The Daily 5 with Alyson Charles

One of the biggest keys for taking good responsibility for your own wellbeing, mood and the energetics you bring into a space is beginning each day with tending to your own being before doing anything else. Before you hop on your phone or even get out of bed, sit comfortably with spine erect and devote to 20 minutes of silence. You can simply focus on your breath, or during the meditation you can ask your heart, mind, emotions, body and soul (one-by-one) how it is doing and if it has any messages for you. Another option could be repeating the mantra OM for the duration of the mediation. If thoughts appear, that is fine! Simply redirect back to the mantra when you notice you have shifted away from it.

As we are nature and nature is us, immersing into nature, however brief, is always restorative and helps reset us. A few quick and easy options you can do anywhere: stepping outside in the backyard and placing your bare feet on the ground and connecting with the Earth and your breath for a few moments, going on a short walk around the neighborhood and being present with the elements – feeling the wind and asking it to cleanse you, inviting the medicine of the sun to heal and bless you, smelling or lovingly touching any flowers, trees you pass by and giving thanks to all of nature. Lastly, take a nourishing bath. While the bath is filling up energetically place any feelings or blessings you wish to receive into the water then soak for at least 15 minutes, envisioning your cells and entire being soaking in the intentions set. Thank the water when done.

My go-to place to return to loving kindness is my altar. This is also typically where I send up my prayers. If you don’t already have an altar space established or are staying at a family members home or hotel during the holidays – you can establish a mini altar very easily – its more about having a designated place to connect with your heart, Great Mother Earth and Great Spirit than it is about the items at the altar. Even simply placing a rock or crystal you found and really resonated with, lighting a small tea light candle or having a flower or deck of oracle cards at a designated spot can let your spirit rest easy knowing it can retreat to this place to clear away frustrations or others people’s challenging energy or return you to a healthy perspective, and feeling aligned with the Divine. If anyone has felt especially challenging for you lately, try writing a list of all the things you appreciate about that person and next time you’re with them see if you can create a new experience and be present with them in a new way.

 A couple ritual options you can do on the go are bringing your favorite incense, sustainably sourced palo santo or copal to clear the energy of the home space before and after guests are there and to also clear your energy field. Another quick, easy, yet potent option is to open up into a chant or sacred song – you can easily locate video and audio chant options online or, perhaps even more empowering would be to allow yourself to flow organically in song, allowing whatever sounds, words and melodies to emote that want to. Thirdly, for an entire library of brief yet potent ritual options you can head to Ceremony Circle podcast – every episode features a leading global healer and closes with the guest sharing a live healing transmission and practice for you to immerse in.

Nothing keeps us more connected to our peace and power than connecting deeply with our own soul and true Divine nature. This is the entire aim of a shamanic journey experience. If you have never experienced this type of journey before, look for a trusted Shaman in your area or you can simply head to alysoncharles.com/animalpower for a free video guided shamanic journey. The key for this time of empowerment is giving yourself 25 minutes of freedom to lay down in a safe, quiet space, cover your eyes, and permission to receive the blessings meant for your highest, greatest good in the voyage.