Crazy Sexy Life

Alice Grist

When I started to write a book about spirituality for modern women the last thing I expected was to have my own lifestyle and personality overhaul. Though lord knows I needed it! Even the spirits, guides, angels and fairies at the bottom of my garden knew I needed it. Everybody knew I needed it, except, of course for little old me! Two years ago I was living a late twenties alcohol-fueled path of denial. I happily partied the nights away as though I were still a twenty-one-year-old freshly unleashed in the world, whilst simultaneously making it through the working weeks without losing my job or collapsing of exhaustion. However it was becoming apparent that massive self-indulgence was no longer working out to my advantage.

Once the fun truly vanished, I spiraled into utter gloominess. As far as I was concerned it was everyone and everything else that was causing my heartache and mental trauma. In my hazy opinion my boyfriend was to blame, my job was to blame, my friends were to blame, my teachers at school ten years previously were to blame…anybody but me.

Many people continue to live this way not realizing something is badly wrong. Other people scrape their way out of this ego induced misery through a stiff stint of counseling, hefty self help books, or embarking on a life changing world voyage. My route was somewhat different. Having spent my childhood surrounded by a patchwork quilt of religion and spiritual thought, I somehow ended up digging out that quilt and turning it into my very own comfort blanket. And what a difference it has made to my life. My boyfriend is now my husband, my book is published and I live a sane and stress free existence with my cats and chickens!

So how did spirituality catapult me out of the very big and dark rut I had dug myself into? First, I awoke one morning with an overwhelming urge to learn about Buddhism, and then Reiki, and then revisit my father’s pagan religion of Wicca. I continually wanted to know more and I literally embraced my own version of spirituality. I explored ancient belief systems and I took what felt right to me and experimented with it. I watched my life slowly transform from monotonous to marvelous in less than a year.

The examples of benefits for the modern woman are endless. One of my personal favorites happened close to the beginning of my journey. With the cynic in me still firmly in place I had attended a number of events and courses. I was enrolled on a nine month Spiritualism course, and it was here that I met my ‘spirit guide’. Like many people I have several guides, but my first one was exceptional! His name is Celebrielle and he is a big, white, winged horse. He was the one who helped me to believe, my prince charming so to speak (of the Equestrian nature!). He was everywhere in the months following our first meeting during a mediation session. His image turned up on the sides of lorries, on stationary, in my crystal therapists’ therapy room, on my holidays and in my handbag. It was a Cellebrielle onslaught! His presence in my life was uncanny and incredible. He was my introductory guide and he eased me into spirituality gently, almost like Sesame Street introduces a child to spelling and numbers! He showed me that spirituality will always be there for me. He introduced me to ‘signs’ by being my constant sign, showing up on a daily basis and taking my breath away. He gave softness and light to a spiritual study that had come from darkness and that eventually grew into something deeper, complex and utterly life changing!

It was from a cushy Celebrielle enhanced start that I continued my exploration of spirituality, unafraid and protected. My life took on new meaning and my previous habits, desires, vices and sadness dropped away. Through spiritual growth I quelled my lusts and desires for bigger, better material objects such as cars, handbags or sofas. I realized that weight, looks, bad hair days, fashion, and possessions did not reflect anything meaningful about me. They were accessories, and ones that could cause too much mental stress. As a result, Buddha’s teachings taught me how to live happily in my own skin and without the need to bitch and moan my way through the day. Shamanism helped me to see the bigger picture and to incorporate my innate love for nature and the environment into my spiritual beliefs. Attending a Sweatlodge was the pinnacle of this and brought nature into my very soul. Whilst Kabbalah had some darned good advice on ways to behave that minimize the darker influences of my human character. It gave me balance, a calm soul and showed me how to be a better person. Divination and healing techniques added intrigue to my life, and helped to show that there is life beyond the conventions of modern science and time as we perceive it.

Spiritual salvation has been the most incredible thing that has happened to me. Spirituality for a modern female is a tool kit of wonders and here are my top tips to get you started…

Quick Spirit Boosters

-Shut the noise off. Turn off TV’s, radios, cell phones and I-Pods and listen to the world around you. See what inspirations or intriguing thoughts come to you when you give your mind a chance to be itself.

-Try one alternative healing technique in place of your usual beauty treat. Swap a massage for reiki, or your facial for a crystal healing session.

-Read something spiritual. It need not be a religious tome or the Dead Sea scrolls. There are plenty of interesting modern day writers catering to all kinds of spiritual tastes, go with your ‘little voice’ and see what the ‘world as you don’t know it’ has to say.

-Be in nature, see nature, and appreciate nature. It’s so easy in our urban jungles to forget that nature exists or that we are guests here on this wonderful planet. Take an hour a week to prune your plants, watch the sky or sit in a field. Be in nature and breathe.

-Think positive and picture your life as you wish it to be. I do this regularly and have found that as I set my intent for the kind of life I would like, so it happens.

-Choose not to react and always live in the moment, find some space for unconditional love in your life. Above all listen to your inner voice, make her your guide.

Alice Grist is author of The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment, a practicing Intuitive Tarot Card Advisor and a Reiki Practitioner. She lives happily with her musician husband, James, their two cats and two chickens and is partial to a spot of gardening, giggles with the girls and indulgent hot baths!

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