Dear Julia:

I have a business client who has tremendous psychic ability, but she doesn't know how to purposefully access it. Her mind is a constant whirl; she doesn't know how to quiet it down. I told her the first step is getting more mental control and focus, and I suggested that she try a guided meditation. I don't know of any for her to try, however, but I figured you would! Can you recommend exercises or a guided meditation for those who have a lot of psychic ability, but have yet to learn how to access it at will?
- Stacia

Dear Stacia:

As our psychic ability is awakening, it's totally normal to lack control over it. At this stage, we may have undeniably psychic experiences, but they may seem to come to us spontaneously, through no volition of our own. While this is wonderful and amazing, we may have no idea how to purposefully tune in and use our abilities for ourselves or others when we feel the need to do so.

Your recommendation to meditate was a wise one, for meditation not only helps us develop mental focus and control, it quiets the mind so we can hear the whispers of intuition beneath all the normal mental chatter. So meditation designed to still the mind (as opposed to guided meditation) can be very powerful and helpful.

I also recommend divination tools for folks who are just awakening their psychic abilities. Working with a pendulum is simple and easy, and often yields clear-cut answers. Studying tarot or working with the I-Ching are also good ways to move into psychic territory.

Many people consider divination tools inferior to direct spirit communication because they see them as unnecessary crutches, and limiting in their scope. While I agree that we don't need divination tools to access intuitive guidance, and direct spirit communication is more personal and powerful, I see nothing wrong with using tools while we develop and refine our abilities. We have to be able to walk before we can run. Tools are sort of like yoga blocks; they can extend our psychic reach.

I strongly recommend developing personal rituals designed to alter one's state of consciousness for psychic access. These are especially powerful when we incorporate all sorts of sensory elements. You might burn sandalwood incense and play a certain New Age CD in the background as part of your own ritual, for example. Then every time you go to access your psychic senses, if you burn the same incense and play that CD, your mind will naturally slip into that same mode.

Guided meditations can be powerful elements of such rituals. When I find myself struggling to mentally connect with an email client's energy, I will walk myself through one of a few inner processes. One of my favorites involves a visualization in which I climb to the top of a lighthouse. With every step, my perspective rises. When I get to the top, I look out and around for the one I'm reading for, and I find this person below. Then I can explore what's happening in their lives from a "bird's eye" view.

It can also be helpful to vividly recall a powerful psychic experience from the past, for the neurons in our brains can't tell the difference between something that is happening now and something that is being imagined. If we are living it mentally, our brain chemistry will be the same as if it's happening right now. So we can induce new psychic awareness by vividly remembering powerful psychic experiences from the past.

Below is a guided meditation I've written that can be used whenever you're having trouble tuning in psychically.

First make sure you have at least a half an hour and are in a comfortable position in a place where you won't be disturbed. Relax and take a few moments to just focus on your breath. If you're having trouble relaxing and focusing, you might try doing some yoga first. Through yoga, you can not only deeply relax your body, but also alter your state of consciousness with nothing more than conscious breathing patterns. Do whatever you have to do to get very relaxed.

The following can be read to you very slowly by someone else, or you can read it into a tape recorder and play it back while you meditate.

You are relaxing now, feeling very centered, very calm, very clear. You can feel your weight beneath you, the air around you, your breath rising and falling.

Now turn your attention to your mental screen, to the thoughts racing this way and that in your mind. Picture them as a pile of mail on your countertop. There is a mix of junk mail and important papers here. Watch yourself pick each piece of mail up one by one and deal with it accordingly. This pile goes into the recycle bin. This one is filed away for later, when there will be plenty of time to do whatever needs to be done.

You are looking for a certain envelope, the part of your mind that holds your psychic awareness. It's going to be easy to find it, because it's big and beautiful. You know it well, for you've had it forever. You can see it in your mind, so you know what you're looking for. Visualize that big envelope in all its rich color and detail. It has lovely pictures on it. It's not like any ordinary mail. This envelope has an infinite capacity; when you open it and look inside, it's like looking into an entire Universe. Further, anything you need to know is instantly delivered to you as you ask.

Now where is it? As you sort through this mail, your countertop is getting clearer. You're feeling more and more organized. There is all this stuff here that has been waiting for your attention, and now you are dealing with it. The to-do lists go in a pile over here. The old issues that need healing go in that bin over there. There will be plenty of time to think about and deal with all these other matters. Right now, you are going to find that psychic envelope. That is all you have to do at this time.

As you move through this pile of mail, you suddenly glimpse that special color! It's the envelope you're looking for! You pick up all the other mail and you put it in a bin marked "for sorting later," and now you hold that precious psychic envelope in your hands. You know it well. It feels ancient and familiar, like an old friend. You know it is always there for you, and now it is right before you, just waiting for you to open it up.

At this point, you can just decide what you want to know, for you know that you have only to ask a clear question and then open that envelope and peek inside to be given a clear answer. The answer may be written on a piece of paper you draw out of it, or it may play out in a visual scene or symbols in the infinite space within the envelope. It may come to you as spoken words that drift out of the envelope, or it may just wash like a wave of energy from the envelope and bathe you in a sense of knowing. One way or another, when you ask, those answers come.

Take as much time as you desire asking questions and getting answers here.

When you're done, give thanks to this infinite source of guidance, and carefully place the envelope back on a shelf next to your countertop that is reserved especially for this wonderful treasure. That way, whenever you need it, you can go within and quickly and easily find it there.

Return your awareness to your breathing and to your body where it rests and to the air around you. Take a deep breath and bring your hands together and rub your palms together. Reconnect with the physical, with the here and now. You may at this point want to write down some of the answers and insights you received, or perhaps just get up and put this new guidance into action.

May your psychic senses support the fulfillment of your every desire!

- Julia

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