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First published and distributed in the United Kingdom by:
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The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the reader’s discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third party websites.

ISBN 978-1-78180-510-7 in print
ISBN 978-1-78180-681-4 in ePub format
ISBN 978-1-78180-682-1 in Kindle format

Interior images: 40, 60, 84, 106, 126, 148, 165, 172, 192, 216, 234, 244
Thinkstock/AnVino; 49, 80, 102 Liron Gilenberg | www.ironicitalics.com

I started my spiritual journey young. I was 15 when I officially delved into the universe looking for answers and the meaning of life. Every day I would dedicate time to reading, writing and meditating – it just seemed the most magical thing to do. Today I am frequently asked how I’m ‘so psychic’ or how I maintain my upbeat nature, and the answer is the same every time: daily spiritual practice.

Having a daily spiritual practice is the key to developing your spiritual skills, gifts and qualities. When you take the time to acknowledge who you are, focus your mind and meditate, you create room in your life to grow and you encourage your heart to open up and connect deeply with the flow of life.

I like to imagine the mind as a garden. If you leave a garden untended, it will begin to grow wild in certain areas. There will be weeds, and many of the beautiful flowers will wilt and fade away. But if you take the time to look after the garden by fertilizing the soil, planting new seeds and encouraging growth in the areas that have been bare, you will begin to see the rewards of your commitment.

It’s just the same with your mind – when you plant the right seeds, they will begin to grow. Your mind is the space where you can cultivate a spiritual practice and connect to your body and soul.

So often people who have read my books, come to my demonstrations or participated in my workshops have asked me which books, tools, card decks and crystals are the best for maintaining a spiritual connection. It’s almost as though people believe there are tricks or short cuts that will help them get there faster, but really that’s not true – in fact it’s an illusion.

One of my favourite yoga masters, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, once said, ‘Yoga is 99 per cent practice and 1 per cent theory’, and he was absolutely right. The same goes for spirituality: if you want to create a deep and meaningful spiritual connection, you must do the practice. So this book is a response to all of the questions I’ve been asked and an encouraging kick in the butt to help you develop your daily spiritual practice.

Over the 12 years since I started my journey I’ve explored many schools of thought, energy therapies and types of meditation. Now I’ve brought together all I’ve learned to create a daily spiritual practice for you, so all you have to do is follow in the footsteps I have created.

The truth is, as sages past and present have said, that you have the answers you seek. You have the magic, the miracles, the power and the tools – they’re all there right in the centre of your heart. That’s where you’ll find what you’re looking for. My prayer is that this book will act as a map guiding you back to the core of your being so that you can experience the love that sits gently within your heart.

May you tend the garden of your mind and may the sunshine of your soul help your seeds to grow and create a life that is filled with joy and love.

I'm super grateful to be in this position – sharing my fifth book with the world – and it feels so good. I'd like to thank everyone at Hay House for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my vision with the world and ultimately live my dream.

Special thanks to Michelle Pilley, my incredible commissioning editor and the MD of Hay House UK, for creating a space (and supporting its growth) for people like me to do what we do. Michelle, you are a huge blessing.

Also shouts and bundles of good vibes to Lizzie Henry (my editor/general words magician/Earth angel), Leanne Anastasi for the incredible cover and internal design (those lil’ vibes around the title of each lesson as sooooo cool) and Julie Oughton for helping all suggestions meet in the same place and bringing the whole thing together.

Love and thanks to Jo Burgess, Ruth Tewkesbury (love u) and Tom Cole for the publicity and social media support – I love that you all give me a kick in the butt when I need it. Also thanks to Jessica Gibson for helping me create and cultivate my speaking platform – you da bomb.

I also want to use this space to thank Greta Lipp and the whole Wrage family for really helping me share my vision and ideas in the German-speaking countries – I have a whole new Euro family whom I absolutely adore.

Thank you angels for gracing me with your presence daily, for reminding me of the light and for helping me shine as bright as I do. You are my spiritual homies and I will never not be obsessed by how much love you share in this world. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

To the universe – I humbly bow. You are my essence; you are the light within the light and the everything that is. Thanks for blowing my mind like every-effing-day. It's so cool.

Finally thanks to my Mum for rocking the business with me – for doing everything you do and helping me be who I am today. I love, love, love, love you!

There’s one thing that psychics and scientists can agree on: everything in the universe is made up of energy. That includes you. Right now there is energy moving through every cell of your body, every atom of the air that you’re breathing and every part of the chair that you’re sitting on. Energy is alive. It’s here and it’s now. It’s what we’re made of and it connects us to everything that was, is and ever will be.

Energy is a subtle vibration, but it moves quickly. It’s completely neutral, but it responds to our emotions and actions, and we respond in turn. We all know what it’s like to walk into a room and be met by a ‘bad vibe’. If a drama’s kicked off at a party just before we’ve turned up, we’ll feel something in our belly swirling round and telling us to move away or even leave. It’s the opposite when we experience a ‘good vibe’, for instance when we meet a friend we haven’t seen in forever – we feel so happy in their presence we don’t want to leave. The truth is, we all respond to the vibrations around us.

The almighty universe we live in responds as well when we put our own vibes out there. It’s as if the world around us is one huge mirror and it’s reflecting every thought we’ve had, every emotion we’ve felt and every action we’ve taken. Our outer world is a huge reflection of our inner beliefs and the beliefs of those surrounding us in our life.

You are here reading this now because you’ve made a conscious decision to live a more meaningful life. The universe has heard your call and it’s ready to support you every step of the way.

In order to live a more meaningful life, a life of purpose, joy and fulfilment, first you have to believe it’s possible. The almighty universe does want us all to be fulfilled in every possible way, but it honours our free will. We were sent to this Earth to experience a good life, but it’s something we have to choose. So we need to raise our vibrations. Then our external world will begin to reflect the loving feelings we are cultivating within and we’ll begin to experience a life beyond our wildest dreams.

The time has come. If you’re ready to fly high, all you have to do is get spiritually high! Let me show you how to raise your vibration…

‘Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.’

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Ever since I was a child I’ve been able to feel things about people, animals and places – it just seems to be there. It’s there for all of us in fact – from early childhood, you too have had the ability to recognize changes in the atmosphere surrounding you. Your intuitive perception has been able to pick up danger, sadness, love and laughter. I’ve had this tenfold. For me, there’s a feeling, then all of a sudden there’s a deep knowing that something is right or wrong. For years I was desperate to turn these natural senses off because they felt unnatural.

In truth, being able to feel what’s going on around us is so natural that it’s something most of us take for granted. That doesn’t mean we act on it. We all know what it’s like to blurt out the words ‘I knew that was going to happen’ or ‘I should have just listened to myself’ because earlier we’d felt something change or something inviting us to change. I believe that ‘something’ is a vibration. It’s energy.

Ever since high school I’ve been fascinated by Eastern belief systems, especially Hinduism and Buddhism. These amazing religions talk about a vibrational sound that created the universe, an energy they call ‘Om’ or ‘Aum’. Scientists, on the other hand, can’t put their finger on exactly what created the universe, or what it’s made of, and may even call it ‘nothingness’. Whatever you like to call it, it’s real, it’s there and we all know it. We can feel it because we’re part of it.

Highs and lows

We interpret energy through our feelings. Have you ever turned up accidentally at an event where everyone was dancing and laughing? Have you ever seen people laughing and just had to join in? The laughter fills every part of your being – you feel your heart expand and you forget all your worries and cares. You feel alive. This is a high vibration.

When you know you’re in danger, though, you feel your shoulders begin to round and your head comes down to protect your precious heart. You want to curl up into a ball. This is a low vibration.

In order to recognize a high vibration, we have to have experienced the low. That doesn’t mean we have to stay with the low, of course. How can we get high?

How high are you?

Although things happen in life and nature takes its course, we have a choice about how we feel and what sort of energy we give off. Every thought we think and every choice we make determines our vibration.

I love His Holiness the Dalai Lama – I just think he’s rad. He’s such a dude. I remember going to see him in Edinburgh with my friend Diane. I was overwhelmed by his presence. This man travels constantly around the world and shares his teachings with hundreds, thousands and millions each year, yet he seems to maintain his powerful smile and an energy that I can only describe as golden.

I remember thinking how amazing it would be to shine so brightly. I thought about it for a while before it dawned on me that the Dalai Lama was someone who had dedicated his whole life to a daily spiritual practice and the only way to shine as brightly as he did was to follow my own.

What is a daily spiritual practice?

So, let’s get this straight, because I don’t want you feeling guilty or frustrated before we even get started. I know for a fact that many people get themselves wound up and annoyed because they find it difficult to maintain a meditation practice or make it to the yoga class they signed up for on time. And let me tell you, I have been in those shoes!

A daily spiritual practice (DSP) is a choice you make. It’s also a massive opportunity to recognize that you are more than just a body. It can be a chosen time daily when you sit in meditation as part of a yoga practice or an energy-healing session you give yourself. Although to be honest a DSP isn’t something you do once a day, it’s more an intention you have for the day.

You also invite yourself to recognize that intention at intervals throughout the day. This is because it’s so easy to start the day with positive intentions but then come across challenges or setbacks in the ‘real world’ that just make you forget what you intended. But when you cultivate that garden of your mind – when you begin your day by sowing the seeds of your intention and every time you come back to them during the day you invite them to grow – you will soon have beautiful flowers blooming in your mind and their sweet fragrance will spread through your life.

So, to keep it real and simple – because that’s really what spirituality is all about – a daily spiritual practice is setting positive intentions in your mind and coming back to them throughout the day to remind yourself of them and receive any internal guidance that is being offered to you.

Through maintaining a daily spiritual practice you will begin to raise your vibrations so that you give off bright, light and happy energy and experience the peace you deserve to feel and the life you deserve to live.

Spirituality and religion

Your daily spiritual practice doesn’t have to involve a god or a religion, by the way. It’s more about you and your connection to the universe. If you have a religious practice then you can combine it with what we’re doing here – there will be no conflict with your belief system because I’m simply encouraging you to recognize your light and feel more in touch with your own divinity.

Personally, I say I have no religion. Saying I follow one religion seems limiting when I’m fascinated by the fact there are so many roads of love and the divine out there. I am not religious, I am spiritual!

I do feel comfortable with the word ‘God’, but to make that energy feel more universal and open, I will call it ‘the universe’ or ‘the divine’ here, because it’s not one thing – it’s everything.

Let’s start now by looking in more detail at raising your vibration and what it can do for you.

‘If you will change your mind concerning anything and absolutely keep it changed, that thing must and will change too.’

EMMET FOX

You are the creator of your world. Everything you think, feel and express is literally moving out into the universe and creating the path before you. A thought is like a ripple when you drop a pebble into the water – it moves out and away from you, creating movements and changes in the field surrounding you.

Your thoughts are creating waves in your life. Just as a ripple moves out on the tide and comes back in a wave, so your thoughts come back to you. For that reason, you want to choose thoughts that are working for you, not against you.

We know that our thoughts are expressions of our feelings and we know that when we think about something we love, we feel good on the inside. We also know what it’s like to be plagued by something in our past. If we continue to think about it, we can be led into a state of deep despair.

Raising your vibes includes replacing the old thoughts you have about yourself and your life with better ones. And when you change your thoughts, you change your world.

I first heard about changing your thoughts through Louise Hay. She was one of the first spiritual authors I read and I instantly fell in love with her. In her life-changing work Louise helps us realize that we are literally writing our own story – we can choose to think loving thoughts about our life or we can choose to be stuck in fear. Essentially it’s our choice, but we know that one is going to be better than the other.

I recently did a talk in Freiburg, Germany, and a lady asked me for some guidance regarding her life. She wanted to know if it was her karma to spend the rest of her life without a partner. She was sitting in the front row with her three children, who were all in their teens, and as I looked at her, my heart burst with love. I knew instantly what was going on for her – she had been let down regularly in her life and in her relationships. As I tuned in to her vibration, I realized there was an unconscious story running in her mind and in her life.

Marion had been divorced after a long struggle in her marriage. Her husband had been unfaithful and had spent more time in ‘the office’ than he had with Marion and their children. Ultimately, he had let down his family, who had desperately wanted his love and approval, and the rejection had begun to affect Marion on an emotional level. Even though on the outside she was a great source of strength for her family, on the inside she felt worthless and alone.

When I tapped into her energy I could feel that she was telling herself a story much darker than the truth: she was saying that she wasn’t a good woman and she must have done something wrong. And at the same time she was feeling victimized and asking herself daily, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ and even ‘What have I done to deserve this?’

I told her, with as much diplomacy as possible, about her current thoughts and situation – and added that I knew exactly how to change it.

I could feel Marion’s angels holding her up and knew they were singing her praises. They wanted to thank her for being the loyal one and putting her family before herself. I told her this and how amazing she was as a person.

Then I discovered the thought process that was ultimately standing between Marion and a loving and supportive relationship.

‘You became so used to being rejected and hurt in your marriage that now you expect it from all relationships,’ I told her. ‘That’s why you aren’t manifesting a relationship in your life – because you’re expecting to be hurt and you know for certain you don’t want to be hurt again. This is placing huge walls around your heart and they are blocking you off from the love you deserve. You see, my friend, you deserve to love and be loved. You don’t have to do anything in order for it to occur and you don’t have to “work hard” to get it. Experiencing love is your divine right!’

At that moment Marion broke down and let go of much of the pain she was holding inside. Clairvoyantly I could see shadow energy (which had been created in her own mind) leaving her and golden light coming in and surrounding her. This was symbolic of her vibration rising.

Marion told me, ‘You’re right – I’m desperate for a relationship, but I have the feeling that I’m just going to be hurt again and it makes sense that that is acting as a block. But I’m ready to change the way I think and I’m grateful you have shown me how.’

Realizing what is preventing us from having the life we want is always the first step, but it’s not the miracle. The miracle lies in our capacity to change the way we think and rewrite our inner story. In this case, Marion had to recognize that she was deserving of love but also that not everyone was out to hurt her. She was encouraged to realize that she was a force of love and could raise her vibration and manifest the life she deserved.

The universe

The universe is a beautiful thing. It’s basically energy that is responding to our free will and most of the time we don’t even realize it. We don’t understand that we get to choose what sort of energy we give off, receive and surround ourselves with. It’s not a case of going, ‘I like that energy – give me that, please,’ it’s more how we feel that makes the choice for us. For example, if you’re going around feeling like a failure, then failing is going to be your story. If you’re going around feeling happy and contented even with small things, then you’ll continue along that pathway.

The universe is unlimited and has so much to offer us, but we live in a world of limitations. It sounds crazy when you think about it, but we’re led to believe that we can’t have what we want and even that we can lose everything we do have. That’s nothing but an illusion.

By choosing to raise our vibration, we are making a decision to move into a place that is filled with unlimited potential. We’re choosing to accept the unlimited energy the universe is willing to offer us.

Energy is never-ending – it will never cease to be. Even when our body dies, our energy will continue to live on. We are all part of the oneness of life and can move from the physical to the non-physical. Does that feel like a loss? It’s not a loss – when we move to a nonphysical state, we are moving back to our natural state of being.

The point is that when we accept that we are limitless and that we are always one with everything, we allow limitless possibility into our life. And that includes miracles.

Miracles

According to the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles, ‘Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.’ But so many of us find it hard to believe in them, and certainly don’t feel that we deserve them. Why?

We’ve been brought up in a world that measures everything and judges accordingly. So, other people measure up what we own, how much money we earn, what clothes we wear, what we look like, and so on, and we do the same. Generally this measuring system makes us feel that we’re not complete or not good enough. These feelings begin to write our inner story and the inner story tells us that we don’t deserve miracles. Anyway, miracles are limited – if we receive one, we’re depriving someone else of one. And that’s not fair.

It’s time to change this. It’s time to rewrite this story and cultivate a life that fulfils us on all levels – a life that is constantly open to miracles.

‘Miracles are not in competition, and the number of them that you can do is limitless.’

You deserve miracles in your life simply because you exist. As far as I’m concerned, we are all miracles in the first place and we can all create them in our life.

Quite simply, a miracle is a shift in perception – it’s a change in the way we think and ultimately it’s a change in our life. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic outer event – it can be a subtle inner shift that creates a feeling of wholeness and richness in our life.

No miracle is greater or smaller than the next. The changing of our thoughts is no greater miracle than the appearance of a holy master. Letting go of the measuring system is important here. If we see something as greater, we make it inaccessible in our mind, and if our mind creates our world, that means we make it inaccessible in our life.

‘It’s not how big the miracle is – it’s how much room you make for it.’

When you raise your vibration, you make room for miracles in your life. You prepare the space within yourself to receive love and support from the universe. And when you create a daily spiritual practice, you are basically taking the time to remind yourself that you deserve to be supported and you deserve miracles.

Spirit soaring

When you walk into a room to be met by a loved one you haven’t seen in a while, you feel overwhelmed with excitement. Your heart bursts open and you feel a deep sense of connectedness. On a bodily level, you want to hug them. You want to grab their hand, look into their eyes and smile. On a soul (vibrational) level, there’s a sense of recognition going on. Your soul knows theirs, you feel their light and you experience it within you.

The feeling of love that overwhelms you at such moments is something extremely special – it’s a reminder of your natural state. Your natural state is one of high vibration – that’s why it feels so good to love and be loved. Love is the very highest of vibrations and it’s what the universe is operating on. Anything that isn’t love – like fear or encountering an energy that is ‘negative’ – makes us feel on edge or want to walk in the opposite direction. That’s because this is the energy that is the furthest away from our natural state.

When you begin to raise your vibration, you follow what feels most natural to you. You spend less time on what feels uncomfortable, and if you do feel uncomfortable, a shift of thoughts and feelings occurs that guides you back to your natural state.

To give you an example, I love snowboarding and I love yoga. Both bring me a deep sense of excitement. Whether I’m practising yoga on a mat or I’m coming down a mountain at top speed, I feel a rush of life within me. I feel that I have everything and can do anything – essentially, I feel limitless. In this state of sheer delight I become connected to possibility, I raise my vibration and I attune to the universe. I can also direct my energy into what’s working for me and let go of what’s not. I’m able to set intentions and work towards my goals.

Gratitude

So, high vibes are a natural state that we experience when we’re doing something we love or are surrounded by people we love. We also can move into this state by being grateful.

Gratitude is a miracle in itself. It’s a phenomenal recognition of what we have and it makes us feel full. And seeing that our cup isn’t full but overflowing will raise our vibrations even more.

When I work with audiences, I set the intention that whatever we gain from the experience will be to the benefit of all sentient beings through time and space. Through service we are raising our vibration because we are offering whatever kindness we feel or whatever blessings we receive to others.

I also encourage each member of the audience to think about someone or something in their life that they are grateful for. Through gratitude we are moving back to the heart and experiencing love. And love has the highest vibration of all…

‘Spiritual advancement is not measured by one’s outward powers, but only by the depth of his bliss in meditation.’

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA

Have you seen the signs? Have you seen repetitive numbers on your clock, phone, car dashboard, even a receipt from the store? Numbers like 1:11, 2:22, 3:33? Personally, I’ve seen them everywhere. It even started to freak out my friends at one point when my full tank of fuel kept coming to perfect number sequences like £44.44. At first I thought that these sequences were angels saying hello, but in more recent times I’ve come to realize that there’s a larger-scale operation going on. These numbers aren’t coincidences – they are messages from the universe inviting us to be ambassadors of positive change, or what people know as lightworkers.

A lightworker is someone who is here to make a positive difference to the world. I believe that before coming to Earth, all lightworkers consciously chose to awaken at this time to direct the world into a new age that would be honest and filled with peace, and know a love that was divine.

There is also a call of need moving through the universe at this time. Your own need to create a life of integrity and love is also something you chose before you came here. And your conscious choice to make your life more positive is actually your response to the inner call of the universe.