Tag: meditation

Categories
Health & Nutrition Self-care

My 6 AM Morning Routine For Energy & Productivity

morning routine in the ice bath

I am not someone who naturally wakes up in a good mood. Quite the opposite. A lot of mornings I actually wake up with a lot of anxiety, and sometimes depression. I swear I could sleep most days until noon if I let myself. To combat this, I’ve developed a morning routine for optimal energy and productivity.

A quick disclaimer

Let me make something clear: My morning routine is not rigid. My morning routine may change based on my hormonal cycle or sleep patterns. It usually changes based on the season as well.

I am certainly not trying to tell you how to live or what you should do for your morning routine. Everybody is different, and this is just what works for me right now.

6 AM wake-up call

As someone who loves to sleep, waking up is always the hardest part of my day. However, there are a few tricks I’ve come up with to make sure I get out of bed on time.

It starts with the night before when I put my phone on airplane mode and set my alarm clock. When the alarm goes off at 5:45 AM, I hit snooze and give myself until 6 AM to sleep. Those extra 15 minutes give me the satisfaction of the snooze button, but to ensure that I actually wake up, I have a little trick that I want to share with you.

My early bird life hack

To make sure I actually get out of bed at 6 AM, I came up with a strategy that guarantees I wake up on time: I pay for an early workout class that I put on my calendar, which forces me to make that commitment and get myself up. This holds me accountable, because if I’ve already paid for a workout then I know I’ll be eating money if I don’t show up.

My 6:30 AM HIIT workout at DMN8 in Santa Monica

HIIT or hot yoga comes first

Moving my body first thing in the morning is essential for me. I switch every other day between hot yoga and HIIT training. This is the perfect balance between strength & cardio and mobility & recovery.

On this particular day, I am going to a HIIT workout. After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I head out the door by 6:15 AM and drive to Santa Monica Beach to make my 6:30 AM DMN8 workout. No matter how hard I try, I usually end up being just one or two minutes late. There’s always a water bottle to fill or that one red light that slows me down. If I didn’t love hitting that snooze button so much, I think I would definitely make it on time!

Exercising for my mental health

Kick-starting my day with a challenge and a good sweat is always worth it. As someone who sometimes wakes up not feeling my best, choosing to start my day with a workout or hot yoga, helps me shift my mood immediately.

It may be a challenge, but there’s something about getting out of the mind and into the body that builds my confidence. I always leave my workout feeling like I can take on anything!

morning routine workout
I alternate every other day between hot yoga and HIIT training. This helps me have a balance between strength & cardio and mobility & recovery.

The ice bath

When I get home from my workout at 8 AM, I gear up for one of the most extreme parts of my morning routine: the ice bath.

I usually start with some movement exercises to get myself ready, which may include some very weird shaking movements, but I swear it helps get that adrenaline pumping to take on the ice. 

morning routine ice bath
Before getting in the 40-degree (Fahrenheit) ice bath, I do some shaking and movement exercises.

I choose to incorporate cold therapy in my daily routine for many reasons. First of all, doing ice baths has done absolute wonders for my mental health. The ice bath teaches me how to find contentment and presence, even in a challenging and uncomfortable situation, which is such incredible training for life! 

Learn more about why I still do ice baths and the Wim Hof Method!

In addition, the ice bath is fantastic for strengthening the immune system. Research has shown that cold therapy increases white blood cells, which help fight disease, and significantly reduces inflammation in the body.

morning routine ice bath
I spend 2-3 minutes in the ice bath while staying focused on my breath and gratitude

Time to slow down

From 8:15 – 8:30 AM, I treat myself to a warm shower. Shifting from the ice bath to one of the more relaxing parts of my morning routine always feels like stepping into a new reality.

morning routine bed making
I cannot start my workday without making my bed and cleaning my room.

I also love using this calming time after my shower to clean my room and make my bed. Honestly, I cannot start my workday until my bed is made and my space is clutter-free.

Red light therapy, journlaing, and meditation

By 8:40 AM, I dive into some infrared light therapy. This incredible practice has so many benefits including regulating circadian rhythms, promoting anti-aging, improving our skin and cellular health.

morning routine red light therapy
Journaling and meditation in infrared light therapy

I use this time bathing in the red light to get clear on my intentions and to do some journaling. I use a lot of journaling techniques I learned from my mindset coach.

Then, I call in the energy I want to attract for the day and do my Dr. Joe Dispenza meditations until around 9 AM.

I love Dr. Joe Dispenza’s meditations in the morning!

Morning nutrients

At 9:15 AM, I head on over to my juice bar to make some cucumber juice. This has been my go-to summertime drink because it’s super cooling and refreshing. 

morning routine cucumber juice
Cucumber juice has been my go-to summertime drink! after drinking this, I wait at least 15 minutes before having anything else.

Then, at 9:20 AM, I slow down with a warm drink I invented. I call it “The Blue Zone Drink” because I make it from this special Maya nut powder I found in Nicoya, Costa Rica, which is a “blue zone.” The Blue Zones are areas of the world where residents live the longest, healthiest lives.

The Maya nut has been shown to improve longevity and includes tons of nutrients and minerals including fiber, zinc, potassium, magnesium, protein, iron, and copper. 

morning routine Blue Zone drink
The Blue Zone drink is made with Maya nut powder!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need if you’d like to blend your own Blue Zone Drink at home:

Although the Blue Zone drink can be a little chalky, it’s still pretty tasty and knowing that it’s packed with nutrition, makes it a little easier to drink. Since I quit caffeine, this has been a great coffee alternative.

Wrapping up my morning routine

morning routine work schedule
I usually start working by 9:30 or 10.

From 9:30 – 10:00 AM, I head into my home office and get to work. I usually give myself a good two hours of productivity before treating myself to the final part of my morning routine…

Breakfast!

Is it really a morning routine until you’ve had your avocado toast? I know this is basic AF, but there’s a reason why we all love avocado toast so much! 

morning routine breakfast
I do fine with gluten, as long as I get high-quality sourdough bread, which I pick up on Sundays from the local farmer’s market.
My morning routine is not rigid

I want to make it clear that I am not in any way “rigid” or “strict” about this routine. This happens to be working well for me right now, but my morning routine often shifts and changes based on the season. My morning routine may also change based on my hormonal cycle or sleep patterns.

Especially during my luteal and menstruation phase, I am a lot more gentle with myself. During this time I usually do a lot more yoga than HIIT workouts and I give myself plenty of rest and sleep. This is really important to consider being a woman with a shifting hormonal system called the infradian rhythm.

I also want to mention that this is my typical morning routine during weekdays. On weekends I definitely give myself more time to sleep and move slower. I have found it super helpful to take plenty of time to rest and slow down during the weekends so that I have plenty of energy to tackle the workweek.

Reflecting on my morning routine

Although my morning routine may shift and flow based on the time of the month or the season, I have found it highly beneficial to commit to some type of morning routine on most days. From getting myself to a 6:30 AM workout, to diving into that ice bath and taking time to set intentions and meditate, my morning routine sets me up for how I want to feel for the rest of the day.

My morning routine has massively improved my energy, productivity, and how I feel.

Watch the full YouTube video here!
Categories
Alternative Living Spirituality

I Went To Witch School To Learn Magic For Manifestation

Modern Witches With Broom & Cauldron
Mia Magik is a modern witch who teaches witchcraft and magic for manifestation.

I went to Witch School to learn how to use magic for manifestation, which turned out to help me transform my life and manifest some pretty incredible things. 

Most of us have been told our whole lives that magic isn’t real and that witches are evil. But after making several videos about witchcraft throughout the past two years, I have met a lot of lovely witches and I have witnessed how magic can actually work.

So I decided to try Witch School and see if I could take my magical powers up a notch.

What is Witch School?

Witch School is an online course created by a modern witch named Mia Magik. Mia has been studying witchcraft for more than eight years and is trained in 13 different healing modalities. 

According to her website, Witch School teaches “ancient tools for a magikal modern life,” through topics such as astrology, rituals, chakras, herbology, achieving abundance, and magic for meditation.

Why did I sign up for Witch School?

Ever since I met Mia and started making videos with her, a lot of magical things have happened in my life. This made me very curious to learn more about witchcraft and try her Witch School to see what might happen.

Week 1: The Witch Wound

The first week of Witch School included a lot of history. We learned about something called “The Witch Wound,” which is basically the result of witches being demonized, oppressed, and tortured for centuries.

Mia really uncovered a lot of history to understand the context of why this happened and why the witch wound is still so present in the collective unconscious. Much of it goes back to control and power.

A History Lesson

Once upon a time witches were the wise-people of the community. They were respected and held ancient knowledge of folklore, connection with spirits, herbal medicine, and unique rituals to invoke the power of the natural world.

During the rise of Christianity is when the mass persecution of witches began as a way for the church to gain power over Pagan and Celtic beliefs. Between the years 1500 and 1660, about 80,000 suspected witches were put to death in Europe. 

Around 80 percent of witchcraft victims were women.

An accused witch going through the judgement trial, where she is dunked in water to prove her guilt of practicing witchcraft.

Then came the famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, which mirrored much of what was still happening in Europe.

Even today, in some parts of the world there are still people being persecuted for witchcraft, many of whom are women. 

The Hollywood Witch
The Wicked Witch of the West. The classic “Hollywood” witch.

We’ve all seen how witches are portrayed in TV and movies. They are terrifying! Hollywood and the media have played a huge role in reinforcing scary and negative stereotypes of witches. 

Ever since I was a little girl I was so naturally curious about witchcraft. It was something I was intuitively drawn to, but I pushed it away because of how witches were shown to me in movies and TV shows. I was scared of it. 

But now, re-exploring this childhood curiosity as an adult, I am awakening to why this stuff was exciting to me when I was little.

Dressing up as a “good witch” on Halloween.

I think that’s part of why during the first meditation, I had such a powerful experience. It really blew my mind. The opening meditation of Witch School was a total awakening for me and it was emotional. It was like I was remembering this innate knowing that I’ve always felt, but just forgot. 

“Your magik is going to connect with you… show itself to you. Whatever guidance you are supposed to receive will come to you.” 

Mia Magik
The Witchy Basics

The first half of Witch School was a lot of foundational knowledge. We learned about astrology, symbology in animals and nature, the Chakra system, moon cycles, how to communicate with the language of the Universe, how to cast a circle and spellcast, and lots of Witch 101 stuff. 

As a beginner witch (or a baby witch, as I like to call myself) this was all very exciting, but a little overwhelming because we were just learning so many things so fast. I bought a new notebook at the beginning of the course and quickly filled it up in about two weeks because I was taking so many notes! 

The Science of Magic

During Witch School I also read a book called “Real Magic” by Dean Radin, Ph.D. This book opened my eyes to some of the scientific literature that exists on how intention and belief actually can affect outcomes. For anyone looking for more science and evidence-based information on how witchcraft and magical practice actually works, I highly recommend this book. 

I’m someone who learns by doing, so getting into the action during the second half of Witch School was exciting to me. I was finally about to see how use witchcraft and real magic for manifestation.

Magic for Manifestation

The second half of Witch School was learning to work with the elements of nature, which is foundational to most witchcraft lineages.

Because the earth element represents our earthly reality including home, finances, etc. I figured this was the perfect time to work on manifesting a new home since my lease was up on my apartment in LA. 

So I prepared a new home abundance ritual. I tried a channeled writing practice and wrote out all of the things I desired in a new home as if I already have moved in! (This is key).

About one week later, I was having a conversation about moving into a new home that matched exactly what I had written down. About a month later, I moved into my dream new home. I could barely believe it! I literally used magic for manifestation…

This was a huge signal to me that magic might actually work…

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…

Another practice that we learned in Witch School was mirror work, where you basically stare at yourself in the mirror and have a conversation with yourself. Many people are familiar with affirmations, but this is a bit different. It’s more like a deep conversation with yourself. 

I imagined my “Higher Self” speaking directly to me and channeled whatever I needed to hear. This was a little weird at first, but it turned out being quite an empowering process. 

Practicing a mirror ritual and channeling my “Higher Self.”
Sex Magik

During Week 8 of Witch School, we learned about the water element. Water represents out emotions and our sensuality. This is why the week we were learning about the water element, we did a sex magik ritual. It was very intense…

The “sex magik” ritual was quite intense.

This ritual is a little hard to explain. It’s basically using breathwork to cultivate orgasmic energy for the purpose of manifestation. It was a sacred and safe space to be free and wild in my pleasure and sexuality and it was super powerful to give this time and energy to myself.

Recently my love life has been flourishing, which I see as another sign that magic for manifestation might actually work.

Divination

The air element represents our thoughts, our psychic powers, and the way our mind interprets this material reality. So during this week, we learned about divination. Divination is basically our connection to our psychic abilities. 

Back in my witch tent, I tried the divination ritual and received so many downloads and insights. I spent some time journaling what came through and then decided to pull out my deck of angel cards.

Something very peculiar happened… 

I pulled the exact same three cards that I pulled a week before… Was this a coincidence? Or was this magic? 

It didn’t feel like a coincidence to me. I shuffled them a ton and out of the ENTIRE deck of cards, I pulled the same three cards again? What?

It was clear that perhaps I should pay attention to the messages on these cards. 

The same three angel cards I pulled two weeks in a row. The deeper meanings of these cards really spoke to me.
Burn, Baby Burn!

During fire week, we learned that the fire element can be powerful for manifestation but also for burning away and letting go of the things that no longer serve us. 

I utilized the fire element to help me release limiting beliefs that were holding me back. One of those limiting beliefs is the guilt I sometimes have around pleasure and desire. I am still working on letting this go, but during the fire ritual, it’s definitely something I set the intention to burn away.  

Unlocking My Magical Powers

Overall, this was a super transformative experience for me. I can’t believe that I manifested my dream home and I have also seen other areas of my life improve as well. My love life is flourishing and I have been making more money than I ever have as an entrepreneur! 

I still have a long way to go and lots that I am working on, but I know that magic and witchcraft will continue to be tools that I cultivate and utilize for the rest of my life. 

I am super excited to learn more about using witchcraft and magic for manifestation.

A Few Notes

It’s important to note that there are so many different types of witchcraft and practitioners who use magic for all sorts of things. This was just one representation of the craft.

The price of Witch School

One thing that’s important to address is the cost of Witch School, because it’s not necessarily cheap. The full price at the time when I went was $555. Now, Mia actually restructured it so now it’s in two 6-week parts for $333 each.

Price wise and time wise, this definitely feels more doable to me because one of the challenging parts of Witch School was that it was so long. I think six weeks is actually a perfect length for this course. 

From my perspective, I believe that spiritual teachers should be compensated properly for their time, energy, and gifts. Mia has been studying for more than 10 years and has invested thousands of dollars and hours into her growth as a teacher, and has put a ton of energy into creating this course. Money is just the way we currently exchange our energy, so this makes sense to me.

By no means is Witch School something that you need. However, it’s a really cool experience and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about witchcraft, magic and manifestation. If you have the extra money to spend on yourself, this can be a powerful investment.

If you want to try Witch School be sure to use my code: SKY for 10% off! 

Mia also offers scholarships and payment plans for those who may need some financial support to attend Witch School. Email team@miamagik.com to learn more. 

Categories
Mindfulness Self-care

I Hired A “Mindset Coach” And Couldn’t Believe the Results

I never planned or expected to “hire a coach.” To be honest, I sort of thought that any type of “life coach” was a bit of a scam. But after working with a mindset coach for the past four months, I can honestly say that I feel quite differently now.

Why I “hired” a mindset coach (it sort of fell into my lap!)

Let me explain how this all went down. At the end of the summer, I received a random email in my inbox from a woman named Christina Spinazola, who told me that she is a “mindset coach” and felt strongly that I am someone who would “thrive” with this kind of coaching. 

At first, I was both confused and skeptical. Mindset coach? What does that even mean?

But what made me give Christina a chance is that she is also a big fan of Dr. Joe Dispenza. She explained that her style of coaching aligns with quantum physics and many of the models that Dr. Joe discusses. Because I have grown so much through learning about Dr. Joe and doing his meditations consistently, I warmed up to Christina. And when she offered me four months of FREE coaching… I could not pass up the opportunity.

I went into this with an open mind, to just see what might happen.

Meet my mindset coach Christina!
My amazing mindset coach, Christina Spinazola!

My mindset coach Christina Spinazola is a certified professional coach and a master practitioner in the Energy Leadership Index Assessment. She is young, adventurous, super smart, and found her passion for coaching during her own healing journey. You can read more about Christina on her website.

Christina has helped me get tangible results in my life through mindset coaching and I can’t believe how much of a transformation I have experienced throughout the past four months of working with her.

If you’ve been following Sky Life for a while you’ll know that I am super into personal development, meditation, manifestation, and mindset. I have tried all different types of wellness, spiritual, and personal development methods and modalities to improve my physical and mental health.

Some of what I have tried, I hold onto and continue with… like Dr. Joe Dispenza meditations… and others I never bother doing again, like this artificial intelligence workout bike named CAROL.

So when I began trying out mindset coaching with Christina, I had no idea what to expect or what kind of results I might see, if any.

Tangible Results

Before I continue and discuss how mindset coaching works, I want to list some of the real results that have come into my life since working with Christina. I am certainly not claiming that all of these things are a direct result of mindset coaching because there is no way to measure that. However, I strongly believe that mindset work has been a major contributing factor to all of this goodness coming into my life!

Granted, I am also in Witch School right now with Mia Magik, but I am not sure if the magic would be working as strongly if I didn’t have the mindset work to back it up.

So here are some REAL results that I have seen over the past four months:

  1. Subscriber growth on YouTube has doubled (per month)
  2. Revenue has increased significantly
  3. “Manifested” my dream new home
  4. “Manifested” a FREE, luxury vacation to Costa Rica
  5. Experienced the most magical New Year’s of my life

And these results did not happen because I was working more hours, strategizing, and taking more action. Christina helped me shift my beliefs above all else and actually do less. Wait… what?! How does that work?!

How does mindset coaching work?
Journaling exercises have been a huge part of working with my mindset coach.

Mindset coaching helps us witness and look at our thoughts objectively and with neutrality, so we can decide if our thoughts are serving us or hurting us.

“We think about 60-80 thousand thoughts per day,” Christina said. “But most of those thoughts are subconscious, meaning they happen on autopilot.”

Depending on our conditioning, it’s likely that our autopilot thoughts are not serving us. They are keeping us stuck. Mindset coaching is about taking back the steering wheel and deciding how we actually want to think and feel. It’s taking our power back to become the boss of our monkey mind and decide how we want to think and therefore live.

So often, we think that we need to take more action to get the results we want in life. However, all of these results truly start at a thought level. In order to change our results, we must start with our thoughts and beliefs.

I was definitely stuck in this limited way of thinking, where I believed that if I wasn’t working myself into the ground that I couldn’t possibly succeed. I am shocked and thrilled to say that these tangible results actually all happened when I started doing less and focused on being more.

What I did to change my mindset

Christina and I meet every week for a one-hour session. She helps me bring neutrality and objectivity to my beliefs and thoughts and see things from a different perspective. This is a game-changer when it comes to those pesky limiting beliefs that we all carry. Sometimes we can’t even see our own limitations. Christina is like my objective accountability buddy to call me out and question my own blocks and limiting beliefs. In doing this work, we have to be willing to get uncomfortable and take a hard look at ourselves. But that is where the growth comes from.

Journaling Exercises

Journaling exercises have been a huge part of this journey for me. I still wake up nearly every morning with anxiety. But instead of letting that dictate the rest of my day, I’ve learned that I have the ability to transform and transmute that anxiety into excitement.

I write down all of my “junky thoughts,” as Christina calls them, simply to identify what’s going on in my brain. Then, I work on my “bridge thoughts,” which are simply new thoughts that open me up to possibility, instead of limitations.

Shifting from limitation to possibility.

By simply writing, “It’s possible that…”  and coming up with a few ideas around pure potentiality and possibility, I am amazed at how quickly my brain and body can shift from anxiety to excitement. When we step out of fear and worry into possibility and excitement, we decide to live in a new dimension where we align our frequency to new outcomes that we may have been shutting ourselves off from before.

Quantum meditation
Dr. Joe Dispenza’s guided meditations are a great tool for mindset work.

Although meditation is not necessarily required or a part of Christina’s mindset coaching program, it’s something that has become complementary and important for me to really maximize the benefits of working with her.

Because mindset coaching is very aligned with quantum physics and the quantum model of the Universe, Dr. Joe Dispenza’s meditations have been a staple for me throughout the past four months. I typically do the “morning meditation” on most mornings, and I sometimes do his “evening meditation” as well. If you want to learn more about Dr. Joe, my go-to source is Gaia, the world’s largest streaming platform for conscious media. It’s basically like the “Netflix of spirituality.”

Would I recommend mindset coaching?

From my experience, I have absolutely loved mindset coaching with Christina and plan to continue working with her. Based on the results I have seen and how different I feel, I would absolutely recommend mindset coaching with Christina. If you want to sign up for her group coaching program Uninspired to Unstoppable (starting this month) here’s the link. With that being said, I always say this with everything that I try… I cannot promise or predict if this will work for you or not. But if you feel the call, then why not give it a try?

To learn more about my experience trying a mindset coach, watch my YouTube video about it! 

Categories
Alternative Living Spirituality

The Witch Who Changed My Life

Mia Magik and Sky
Mia Magik and Sky connecting in the mountains of Topanga, California

Meet Mia Magik, a manifesting witch and an ambassador for modern magic.

Mia Magik is a modern-day witch and practices witchcraft and magic to manifest the life of her dreams. She also makes a living teaching others how to do the same with her Witch School.

“All I want to do is help people believe in magic because magic has changed and saved my life.”

Mia Magik

I met Mia through the spiritual community in Los Angeles and was always fascinated by her and drawn to her magnetic energy. I didn’t know that eventually, we would connect on a much deeper level and she would help me unlock a piece of my heart that I didn’t even know was locked up.

My Witchcraft Journey

Ever since I was a little girl I remember being particularly drawn to spiritual, witchy things. Growing up in Beverly, Massachusetts, the town right next door to Salem, Massachusetts, known as the “Witch City” where the famous Witch Trials of 1692 occurred, I was always deeply fascinated by this topic. 

But sometime early on, I pushed away this innate curiosity because of the stigma and societal judgment surrounding the topic of witchcraft. Hollywood, the media, and the church have a long history of portraying witchcraft as evil and making it seem wrong, scary, and something to fear. It’s been completely misunderstood and I always knew there must be more to the stereotype of the witch.  

So last October, I decided to revisit my childhood curiosity of witchcraft and spend some time learning witchcraft from real practicing witches in Los Angeles where I live. I learned so much about the history of witchcraft and why those who practice it today seem to resonate with this belief system and practice.

What I learned is that witchcraft is extremely connected to the elements of nature. This really appealed to me.

Manifesting with Magic

This October, I wanted to take things a bit further and learn more about how I might actually be able to apply witchcraft to my life. And that’s where Mia comes in because she is using witchcraft to truly manifest the life of her dreams. 

Manifestation is a buzzword we hear all the time and make jokes about. But when I witness people who seem to be manifestation pros, I want all their secrets.

Mia Magik is one of those humans and someone I needed to learn more about. So I headed into the mountains of Topanga, California, to spend the day with this modern witch and see how she lives her life.

I arrived in Topanga Canyon at 10 in the morning on a Tuesday. We were up in the mountains at Mia’s beautiful home. As I walked down the driveway towards the door, I noticed a casual red Range Rover in the driveway. I wondered if it was Mia’s and I later found out that of course, it was.

Mia welcomed me and my videographer, Caitlin, into her home and immediately began showing us around what she calls, “The Priestess Palace.”

“I just wanted to create a space where me and one or two sisters can make magic together and be in our practice together,” she said. “We’ve had rage rituals in here, we’ve had sex magic rituals in here, we’ve had all the things in here.”

Rage rituals? Sex magic rituals? My curiosity meter was peaking. I needed to experience these practices for myself. 

You can watch the full video here to see my day with Mia Magik, but here in this blog post, I want to dive a little bit deeper regarding what happened during the sex magic ritual… because shit got deep real fast. 

Watch my day with Mia Magik!
The Sex Magic Ritual

I sat down with Mia and her witchy sister Hannah Marie to participate in a “sex magic ritual” using an orgasmic breathwork method. Mia explained that we would be doing sex magic without actual sex. We wouldn’t be touching ourselves or doing anything crazy. We would just be working with “the energy of sex,” or the creative energy.

“You can do sex magic with the energy of sexuality because sexual energy is the creative energy. It’s what gives life and brings life.” Mia explained.

“So you can do sex magic without ever touching yourself because it’s just bringing that energy in, that free-flowing pleasure and feeling the joy and the bliss and the openness.”

Mia asked me to think about something that felt important to call into my life. I immediately said, “more financial abundance.” She asked me to imagine a symbol that represents that to me and I told her “gold.” She then instructed me to imagine everything in gold as we moved through the practice and as the energy “reached my crown,” or the crown chakra at the top of the head.

The breathwork technique that Mia taught me was a very simple free flowing breath with free movement. She instructed me to simply feel freedom and pleasure as we breathed and moved.

Very quickly into the ritual, I started feeling the effects. I could feel the joy, the bliss, and the pleasure. It felt so good and so natural.

After only about 10 minutes of breathing, we stopped breathing and just settled into this blissful, joyful presence. It was at this moment as the waters settled, that I experienced something that I’ve only experienced a handful of times in my life. With this sense of clarity, I experienced a moment of pure remembrance. One of those Divine moments that hits you straight in the heart and the gut.

My moment of remembrance

As I was sitting with Mia and Hannah, looking into the eyes at the beautiful, strong, powerful women holding this sacred space together, it hit me so hard. I broke down.

A huge wave of remembering hit me and I felt all sorts of feels: joy and gratitude, but also a deep sadness for the world and this wisdom that seems to have gotten lost or been wrongfully taken away over the years. 

“We’ve had our power stripped away. Women need each other like this,” I said. 

The wisdom they were sharing with me, felt so innate and so real in my heart. This moment with them felt so primal and cosmic at the same time. 

“Your souls are like telling me ancient wisdom that’s been taken away or something. You’re literally giving me the gift of this wisdom that’s so real it’s crazy.”

In a world that doesn’t seem to make any sense right now, this moment made perfect sense to me.

Of course it makes sense to align with nature, the elements, and honor the Mother. Of course it makes sense to breathe with pure gratitude and pleasure. Of course, it makes sense to create space for sacred sisterhood to allow each other to feel deeply and support each other.

How could I forget this wisdom? 

Mia told me that the same experience happened to her once upon a time. She told me that when she exclaimed her remembrance to her spiritual teacher at the time, he responded with this, “We are designed to forget and the mission is to remember.” 

These moments of remembering are what motivate me. We all experience the world differently, but we must find these moments that make sense to our souls. The moments that fill us up with so much love, joy, connection, gratitude, and remembering are what we need most right now.

It just makes sense.

Right now, Mia Magik is offering the Sky Life Vibe Tribe 10% OFF her Magic School! USE CODE SKY for 10% off Mia’s Witch School so you can learn how to use witchcraft and magic to manifest all your dreams and desires 😉

Categories
Alternative Living

Inside California’s New Age Hippie Movement

When we think of the word “hippie,” we may hold a certain stereotype in our minds. We may conjure up images of peace signs, tie-dye, Woodstock, or psychedelics. Maybe we think of modern-day hippies rubbing crystals and meditating, or talking about astrology and pseudoscience topics.

Although the word hippie may date back to the jive era in the 1930s and 40s, the term was popularized during the counterculture movement of the 60s and 70s. This was a time when the youth were seeking answers and a different way of life, participating in activism and exploring altered states of consciousness. It was a time of peace, love, drugs, and free expression. Today, we see a resurgence of this movement with the “new age hippies.”

The new age hippies

It’s clear that the word hippie has evolved over time and taken on different meanings throughout history. Throughout my journey exploring wellness, holistic healing, yoga, and meditation, I’ve somehow found resonance in what you might call a new age hippie community here in Los Angeles, California where I currently live.

After spending some time with this community, I had a feeling that there’s more to the surface level story and stereotype of the so-called hippie. It seemed to me that there’s something much deeper going on with this community, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Especially because hippies seem to be happy all the time… which is what everyone wants, right? 

Could it be that hippies actually hold some of the answers to life that we are all looking for? Or are they just gullible, irresponsible, tree-hugging crazies who are too happy? I wasn’t totally sure yet. So I journeyed into the California desert to find out. 

My journey to Bhakti Fest in the Joshua Tree desert 

I decided to take a trip into the Joshua Tree desert to attend a yoga and music festival called Bhakti Fest. I had attended this festival before and knew it would be teeming with hundreds of hippies for me to talk to.

Bhakti Fest is on the smaller side with attendance ranging from several hundred to a few thousand people, and because of that, the community is quite tight-knit. Unlike other festivals of this kind, Bhakti Fest is drug and alcohol-free.  

The festival includes a multitude of yoga classes, meditation, breathwork, lectures, workshops, ecstatic dance, music, and yogic teachings of all types, but with a focus on the path of Bhakti Yoga. 

Bhakti means “devotion” in Sanskrit and originally comes from the Vedas, which date back thousands of years, as one of the world’s oldest written texts.

Bhakti yoga involves not only the physical practice of yoga, but also singing ancient mantras, typically in the form of something called Kirtan, which is a call and response style of music where the community collectively sings these mantras. Bhakti yoga is practiced by all different people all over the world, and many types of people attend Bhakti Fest. But it does seem to attract a large number of people you might think of as “hippies.” 

The immersion

When I arrived at the festival, I was excited to immerse myself in the hippie culture and talk to as many people as possible, to uncover the truth about hippies.

I ended up talking to tons of people throughout my weekend, including a man who drinks his own urine, a plant wizard who makes something called ultrasonic tribulus, and a verteran who overcame PTSD with yoga. 

To see all of the interviews I conducted throughout the weekend and what the hippies had to say, watch my video about the experience! 

The influence of the East on new-age westerners

When we think of the hippie movement, we often think of sex, drugs, and rock n roll, but what has always fascinated me is the strong influence of eastern philosophy and spiritual teachings throughout the counterculture movement. 

Even the Beatles were learning from Indian gurus and became Bhakti yogis following the Krishna consciousness movement, which even influenced their music. George Harrison became a devoted follower of Krishna and his song ‘My Sweet Lord’ even has the Krishna chant, known as the “Maha Mantra” right in it!

Is Bhakti Fest cultural appropriation? 

It’s always been interesting to me that the counterculture movement rebelled so heavily against mainstream religion and society in the West, yet through this rebellion, many found their way to meaning through the spiritual teachings of the east. This also shows up today with the new age hippies. 

Bhakti Fest is a prime example of this: a group of westerners seeking to expand their consciousness without the use of substances through the teachings of yoga and meditation.

Thousands of years later, these teachings have made their way all the way from India to California. However, I noticed that not many Indian people actually attend this festival. At first, I found this a little concerning. Perhaps this festival was a clear example of cultural appropriation. So I found a few Indians in attendance to speak with, and was curious to hear their thoughts.

Every Indian person I spoke with at Bhakti Fest was thrilled about young westerners showing an interest in Indian culture and the ancient teachings of yoga and meditation. They found it exciting, and said that the reason why so many Indian gurus traveled to America was to share these teachings so that westerners could benefit from this wisdom. This festival was a great example of the results of these efforts.

What I learned from the hippies

While there is definitely truth behind the stereotype of the new age hippie, I learned so much from this group of people and how they view the world. Although stereotypes have some validity to them, it’s important to remember that these stereotypes are generalizations and there is far more beneath them Even though many hippies may appear to be happy all the time, this is not necessarily true. What I found is that this group of people seem to be more in touch with their emotions than the average humans. Through the spiritual path, it seems that hippies are learning tools to help them navigate life’s challenges and emotions.

As humans, we are meant to feel emotions of all sorts, but it’s our relationship with our emotions that really matters and what we learn from them. Ultimately, that is what this path has taught me.

Any challenge in life is an opportunity to grow and learn. Through cultivating a deeper connection with our inner world, we are able to make the most of all that life has to offer. When we do get wrapped up in a dark or negative headspace, we can decide to choose a different way and feel gratitude and presence in every moment in life. 

Joy does not mean being happy all the time. To me, joy is being overwhelmed by gratitude for this experience here and all it has to teach us. 

Categories
Mindfulness

5 Days of Meditation Apps

5 Days of Meditation Apps

Meditation is something I have been practicing for several years now. I began practicing yoga about 10 years ago, which is how I discovered meditation, and it’s truly changed my life.

Even though I love meditation, I am very sporadic with my practice. I go through periods where I meditate every day and then I will fall off the wagon when life gets “busy.” And usually it’s the moments when we “don’t have time” to meditate, that we need it most. 

Recently I was going through a little bit of a slump. I had low energy, my mindset was off, and I wasn’t feeling like myself. I decided I wanted to do something that could help me get back on track. Since there are so many cool meditation apps out there that I’ve been wanting to try, I decided that I would spend one week trying them all and meditating every single day.

The scientific research on meditation 

Meditation is an ancient practice that’s been around for thousands of years, and is now finally validated by scientific research. We see the benefits of meditation across multiple studies.

A 2008 study published in the academic journal PLOS ONE, found that just 15 minutes of meditation each day can actually influence gene expression. This study showed a change in the expression of 172 genes that regulate inflammation, circadian rhythms, and glucose metabolism. The researchers also found that consistent meditation resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the participants’ blood pressure.

We see again and again in the research that meditation positively impacts both our brains and our bodies and how they work together. 

My 5-day experiment

My goal with this challenge was to meditate for just 10 minutes per day using a different app each day. Hopefully I would find one that I could use to continue with a more consistent meditation practice. 

Headspace 

The first app I tried was Headspace. Headspace is one of the most popular meditation apps out there. I absolutely loved the design and user interface of the Headspace app. It’s very well designed and organized, making it easy to find exactly what kind of meditation you’re looking for. I also loved the animations that it includes, which offer educational information about meditation and different techniques, in an easy-to-understand way.

I think that Headspace is particularly helpful for beginners or anyone looking for a way to easily add meditation to their life. You can even choose meditations that are just three minutes long, which surprisingly can have a huge impact on your day. 

Calm

The next meditation app I tried was Calm, another popular app on the market. Calm is particularly helpful for sleep, with an entire library dedicated to meditation for sleep.

Calm also had a whole section for mindfulness at work. I loved that Calm has 7-day programs such as “7 days of gratitude” and “7 days of self-esteem.” 

Insight Timer

Insight Timer was so cool because of the community-oriented nature of the app. As soon as you open it you can see how many people around the world are using the app and meditating alongside you. This made me feel really connected to a larger global community of meditators.

Another great feature of Insight Timer is that meditation teachers that can upload their own meditations for users around the world to follow. They have so many categories as well, everything from meditation for depression, anxiety, confidence, and motivation. 

Unplug 

What I loved most about the Unplug app is how connected I felt to the teachers on the app who are guiding the meditations. It was also organized really well with a wide variety of topics. I liked that you could sort by the length of time of the meditation.

I did feel that their design could use some work. The app was definitely not built for mobile viewing and could definitely use a tech update and better user interface. But the meditations themselves were really nice.

10% Happier

Even since hearing the story of how this app was created, I’ve been excited to try it out. 10% Happier was created by this guy named Dan Harris who is an ABC news anchor. He actually had a panic attack on live television during Good Morning America and was motivated to find a way to address the build-up of anxiety he was feeling.

After this experience, he tried meditation and found that it helped him immensely. He has now made it part of his mission to spread meditation with others. He wrote a book called 10% Happier and later created an app as well. 

The app is not only providing guided meditations, but also educational interviews with different experts, so you can actually learn about meditation and apply it to your practice.

10% Happier says it’s a meditation app for “fidgety skeptics.” So if you’re someone who feels like you can’t meditate because you’re too “fidgety” or skeptical whether or not it will actually work, this is definitely the app for you!

My Favorite App 

I enjoyed all five of these meditation apps for different reasons and would definitely recommend any of them to try. 

However, I’d have to say that Headspace was definitely my favorite. When it comes to design, user interface, the meditations themselves, and overall effectiveness, I think Headspace is the clear winner. Also, you really can’t beat the guy’s voice who guides the Headspace meditations. It’s one of the most calming voices I’ve ever heard! 

If you are looking to try meditation for the first time, or you want to make it a more consistent practice in your life, I definitely recommend trying out Headspace. It makes it super easy to learn how to meditate and it’s perfect for all levels of meditators.