This past weekend I attended the Celebrate Your Life Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the first time I attended this particular conference. The draw, for me, was an all-day workshop with spiritual medium, James Van Praagh. Although he was teaching a basic medium course, I still felt I would gain some insights into this part of my gift and perhaps discover ways to enhance it. I’ve never been officially “trained” as a medium, the ability comes naturally to me, but I don’t connect with the deceased in every reading I do, and it’s an area where I want to improve. The entire weekend turned out to have great meaning for me. In this article I’ll share the insights I gained and also comment on the speakers whose lectures I attended.
First of all, before I went to this conference my guides said this to me: “This will be the last conference you attend as a student. After this, you will teach. You’re ready, and you’ll see it at this conference.” I wasn’t so sure before I went, but by the end I understood that I am indeed ready to teach. More on that later.
On the drive to Phoenix I listened to the CD’s from the Las Vegas I Can Do It conference, which are a great way to pass the time while also learning something of value. I listened to Sonia Choquette on the way there, and Dr. Darren Weissman and Bruce Lipton, M.D. on the way back. All good stuff!
On Friday I eagerly got my seat for the all-day James Van Praagh workshop. James turned on some music and had us all dancing. It was lively and energetic and fun. In the morning, we learned about chakras and James also answered a lot of questions. What occurred to me in that moment was that I would have answered the questions in much the same way he did. This has been happening to me for the last 2 years or so. I realize that I do indeed have a lot of knowledge and I felt myself very eager to answer questions for others. While doing a chakra/body scan on the woman sitting next to me (who was to be my partner for the day), I started picking up on some of her “stuff.” I can’t help it. When I’m already in someone’s energy that closely, the clairvoyance just comes. I told her she was going through a sad break up and not to blame herself. She was shocked that I knew both of those facts, but it was very much on her mind, sort of at the forefront of her aura, and I was right up in there. I didn’t probe more deeply though.
James took us through several meditations. One was to meet our guides. My conduit guide, Bob, sat next to me the entire time I was in the workshop. I thought that was sort of odd, but he seemed to want to be present and attend.
James next took us through a psychometry exercise. We were told to give our partner something that had a lot of our energy on it. I gave my partner a ring and she accurately picked up that it belonged to my grandmother and that there was both love and sadness attached to the ring, which confused her. She didn’t know it when she read for me, but I wear my grandmother’s ring because my wedding ring was stolen. So every time I see my grandmother’s ring there’s a part of me that still feels sad that my actual wedding ring is lost forever. The item my partner gave me to hold was a small zippered case, like a makeup case. I wasn’t getting much on it though, and that really surprised me because I’m usually at least decent with psychometry. All I got from it was that she was alone when she bought it and that she kept really important items in there. She told me that this was the very first time she was using the purse (thus the lack of imprinted energy) but that indeed she was alone when she bought it and that day she had something extremely important inside it that she really didn’t want to lose.
Next James took us through a telepathy exercise. Oooh, what fun! I don’t have much experience with trying to be telepathic. My telepathic moments are usually with Steve and they come unbidden, so to do this on command seemed really neat. James thought of an object and cast the thought onto the ceiling. In my mind’s eye I saw a white rocket, with the pointy end on top and a wider base, like the space shuttle or just a white rocket. James was casting the Eiffel Tower at the group. So I definitely got the shape and probably the color but not the exact object. In the next round I saw a ball of light, and he was casting a baseball at us. Shape correct, object not. Next he cast us a red convertible car, and I didn’t actually pick up anything at all. He did a fourth object which escapes me at the moment but I didn’t get that one either. Still it was really neat.
We broke for lunch and when we returned he said we were going to work on mediumship. This was what I came for! He gave us a few techniques but I already knew the techniques from my own work as a medium, so all that was left was to try it out on my partner. When I tuned in I saw two separate people but she didn’t recognize either of them. Talk about a shock! I was so sure they were there. All I can think of is that everyone in the room was contacting dead relatives and I suppose it’s possible I was picking up on someone else’s deceased. But to say I was disappointed is an understatement. On the next round he told our partners to give us the first name only of a specific relative they wanted to hear from. She gave me the name and the floodgate of info just opened. I picked up on so much correct information. Nothing I told her was incorrect. I was flying! I could have kept right on going too, this spirit was coming in very strongly. I think having a name to tune in to was very helpful in pinpointing the specific energy in a room full of people contacting the deceased.
Then James did readings for several people in the room. The most interesting thing that happened was that while he was reading for someone else I realized the messages coming through for that person were also for me. Everything he said related to me and my family and my personal situation. And the message that came through for that other woman … “It’s time for you to teach. You’re not a student any longer.” That was my first synchronistic moment. He mentioned that, on the other side, teaching is considered one of the most honored things you can do with your life. The message hit me square in the head.
The workshop was fabulous. James has a very caring heart and spirit. His compassion came through the entire day.
The next morning Wayne Dyer was giving a presentation I’d seen before so I decided to skip it. But while I was sitting in my room I got a strong message from my guides to go get a toe reading. A toe reading? Yep, that’s what I thought. Sounds pretty hokey. But they had a group of people doing free toe readings for all conference participants and my guides were adamant that I go. I figured that with everyone else watching Wayne there might be no line, so I got off my keister and went downstairs to the vendor area.
Sure enough, no one was in line, but the two women manning the toe reading booth told me they weren’t allowed to do readings during sessions. But I just knew I had to have the toe reading so I pleaded, cajoled, and persuaded and one of the women said, “I’ll do your reading but if I get in trouble you have to bear the karma.” She said this jokingly and I agreed. I took my feet out of my shoes and placed them flat on the mat and she started the reading. What I thought would be really hokey turned into my second synchronicity. Some of what she told me was this: “You have a straight connection with the other side, but you must share the knowledge of this gift with others. You are not a student any longer, you must now teach.” Sound familiar? She told me I had tremendous presence and she could see me speaking on a stage, teaching about psychic abilities and other spiritual wisdoms. She had no idea who she was talking to, but she accurately picked up on many things in my life. She knew that I had a hard time grounding myself. And she knew that money was not an issue for me. She also told me I had a relationship with someone else who would draw me onto the stage with him. (Hmm, anyone we know come to mind?). She didn’t even know what I did for a living yet she accurately picked up on that as well. She mentioned that besides being a toe reader she was also a psychic and she was picking up on a lot of information about me. So, the toes have it. I left feeling like I had been smacked on the head with yet another message.
I went to a couple of really great sessions after that. First up was Gregg Braden. Gregg is an incredible speaker. He could have been talking about making a peanut butter sandwich and it would have been fun, captivating, and stimulating. But he was talking about the shift that’s coming in 2012, how the earth is changing, and the spiritual awakening or transformation that’s coming. If you ever get a chance to hear Gregg Braden speak, take it. I wasn’t bored for a second and sincerely could have listened to him the entire day and then some. I immediately decided I need to read all of his books. I met Gregg at the author dinner in October at the Hay House conference, but at that point I hadn’t really heard him speak. If I had known I was sitting near a god I would have spent more time picking his brain. 🙂 Sigh.
That day some other interesting things happened. There was a guy in James’ workshop from the Omega Institute and my guides told me I had to talk to him about something, but I wasn’t sure what. I kept walking past this guy but since I didn’t know what the guides wanted me to discuss with him I never stepped up to talk to him. Finally on Saturday afternoon I was headed up an escalator to go back to my room in between sessions. As soon as I got to the top of the escalator my intuition told me to turn my little self around and go back down. Why? As soon as I got to the bottom of the escalator I saw the Omega man again. I walked right up to him and introduced myself and then I just let nature take its course. At some point during our conversation I mentioned Steve, Hay House, Steve’s book, and speaking and he became very interested. By the time we were done, he had asked for my card and told me he would be in touch. I’m not sure, yet, what the Omega Institute is but perhaps I laid some foundation for something.
When I left him I ran into John Holland, so I went up to say hello and give him a hug. We chatted briefly but he was actually on his way to his own workshop and was lost so was in a bit of a hurry to find the room he was supposed to be speaking in. He figured out his map and was on his way. Just as I was getting ready to head into my own session, with James Twyman, I saw Cheryl Richardson and James Van Praagh head to the elevators. I really wanted to go introduce myself to James, thus completing my dream of actually meeting all the famous psychic mediums practicing today (John Edward, John Holland, Lisa Williams, Sylvia Browne, and Colette Baron-Reid) but my ego said, “He’s standing by the elevator. You’ve got, what, maybe 30 seconds to chat with him? Not worth it and how awkward would it be if his elevator came while you were still introducing yourself. Don’t do it. You’ll just embarrass yourself.” But my intuition said, “Go, go now.” So I walked boldly up to the duo and said hello to Cheryl, who remembered me from the Hay House dinner as well. Then I introduced myself to James who was very friendly, and we talked about whether he had any advanced medium courses I could take that would give me more of a one-on-one instruction. Somehow, their elevator just didn’t seem to want to come (thank you guides!) so I ended up chatting with them for probably 5 minutes. I finished saying what I had to say and walked off. Just then I heard the “ding” of their elevator arriving. So in the span of 15 minutes I had spoken to the Omega Institute man, John Holland, Cheryl Richardson, and James Van Praagh. And silly me was on my way upstairs to rest in between sessions. Pffft. Always go with the gut ya’ll. It was in that moment that I realized how far I’ve come, and that I am indeed ready to teach. I feel totally comfortable around people I used to idolize a few years back. And I know I’m a vibrational match for this next step.
The next day I saw John Holland, Gary Zukav, and Byron Katie. All quite enjoyable experiences. I noticed John Holland sitting in the same row as me for the panel discussion at the end of the conference, so I got a chance to say goodbye to him as well, which was a nice way to end the conference for me.
This conference was the cap on the transformational experience I had at the last I Can Do It conference. I realize that I’m ready for a one-to-many approach now. Even though I still have some fear of public speaking, I am feeling a strong desire to teach this work, and that’s a far stronger feeling than my fear. I’m going to be stepping up my speaking by doing longer speeches in my Toastmaster club and doing a workshop locally on psychic development. Please continue to let me know if you’d like to me to come to your city and do a workshop. And make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter to find out when I’m doing a workshop here in Las Vegas.
I’ll also be working on audio products over this next year as well. Stay tuned because it’s going to be a wonderful year! And hey, I just realized I’m posting this on 11-11. How appropos!
