We wanted to share this amazing and insightful chat with renowned Spiritual Teacher Eckhart Tolle as he offers us his advice to navigate during these turbulent times.
Our friends from the Positive Living Network have a competition for our readers: We have two tickets to give away for Sonia’s workshop on Saturday, November 11th in Dublin. Just follow us on Facebook or Twitter, share this post and tag us to let us know!
By Aisling Cronin
What are you hoping to explore during your workshop in Ireland?
The theme of my talk is ‘Ask Your Guides’, which I think is very relevant to our world today. Our biggest problem right now is that people feel isolated and unsupported, and this brings about a lot of fear. So if we have a direct experience of support and guidance, so much creativity, healing and love can come from that. We need to know that we are supported and loved, and we need to know how to access that. So I am very excited to come over and teach people how to feel that sense of support and guidance in their lives.
What is your number one piece of advice for those who are hoping to become more attuned to their intuition?
My number one piece of advice is to get out of your head and be open to the reality that your heart is far more intelligent and far more capable of guiding you. There is a place for our logic and our intellect, and we do need them. However, that place is not to fight with or destroy our spirit. We must use our hearts as our guiding compass in life.
You have written a wide variety of books throughout your career. Which of them stands out to you as being particularly significant?
One of my earliest books was called Ask Your Guides, and I think of it as the ‘manual’ for how to connect with spirit guides. Another book that stands out for me is Tune In: Follow Your Intuition to Fulfilment and Flow, which is extremely relevant today, as so many people are experiencing incongruence between what their heart truly wants, and what they actually experience in their daily lives. Tune In helps you to move away from what isn’t working and reconnect to your spirit, so things can begin to flow and work for you.
Over the course of your years as a spiritual teacher, what do you feel has changed or deepened in your practice, and what has stayed the same?
What has stayed the same is my conviction that our hearts are brilliant, our intuition is indispensable, and we have to trust and follow our hearts and intuition if we are going to lead lives of deep satisfaction and integrity. What has changed is my increased capacity for deep compassion, patience and love. My experiences have helped me to grow into a more loving human being. That is what I have always aspired to be, and I think, to some degree, I can see that happening in my life. I am so grateful for that.
‘Ask Your Guides’ will take place at the CityNorth Hotel, 15 minutes north of Dublin Airport, on Saturday 11th November 2017.
For additional information and booking, go to: positivelivingnetwork.com
Last few hours to join the competition for two tickets to give away for Deva & Miten’s concert September 22nd, 2017 at the RDS in Dublin. Just follow us on Facebook or Twitter, share this post and tag us to let us know!
We wanted to share the original interview with Paul and these two amazing souls! Check it out below and follow us on SoundCloud!
Maureen Simon is the founder of The Essential Feminine Company, an online women’s empowerment organisation which has helped over 40,000 women around the world to experience a greater degree of business and personal success. She is also the author of ‘Awakening the Essential Feminine: Claiming Your Influential Power.’ On September the 7th, 2017, she joined us for an enchanting experience at Positive Nights, where she shared her thoughts on the power of feminine energy, why this energy is currently on the rise across the globe, and how individuals can balance the masculine and feminine within themselves.
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John Lockley – a traditional African/Irish Sangoma (shaman) from the Xhosa tribe of South Africa – joined us at Positive Nights on the 31st of August 2017. We wanted to share this recording of his remarkable interview with Paul on that night, where he talked about a wide variety of subjects, including his early life in apartheid-era South Africa, how he came to accept his Sangoma calling, and the importance of dreams. John’s new book ‘Leopard Warrior,’ which describes his incredible journey, will be released later this year. He will be leading a retreat at Aloha House in Co. Kerry on September 22nd, and is also available in Dublin for private healing and divination sessions. You can find out more about his services at his website, www.johnlockley.com.
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Autumn is here and festival season is winding down, but the Spirit of Folk festival, taking place on the 9th and 10th of September in Dunderry Park, Co. Meath, is one gem you don’t want to miss. We are giving away two tickets to this fantastic festival. Simply follow Positive Life on Facebook or Twitter, share this post on your Facebook or Twitter page and tag @positivelifemag so we know! A winner will be selected soon. Good luck!
By Aisling Cronin
The Spirit of Folk festival, originally founded in 2011, has become renowned as a must-go venue for upcoming folk music acts. In addition, the festival provides spiritual seekers with a wide range of activities to enjoy, including drumming circles, shamanic workshops, and a variety of inspiring talks by some leading names in the world of druidry, shamanism, and transpersonal psychology.
This year, the festival will take place in Dunderry Park, Co. Meath, on Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th of September. Dunderry Park is home to The Transpersonal Institute and the Irish Centre for Shamanic Studies, which offer a wide variety of courses on shamanism, yoga, counselling, transpersonal psychology, and more. All talks at the Spirit of Folk festival will be based on this theme. Ahead of this exciting weekend, we spoke to Martin Duffy, co-founder of the festival, to learn about the many events that festival attendees can expect.
We hear that Dunderry Park is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, so that must make this year’s festival extra significant!
Yes – that’s why we’re running it this year. We had put a hold on the festival last year, as we wanted the land to recover, but this year, we’re really fine-tuning the idea of Spirit of Folk being a holistic festival. This is why we’ve made it a non-alcohol event. The ethos of the Centre is more about people getting into themselves than getting outside of themselves, which is an effect that alcohol tends to have.
What are you most looking forward to about the festival?
What I am most looking forward to is the gathering of people who have been coming and going to the Centre for the last twenty years. We’ll have a huge drumming circle and a speakers’ tent, with speakers such as Professor Ivor Browne, Jungian therapist Jasbinder Garnermann, and myself and Annette Peard will be doing a druid ceremony and talking about transpersonal vision. There will be folk music, of course, and a play taking place on our woodland stage. We like to promote upcoming bands that don’t have an opportunity to perform in many other places. It’s centred around folk, blues, and traditional types of music. There will also be storytelling with Eddie Hanahan and others in a little cairn that we have in one of our fields, which fits about forty people. We will also have childrens’ activities taking place throughout the weekend.
Can you tell us more about what yourself and Annette will be doing?
Annette and I will be doing the opening ceremony – a druid ceremony – which will be celebrating the autumn equinox. Annette works as a druidess, so she will be doing a ceremony that involves honouring the earth and the ancestors, and everybody will get to participate in this ceremony. She’ll also be talking about druidry in modern times, and how relevant it is in our world today.
How do you hope the festival continues to grow and develop in the years ahead?
We are going to look at this year as a template for going forward, where we can have a festival that is somewhat different to many other summer festivals, in the sense that it would be a holistic, child-friendly, and animal-friendly event, that isn’t centred around alcohol.
The Spirit of Folk Festival is taking place on the 9th and 10th of September 2017 in Dunderry Park, Navan, Co. Meath. For more information about the festival programme and booking details, see spiritoffolk.ie. To learn more about Dunderry Park, the Transpersonal Institute, and the Irish Centre for Shamanic Studies, go to www.dunderrypark.org.
By Orla Bass
James French is the founder of the Trust Technique, a simple technique derived from the understandings of Animal Communication and Reiki healing, that he and his partner Shelley teach to animal owners and rescue centres around the world. James’ dream is that all humans learn to treat animals with mindful regard, using trust rather than fear as their point of connection.
The Trust Technique recognises that animals and humans share feelings, and is based on the belief that through mindful interaction, anyone can learn the simple skill set to communicate with their animal and create a peaceful, confident and trustful relationship. James’ connection with animals began at an early age. He admits he was incredibly fortunate to have had a challenging childhood. His family experienced a lot of pain and upset. However, for James, this meant that he discovered a healing connection with the animals that surrounded him on the family farm. These animals were his lifeline, supporting him during those turbulent times. He now believes that the Trust Technique was first shown to him by the compassionate support of the animals through these childhood connections.
Our emotions impact theirs, and their behavioural issues can result from a lack of understanding of their needs. The Trust Technique is about teaching people to help their animal. For James, “you can’t just go and mend an animal. If you don’t change the environment, the animal will revert to its old behaviour.” They have a saying that “sensitivities never leave but they can be transformed.” Through mindful regard and unconditional love even the most troubled soul – animal or human – can find solace.