven’t performed a house cleansing and blessing ceremony, now is the time to do it! If you’ve stumbled upon this blog during another month, don’t worry, you can still perform a purposeful house blessing and cleansing any time of the year. Just be sure to perform another one at the end of October for Samhain.

Why Cleanse & Bless for Samhain?

With winter slowly creeping in, it’s the perfect time to move out any stagnant, stale, or negative vibes before the cold sets in.

October 31st and November 1st, this year, ushers in the pagan celebration of Samhain pronounced Sow-win. Samhain is the birthplace of Halloween. Modern-day Halloween has taken a bit of a different turn with its kitschy decor. Samhain is still celebrated by many and is considered by most to be a more solemn time and reflective time, perfect for divination, cleansing, and blessing.

During Samhain, the veil between the spirit world and the physical world is at its thinnest, so it is believed that spirits and ancestors come back to visit during this time. Performing a house cleansing and blessings gives a welcome space for all of your ancestors. You want to come back and protective energy for any spirits you want to keep out.

How to Perform a House Blessing & Cleansing

This is a thorough house blessing and cleansing. Give yourself adequate time and space to fully devote yourself to this exercise. If you have a large house, you may want to chunk your house into floors or rooms to perform this spread out over a couple of days.

What You'll Need

• Cleaning supplies

• Cleansing herb of choice (frankincense, mugwort, lavender, or sagebrush make good options)

• Besom (optional)

• White candle for cleansing and a black candle for protection

• Saltwater in a spray bottle or a bowl

• Altar offerings

• Optional: protection symbols, crystals, cauldron, broom, herbs, etc.

Steps

1. Clean physically: First, you’ll want to clean your space physically. Remove things that are no longer serving you. Objects that don’t bring you joy anymore are most likely carrying old and stagnant energy that you don’t need cluttering up your energetic space. Try gifting, recycling, or finding a purposeful way to reuse these items.

2. Cleanse with smoke or incense: Use your preferred smoke cleansing tool for this step. I suggest using an herb or plant that's in alignment with your cultural heritage. If you're using something outside of your cultural heritage, like palo santo, I encourage you to ensure that it's sourced from an ethical supplier. I like to use mugwort, lavender, and frankincense.

With your cleansing smoke of choice, walk from room to room to let the smoke float through your space. As the smoke touches, each area of your house asks it to cleanse any energy that isn't aligned with your highest good or something similar.

3. Cleanse with a besom: A besom is a tool used by witches to cleanse a space's energy. You can make one yourself or purchase one around the season of Samhain (Trader Joe's always sells affordable cinnamon brooms!) For the practice of energy cleansing, you're not intended to use the broom as a physical tool, although you can if you'd like. Open a door and begin sweeping, holding your besom slightly above the floor. Visualize any negative energy not serving you being whisked out the door.

4. Cleanse and call in with candles: Using a white candle in a fireproof vessel, walk around your house, shining the light in each room. Imagine each room filling up with white. Ask the light to clear the space and bring in energy that serves your highest good. This is also a good time to call in any ancestors or loved ones who have crossed over into your space. Once you’re finished, place your candle on your stove to burn all the way through. The hearth (our modern-day stove area) is an important area of the home, which aids in transformation, so this is a great place to let your candle(s) burn as you complete your house cleansing blessing. If you'd like to call in a specific kind of energy, you can also light a candle for that as well. Black candles are ideal for this season and offer protection. 

5. Protect with salt water: Just like salt can protect your aura, it can also protect your space. Doors and windows are important areas to focus on with your saltwater because it’s where energy comes and goes in and out of your house. Spritz a bit of your saltwater in each room, focusing on windows and doors. As you do this, ask the salt to protect you and your space from unwanted energies. I like to visualize an energetic forcefield being enveloping my space during this step. 

6. Add symbolism for protection: If you’re looking for a fun and effective way to add an extra layer of protection, you can decorate with protective symbols. Runes, specifically the Algiz Rune or a protective charm bag, are potent options. Learn more about making a protective charm bag here.

7. Cleanse and consecrate tools: If you have tools you often use for rituals, this is an ideal time to cleanse them as well. You can take a few extra moments with your cleansing smoke, white candle, and saltwater to cleanse your tools. 

8. Create a welcoming altar for yourself and your ancestors: Once you’ve completed your house cleansing and blessing, prepare an altar space as a reminder and sacred container of the energy you shed and invited in. This altar will also serve as a welcome invitation to any ancestors or loved ones who have passed on. If you don’t have an altar space, you can also do this on or near your stove, which is our modern hearth. Here's a video of how I cleanse and prepare my altar for the season of Samhain.

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Place items on your altar that would attract ancestors that have passed on, like foods or drinks they liked. Light your remaining candle in the color of your choice. Adorn your altar with any crystals, jewelry, herbs, or symbols that you see fit. Here are some options:

• Crystals: Labradorite, obsidian, onyx, garnet, hematite, amethyst

• Candle Colors: Purple, black, orange, silver

• Tools: Besom (broom), cauldron, any divination tool

• Plants and Scents: Mugwort, cinnamon, clove, patchouli

• Foods: Apples, pomegranate, pumpkins, nuts, meat

• Runes: Algiz, Daggaz, Ansuz, Perthro, Othalo

• Gods and Goddesses: Lilith, Persephone, all crone Goddesses, Callieach, Cerridwen, and Hecate

9. Say a prayer or invocation: When your cleansing and blessing is complete, and your altar is set up. Grant yourself a few quiet moments at your altar to reflect on this experience. Offer a prayer to ancestors that have gone before you, an invocation to a deity that is important to you, or both.

Sleep soundly and perform your intuitive work confidently during this season, knowing that your house has been cleansed, blessed, and protected. Find meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.

Tea Leaf Reading // How to Do Your Own in 7 Steps

Looking for the perfect divination tool to get a glimpse of your future and entertain guests with for Samhain and Halloween? Tea leaf reading, or tasseography is the art of using tea leaves for divination purposes. Many cultures believe that around the end of October the veil between the physical world and the spirit world is thinned, so it’s the best time to perform divination of all kinds.

What is Tea Leaf Reading?

Doing a tea leaf reading involves you indulging in a delicious cup of tea and putting your sharp intuitive skills to work. After you enjoy your warm cup of loose leaf tea, you’ll leave the loose tea leaves at the bottom, where some of these leaves will form symbols, each having its own meaning. That’s where your keen intuitive abilities come in! Anyone can see a triangle at the bottom of a teacup, but your job is to intuit what it means for you or the person you’re reading for.

Where Did Tea Leaf Reading Come From?

You might be wondering where this unusual form of divination came from, so here’s a short history about tasseography. Shortly after tea was introduced to Europe, tea leaf reading, as it’s now recognized, was born. Similar divination tools had been used with an assortment of other materials, but tea leaves seemed to be the favorite! The art of tea leaf reading spread through Europe, especially in Gypsy cultures, and is now practiced throughout the world.

What You Need for a Tea Leaf Reading

• Tea cup with a wide brim that’s light enough to easily see your tea leaves. There are a variety of specialty tea leaf reading cups available, they are beautiful but unnecessary. I created mine at a local pottery painting studio. Keep it simple, buy your own, or get crafty with it, any option will work!

• Saucer

• Loose-leaf green or black tea, preferably organic.

• Napkins

• Pen and paper

• Water

• Enough time to savor a cup of tea and get lost in the maze of tea leaf symbols!

How to Perform a Tea Leaf Reading

1. Brew Your Tea

Gather all of your materials. Boil your water. Place about a teaspoon of loose tea in your cup. Pour your water in and steep tea to your preference.For the next 3 steps, if you’re doing a reading for someone else, have them do the following steps.

2. Sip & Swirl

Before you take your first sip, gently swirl the tea counterclockwise three times. Sip and enjoy your tea, but don’t drink it all! When there’s about 1 tablespoon of tea left in your cup, swirl it again 3 times counterclockwise and think about or speak your query aloud.

3. Create Your Tea Reading Canvas

Turn your cup upside down onto your saucer to remove the remaining water, allow it a minute or so to drain, then turn it back upright, and you’re ready for reading!

4. Look for Symbols

Look over your loose leaf tea pieces and see if any symbols or shapes jump out to you immediately. Don’t fret if you don’t see anything immediately, similar to scrying with a crystal ball, it can take some time for imagery to form for you. Try looking at the inside of the cup from different directions to see shapes. Keep in mind the images formed are formed from tea leaves, so you will really need to use your imagination!

5. Record & Decipher Your Findings

If you do start to see some shapes, begin writing them down on your piece of paper so you can decipher them later, note wherein the cup they are too. Now you’re ready to decipher your findings! Here’s a guide for the most common symbols found during tea leaf readings:

6. Understand the Timeline

Where your tea leaves are situated in your cup relate to when they will happen. This is why some of the tea leaf reading cups you find have circles inside of them. Timing is broken into thirds as follows:

• Bottom third: farthest away from happening, think 3-5 years out.

• Middle third: will happen in about a year from now.

• Top third: will be happening in the near future, think within the next few weeks.

7. Form Your Reading

Like most divination tools, a honed intuition is key for success, so be sure to lean on any gut instincts as you form the story for your reading. Once you understand the meaning behind the symbols it’s time to put all of the information into a story that makes sense for you or the person you’re doing a reading for.

This divination tool is so much fun to do with friends and family! Setting in on a fall evening with some loved ones and sip, laugh, enjoy, and maybe get a little glimpse at what’s to come.

Transitioning into the Darker Half of the Year with Yoga, Oils & Crystals

Since you started going to school at age 3 or 4, fall has always been a time of transition.

The transitions have changed over the years as you’ve changed. You’re no longer starting a new year of school, but the transitions have gotten bigger and, oftentimes, scarier.

A new apartment, a new job, a new partner, a new city, a plane ticket.

These tools and grounding yoga poses will remind you that no matter what’s going on in your life as we transition into the darker half of the year, you are exactly where you are supposed to be. You have roots. You are safe. You can withstand any storm.

Grounding

Grounding has two purposes. The first is to heal trauma, both physical and emotional, to allow you to release fear. The second purpose is to bring earthy energy into the system. For signs that you’re not grounded and how to fix that, check out this past blog post here.

These herbs, teas, oils, and yoga practice will serve both purposes. They will work to balance and cleanse the root chakra, which keeps us grounded and linked to the earth. When we lack sufficient root chakra energy we may feel ungrounded, question our value, feel scattered, or feel disconnected with ourselves and the Earth.

You can dive right into these poses, or you can incorporate grounding crystals, herbs, and oils into your practice. If you’re really feeling flighty, anxious, afraid, or scattered, I recommend taking extra time for yourself here for a full grounding practice.

Drink an Herbal Tea

Valerian, Lotus root, Hibiscus, and Hawthorn are all grounding roots. Besides their healing physical benefits, these herbs are known to release stress and calm anxiety. Try a tea blend with a few of these herbs or keep it simple with just one. Here are 3 healing DIY herbal tea blend recipes for you to try.

Incorporate Oils

Scent is a powerful way to introduce more grounding energy to the system. Lavender, rose, and chamomile are soothing oils that will help you heal trauma to release fear.  Sandalwood and patchouli will increase the flow of earthy energy.

There are many different ways to use your oils. For your yoga practice, you’ll want to either dilute the oils with water and create a mist or dilute them with a carrier oil (such as olive oil or coconut oil) and massage the oil into your skin. Massaging the feet as part of your yoga can be incredibly powerful, especially with these grounding oils. Here are a few essential oil blends I love to use in rollerballs.

Set Out or Wear Your Crystals

Hematite, smoky quartz, shungite, jasper, snowflake obsidian, and prasiolite all create grounding energy.

Hematite is a highly protective stone. It helps to open your root chakra, eliminate negative energy, and create a more balanced and centered mind.

Smoky quartz is a good choice for those who find hematite to be too intense or heavy. Smoky quartz grounds and stabilizes while balancing the root chakra, but in a much more subtle and uplifting way than hematite.

Shungite is another powerful stone for balancing the root chakra, helping to bring all your negative energy and toxic thoughts to the surface to release that which does not serve you.

Jasper brings a strong Earthy energy to your practice, deepening your connection with Mother Earth.

Prasiolite is another powerful healing stone that helps you ground yourself to the energy of the Earth, remove negative energy, and replace it with positive energy.

Snowflake obsidian is a grounding and protective stone. It brings balance in the midst of chaos and helps remove negative energy as it draws emotions and toxic thought patterns to the surface. It is also conducive to entering a deep meditative state. For extra grounding, try wearing snowflake obsidian jewelry during your practice.

Roll Out Your Mat

Ancient yogis divided the life force energy, prana, into 5 energetic components known as Vayus. The apana vayu is the energy of elimination that flows downward and out. When you bring awareness and focus to this energy, it will help ground you.

We often direct too much energy upwards, spending too much time thinking and creating imbalance, stress, and lack of emotional stability and mental clarity. These yoga poses will all refocus your energy downward, back to the body and our connection to our home: Mother Earth.

Sukasana, Easy Pose

Begin your practice comfortably seated in sukasana, easy pose. Become conscious of your sit bones pressing into the mat.

Start by meditating on the root chakra bija, or seed, mantra: LAM. As you meditate, visualize the breath beginning at the base of the spine. As you inhale, the breath travels up the spine to the crown of the head, the crown chakra. As you exhale, the breath travels down to the base of the spine, grounding you and growing roots into the Earth.

You can say the mantra out loud, or simply repeat it to yourself quietly.

Virabhadrasana II, Warrior 2

Warrior 2 is an incarnation of Shiva, the destroyer. This pose will remind you of your strength and stability.

Create a firm foundation for this pose by visualizing the feet connecting to the earth. Feel the mat or ground underneath you and strengthen through the legs to send your roots into the earth. Continue to focus your energy downward with the root chakra breath, imagining now that the exhale sends the breath all the way down through the legs into the Earth.

Utkata Konasana, Goddess Pose

Goddess Pose, as the name suggests, is another pose of fierce strength. The pose represents the feminine force that birthed the Universe. The same energy inside you is the energy that created the Universe, and it is the energy that will carry you through this transition into the darker half of the year.

Allow the strength of the pose and the feminine energy it cultivates to bring you back to your center. What are your fears in this time of change? This is the time to reflect on them, and then release them.

Vrikshasana, Tree Pose

This pose improves both physical and mental balance, increases your ability to concentrate, and reminds you that you can bring peace and focus to all situations.

As you enter the pose, firmly ground down with your left foot. Press into each individual toe and through the four corners of the foot. Firm through the left leg, and feel the support of every muscle as you bend and lift the right leg to enter into the pose.

Imagine that you are a tree. You have survived rain, fire, and storms of all kinds, yet still, you stand. Picture the roots that grow from deep within the earth and wrap around your legs.

Malasana, Yogi Squat

This pose helps create strength and calms the body, mind, and spirit. As you inhale, lengthen through the spine. As you exhale, feel the energy of the breath flow down the spine from the crown of the head to the tailbone.

The apana energy this pose cultivates helps you release fear as you root down close to the Earth.

Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward Facing Dog

How much time do we spend mindlessly in a downward facing dog, letting our minds wander? This pose is often repeated during yoga classes, which makes it easy to space out and spend the pose waiting for the “next thing.”

In this sequence, I encourage you not to do this. Spread through each finger and press firmly into the palms of the hands. Straighten and strengthen through the legs to push the heels closer to the mat.

My yoga teacher actually refers to downward facing dog as a standing pose. That’s how strong your legs should be! On each inhale, visualize the roots of the earth pulling the heels closer to the ground. On each exhale, picture the white-hot energy of the breath flowing down the spine.

As you end your practice, return to sukhasana. Feel the support of the earth beneath you, closing with this mantra:

“All is well. Everything is working out for your highest good. Out of this situation, only good will come, and you are safe.” -Louise Hay

In this season, we move from light to dark together, with the support of the Earth and the support of our yoga practice.

Namaste.

Living Your Truth // 7 Ways to Connect with Your Spirit Guides

Ever wish you had a team of all-knowing and enlightened beings to help you make hard decisions and put you at ease about being on the right path? This connection is available to you right now, and I’m going to help you tap into this wealth of wisdom.

Spirit guides are referenced in cultures and spiritual practices around the world. In my practice, rooted in British shamanism, my guides are an integral part of my practice. I encourage anyone interested in learning more about their guides to explore their cultural heritage (if that information is available, otherwise trust your intuition) in addition to this post. The tips I offer here are a great starting point, but doing further research in a practice that aligns with your roots will open communication channels for you and your guides even more.

Why Your Guides Want to Help You Live Your Truth?

The singular purpose of your spirit guides is to help you live to your fullest potential while you’re visiting the “Earth school.”

Some of your guides have been with you from birth and will be with you until you transition off this plane. They’re always here for you, ready to help, and they want nothing more than for you to succeed at living your truth.

Just because you’re not aware of them doesn’t mean they’re not there, and I’m going to share some tips and tools for you to get in contact with them, but first, let’s cover what a spirit guide is.

What are Spirit Guides?

Spirit guides are spiritual beings assigned to you at different times in your life to offer guidance, protect you, and remind you why you're here. Guides are assigned to you based on your current needs. Most people usually have one or a few guides with them throughout their lives, and others come and go based on need.

Spirit guides come in ALL shapes and sizes! Your guides can present as humans, animals, energy fields, elements, aliens, or any other combination! It's helpful to keep an open mind when it comes to working with your guides. One of my favorite stories about spirit guides is from Rachel Dratch’s memoir Girl Walks into a Bar (yeah yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound woo woo, but it is and is a great read too!). In her book, Rachel shares a story about going to a retreat to find her spirit guides, and she’s shocked to find out that her spirit guide is a glowing blue dot. This is later confirmed by a psychic who was unaware of her previous experience at the retreat.

Blue dots, animals, angels, fairies, and ancestors, you name it, can be a spirit guide. So, if you get a sense that your spirit guide is something unfamiliar to this earthly plane, it doesn’t mean that you’re losing touch with reality.

How to Connect with Your Spirit Guides

Connecting with your guides can take very little work on your part because they want to help you! They might be giving you loads of signs already, but because you’re not looking for them, you’re not seeing them. Before jumping into any of the below steps, I suggest taking 5-10 minutes to quiet your mind and ground yourself. You could do this by focusing on your breath, meditating, dancing, or chanting. Here are 7 easy ways to start connecting with your spirit guides regularly (I also created an infographic with some of them which you can find below for those who love visuals).

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1. Use Oracle or Tarot Cards

Oracle and tarot cards are a simple tool for connecting with your spirit guides! If you have a favorite oracle or tarot card deck, any will do. However, if you have multiple decks, you'll likely find that your guides have specific decks that they prefer to communicate with you through. Before you begin, tap into your intuition to see if you receive any nudges about which deck to use.

First, sit quietly, focus on your breath, and ask your spirit guides to come to you. As I share above, begin by asking your guides which deck they’d like you to pull from (if you have multiple decks). Next, focus on the question you want to ask your guides as you shuffle your cards.

Ask your spirit guides your questions aloud or in your mind, ask them for their guidance and help. Be clear about what you want. Spread out your cards and choose the card(s) that you feel called to. Always thank your guides for helping you once you’re finished.

2. Ask for Their Names

A simple but powerful tool to connect with your guides is to ask for their names.  Answers can be shared with you in various ways, depending on how you sense extra-sensory (psychic) information. You may have an inner knowing, see a name in your mind, hear a name in your mind, or begin seeing or hearing the same name throughout your day. All are valid. Trust the information you receive.

I was shocked by how quickly one of the names of my guides came to me simply by asking. Knowing the name of your guide(s) will help strengthen your bond with them, and when you need help, you can call out them by name. Keep in mind, that the names you receive may be unfamiliar to you because your guides are not always earthly beings.

3. Ask for Signs

Usually, your guides are already doing this! By asking for signs, you make a declaration that you will try to be more present and aware of receiving them.

If you’re looking for proof of your guides being nearby you, ask them for signs. Be as specific as you’d like. You might be surprised by how spot-on your guides can be! One of the signs I use to know my ancestral guides are nearby is feathers, and I always see more of them when I ask for this sign.

You can also ask for signs about decisions or struggles you’re having. If you’re making some difficult decisions, ask for signs about how you should proceed. Be on the lookout for answers that might pop into your head or opportunities that seem to arise from out of nowhere. Be open to these signs being different or unexpected than what you imagined. Your guides have your highest good in mind, even if the signs they’re sending to you seem out of place.

4. Write a Letter

If you’re struggling to connect with your guides, writing them a letter can be a powerful tool. Allow yourself 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted quiet time to write to them. Write out all of the questions you have for your guides, any struggles you’re having, and what kind of support you feel you need from them.

Once you’ve finished writing, allow yourself 5-10 minutes of quiet reflection. Check in and ask yourself how you feel, if you have any clarity around the things you need help with, or if you feel the presence of your spirit guides. You may find it helpful to place your letter next to your bed as you sleep to inspire messages from your guides while you dream, which brings me to my next suggestion.

5. Ask for a Dream or Meditation Visitation

If you’re a particularly visual person, you might want to see your spirit guides. Asking for a dream or meditation visitation can help with this and make them seem more real.

To request a dream visitation, before you go to bed, ask your guides to come to you in your dreams. To request a meditation visitation as your guides to come to you while in meditation. Journey meditations can be very beneficial for working with your guides in this way. You can find several free journey meditations online with a simple search or even find someone with a shamanic background to guide you through a journey to find your guides. Journey meditations are powerful and can be extremely transformative. Get a free Spirit Guides Meditation here.

Remember, the way that your guide asserts themselves could come through to you as an inner knowing, feeling, or visualization. Learn more about the different ways you can experience extrasensory information here.

6. Recruit the Use of a Pendulum

Pendulums are another powerful and simple tool for connecting with your guides. If you’re not familiar with pendulums, check out this post here to learn more about them and the basics of using one.

To use a pendulum to connect with your guides, start by quieting your mind, focus intently on requesting the presence of your guide(s), and then ask your question. Pendulums work best with “yes” or “no” answers, so be sure that you’re asking a question that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Write “yes” and “no” on a paper, focus on your question, and hold your pendulum over each answer and note when your pendulum starts moving. This is just one method for using a pendulum. Check out my previous post about pendulums noted above or the Pendulums in Practice Workshop here.

7. Ask Them Questions Often

Talk to your guides and ask them questions often. Always be specific in your questions. It will be easier for them to answer you. Talk to them aloud or in your mind, as if they’re a dear friend. The more comfortable you become at relying on them for their assistance, the easier it will be for you to connect with them.

Your guides are always there waiting and wanting to help you! I hope you use these tools so you can take full advantage of the help of your spirit guides.