Spirituality doesn’t have to be complicated. Practical Spirituality is about understanding your Soul, recognising the guidance around you and learning how to use that awareness in your everyday life.
In this Article:
What Is Practical Spirituality? | Listen to Your Soul | Guides & Signs | Spiritual Awakening | Soul Growth | Explore Practical Spirituality
Welcome to Practical Spirituality. This is where we take spirituality out of the “too hard to understand” basket and bring it into everyday life. Together, we’ll explore what it means to listen to your Soul, recognise guidance from Spirit, understand your spiritual awakening and, most importantly, actually use what you learn while navigating the very human ups and downs of life.
Let’s say I rented out a room in my house to a counsellor. There would be times when we’d find ourselves standing at the kitchen sink, washing and drying the dishes together. And I can guarantee there would be times when I’d be tempted to ask, “Can I just ask you something? I’ve got this problem in my life…”
Of course I would ask. You probably would too. “Can I just ask you a question about this? I’ve got this problem in my life. What do you think?” And hopefully, not over a cup of tea but over a tea towel, my live-in counsellor would help me make sense of whatever was going on.
That conversation would probably feel very different from making an appointment, sitting in a counselling room and paying for a professional service. It would be relaxed, natural and part of everyday life. And that is how I think Practical Spirituality should feel too.
The difference is that a counsellor works with the human side of us — our thoughts, feelings, experiences and what is going on in our head. But what about what is going on in our Soul? Where do we go when the questions we are asking aren’t only about our human life, but about something deeper?
Do we go to church? Do we meditate? Do we book a Reiki or healing session? Do we speak to a psychic reader? Or do we simply need somewhere we can sit down, make sense of what is happening to us spiritually and learn how to use that understanding in our everyday life?
Where Do I Start With Practical Spirituality?
You may have arrived here because something in your life feels different. Perhaps you’re questioning things you once accepted, noticing signs you can’t explain, feeling more sensitive to people and places, or simply wondering whether there is more to life than what you can see.
You don’t need to understand everything at once. Start with whatever feels most relevant to you right now.
Start with what you need today
I feel like I’m changing or waking up spiritually
I keep seeing signs and coincidences
I want to understand my intuition and guidance
I feel highly sensitive to people and places
I’m going through a difficult or “Dark Night” period
I want spirituality to feel practical in everyday life
What Is Practical Spirituality?
For me, Practical Spirituality is about learning to see with our inner eyes and listen with our inner ears. It is recognising that we are not just a human body with a busy brain trying to get through another day. We have a Soul too — and sometimes our Soul has been trying to get our attention for a very long time.Practical Spirituality is about bringing that spiritual part of ourselves into ordinary life. Not just when we meditate, have a reading or experience something we can’t explain, but while we’re working, parenting, making decisions, dealing with relationships, washing the dishes and trying to understand why life sometimes feels so incredibly hard.
It is learning to recognise the difference between the voice in our head and the quieter voice of our Soul. It is noticing the signs, trusting our intuition, listening to our Guides and beginning to understand that some of those moments we once dismissed as coincidences may be worth paying attention to.
The more we begin to recognise these things, the more life can start to make sense in a completely different way. We begin asking different questions. Why am I here? Why do I feel everything so deeply? Why don’t I seem to fit in anymore? Why do certain people feel instantly familiar? Why does the same lesson keep appearing in my life?
And this is where the journey becomes practical. Instead of simply wondering whether there is more to life, we begin learning how to recognise it, understand it and actually live it. We start getting out of our head and back into our Soul.
Are You Wired, Not Weird?
For years people used to call me weird. Then one day I realised that when you rearrange the letters in WEIRD, you can make WIRED. That changed everything for me. I wasn’t weird at all. I was wired — connected to something I couldn’t always see with my eyes, but had spent much of my life learning to recognise, feel and trust.
Maybe you’ve spent much of your life feeling different too. Perhaps you have always known things without knowing how you know them. You may feel other people’s emotions, need time alone after being around crowds, feel deeply connected to animals and nature, notice signs that other people dismiss as coincidence, or simply know there is much more to life than what we can physically see.
If any of that sounds familiar, Practical Spirituality isn’t about turning you into someone more spiritual. It is about helping you understand the part of yourself that may already have been there all along — and learning how to trust it, work with it and live comfortably with it in the real world.
Why Don’t I Feel Like I Fit In Anymore?
One of the things I hear so often from people who are awakening spiritually is, “I just don’t feel like I fit in anymore.” Conversations that once interested you may suddenly feel empty. You might find yourself needing more time alone, questioning things you once accepted without a second thought, or feeling drawn towards people who seem to understand you without needing an explanation.
Sometimes this can feel lonely, but it can also be the beginning of understanding yourself on a much deeper level. Instead of constantly asking, “What is wrong with me?”, you may begin asking a very different question: “What is my Soul trying to show me?”
As we begin listening differently, we also start noticing the ways our Soul and Spirit may already be communicating with us — through intuition, signs, dreams, those sudden lightbulb moments and the quiet guidance we so often talk ourselves out of trusting.
Learning to Listen to Your Soul
Our brain is incredibly good at making noise. It worries, analyses, questions, plans, remembers and tries to protect us from everything that might possibly go wrong. Our Soul is different. It doesn’t need to shout. Learning Practical Spirituality is partly about learning to quieten all that human noise long enough to hear what our Soul has been trying to tell us.
You may have already experienced this without realising it. That sudden knowing. The feeling that something is right or wrong before you have any logical reason for thinking it. The answer that seems to arrive from nowhere. Or perhaps you’ve heard yourself give someone advice and wondered afterwards, “Where on earth did that come from?”Sometimes that quiet knowing is your intuition. Sometimes it may be guidance from Spirit. Learning to recognise the difference between our own thoughts, fears and worries and the guidance we receive is something that develops with practice. The more we listen, notice and trust, the easier it becomes to recognise our own spiritual language.
Try This Today: Is It Your Head or Your Soul?
Think of one decision you are trying to make. Ask yourself, “What is my head telling me?” Then stop and ask, “What is my Soul telling me?” Don’t force an answer. Just notice whether the two responses feel different. Your head may give you reasons, worries and consequences. Your Soul often answers more quietly — with a feeling, a knowing, or a simple sense of yes or no. I can teach you how to do this during a session together.
How Do Our Guides Communicate With Us?
Our Guides don’t usually communicate with us by appearing at the end of the bed and introducing themselves! Their communication can be much quieter than that. A thought may suddenly drop into your mind. You might hear a word or phrase internally, notice the same sign repeatedly, have a vivid dream or simply know something without being able to explain where that knowing came from.
The difficulty is that guidance can be subtle, especially when our head is busy trying to analyse everything. We can receive an answer and dismiss it seconds later because we tell ourselves, “I just made that up.” Part of learning to hear your Guides is learning to recognise how your guidance arrives and then developing enough trust to listen to it.
The more you pay attention, the more you begin to notice your own patterns. Your Guides may use signs, numbers, songs, dreams, words, feelings or perfectly timed moments to get your attention. What matters is not learning somebody else’s spiritual language, but beginning to understand your own.
Signs From Spirit: Coincidence or Something More?
Signs from Spirit can appear in the most ordinary moments of our lives. A particular number keeps appearing. A song plays at exactly the right moment. You find something meaningful in an unexpected place, or something happens that makes you stop and think, “Okay… THAT was a bit too perfect to be a coincidence!”
The important thing is not to become obsessed with looking for signs everywhere. A sign should help guide, reassure or confirm something for you — not make you frightened that you’ll miss an important message. Some of the most powerful signs I’ve received have appeared when I wasn’t looking for them at all.
Over the years, signs have become an important part of how I understand guidance from Spirit. Some have been so specific and perfectly timed that they have stayed with me for years. The number 24 is one of those stories — and it’s a wonderful example of how something seemingly ordinary can carry extraordinary meaning when you understand the message behind it.
When Spiritual Awakening Turns Your Life Upside Down
A spiritual awakening isn’t always peaceful, beautiful or comfortable. Sometimes it can feel as though someone has picked up your entire life, shaken it vigorously and put everything back in the wrong place. The people, relationships, priorities and beliefs that once made sense may suddenly not make sense at all.
This is often when we begin questioning everything — who we are, what we want, why certain people are in our lives and what we’re actually doing here. What can initially feel like everything falling apart may, in time, become the beginning of putting our life back together in a way that feels much more aligned with our Soul.
For some people, this period can become what is often called the Dark Night of the Soul — a time of deep questioning, change and inner upheaval. It can be difficult to understand what is happening while you’re in the middle of it, particularly when you’re trying to work out whether what you’re experiencing is spiritual, emotional, or something you may need additional support with.
Empaths: When You Feel Everything
Being an empath can sometimes feel as though you have an emotional antenna permanently switched on. You walk into a room and sense the mood before anyone says a word. Someone tells you they’re “fine”, but something inside you knows they’re not. You may even find yourself carrying feelings that don’t seem to belong to you at all.
For me, understanding empathy is part of Practical Spirituality because it helps us recognise what belongs to us and what we may be picking up from somebody else. Without that understanding, it can be exhausting. We can carry other people’s emotions around with us without even realising we’re doing it.
Learning how to protect your own energy, create healthy boundaries and give yourself time to recharge can make an enormous difference. Being empathic doesn’t have to mean spending your life overwhelmed by everyone around you. It is about understanding your sensitivity and learning how to live comfortably with it.
Dreams: When Your Soul Speaks While You Sleep
Dreams can be much more than strange stories our mind creates while we’re asleep. Sometimes they can bring insight, guidance or a feeling so powerful that we wake knowing the dream meant something. You may even have had a dream that felt completely different from an ordinary dream — clearer, stronger and almost impossible to forget.
Paying attention to our dreams can help us recognise patterns, emotions and messages that we might overlook during our busy waking hours. I don’t believe every dream needs to be analysed or turned into a spiritual message, but some dreams deserve our attention — especially the ones that stay with us long after we wake.
Manifesting, Positive Thinking and the Law of Attraction
Manifesting isn’t simply about thinking positively and waiting for the Universe to deliver everything on our wish list. Our thoughts matter, but so do our choices, actions, timing and the lessons our Soul may have chosen to experience. Sometimes what we think we want and what we actually need for our spiritual growth can be two very different things.
Sometimes the greatest lesson in manifesting is learning when to hold onto something and when to let it go. We can spend so much energy trying to force an outcome that we forget to stop and ask, “Is this actually right for me?” Practical Spirituality teaches us to work with our Soul rather than trying to make the Universe follow our instructions.
Karma, Soul Contracts and the Lessons We Come Here to Learn
I believe we come into this life with lessons our Soul has chosen to experience. Some arrive through relationships, some through loss or change, and some seem to keep coming back around until we finally stop and ask, “What am I supposed to be learning from this?”
This is where Karma and Soul Contracts begin to make more sense to me. Rather than seeing Karma simply as punishment for something we’ve done wrong, I see it as part of our Soul’s learning. The people and situations in our lives can become some of our greatest teachers — even when, at the time, they are the people we’d least like to thank for the lesson!
Understanding our Soul lessons doesn’t mean we have to like everything that happens to us, or simply accept situations that are harmful. It means learning to look beyond “Why is this happening to me?” and sometimes asking instead, “What can I learn about myself from this?”
Soul Food: Looking After Yourself Spiritually
We spend so much time looking after our human needs that it can be easy to forget that our Soul needs looking after too. Soul Food is anything that nourishes that deeper part of you — time alone, nature, music, creativity, quiet reflection, laughter, meaningful conversations or simply giving yourself permission to stop being busy for a while.
Sometimes looking after your Soul means doing less, not more. It means recognising when you need to step away from noise, people and expectations and simply reconnect with yourself. The better we become at listening to our Soul, the easier it becomes to recognise what nourishes us — and what quietly drains us.
Are You a Human Being or a Human Doing?
We have become very good at doing. Working, rushing, organising, worrying, achieving, scrolling, planning and constantly thinking about what needs to happen next. But somewhere amongst all that doing, we can lose touch with simply being — and with the quieter part of ourselves that doesn’t need a to-do list to know who we are.
Practical Spirituality reminds us that we are human beings, not human doings. Sometimes the most spiritually productive thing we can do is stop. Sit quietly. Go outside. Put the phone down. Listen. Give our Soul enough space to catch up with the life our brain has been racing through.
Lightbulb Moments: When Everything Suddenly Makes Sense
We all have those moments when something suddenly clicks. One minute we are confused, going around in circles and trying desperately to understand what is happening, and then — LIGHTBULB! — we see it differently. The important part isn’t only having the lightbulb moment. It’s recognising what we’ve just learned and actually doing something with it.
A lightbulb moment can be one of the ways we grow spiritually, but only if we pay attention to it. Otherwise, we can have the same realisation over and over again and still keep repeating the same pattern. The real growth comes when we take that new understanding and live differently because of it.
Psychic Ability: Learning to Trust What You Receive
Psychic ability isn’t about knowing everything or predicting every detail of the future. For me, it is about learning to recognise information that comes through our intuition and spiritual senses, and then developing the confidence to trust what we receive. Often the hardest part isn’t receiving the information at all — it’s believing ourselves when we do.
Many people have intuitive or psychic experiences without ever calling them psychic. They know who is calling before the phone rings, think about someone moments before hearing from them, sense that something is about to happen or receive information they simply can’t explain. Practical Spirituality is about noticing these experiences without fear and learning to understand how your own intuition works.
The Spiritual Super Highway
As we awaken spiritually, it can feel as though a whole new road has suddenly opened in front of us. Things we once dismissed begin to make sense, connections become clearer and we start recognising that there may be much more happening around us than we ever realised. The Spiritual Super Highway is open — and you’ve got the green light.
But awakening isn’t a race, and there is no prize for getting there first. We all learn in our own time and through our own experiences. The more we understand ourselves spiritually, the more we can begin to navigate this human life with greater awareness of who we are, why we’re here and what our Soul may be trying to teach us.
Your Y-O-U-niverse: Learning to Trust Yourself
Your Y-O-U-niverse is the spiritual world within you — your intuition, your experiences, your inner knowing and the wisdom you’ve gathered along the way. We can spend our lives looking outside ourselves for answers, when sometimes the guidance we need has been quietly waiting inside us all along.
Learning to trust yourself doesn’t mean believing that every thought is a message from Spirit. It means becoming familiar enough with yourself to recognise the difference between fear, wishful thinking, intuition and genuine inner knowing. That discernment is one of the most important parts of becoming spiritually aware.
Practical Spirituality Is About Living It
You can read every spiritual book, watch every video, attend every workshop and collect all the wisdom in the world, but Practical Spirituality begins when you take what you’ve learned and live it. It is what you do with that understanding when life gets difficult, when relationships challenge you, when your intuition speaks, when a sign appears or when your Soul quietly tells you that something needs to change.
That’s why I call it Practical Spirituality. It isn’t something we practise only when we’re sitting quietly with our eyes closed. It’s something we can use at work, at home, in our relationships, in the difficult moments and even while we’re standing at the kitchen sink with a tea towel in our hand.
My hope is that Practical Spirituality becomes a resource you can return to whenever something in your life makes you stop and think, “There has to be more to this.” Because very often, there is. Sometimes we just need to learn how to see it with our inner eyes and listen to it with our inner ears.
Explore Practical Spirituality
Understanding Your Spiritual Self
Understanding your spiritual self isn’t about putting a label on yourself. It’s about beginning to understand why you feel, react and experience life the way you do. Why do some places make you feel comfortable or uncomfortable for no obvious reason? Why do you sometimes know something before you have any proof? Why can another person’s sadness feel almost like your own? The more you understand yourself, the easier it becomes to separate fear from intuition, your own emotions from somebody else’s, and the noise in your head from the quieter voice of your Soul.
Why Am I So Sensitive? Understanding the Sensitive Soul
Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt that something wasn’t quite right, even though nobody had said a word? Or left someone’s company feeling drained, anxious or heavy without knowing why? Some people are naturally more sensitive to the moods, energy and emotions around them, and one of the hardest things is learning to recognise what belongs to you and what may not.
A very simple way to begin is to check in with yourself before you enter a situation. Ask, How do I feel right now? Then check again afterwards. If you were calm before speaking to someone and suddenly feel tense, sad or exhausted afterwards, don’t immediately assume that feeling is yours. Just notice it. Over time, you begin to recognise your own emotional baseline and the changes that happen around certain people, places or situations.
For me, sensitivity isn’t about absorbing everybody else’s emotions or becoming responsible for fixing them. It is about awareness. You can care deeply about someone without carrying their pain home with you. Sometimes the most practical spiritual thing you can do is give yourself some space, come back to yourself and remember: being sensitive does not mean you have to be overwhelmed.
Spiritual Loneliness – Why Can a Spiritual Awakening Feel So Lonely?
A spiritual awakening can be a very personal experience. You may begin questioning things that once made sense to you, or feel drawn towards conversations and experiences that the people around you don’t really understand. Sometimes you want to talk about what is happening, but you’re not quite sure who you can talk to without hearing, “Oh, here she goes again!”
That can feel incredibly lonely, especially when the people you love are still living their lives in much the same way they always have. But you don’t have to convince everybody to see the world as you do, and you don’t have to abandon the people you love simply because they don’t understand this part of you.
One of the most helpful things you can do is find at least one person, group or space where you can talk openly without feeling silly or judged. At the same time, keep doing the ordinary things that make you feel grounded and like yourself. Have coffee with a friend. Walk the dog. Cook dinner. Laugh. Go to work. Spiritual growth doesn’t mean leaving your human life behind.
In fact, I believe that is where Practical Spirituality really matters. You can be changing spiritually and still live an ordinary, messy, funny, very human life. The two don’t have to be separate.
Do You Feel Unseen? When Nobody Seems to Truly See you?
Sometimes the hardest part of life isn’t what we’re going through — it’s feeling that nobody really understands what we’re going through. We can be surrounded by people who love us and still feel terribly alone. They may see the smile, the job, the family and everything we manage to do each day, but not the person underneath who is tired, overwhelmed or quietly trying to hold it all together.
For me, this is where our Soul needs a little attention. Instead of constantly trying to explain ourselves to everyone else, perhaps we need to stop and ask, “What is it that I need right now?”
Don’t overthink the answer. It might be rest. It might be a conversation with someone you trust, a good cry, a walk, some time alone, or simply permission to stop being everything to everybody for a while. Sometimes the answer is simply, I need somebody to listen without trying to fix me.
You don’t have to have all the answers today, and you don’t have to make everybody understand you. Sometimes being seen begins with learning to see yourself — honestly, gently and without judgement.
Do You Feel Lost – Or Are You Slowly Starting to Feel Found?
There are times when life changes so much that we no longer recognise the person we used to be. The things that once made us happy may not feel the same, and the direction we thought we were heading in may suddenly seem uncertain. It can feel as though we’ve lost our way, when perhaps we’re beginning to discover a different one.
I’ve learned that we don’t always have to know where we’re going to take the next step. Sometimes we simply need to listen to what feels right for us now, rather than trying to force ourselves back into a life we may have outgrown. Take the wisdom from where you’ve been, give yourself permission to change, and remember that finding yourself is not always about becoming someone new. Sometimes it’s about coming HOME to the person you’ve been all along.
Energy – Understanding the Energy Within Us and Around Us
Have you ever noticed how differently you feel after spending time with certain people or in certain places? Some leave you feeling uplifted and full of life, while others can leave you feeling as though someone has pulled the plug out! We often talk about energy without really stopping to think about how much our surroundings, emotions and everyday experiences can affect us.
For me, understanding energy is about becoming more aware of what helps us feel balanced and what leaves us feeling drained. Sometimes we need quiet, sometimes we need company, and sometimes we simply need to get outside and reconnect with ourselves. The more we recognise our own needs, the easier it becomes to look after ourselves rather than waiting until we’re completely exhausted.
Are You a Warrior or a Worrier?
I think most of us have a little bit of both in us. There are times when we face something difficult and discover strength we didn’t know we had. Then there are times when our brain gets hold of a problem and runs off with it, imagining every possible thing that could go wrong before anything has actually happened!
Being a warrior doesn’t mean we never worry. It means learning to recognise when worry is helping us prepare and when it is simply keeping us stuck. Sometimes the most practical thing we can do is ask, “What can I actually do about this today?” If there is something we can do, we take the next step. If there isn’t, perhaps we can give ourselves permission to put it down for a while. We don’t have to fight every battle in our head before it has even happened.
The Importance of Spending Time on Your Couch
Sometimes we become so busy looking after everybody else that we forget to spend a little time with ourselves. We work, organise, answer the phone, make plans and keep going until the day is over. Then, when we finally sit down, we can feel guilty for doing nothing!
But perhaps doing nothing is exactly what we need. Spending time on your couch doesn’t have to mean being lazy. It can be an opportunity to stop, listen to your own thoughts and give your Soul a little room to breathe. You don’t always need to meditate, read a spiritual book or do something productive. Sometimes a cup of tea, a quiet room and a little time to yourself are enough. The world will still be there when you get up.
Journalling – Learning to Listen to Yourself and Your Soul
Journalling can be a lovely way to get some of the noise out of your head and onto paper. You don’t have to be a writer, and you certainly don’t have to worry about spelling, grammar or whether anybody else would find it interesting. This is your space to write what you’re feeling, what you’re questioning and what you may be beginning to understand about yourself.
Sometimes you might start with a simple question: “What is really bothering me?” or “What do I need to understand about this situation?” Then just write. You may be surprised by what comes out when you stop trying to make every sentence sound right. For me, the important part is not filling pages. It is giving yourself an opportunity to listen to what you may have been too busy to hear.
Blood Family vs Soul Family
Our blood family is the family we are born into, but sometimes we meet people who feel like family from the moment we meet them. There may be an immediate sense of familiarity, comfort or understanding that is difficult to explain. You might find yourself thinking, “I feel as though I’ve known you forever,” even though you’ve only just met.
For me, this is where the idea of Soul Family comes in. I believe some Souls have shared experiences with us before, and that we may recognise that connection when we meet again. But Soul Family doesn’t have to replace blood family, and it doesn’t mean every relationship is meant to last forever. Sometimes people come into our lives to love us, teach us, support us or help us understand something about ourselves. What matters is recognising the connection and appreciating what it brings to our life.
Navigating Your Human Life as a Soul – “I Just Want to Go Home”
Have you ever had one of those days when you’re tired of being human? Not necessarily because anything terrible has happened, but because life feels complicated, noisy or exhausting, and you find yourself thinking, “I just want to go HOME.” For some spiritually aware people, that feeling can be difficult to explain. It may be less about a physical place and more about longing for peace, belonging or a sense of connection with something deeper.
I believe we are Souls having a human experience, and sometimes our human life can feel a long way from the peace we associate with HOME. But we are here to live this life too. We still need to look after our bodies, our relationships and our everyday needs. Sometimes the most practical thing we can do is stop, rest, spend time with someone we love or do something that helps us feel connected again. And if that longing becomes overwhelming or turns into thoughts of not wanting to live, it is important to reach out to someone who can support you. We don’t have to navigate every difficult part of being human on our own.
Meditation – Why Being Still Can Be Louder Than Words
Meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged for an hour, trying desperately to stop every thought from entering your head. Sometimes the harder we try to make our brain be quiet, the noisier it becomes! For me, meditation is simply about giving ourselves a little space to stop, listen and reconnect with that quieter part of ourselves.
You might sit outside with a cup of tea, listen to some gentle music, take a walk or spend a few minutes breathing quietly. There is no need to force an experience or expect something extraordinary to happen. Sometimes the most valuable thing we receive is simply a little peace. And sometimes, when we stop filling every moment with noise, we begin to recognise what we’ve been feeling, what we need and what our Soul may have been trying to tell us.
How to Be Your Best YOU
Being your best YOU doesn’t mean being perfect, having everything worked out or becoming the person everybody else thinks you should be. We can spend so much of our lives comparing ourselves with others that we forget we are here to live our own life, not somebody else’s. What works beautifully for one person may not be right for another.
For me, being your best YOU is about learning to understand yourself, recognising what matters to you and making choices that feel right for the life you are living. Sometimes that means having the courage to change something. Sometimes it means setting a boundary, asking for help or simply giving yourself permission to rest. We don’t have to get everything right to keep growing. We just need to keep learning, listening and doing the best we can with what we know today.
Impossible or I’m-Possible?
Sometimes we look at something we would love to do and immediately begin listing all the reasons we can’t. We haven’t got enough money, enough time, enough confidence, or perhaps we’re simply too old to start again. Before we know it, we’ve talked ourselves out of something we haven’t even tried!
But what if we changed the question from “Is this impossible?” to “What would make this possible?” We don’t have to know every step before we begin. Sometimes we only need to work out the first one. That doesn’t mean ignoring our responsibilities or pretending there won’t be obstacles. It means giving ourselves permission to explore an idea before deciding it can’t be done. You never know what might become possible when you stop telling yourself it isn’t.
When the Universe Gives You a Nudge – When Do You Listen and When Do You Ignore It?
Have you ever had a thought that keeps coming back, even after you’ve tried to put it aside? Perhaps it’s something you’ve been wanting to do, a conversation you know you need to have, or a change you’ve been thinking about for a long time. Sometimes it can feel as though the Universe is giving you a little nudge and saying, “Well, what are you waiting for?”
For me, the important part is learning to recognise the difference between a gentle nudge and trying to force something to happen. Not every coincidence is an instruction, and not every opportunity is right for us. Sometimes we need to stop, listen to our intuition, look at what is happening in our human life and ask, “Does this feel right for me?” If it does, perhaps we can take a small step and see where it leads. If it doesn’t, we can give ourselves permission to wait. Practical Spirituality is about learning to trust ourselves, not feeling that we have to act on every sign that comes our way.
Who Is Who in Your Zoo?
We all have people in our lives who play different roles. Some are there to love and support us, some challenge us, some teach us something about ourselves, and some seem to turn up just when we need them most. Then there are the ones who leave us wondering, “What on earth was THAT all about?”
For me, understanding who is who in our zoo is about recognising what our relationships are showing us. Who brings out the best in you? Who leaves you feeling drained? Who can you be completely yourself with? And who might you need to love from a little further away? We don’t have to judge everybody or work out their spiritual purpose. Sometimes it is enough to recognise what a relationship is teaching us and decide how we want to move forward.
Accelerating Your Soul Journey
Sometimes, once we begin exploring spirituality, we want to understand everything at once. We read the books, watch the videos, look for signs and wonder why we aren’t further along. But spiritual growth isn’t a race, and there is no prize for getting there first.
For me, accelerating your Soul journey isn’t about trying to force an awakening or collect as much spiritual knowledge as possible. It is about becoming more aware of what life is already teaching you and actually using that understanding. If you recognise a pattern, perhaps you can make a different choice. If you realise you need to look after yourself, perhaps you can begin doing that. Sometimes one small change in the way we live can teach us more than another ten books sitting on the shelf.
The Soul Knows Way More Than the Mind
Our mind likes to have everything worked out. It wants answers, plans, reasons and guarantees. Our Soul doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes we have a quiet knowing about something long before we can explain it logically, and the more we try to think our way through it, the more confused we become.
For me, learning to listen to my Soul doesn’t mean ignoring my brain. We need both. If I’m making an important decision, I still need to look at the practical side of things. But I also need to ask, “How does this feel to me?” Sometimes the answer isn’t to rush ahead or give up. Sometimes it’s simply to wait, gather more information and allow myself to understand what I’m feeling. Practical Spirituality is about learning to work with both our human mind and our Soul, rather than letting one drown out the other.
Why Do I Keep Seeing Repetitive Numbers?
Have you ever noticed the same number appearing again and again? Perhaps you look at the clock and it’s 11:11, or a particular number keeps turning up in places where you least expect it. For some people, these moments feel meaningful, especially when the number has a personal connection to something happening in their life.
I believe Spirit can use numbers as one of the ways of getting our attention. The number 24 has been particularly meaningful in my own life, and I’ve written about some of the experiences that helped me understand why. But I don’t believe we need to become obsessed with checking every clock or searching for a message in every number we see. Sometimes a number is simply a number. If something catches your attention, you can stop and ask, “What was I thinking about just then?” or “Does this mean something to me?” Over time, you may begin to recognise your own patterns and understand what feels meaningful to you.
Remembering Where You Left Off in Your Last Lifetime
Have you ever wondered why some things seem to come naturally to you, while others feel as though you have been trying to understand them forever? Perhaps you have met someone and felt an immediate familiarity, or found yourself drawn to a place, a subject or an experience without really knowing why.
I believe our Soul carries wisdom from one lifetime to another, and that we don’t necessarily begin every human life with a completely blank slate. Sometimes we may be continuing a lesson, developing an ability or reconnecting with something that feels familiar on a Soul level. But we don’t have to remember a previous lifetime to make the most of this one. What matters is recognising what we are learning now and how we can use that understanding in the life we are living today.
Kundalini – A Spiritually Sexual Awakening
Kundalini is a term used in some spiritual traditions to describe an awakening of energy within us. People may associate it with powerful physical sensations, emotional changes or a heightened awareness of themselves and their spiritual life. It can also be associated with sexual energy, although that doesn’t mean every experience is sexual.
For me, the important thing is not to chase an experience simply because somebody else has described having one. We all develop in our own way, and there is no need to force something to happen or compare our experiences with another person’s. If you are exploring this subject, take your time, learn about it and listen to your own body and wellbeing. Spiritual development should be about understanding yourself, not feeling that you have to achieve a particular experience.
Death, Dying & Going HOME
Death can leave us with some of our biggest unanswered questions. What happens when we die? Will someone be there waiting for us? What happens to relationships that were left unresolved? And how can we help someone we love when their time comes to go HOME?
When I Die, Will My Loved Ones Be There to Meet Me?
One of the questions people often ask me is, “When I die, will my loved ones be there to meet me?” For many of us, the thought of leaving this life can bring questions about what happens next and whether the people we have loved will still be part of our journey.
I believe that when our human life comes to an end, our Soul continues, and that we are not alone when we return HOME. I believe our loved ones in Spirit can be there to welcome us, and that the love we have shared does not simply disappear because someone has died. None of us can know exactly what that experience will be like, but for me, understanding death from a Soul perspective has brought a great deal of comfort. It reminds me that although we may have to say goodbye to someone’s human life, love is not something we have to leave behind.
How to Help Someone You Love Prepare to Go HOME – and How to Prepare Yourself
When someone we love is nearing the end of their life, it can be difficult to know what to say or do. We may want to make everything better, find the right words or somehow prepare ourselves for something we don’t feel ready to face. But sometimes the most important thing we can do is simply be there.
Ask what they need. Listen to what they want to talk about. Help with the practical things where you can, and don’t feel that every conversation has to be about dying. Sometimes a cup of tea, a familiar story, a laugh or sitting quietly together can mean more than we realise. If they want to talk about their spiritual beliefs or what they think may happen next, give them space to do that too.
And remember that preparing yourself doesn’t mean you have to stop feeling sad. You can believe that someone is going HOME and still miss them terribly. You can find comfort in your spiritual understanding and still need support from the people around you. Love, grief and hope can all exist together.
What If We Weren’t Speaking When They Died? Can We Reconcile After Death?
Sometimes someone dies before we have had the chance to say what we wanted to say. Perhaps there was an argument, a misunderstanding, or years of distance between you. Suddenly, the opportunity to pick up the phone and make things right is gone, and we can be left carrying the words we never said.
I believe that when we return HOME, we see our human lives from a much broader Soul perspective. The things that seemed so important while we were here may be understood very differently when we are no longer caught up in the emotions of our human lives. For me, death does not mean that love, understanding or reconciliation must come to an end. If there is something you wish you had said, you can still speak those words in your heart. You don’t have to carry an unfinished conversation as a punishment for the rest of your life.
Reincarnation – Why Do We Keep Coming Back?
Have you ever wondered why we would choose to come back and do this human life all over again? Especially when some of the lessons are so difficult! From a Soul perspective, I believe we return to experience, learn and grow, and that each lifetime gives us opportunities to understand ourselves and others in different ways.
I also believe that some of the people we meet may have shared other lifetimes with us. Perhaps that is why certain connections can feel so familiar, or why we sometimes feel we have known someone much longer than we actually have. But we don’t have to remember a previous life to make the most of this one. What matters is what we are learning now, how we treat the people around us and what we choose to do with the life we are living today.
What Next? What Happens After We Arrive HOME?
What happens after we arrive HOME is one of those questions I don’t believe we can fully understand while we’re still living our human lives. We can have our beliefs, our experiences and the understanding we receive through Spirit, but perhaps some things are simply bigger than our human minds can comprehend.
For me, the important part is knowing that our Soul journey does not end when our human life does. I believe we continue to learn, understand and grow, and that the love and connections we have made are not simply lost. But we don’t have to know every detail of what comes next to make the most of the life we are living now. Perhaps the most practical thing we can do is take what we understand about our Soul and use it to live this human life with a little more love, compassion and awareness.
Spiritual Awakening
If your life, relationships or even your sense of who you are seem to be changing, your spiritual awakening may help explain why everything suddenly feels so different.
What Is a Spiritual Awakening? Understanding Old Souls and Your Spiritual Journey
How to Take Care of Your Soul During Your Awakening
A spiritual awakening can bring a lot of questions, changes and emotions to the surface. Sometimes we become so busy trying to understand what is happening spiritually that we forget to look after the human being who is experiencing it!
For me, taking care of your Soul means giving yourself permission to slow down. You don’t have to read another book, watch another video or work out every lesson today. Sometimes you need a walk, a good meal, a conversation with someone you trust or simply a little time away from all the noise. Listen to what you need, rather than what you think you should be doing. Your spiritual journey is part of your life — it doesn’t have to take over every minute of it.
Is It Depression or the Dark Night of the Soul?
Sometimes a period of deep questioning can feel like what we call the Dark Night of the Soul. You may be wondering who you are, where your life is heading or why things that once made sense no longer feel right. But it is important not to assume that every difficult emotional experience is spiritual.
Depression is a health condition, and it can affect our mood, sleep, energy, motivation and ability to manage everyday life. If you are feeling low or overwhelmed most of the time, particularly if it has lasted two weeks or more or is affecting your daily life, please speak with your GP or another qualified health professional. You can explore your spiritual understanding and seek medical or psychological support at the same time. One does not have to exclude the other.
Signs, Guides & Spiritual Communication
Spirit can communicate with us in many different ways. Learning to recognise your own signs and understand how your Guides communicate can help you trust what you are receiving.
Introducing My Team of Guides – Who They Are and How We Work Together
My Team of Guides in Spirit is an important part of my life and my psychic work. Opa is my main Guide. I have known my Opa (Grandpa in Dutch) since he lived with us when Mum and Dad emigrated from the Netherlands in 1960. Opa lived with us for 6 years. I have spoken to him ever since and still do today. It is from his family line that I get my Gift.
I have spoken about Opa for many years, and through my experiences with him and the rest of my Team, I have learned that spiritual guidance is not always about being given an answer. Sometimes it is about being helped to understand something for ourselves.
I believe our Guides are learning and developing too, just as we are. We can work together, learn from one another and develop a relationship that becomes more familiar over time. For me, getting to know my Guides has been part of learning to recognise how they communicate, how I receive information and how that guidance can help me navigate my human life.
How Do I Really Know Who I’m Talking to in Spirit? Understanding the Role of a Gatekeeper
One of the questions people ask when they begin exploring spiritual communication is, “How do I know who I’m talking to?” It is a sensible question, especially when we are learning to recognise the difference between our own thoughts, our intuition and what we believe may be coming from Spirit.
In Spiritualism, a Gatekeeper is understood as a Guide who helps manage safe spiritual communication. For me, the important part is developing a relationship with my own Team of Guides and learning to recognise how they work with me. That understanding develops through experience, not by expecting every thought or feeling to be a message. We can take our time, ask questions and use our own judgement while we learn. Spiritual development is not about handing our responsibility over to Spirit — it is about learning to work together.
Marion’s Guide to Automatic Writing
How to Hear Your Guides
One of the questions I’m often asked is, “How do I hear my Guides?” People sometimes expect a voice to come booming out of the sky, but spiritual communication can be much quieter than that. It may arrive as a thought, a feeling, a sudden knowing or something that catches your attention at just the right moment.
Guides are just us ‘dead!’ Yep! you read that right. Whilst we can choose to be reincarnated, we can also choose our next incarnation to be learning how to be a Guide and who better to teach us than our Guides themselves? Yes! this is good news. Don’t expect it to be easy, it’s another learning curve of a different dynamic.
It is in our guides ‘best interests’ to guide us and our ‘best interests’ to listen. By helping us, they too, are developing Spiritually. Our Guides have their own Guides that they are guided by. Just as there are many different levels in our earthly world, so too, is their in the Spirit world. By helping us they too, grow and develop Spiritually. How wonderful. I know what I’m picking next!
For me, learning to hear your Guides begins with learning to recognise how guidance comes through to you. Give yourself a little quiet time, ask a simple question and notice what comes to mind without trying to force an answer. You might like to write down what you receive and see whether it makes sense to you later. The important thing is not to become frightened that you’ll miss something. Your spiritual understanding develops with experience, and you don’t have to get everything right the first time.
Angels
Angels are another part of spirituality that many people feel drawn to. Some people experience them as a comforting presence, while others may associate them with protection, guidance or a feeling that they are not alone. We don’t all experience or understand the spiritual world in exactly the same way, and that is perfectly all right.
One thing I definitely DO know about Angels, is that when you see or feel one, you will never, ever forget the experience, it could even leave you feel changed forever. Personally, I have had a couple of lovely experiences with an undeniable Angel and I’ve written about it in my books, I’ll also share some pictures in my Gallery once that gets created. There are many true accounts of encounters with Angels all over the internet. Maybe you have had one of your own and I’m here to write this article to give you confirmation of your experience.
For me, Practical Spirituality is not about needing to see an angel or have an extraordinary experience to feel spiritually connected. Sometimes it is enough to sit quietly, ask for guidance or simply take comfort in your own spiritual beliefs. You don’t have to compare your experiences with somebody else’s. What matters is learning what feels meaningful to you and allowing your understanding to develop naturally.
Signs From Spirit to Guide You
Sometimes we ask for guidance and then become so busy looking for an answer that we forget to notice what is happening around us. A song, a number, a conversation or something we happen to read may catch our attention at just the right moment. For me, these are some of the ways Spirit can help us stop and look at something differently.
But a sign doesn’t have to tell us exactly what to do. Sometimes it simply encourages us to ask, “What does this mean to me?” or “Is there something here I need to pay attention to?” We can listen to our intuition, consider what is happening in our human life and then decide what feels right. Guidance is there to help us navigate our journey, not to take away our responsibility for living it.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs
Sometimes it feels as though signs are everywhere! A number, a song, a feather, a familiar smell or something somebody says can suddenly catch our attention. But what makes an experience meaningful to one person may mean nothing at all to somebody else.
For me, the important part is understanding the circumstances around the sign. What was happening in your life? What were you thinking about? Why did that particular moment stand out? Sometimes the meaning becomes clearer later. And sometimes we may never know whether something was a coincidence or something more. We don’t have to force an answer. We can simply notice, reflect and allow our own understanding to develop.
How Do You Know If a Loved One in Spirit Is Trying to Contact You? 16 Signs
Why 24 Is Important to Me
The number 24 has become particularly meaningful in my own life. I’ve written about some of the experiences that helped me understand why, and it is a lovely example of how a number can carry a personal meaning that goes far beyond simply looking up what it means.
I don’t believe everybody has to experience numbers in the same way. What matters to me may mean something completely different to you. Sometimes the most interesting part is not the number itself, but what was happening in your life when you noticed it. That is why I encourage people to pay attention to their own experiences and begin recognising their own spiritual language.
Dreams
Have you ever woken from a dream and thought, “Well, THAT was interesting!”? Some dreams disappear almost immediately, while others stay with us for years. They may bring up feelings, memories or questions that we hadn’t been paying much attention to during the day.
I believe dreams can sometimes be one of the ways our Soul or Spirit communicates with us, but I don’t believe every dream needs to have a spiritual meaning. If a dream feels particularly significant, you might like to write it down when you wake, including how it made you feel and what was happening in your life at the time. Over time, you may begin to recognise your own patterns. You don’t need somebody else’s dream dictionary to tell you what every little thing means — sometimes your own understanding is the most useful place to begin.
Spiritual Lessons & Soul Growth
Some of our greatest spiritual growth comes through the people, experiences and lessons that challenge us most. Understanding these experiences from a Soul perspective can completely change the way we see them.
Karma
Karma is often spoken about as though it is simply punishment for something we have done wrong. But I believe there is much more to it than that. From a Soul perspective, I see Karma as part of our learning — the experiences that help us understand ourselves, our choices and the way we treat others. Its about keeping life in balance, yin and yang, that type of thing.
Sometimes we may find ourselves facing a familiar situation and wonder, “Why does this keep happening to me?” Perhaps the lesson is not about what somebody else is doing, but about what we are learning through our response. Do we need to speak up? Set a boundary? Let something go? Or recognise that we have already learned what we needed to learn? Understanding Karma doesn’t mean we have to accept poor treatment. Sometimes the lesson is learning when to walk away.
Soul Contracts
I believe that before we come into this human life, our Souls may agree to share certain experiences with other Souls. These are often called Soul Contracts. Some of those connections may bring us love and support, while others may challenge us in ways we don’t understand until much later.
Have you ever met someone and felt an immediate connection, or wondered why a particular person came into your life at exactly the time they did? From a Soul perspective, I believe some of these meetings may be part of a much bigger picture. But that doesn’t mean every relationship is meant to last forever, or that we have to remain in a situation that is hurting us. Sometimes the contract may be about learning to love, learning to let go, or finally learning to choose ourselves.
I write about this in greater length within my website and in my books.
Manifesting
Manifesting is often described as thinking about something you want and waiting for the Universe to deliver it. But for me, there is much more to it than that. We can have a dream, set an intention and ask for guidance, but we still have to participate in our own human life. Sometimes that means making a phone call, learning something new, saving money or taking the first step towards something we have wanted to do for years.
I also believe that what we think we want and what our Soul needs may not always be the same thing. Sometimes an opportunity opens up, and sometimes a door closes. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve done something wrong. Perhaps there is another way forward, or perhaps the timing isn’t right. Manifesting, for me, is about working with our Soul, doing what we can and remaining open to where life may be leading us.
Positive Thinking and the Law of Attraction
Positive thinking can be helpful, but I don’t believe we have to be positive every minute of the day. We are human beings. We get tired, frightened, disappointed and sometimes downright fed up! Having a difficult day doesn’t mean we’ve failed spiritually or attracted something bad into our lives.
For me, the Law of Attraction is about becoming more aware of where we place our attention and how our thoughts can influence the choices we make. If we constantly tell ourselves something is impossible, we may never give ourselves the chance to try. But if we begin asking, “What could I do to move towards this?”, we may start noticing possibilities we hadn’t considered before. We can acknowledge that life is difficult and still look for a way forward. Sometimes hope is simply believing that today doesn’t have to be the whole story.
Souls Are Simple, We Just Want to Love and Be Loved
Sometimes I think we humans make life far more complicated than our Souls ever intended! We spend so much time worrying about what people think, what we should have done, what might happen next and whether we are getting everything right. Yet underneath all that noise, perhaps what we really want is quite simple — to love and to be loved.
For me, Practical Spirituality is about remembering that we don’t have to make every relationship, every lesson or every experience more complicated than it needs to be. Sometimes we need to say, “I love you.” Sometimes we need to accept that somebody loves us. And sometimes we need to recognise that loving ourselves is just as important. We can still have boundaries, make difficult decisions and live our human lives, but perhaps we can do it all with a little more love and a little less fear.
Psychic & Intuitive Development
Developing spiritually can also mean becoming more aware of your natural intuition and psychic ability. The important part is learning to understand what you receive, trust yourself and use that awareness responsibly.
Telepathy
Have you ever thought about someone and then, moments later, the phone rings and it’s them? Or found yourself knowing what somebody was about to say before they said it? These are the sorts of experiences that can make us stop and wonder whether there is more to communication than the words we speak.
Telepathy is the oldest and original form of social media! Think about it.
Telepathy is often described as communication between minds without using our ordinary senses. From my spiritual perspective, I believe we can sometimes pick up on thoughts, feelings or information in ways we don’t fully understand. But we don’t have to turn every coincidence into a psychic experience. Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is simply notice what happened, perhaps write it down, and see whether a pattern develops over time. Learning to trust your intuition also means learning to question it, rather than assuming every thought must be a message.
If you are interested in learning more about this fabulous sense, please get in touch with me as I have developed some really unique exercises that we can do during a session together. You will be amazed at the results, honestly.
So You Want to Be Psychic
So you want to be psychic? Perhaps you’ve had experiences you can’t explain, or you’ve always felt there was something more to the world than what you can see with your eyes. You might be wondering whether you have an ability of your own and, if you do, how you can begin to understand it.
For me, psychic development is about learning to recognise how information comes through to you and developing confidence in what you receive. It isn’t about trying to become somebody else or expecting every experience to be extraordinary. We all have our own way of learning. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is pay attention, ask questions, practise and give yourself permission to get things wrong. You don’t have to understand everything today. That’s why we call it development!
Pendulums and Ouija Boards
Pendulums and Ouija boards are two tools people sometimes use when exploring spiritual communication. A pendulum is a small weighted object suspended from a chain or string, while a Ouija board uses letters and a movable pointer. People have different beliefs about how these tools work and what, if anything, they may be communicating with.
I used to do ouija boards session with my parents. It was how they kept in touch with their family, how I got to know some of my other Guides and how we were shown or taught Spiritual lessons. Done right, this is one of the most amazing spiritual tools to have in your spiritual toolbox.
For me, the important thing is not to become dependent on a tool for every answer. If you choose to explore spiritual communication, take your time, learn about what you are doing and use your own judgement. You don’t have to believe every answer you receive, and you certainly don’t have to make important life decisions because a pendulum or board appears to tell you something. Practical Spirituality is about developing your own understanding, not handing your power over to something outside yourself.
Continue Exploring
Prefer to watch rather than read? Explore my videos on spirituality, Spirit Guides, psychic development and everyday Soul lessons.