Spirit Guides

For every soul, there is a guardian watching it. -- The Koran  

I have a new client who suffers from sleep apnea.  He has it very bad and must sleep with a machine. On session, when he was talking about it,  I wanted to tell him that I once suffered from it as well, but then he might ask how I cured myself of this problem, and what would I say in response?  That it was my spirit guide who cured me?  I can just imagine the repurcussions from that one.

I know I shared this little story awhile ago on my blog, but for those who don't know, in my early twenties I, too,  suffered with sleep apnea.  All I can say about it is that it is a dreadful feeling.  You awake during the night to find that your breath has stopped.  You feel as if you are dying. and I vividly remember that panic as I sat up in the bed and struggled to catch my breath; sometimes in panic I would actually fly up and out of the bed, but eventually my breath did come back, and with it, I felt a great sense of relief.  

But, then came the one night that it was different.  This time it was far worse than any of my previous episodes, and as I sat up in bed, struggling to breathe, I felt that this time something was dreadfully wrong. I felt that this time I was not going to make it.  It was then that I saw her

standing there in her flowing white gown.  She was standing in the bedroom doorway, and although I could not make out her face in the darkness, I just knew that she was beautiful.  As my eyes gazed upon her, I experienced a deep sense of serenity and somehow knew that all was going to be all right.  My breath slowly began to return, and as it did, she slowly began to fade away until there was no trace that she had ever been there.  That was my last sleep apnea episode.   Who was she, that mysterious lady in white, the spirit guide who came in the midst of the night to save my life.

Spirit guides.  Who are they?  What are they?  They are our friends and guardians, our teachers and our companions.  They know us better than we know ourselves, and they assist us throughout our lives to learn valuable life lessons. For some,  spirit guides may take the form of angels, while others appear in the form of an animal, and still others believe that they come in the form of deceased relatives or ancestors.  Our guides don't usually intervene directly in our earthly lives. When they do, perhaps in some life-saving capacity, they are sometimes called guardian angels.

Every person born on this Earth has a spirit guide, although many do not realize it, and even though we may or may not all be able to communicate directly with our individual guide, rest assured that they continue to guide and help us in some type of capacity.  It is also important for us to understand that our guides are always benevolent and helpful;  they are not to be feared or mistrusted for our spirit guide will help us, but they will never harm us. In fact, they are helping us in ways, every day,  we are not aware of, or may not be able to understand even if we were.  In fact, our guides don't usually even make themselves known to us unless we actively seek them and invite them in.Sometimes they'll appear as a white mist, a cold or warm sensation or a buzzing in your ears. It's different for everyone. You don't have to be psychic or spiritual to connect with your guides.

There are a few ways to contact spirit guide. The place you want to start is within you. Learn to meditate, or spend time in nature, being quiet.

To meditate deeply, find a quiet place and maybe have a few candles it; then pray that your spirit guide will help you to recognize him when he contacts you. To do this, you need to let go of all of the mundane, your thoughts and feelings and really listen to the source within that guides you. 

Your dreams may be a place to connect with your spirit guide. Before you go to bed ask your guide to reveal themselves. Keep a dream diary on your nightstand, and as soon as you wake up,  write down what your dreams were. If you cannot remember your dream verbatim, write down words which will act as clues.  See what patterns you can find in these symbols, frequent visitors and occurrences. These may be very revealing.  Always remember, though, that seeking your spirit guide requires patience and practice.

The wisdom of the ages teaches that each individual, whether believer or not, good or bad, old or young, sick or well, rich or poor, has a personal Guardian Angel with him or her at every moment of life's journey.- Janice T. Connell, Angel Power