If lock-down hasn’t made you aware of your less attractive habits, I don’t know what will. I have discovered so much about myself, and recent clients have come to me after realising that their relationship with food, exercise, appearance and all manner of other things is not what they would like. Most notable, has been just how many people struggle with their relationship with alcohol. Currently in the UK, a whopping eighty four percent of men, and forty three percent of women want to drink less...and more than 5.5million people gave up alcohol for dry January in 2019...if booze is so great, why don’t these numbers reflect that?
Alcohol addiction is real; you don’t have to be a morning drinker, or even a daily drinker, to suffer alcohol abuse. In fact, like all addictions (or ‘unhealthy relationships’ which is a far more accurate term for the ‘need’ you might experience) – it is the way in which you think about it which determines if it is a problem. If you obsess about alcohol, it may look like this:

• Scanning friends and families fridges for booze upon arrival at their houses when visiting
• Checking if your mates are ready for the next drink at a pub, dread upon hearing last orders, or ‘stocking up’ by getting 2 drinks at a time, irritation at long waits or queues (not likely at the moment, but if you have experienced this you’ll know what I mean!)
• Panic when you realise you’ve just poured your last glass of wine
• Shame at late night visits to the off licence or supermarket
• Black Outs (that is, waking up on your sofa, in a strange place, or having memory patches whereby there are swathes of time that you cannot recollect)
• Discovering you have offended or upset someone but don’t know how
• Anger or irrational feelings when someone is drinking and for whatever reason, you cannot
• Annoyance at sober people, people who seem to be able to moderate, and those who just aren’t bothered about drinking
• Testing yourself, either by having ‘days off’ drinking, or even weeks off, in order to feel you are in control (if you’re in control, why would you need to do this??)

Basically, when something external (in this case, alcohol) is dictating your mood, behaviour and feelings, it is an issue for you. You cannot be free if alcohol is in charge. Often things have to get pretty low before we feel the need to act, which is simply human nature, we are a rebellious bunch and denial is one of our favourite habits when we’re hiding behind a crutch such as booze. However, it is entirely possible to redefine your life through changing these unhealthy relationships, the very first thing you can do is to have a good hard look at what is currently making you happy, and what is making you sad, fearful or embarrassed. As always, I encourage you to write your feelings down, and to re-visit them later on. From here, you can gently and carefully take a small step toward healing and improving your happiness levels.

I saw a girl in a T-shirt that read "never be normal". Why wouldn't we want to be normal? I thought. Convention can be comforting and secure. It has it's place.

That person who is always late, never pays their way or gives thanks for gifts? They're not quirky, they're rude. It's all too easy to swing the pendulum of kookiness until it suits our needs at any given moment. But some things hold strong.

Today, certainly in the developed world, there is much talk of positive thinking and living our dreams. I too,  believe that ultimately, we may strive for happiness and live better lives for it. Some of today’s self help principles and ideas are important and valuable, many are not.

What is it to be happy, and how do we best go about enjoying our very short time here?

And there's the kicker: we aren’t here for more than a flash, and that is what makes us passionate, driven and hopeful, it is what makes us individual and unique; if we were all immortal than these qualities simply wouldn’t exist.
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We put our efforts into avoidance of pain and the seeking of pleasure, rightly so. But often we have created stories for ourselves that mean our efforts are misguided. Take the extremist of examples, people who have killed, injured and abused others – these people, just like you and I, have created a story whereby this seems like the right thing to do in order to avoid pain/gain pleasure – whilst that may be hard to empathise with, we can all relate to an overtired mum shouting at her child in the supermarket, or a couples’ highly inflamed argument about something completely petty, like leaving the toilet seat up...we create stories whereby things become ‘intolerable’ in our minds, and we react in a deeply pained and upsetting way.

The most liberating and joy giving principle I can give you is to focus your thoughts, and actions, upon that which is within your control. Your experience of the world has nothing to do with what happens TO you, but everything to do with how you respond to it. Your partner is rude to you, or someone pushes in front of you, you can choose to become an angry victim, allowing another’s actions to ruin your day, week, and life even.

Or you can recognise that you have no control, and indeed no business, in another’s pain. Know that it is not personal – they are not you, they are living their own lives, and you can meet them with kindness, or you can simply distance yourself from them at this point, both are perfectly fine and will ultimately save you from unnecessary dissatisfaction.

Happiness, is regaining control of who we really are, know what is good for us that nurtures and makes us feel content, limiting that which doesn’t, recognising addiction and false stories that we have created, and accepting with grace that which really isn’t our business or under our control. If this feels difficult or insurmountable, talking to dear friends and asking for feedback is a really good idea, if you balk at the idea of constructive criticism, it’s probably more necessary than ever.

​If things feel truly difficult, a therapist may be required to help you pick apart and untangle the stories you may be holding on to. Gently steering ourselves away from other people’s business, false stories and judgement is an on-going process; true self-help starts here.

Social Media is turning decent folk into detached, unaware ignoramuses who no longer know how to connect with one another, amazing experiences are being missed, and the joy of living is getting overtaken by the need to share everything. Attention spans are minimal, quality is minimal, real life connection is minimal. I'm all for minimalism but they're doing it wrong.

I see the irony of writing on this subject, especially given my viewpoint. I also see the irony in the fact I first got to thinking about this following something in my Twitter feed. But, I believe I am one of few first-version-millennials who rarely have a phone or screen in sight during a normal day, and no-one in our home has their phone within easy reach after 6pm.

I experimented with social media as a business tool extensively, and quickly saw the error of my ways, and the ridiculous amount of time I was spending not doing anything that was actually contributing to me or my work, but that's just me and my own business model.

In one of those strange quirks of timing and serendipity, as I write this, news is breaking that the same may well be said for other business, it really depends what business you are in. Certainly high-street hospitality chain J D Wetherspoon are under no illusions that social media is some kind of essential marketing tool: 

"We are going against conventional wisdom that these platforms are a vital component of a successful business," said Mr Tim Martin , Chairman of J D Wetherspoon

"We were also concerned that pub managers were being side-tracked from the real job of serving customers," he said. "I don't believe that closing these accounts will affect our business whatsoever."

The chairman said that it had consulted its pub managers before making the move, and "90-to-95% felt using social media was not helping the business".

Social Media for business is a full-time, full-on occupation for many organisations, but what are they actually gaining? It is fairly simple for a small company to calculate return on investment, but many have failed to do this, and have simply jumped on a very fickle band wagon. 

I personally sit with Dr. Cal Newport (check out his TEDx Talk on quitting social media) on this subject: Social Media is entertainment, it is not a vital tool for your life or your business, but may quite contentedly drain both if you let it.
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Unless, of course, your business is social media. 

Mindfulness is a word heard everywhere at the moment, but what does it mean to be mindful, and why would you want to?

Mindfulness is focusing your attentions on the present moment; the here and now, while calmly acknowledging and accepting the feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations that arise without latching on to, or judging them.

Being mindful is a therapeutic technique can help to relieve depression, anxiety and stress. It is also proven to help attention, focus and memory. It helps us feel more in touch with ourselves, increase our confidence, and allay feelings of self doubt or ‘disconnection’. It stands to reason, therefore, that the more present we become, the better we feel.

Before you start to think that this is easier said than done, consider this: you were born mindful. Being present is innate, it is not exotic or obscure, and you already do it all the time. Concentrating on this technique, with more awareness, will make a difference to your sense of well-being.

There is a huge resource available on the subject of mindfulness, techniques, tips and meditations. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by all of the information out there, start with this simple trick:
Keep ‘pulling’ your mind into the present throughout your day.  If you struggle to do this at first, try setting an alarm on your phone to beep every hour (during waking hours only, this is meant to be good for you after all!) – When the alarm goes off, take a second to bring yourself into the here and now.

Ask yourself: what am I doing? How does it make me feel?

Don’t judge your emotions, just observe them. You may well find that within a week of doing this you have multiple insights about yourself and your lifestyle (e.g. I hate my job! I love spending time with children! I’m always snacking!!)
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If the act of mindfulness improves your quality of life, consider this:  the most present, and contented people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting tend to do two things with regularity (and almost always at the beginning of their day), they meditate, and they take exercise.  How either of these things look to you is a matter of personal preference, but fitting them in, without doubt, will pay dividends.

They're funny things, feelings...our emotions are the driver of our focus. We pick at things, turning tiny niggles into all encompassing worries. A throwaway comment from a stranger about our child becomes the source of great distress as we lie awake wondering if “doesn’t she look tired?” actually means we’re a terrible, neglectful parent.

If you want to turn a small debt into a large one, you can’t just look at your credit card bills – you need to worry about them too, fret, stay frozen and powerless whilst envisioning bailiffs and foreclosures, bankruptcy and shame. Alternatively, by the way, and I wholeheartedly suggest this; you could take stock, and make the small steps needed to start making huge change.

Fortunately, you can use emotional phenomena to encourage and enhance the nice things in life. Try feeling how you’ll feel when you’ve got what you want, and lo and behold, that’s what you’ll amplify. When you spend your energy and time feeling happy you natural draw happy to you. It’s almost as if the feelings you feel create a ‘resonance’ that attract people, things and situations that ‘resonate’ at the same frequency. This doesn’t mean that bad things never happen to happy people, but notice how happy people respond to bad things. If you don’t like the things you’ve been attracting, change how you feel. What you focus on increases, practice feeling wealthy and you will attract wealth, practice feeling happy and you will attract happy events. Whether you like the term or not, it’s Law of Attraction 101.

Like Attracts Like

Don’t underestimate the power of I am. Despite overuse, media ridicule and the misinformations that exists around affirmations- if you want to feel good more of the time, start telling yourself the good stuff and see what happens. You’ll possibly start sceptically, I encourage those with a cynical disposition to tread lightly, “I am happy”, “I am grateful” or simply “I love you” (to oneself) whilst standing at the bathroom mirror in the evening will suffice.  Notice the feelings and thoughts that come up, and then accept them for what they are. Give it 30 days before you dismiss the project as useless.
Of course, there is only NOW, and we all like what’s familiar. Whether consciously or not, we use affirmations daily, if yours are more along the lines of: I‘m so unlucky, I’m so stupid, I’m so poor...how’s that been working out for you? You might want to think about changing them, get yourself a new idea and start living happy. Want to feel happy all the time? Start by getting comfortable being happy now.

1) Please tell me what your work entails!

I am a healer, coach, mythic alchemist, energetic change catalyst.  Trained in healing, metaphysics, meditation, coaching, organisational change, shamanic practices and alchemy I often become a bridge for individuals and groups to step into their next evolutionary stage. I especially have trained and have an interest in feminine wisdom lineages that include intuitive, embodied, systemic, mythic holistic ways of engaging with ourselves and the world.   I work with individuals grappling with big changes in their life, (relationships, purpose, health, Spiritual awakening) , groups in sacred rituals and practices to connect to the cycles of sun, moon and earth and organisations looking at new ways of leading, how to increase the number of women at the top and how to create change. 

2) What lead you to your current profession?
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Since I was little spirituality had drawn me as a path of seeking truth, to really come to know what was at the heart of life.  I studied theology and philosophy, explored in depth the ideas of what is true, however this drew me ever more into knowing and experiencing for myself – the mystical path, which is what was and is, drawing me deeper into my profession.  My big leap from working in marketing was when I was living in China and I studied Reiki – it opened up a direct experience of my ability to heal, the energy of the universe flowing through my hands and I knew, we all have the capacity to be healers if we want to be, we can ‘know’ things in intuitive ways because we are connected to a universal tapestry of light that holds all this information…it was the aha moment that changed what I knew it was to be human. From then on in, I was deep in study of meditation, intuition, coaching, healing, metaphysics and when I returned to the UK a couple of years later, it became natural for me to start sharing intuitive approaches to living, how to get into synchronicity with life, how to heal ourselves and others. 

3) What did you expect to be doing as a profession?
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Great Question!  Actually I don’t think I ever had an expectation of a specific profession, but perhaps I did have a culturally derived understanding of what ‘proper work’ was, that involved sitting behind a desk, being highly efficient, logical and clever!  I think I had always managed to play the game at that, but then realised, hey – Life is so much more colourful, crazy, emotional, LOVE driven.  I want to dive into that, I want my work to dive into that and I want to work with people who want to know themselves deeply and tap into this magic of being who we truly can be…because then we reveal our true beauty and creativity and ‘profession’ becomes our art in the world, evolving all the time, creating through us. 

4) What made you keep going when things got tough or challenging? What motivated you to continue?

​My experience of challenge in my life has been to get me really focused, sensitive and aware – that both increases my sense of vulnerability, yet also increases my felt connection to a deeper source of love in my life.  When challenge arises, I get really quiet within because I hear the universe shouting through the din of everyday life.  I probably don’t understand what it is saying to me, or have a concept of what I am learning, other than: now is the time for me to get really coherent in myself,  to listen with great clarity to my intuition, to hold strong to my values and choose to be courageous.  I may not like the challenge, I may want to give up at every step, however I keep listening because I know that if I push on through with lack of sensitivity I will just replay old tapes of ‘have to try harder to be good enough’ or if I give up when something really matters I am enforcing a belief of being powerless which would prevent me creating my dreams. So I suppose I keep going because I keep listening, I keep an open dialogue with myself and the universe through my intuition 

5) What motivates you now?

To love and be loved.  To unfold layers of what love is, loving others, loving myself, loving this world, loving spirit and god/goddess. It’s hard to put into words as it’s a deeply spiritual motivation however  for me a big part of love is acting and creating in the world in a way that feels fully authentic – to express, to discover, to create and collaborate with others.  I LOVE to really ‘meet’ people, to support my clients in coming to experience their true essential self and love that self deeply.  I find great joy in seeing the beauty in others and watching as to their surprise they feel and see it too!  A big part of my work now is with women and supporting them is coming to know the Goddess within – the often hidden wisdom of the divine feminine. Which I believe is a big part of what will heal ourselves and our world and rise us up into the next level of our evolution.  (See Clare's Yin power is rising blog post for more on this)

6) What do you do for fun, which is not directly connected to your work?

Sing!  All the time, to everything, especially to my 3 month old daughter Thea, and to nature – be it the sky, flowers, trees.  It’s such a freedom and natural thing for me to do; it feels like the most beautiful conversation with life that is about celebration and understanding of life.  Thea loves it; at the moment she is encouraging me to get as high pitch as I can whilst staying in tune!

7) What ONE question would you like to know the answer to?

What is love?  A question with lifetimes of answers, I feel that perhaps all my questions come back to the route of this, kind of like a Rumi poem, the mystery opens more and more in the joy of asking the question.

8) Do you have a favourite place in the world?

I am a big traveller; it’s been a huge part of my learning and growth having visited over thirty countries and hundreds of sacred sites all over the world (as I also take people on sacred journeys around the world).  I love the world too much to have just one place, however a couple would be: Uragh stone circle in Ireland which is a divine space in nature surrounded by lakes, waterfalls and mountains, and on Sacred tour to Egypt, I had the blessing to be able to go into the Sphinx enclosure and be at her feet. Just walking up to her, I felt my heart melt – a sense of deep coming home to myself, to being loved by this amazing cosmic mother.

9) Without hesitation, describe yourself in five words:

Joyful, soft spoken, present, fulfilled.

10) What ONE piece of advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
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Love your awkwardness, sensuality and sexuality; you are radiant even when you think you’re spotty, foolish and naïve.  I love you the girl and the woman you are to become. 

Do you want to be part of the rising wave of feminine energy in 2017? Check out Clare’s In Sync with your purpose Women’s circle that happens live and online each new moon: http://www.guidetospiritualliving.com/sync-purpose-inner-circle/

For a free Meet the Spirit of the Seasons masterclass coming this month click here and Empower your Spiritual Life through Connecting to the Magical Year

1) Tell me about those titles!

I am a spiritual mentor to high-vibration women, with a program called Seeker Sisters. I am also called a Spirit Guide interpreter.
 
Inside of all these titles, I am a translator. I bring answers from people's angels and spirit guides in order to solve tough life problems. Sometimes I think of myself as Angel Google!

 
2) What lead you to your current profession? 

Since childhood I was fascinated by foreign languages, so I trained in English and French and then went on to become a Teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages. I was lucky enough to study and work abroad in a few interesting countries (Italy, Slovakia, Brazil, Bolivia) and I loved living through the veil of "thinking in another language."
 
Later I worked with an international organization called Ashoka that sent me to many more countries, as a case study writer, documenting social entrepreneurs and their programs. That was amazing! I got to see both the worst problems in the world and some of the best solutions in the world, all at once.
 
After Ashoka, I was still in the non-profit space when I went on a trip to Egypt with a group called Pioneers of Change. We were meditating in the Sinai one morning when I heard an "external locution," meaning a voice from outside myself. The voice, loud and booming, said, "NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE."
 
So that's how I started with my psychic abilities.

3) What did you expect to be doing as a profession? 

I loved writing, so I thought I might write children's books. I did write one book, called "Guided!" which is a mix of case studies about clients in my psychic practice plus a partial spiritual autobiography. 
 
4) What made you keep going when things got tough or challenging, what motivated you to continue?

One big challenge I've had is that my clients love what I do, but I've never had a romantic partner who "got" me. So I've been married twice and I've had long-term relationships, but my vocation always seems to be an issue! It's at the top of my criteria now for a new partner: do you understand and actually *like* the fact that I'm a psychic, or does it freak you out?
 
So that means I've been independent, and on my own, for a good deal of my adult life. That was tough, but it's made me stronger and more confident. I can do anything now!

5) What motivates you now? 

What motivates me is building communities around people who are drawn to lead lives that are aligned with the divine. I'm joining and forming more circles, collective work, in which we collaborate to create awesome lives together. This tends to be with women.

6) What do you do for fun, which is not directly connected to your work? 

About once every three months, I go to the cinema with a big bucket of popcorn. I always choose a stimulating, thought-provoking movie, nothing scary or gory.
 
Once a month, I'll go to a dance class, like a Five Rhythms session, and let everything go through my body.
 
I also love going on art / architecture / culture walking tours. Johannesburg is undergoing a big revival, and there are several local organizations that lead amazing tours. 

7) What ONE question would you like to know the answer to? 

What is the balance among surrender to the divine will, co-creation with the divine, and personal freedom / free will? 

8) Do you have a favourite place in the world? 

Hanoi, Vietnam, where I took myself for my birthday last year. It was the perfect mix of warm, delicious, safe, and fascinating! 

9) Without hesitation, describe yourself in five words: 

Funny, good, warm, real, and wandering. 

10) What ONE piece of advice would you give to your 18 year old self?  

Stop being such a hopeless romantic about a specific man and start saying yes to every travel opportunity being given to you!

11) Do you wish to add anything else?
I truly believe we are guided, and I wish everyone could feel the strange sense of serenity that comes with that belief. 

You can find out more about Shannon at www.ShannonWalbran.com where you'll find links to her Seeker Sisters group, a 21-day eCourse for getting your own answers through muscle testing, and upcoming radio shows, which are always free to call into.  

1)Tell me about those titles!

I would say that predominantly, I am a channel, which is when you connect to spirit, to your higher self, to source, to the earth and bring energy and information from that which you connect to. You bring this to your client, your circle, yourself; wherever it is needed. It is similar to being a psychic, apart from the fact you are bringing energy through you...I would say that being a psychic comes under the umbrella of channeling, and is one of the ways in which you can channel. Channeling runs through all of my work so all that I do involves channeling at some level. There are three main branches from this, within my work. These are:
 
Healing, which is sometimes one-to-one, but mainly through group work; through workshop, journeys (retreat style events) and ceremonies. The healing depends on what the individual needs, and what the theme of the workshop is. For example, if we’re doing a womb healing day, then we’ll work very much with the divine feminine energy, and the womb or what needs to be healed, shifted or transformed. All sorts of techniques come under channeled healing.
 
Light Work is a term that is used a lot on the spiritual scene, but to me, it is work that is done for the collective; energetic work that works with the grids of the planet, healing the planet, clearing collective consciousness; it’s work for the whole, as opposed to work for the individual. Again, the guidance I receive is channeled, and many techniques are used. Mostly this work is in groups, but occasionally I am guided to work alone, or with just one other person.
 
Shamanic Space-holding is how I describe the ceremonial work I do; I love ceremony, I find it’s been huge for my life, my guides explain ceremony best to me, I’m told “ceremony speaks to the parts of yourself that don’t speak English!” (laughing) – so really it’s about working with the subconscious on the things you’re not so aware of. I call it Shamanic ceremony because we do lots of things that derive from shamanism, such as Cacao and fire ceremonies, but it’s not traditional shamanism, it’s channeled shamanism and as such it has many different layers to it that are not considered ‘traditional’.
 
Space-holding comes into everything, which it’s why it’s at the other end of the title I think! I don’t see myself as a teacher, though sometimes my guides teach through me, but I wouldn’t say that even they see themselves as ‘teaching’, or healing or even as light workers. I think that most of what I do within all of those things, is to hold space, for people to find out what works for them, if people try stuff out, which on my personal path has been absolutely key to my own spiritual growth; find what works, let go of what doesn’t, become empowered in everything that’s learned...all I’m doing is allowing people to have their own experience, I see it as like being a midwife, I’m there  to support, to hold, to give advice and guidance...but they are the ones giving birth, you’re just holding space for them to do so. Starlight is about empowering people in their own healing, spirituality and sense of self, in order to undertake this very important work and light work that heals us, the universe, and the earth.
 
2)What lead you to your current profession?

Well, I think that, as with most people that get involved with spirituality and self-help, it’s due to coming from a place of pain and unhappiness, which is certainly true for me; I was very unhappy as a teenager and I was trying to find a way to make myself happy! So I was reading lots of self-help books, which lead to books on manifesting, and then exploring subjects that are maybe considered a bit more ‘high-energy’, like channeling, healing and things like that. But it was kind of a stepping-stone journey, so it wasn’t something that happened over-night, it gradually evolved, and still is evolving to this day; I still explore many different things when I need help with something, and the things that work are the things I tend to share.
 
3)What did you expect to be doing as a profession?

I thought that I was going to be an actress, that’s what I trained in at drama school. Actually my drama school years were some of the worst years of my life! I really wasn’t happy, I found it to be very prescriptive, the schools I was at tried to box people, to make products out of people; if you were rebellious to the process then you were given a particularly hard time by the faculty. The more free-spirited, creative side of me struggled with being in an almost military-like environment that was meant to be about creativity. (Laughs) So I wasn’t very happy! For a few years I did fringe acting and performance after that. The spirit guides say that we’re never not on our path, as in our path is our path, and it’s always being followed even when it seems not to be. As vibrations shift you hit different levels and have different experiences of your path. I’ve been an actress, a comedienne, a tour guide, and actually all of those things are the same: they’re about communication and connection, and they all taught me things that serve my path massively; there was a huge amount of meditation, breath and body work at drama school, there was voice work too and it’s all essential to the work that I do now. What I’ve learned has been invaluable to me now; comic timing, speaking, working with instincts, bringing humour into my groups when people are nervous or unsure is the best thing to do, put them at ease;  make them laugh and they will relax immediately. Tour guiding taught me how to deal with large groups; Starlight take groups on retreats and journeys, I’ve become brilliant at maneuvering large groups of people due to the walking tours I did in London...we call it herding cats! I think the ultimate version of your path will combine everything that you’ve ever loved in the perfect ‘ingredient combination’ so that you feel completely happy and fulfilled by it. Of course, it changes because we’re always growing, and so whatever I’m doing will serve my path in the future, even if it looks very different from what I’m doing now.
 
4)What made you keep going when things got tough or challenging, what motivated you to continue?

For me, it was kind of accidental. So I learned how to heal and how to channel and I was doing these things as hobbies, then one of the workshops I belonged to had its leader, Solara, move to Ibiza. She gave me her class when she moved, so it was basically handed to me. Again, it was a part time thing; I was juggling it along with acting and tour-guiding and many other things. It slowly became apparent that I preferred this thing to any other, but it took me an awfully long time to completely let the others go. In fact one of the things I cover when I’m talking about manifesting is that you have to clear out the old manifestations that you thought you had, and look at why you thought you had them; acting was never right for me, because actually I’m far better at not being dependent. Looking back, I’d often make excuses for not doing acting, whereas with this, there was nothing that was going to stop me, you know? That’s the difference. Sometimes I’d need to be in Avebury or Glastonbury for 9am, and be up at 4 in the morning and make my way on a bus, across the country! It was that realisation: when something is your path you just do it. When something is no longer your path, you create stories and make excuses. Your path is never easy though; a friend of mine was talking about motherhood and she said that it was both the best thing, and the worst thing in the world, and that is exactly how I feel about my path.
 
5)What motivates you now?

How I keep going...I have learnt that whatever life is showing me, is to help me get to the next stage, no matter how much it feels like it’s working against me at times, it is actually showing me belief systems and things that I need to clear and heal, in order to move on. So I use the experiences I have to move me forward, and it works. I can usually move through ‘obstacles’ quite quickly and easily, I’m like “OK, what’s this belief system and how do I clear it? What do I need to change in order to sort this situation, which life is reflecting at me, out?”.
 
 
6)What do you do for fun, which is not directly connected to your work?

I come from a family of workaholics, and that is actually one of those belief systems that I had to work on very hard...not to be a workaholic. I was forced into that lesson in a very hard way, in that, last winter, the universe basically blocked all of the flow of my workshops; nobody was coming to anything which had never happened before. Eventually I had a channeling with another channel, because I was in such a mess, I couldn’t get my own guidance, and she was just, like “you are having an energy upgrade; it is not safe for you to be working, for at least a few months.” Which for me was absolutely terrifying! It meant that I had to face a lot of the beliefs I held around being addicted to work, and I eventually discovered that it was deeply connected to my sense of self worth and how I needed to let that go and to give myself worth in other ways. It was hugely liberating....so anyway, I’d say ‘not working’ is quite a new thing to me!! I love people; I have an amazing array of friends and family, when I spend time with them, doing anything, whether it be having a barbecue, going for a walk, or to the theatre...that is my “oh, I’m not at work now, I’m not gonna talk about those things right now”...and actually I think that when you do very high vibration energy work, that is far away from the third dimension, as it’s very conceptual, inter-dimensional, then it’s very important not to disconnect from the third, physical dimension reality, because otherwise you’d go mad! You really need to be able to enjoy all of the amazing things within the third dimension; from enjoying lovely food to noticing how beautiful a plant is, to how amazing people are at creating – everything from shows to music, things like that.
 
7)What ONE question would you like to know the answer to?

(SIGHS)....I think that question is ever changing, and it may sound strange but I don’t feel like I have any questions at this time. I feel like, as a channel, I have such an amazing toolbox to answer pretty much anything, that there’s no question that I couldn’t find an answer to. I know that the layers of that answer will change and evolve with me, because there is no one answers to any question, but I feel I can always access the right answers for me at any given time.
 
 
8)Do you have a favourite place in the world?

Ahhh, there are so many places that I love deeply; I’m in love with the planet and travelling is a huge part of my path and life. One place I have repeatedly returned to since I first visited, and it’s a place I have visited every year since first coming, is Ibiza. My connection to that island....every time I go, it gives me something more, and every time I take groups there, we do a journey there now, it is so magical it blows my mind; we always discover more of its secrets....and it’s an absolute love affair, that island and me! Avebury, in the UK, that’s another place I keep going back to, Avebury is where my work as a channeler, light worker and space holder began, I return there every winter solstice, some times more than once, like Ibiza, it’s a power place for me; they’re soul places, they’re something more than just a place I’ve visited; they’re deeply connected to who I am, and I’m deeply connected to what they are.
 
9)Without hesitation, describe yourself in five words:

Magical, excitable, communicator, happy, and empowered.

10)What ONE piece of advice would you give to your 18 year old self?  

As confused, wild, unhappy and lost as I was at 18, I wouldn’t give her any advice. Everything she did, has lead me to where I am now, as did all of the other ages that I have been, and this truth that I have about your path always belonging to you and always being right for you...I am so grateful for... I cannot express how often the most traumatic times of my life have been of greatest service to me, and I would never want to divert 18 year old me from that path; I would tell her that she is perfect, and brilliant, though I wouldn’t have told her that at the time. I was a real wild child at 18, but those things that I did lead me to level of great compassion, I would not have that depth of understanding without those experiences, and so I will leave her just as she is.

Katy runs many online courses, group journeys and ceremonies. Based in Brighton, Starlight run experiences all over the world, for further information and access to all that they can offer, please visit 
 them HERE

There’s no getting away from it, we’re at our very best when we are vulnerable. If it’s not scaring us then it’s probably not pushing us too hard. If we’re not pushing into our edge, out of our comfort zones, then we merely exist. Living requires risk; I think the meaning of life might just be living.

Vulnerability comes from a place of difficulty, we feel vulnerable because of our past experiences, learned behaviors, and beliefs. Vulnerability comes from shame, fear, isolation and confusion. No wonder we balk at the thought of exposing it for the entire world to see. However, what happens when we do expose our soft insides like this? We connect. We become brilliant. We tap into our inner genius and we create meaningful and lasting imprints.

As a wise person (whose name escapes me) once said: Everything you could ever want is on the other side of fear. 
For anyone in any doubt of just how key vulnerability is to us and our true contentment, check out the marvelous Brené Brown’s research via her TED talk here

In fact, check it out even if you’re certain I’m right. It’s brilliant, and you’ll be one of the 3 remaining people on the planet who hasn’t if you don’t, and imagine how vulnerable that’ll make you feel.

I aim to be authentic, authenticity is one of the most wonderful benefits of vulnerability; it’s also really hard to achieve some of the time. Like, when there’s anyone else nearby....kidding. But it’s tough; it’s not something that comes naturally to most of us. We have a facade, or many facades, and exposing our truths can be testing. But almost all of what we feel, dread, and associate with our vulnerability is internalised, on the outside we appear the same, in fact, we appear pretty groovy. Authenticity is, after all, a lot easier to not fake than fakery is to fake. There’s probably a better way of saying that.

The majority of people I talk to in the course of my day come ready prepared with a degree of vulnerability, and I wanted to share some things that are easy to forget at times when our authenticity is being challenged (by ourselves more often than not). It is my belief that:

1. Everyone has a story that will break your heart
2. It’s not “easier for them”
3. No-one “got lucky”
4. “I can’t” usually means “I won’t”
5. “Should” often equals “shame” (Top Tip: replace it with “could” – give you and your inner critic a break)
6. Expectations are absolutely bonkers.

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes” - Carl Gustav Jung

It’s more than okay to be vulnerable, it’s essential. True growth begins only when we accept ourselves as we truly are - weaknesses and all. The more vulnerability you allow yourself, the more awesome your relationships will be, and not just those relationships with others, but with the world, and most importantly by far, with yourself. Thich Nhat Hanh says something like: "Being yourself is to be truly beautiful", and we all know how right that is, think how your heart melts at witnessing true vulnerability, it’s like seeing a soul shining through a body. 

We’ve all seen success. We’ve all experienced it to some degree. Success is often exponential if it is a result of mindset. There are certain human beings we think of immediately when asked “who’s successful?” – yet if you look into anyone’s life, you’ll find failure and struggle abounds. In fact, that might just be the secret to success.
To win at life, or for addressing one area, project or initiative, it might be suggested that one ticks off the following pointers along the way:

• There is a plan, or at least a core objective, vision or goal (i.e. it is tangible) and therefore satisfying (or addictive) in its execution.
• It is recognised that we are all the same; no-one is better or worse than anyone else. We are equal and every problem and struggle has been experienced by thousands of people before, and that the answer lies in our perspective, never external factors.
• That there is a genuine love for what is required, or at least it’s objective, belief, passion, and core values form the foundation of the intent.

Whether you think you can, or think you cannot....you’re right  -Henry Ford

• That there will be growth and celebration from the knowledge that comes from failure, and that failure is to be sought.
• That what is being done is authentic, raw and real. Very little is real these days, *reality* TV is even fixed. Anyway, people don’t trust perfect.
• Know that quality trumps quantity, connections and engagement should be real, and deep.
• That life is to be considered a playground...that it will be fun, and that anything held, will be held lightly.
• That actions taken will be fearless and full on. No half measures ever rocked the world.

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