I finally did it – the detox’ that is – and I paid a hefty price (nausea, fatigue and blinding headache) but today, I’m feeling light and airy and in my pre-sleep, meditative slumbers my visions were as pristine as new snow. The agonies of herbal tea and a vegetarian, dairy free diet (cheese, cheese, give me cheese!) had worked a little miracle – my connections are fizzing and aside from that deep, dark well inside of me that is craving a loaf of fluffy bread topped with heaps of golden butter, I’m doing rather well.

People often ask me how to connect with heaven, or how to improve their sixth sense and I always answer with the phrase, “lighten up.” After setting your intention through prayer, lightening your energy, so that you can essentially rise upward and consciously connect with your guides and angels (and ultimately God) is the way forward.

Diet of course, is one of the first recourses that we should take to lighten ourselves of our very earthy energy. The more junk food that we pour into our bodies, the more stimulants like tea and coffee that we drink, the denser we become and the harder it is to connect. In comparison, eat light, nourishing and energizing food, drink water and avoid stimulants, and notice that not only do we feel better inside, not only do we look better on the outside, but we are more aware of our intuition and that still small voice within, which has no longer been suffocated by hot dogs, pizza, chocolate, cigarettes and the like. That still, small voice can finally breathe, can finally talk, can finally be heard and that’s magical!

Lightening up also pertains to the way in which we interact with our world. Heaven is a joyful place – it’s radiant. When we experience pure joy, we experience a little bit of heaven on earth. When you’ve held your newborn in your arms, witnessed a child’s thrill on Christmas morning, walked through the dew on a summer’s morn, you have enjoyed a heavenly moment. To perpetuate these heavenly moments and to increase your connection to the divine, spend time in gratitude, allow yourself to enjoy peaceful activities, take a walk in nature and for a moment forget your worries. These activities still the outside world, and make the inside known to you. It is from the inside that you can best hear the whisper of God.

I cannot talk about ‘lightening up’ without talking about loving and ‘loving up’ the world. Since the world of Spirit or Heaven, is God’s world and since that equates to infinite, limitless love, another way to attune yourself to that energy is through love, through gentleness, through kindness, through forgiveness. Loving yourself and respecting yourself, is the first and most important step here – and self-love is neither narcissistic nor egotistical. It is the kind of love that contradicts the person who puts you down, it is the voice of reason that wants to extricate you from a bad relationship, or from drugs or from bad financial decisions. If you can take care of yourself, if you can believe in your dreams, if you can do the right thing at the right time, you know that your spirit is alive and well and thriving in this classroom we call our world. Moreover, it is our spirit that traverses the veil and can bring through conscious quality guidance that can navigate us safely along the road of life. A healthy spirit means healthy communication – and that’s key.

On the next level, living a life that is rich in love and service also raises ones’ ability to connect. A person who devotes their time and energy to others, literally grows more angelic in nature. They simply resonate with heaven. Consequently, they are more able to perceive heaven and the messages of heaven that are bequeathed to each of us, every day. It’s little wonder really, that Mother Theresa for example, had many communications with God. Mother Theresa was at base, someone who exemplified loving service and heaven at work.

Prayer, for me at least, is another method of sending love across the esoteric airwaves. When we pray for others (two legged, four legged or otherwise) we are essentially sending out love; whether that love be in the form of a prayer request or not, makes no odds. In including prayer and reverence for God in your daily practice, you lift yourself out of the material world and connect with the spiritual one – and the more we pray the greater our connection.

For me, the greatest feat of love is the ability to forgive. There are people in our world who have faced apparently unforgivable people and situations – violent, cruel, terrifying situations – and they have reached deep inside themselves to let these go and to forgive. Individually we all, at some point in our lives, have to deal with the issue of forgiveness – the parent who is cruel, the sibling who shouts, the neighbor who gossips, the boss who bullies – and in confronting that issue of forgiveness and in the struggle to achieve it, we are moving towards the light of God, and each step brings us closer and makes our connection, clearer, brighter and more palpable. Forgiveness truly lightens our load and lets us know when the voice of God speaks.

Last but not least, it’s important to affirm the world of heaven around you. Talk to God, talk to the angels, talk to your guides, talk to your loved ones and after a time, stop talking and start listening as you become increasingly aware of their voices; knowing that heaven is not a million miles up in the sky but all around us, merely vibrating at a faster speed that our earth plane, is incredibly wonderful and comforting. It forces us to acknowledge that not only are we not alone, we are never alone and the hand of God is at work - in all of our lives.

So, if you’re interested in using that special sixth sense of yours and you’re not sure how to start, try the decaf’ tomorrow – forget the doughnut - send up a prayer of thanks, tell your mother you love her and smile at the beauty of the day. Then, tell God you’re ready to listen and see what happens – you might just find yourself divinely surprised!

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