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TAROT ✪ ANGELS ✪ YOGA ✪ JOURNALLING<br />
N0.1 Best-selling Spiritual Magazine<br />
Learn how<br />
to be the<br />
BEST<br />
VERSION<br />
of YOU!<br />
Monthly<br />
+<br />
MUCH<br />
horoscopes<br />
MORE<br />
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Mini<br />
Mag<br />
Mindfulness<br />
and<br />
manifestation<br />
Health &<br />
wellbeing<br />
advice<br />
Crystals and<br />
oracles<br />
Inspiring<br />
real-life<br />
stories<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
A ritual for…<br />
your best<br />
year yet!<br />
Use the power of crystals<br />
to ensure your dreams<br />
for 2022 come true<br />
Step three<br />
MANIFEST<br />
Iron pyrite brings confidence and<br />
removes feelings of inadequacy.<br />
Hold this crystal in your right hand,<br />
take three deep breaths and imagine all<br />
your dreams for the new year have<br />
already come to fruition.<br />
Say to yourself:<br />
‘I am a powerful manifestor.<br />
All my dreams come true.’<br />
Alternative crystals<br />
Tiger’s eye or orange calcite<br />
TIME FOR YOU<br />
3 ways to<br />
CLEANSE<br />
AND CHARGE<br />
CRYSTALS<br />
Water<br />
Wash your crystals under running<br />
water (check this is safe to do<br />
first, as salt-based crystals are<br />
water soluble). Give them a good<br />
wash, as though you’re giving<br />
the gemstones a pamper. As you<br />
do so, visualise the crystals being<br />
clean and sparkling with positive<br />
energy. Say, ‘Rise and shine<br />
my crystal friend.’<br />
Step one<br />
GROUND<br />
Haematite will anchor and ground you to the Earth.<br />
Hold this crystal in either hand, take three deep,<br />
cleansing breaths and visualise tree roots growing<br />
out from your feet into the Earth.<br />
Say to yourself:<br />
‘I am grounded. I am safe.’<br />
Alternative crystals<br />
Smoky quartz or black obsidian<br />
CRYSTAL SOLUTION<br />
If you don’t own the crystals<br />
mentioned in this ritual, just cut out<br />
their pictures from this page, or off<br />
the internet, and use them instead.<br />
Step two<br />
GRATITUDE<br />
Rose quartz encourages<br />
unconditional love.<br />
Hold this crystal in either hand,<br />
take three deep breaths and<br />
bring to mind all you are<br />
grateful for right now.<br />
Say to yourself:<br />
‘I am grateful for the abundance<br />
I already have.’<br />
Alternative crystals<br />
Rhodonite or amethyst<br />
Step four<br />
RELEASE<br />
Rutilated quartz illuminates and releases<br />
the past.<br />
Hold a piece of this crystal in your left hand,<br />
take three deep breaths and visualise the<br />
events of the past year you wish to release.<br />
Say to yourself:<br />
‘I release the past and anything that<br />
doesn’t serve me.’<br />
Alternative crystals<br />
Citrine or peridot<br />
Smudge<br />
Light a sage smudge stick. Circle<br />
it nine times anti-clockwise over<br />
your crystals, saying, ‘Be free of<br />
unwanted energy.’ Visualise any<br />
residual energy clearing from the<br />
crystals. Now work the smudge<br />
stick nine times in a clockwise<br />
direction. With each rotation say,<br />
‘Sparkle bright, my crystal helpers’.<br />
Moonlight<br />
On a full Moon, leave your<br />
crystals on a windowsill. Say,<br />
‘Little crystals, by the light of the<br />
Moon, you’ll be cleansed and<br />
charged very soon.’ Visualise the<br />
moonlight working its magic.<br />
✿ More info Instagram<br />
@thecrystalmoonmentor<br />
thecrystalmoonmentor.com<br />
COMPILED BY KIRSTY ENGLISH PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES, ADOBESTOCK<br />
30<br />
JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 31
POSITIVELY WEALTHY<br />
How to<br />
have a<br />
wealthy<br />
New Year<br />
Everything you need to know about<br />
discovering what abundance means to<br />
you – and how to attract it into your life<br />
As we welcome in the new year, with<br />
it comes the opportunity to make it<br />
an abundant one. But before you<br />
go about attracting abundance,<br />
it’s important to know what ‘wealthy’ truly<br />
means to you, explains life coach and mentor<br />
Emma Mumford. And she speaks from<br />
experience, after having her own epiphany in<br />
terms of her interpretation of wealth.<br />
‘In 2019, when I wrote my second book<br />
Positively Wealthy, I’d manifested everything<br />
from the vision board I’d created in 2016.<br />
‘After successfully using the Law of Attraction<br />
to manifest all of my dreams, I sat there<br />
expecting to feel different, to feel fulfilment<br />
and, although I felt extremely grateful, none<br />
of these things filled the void within me.<br />
‘I realised it was because all the incredible<br />
things I’d manifested made me happy, yes –<br />
but they weren’t my true version of wealth,<br />
rather what society had made me believe<br />
was wealth. So, I started to really dive into<br />
what my true version of wealth was so I could<br />
cultivate this. I looked at every area of my life<br />
and asked myself, ‘How positively wealthy do<br />
I feel?’ and rated it out of 10 (1 being not very<br />
wealthy and 10 being very wealthy).<br />
‘By doing this, I could see where the inner<br />
work needed to be done to fill the void in me,<br />
and what I needed to manifest to become<br />
positively wealthy in these areas. Wealth will<br />
mean different things to different people<br />
and it’s so important you don’t let outside<br />
influences cloud your manifestations and goals.<br />
‘A great question to ask yourself and journal<br />
on is, ‘Is this manifestation in alignment with<br />
my version of wealth or is it someone else’s<br />
goal?’ Too often, I see people striving for goals<br />
and ambitions they feel they need to manifest,<br />
rather than listening to themselves and their<br />
own true positively wealthy calling.’<br />
Here Emma helps you find your version of<br />
wealthy and effortlessly manifest your dreams.<br />
ASK<br />
When working with the Law of Attraction,<br />
the more consistent and specific you are when<br />
focusing on what you want, the more the<br />
universe can hear you.<br />
There are many great ways to ask for what<br />
you desire. You can create a vision board using<br />
photos and words to display how you would<br />
like your life to look, write a list of goals, or<br />
you could write an intention in the form<br />
➳<br />
TURN THE<br />
PAGE FOR<br />
MORE<br />
Expert tip<br />
Sit in meditation, focus on one<br />
of your desires and tune in to<br />
the emotion around it. What word<br />
or feeling do you get? Does it have<br />
a colour? Tune in to that energy.<br />
When your desire arrives, you’ll<br />
know it’s right if it feels like the<br />
emotion you’ve been<br />
connecting to.<br />
32<br />
JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 33
POSITIVELY WEALTHY<br />
of an affirmation, either saying it out loud or<br />
visualising it in your mind.<br />
You only need to ask once for the universe<br />
to hear your desire. Challenge yourself to get<br />
creative and detailed with your asking. If you<br />
want to manifest your dream home, really<br />
consider what that would look like to you –<br />
how many bedrooms, what kind of garden…<br />
‘Dream lists are a fantastic way to manifest<br />
– and one of my favourite ways!’ says Emma.<br />
‘All you need to do is write down, in detail,<br />
what you would like your dream house,<br />
relationship, career, friendship, holiday,<br />
whatever, to look like. Keep your list safe so<br />
you can look back on it, see what’s manifested,<br />
and sit in a sense of gratitude.’<br />
BELIEVE<br />
This is about believing the universe can<br />
deliver your desire, and you have the ability<br />
to co-create with the universe.<br />
It’s so important to remember this is a<br />
50/50 process where we go 50% of the way<br />
and the universe goes 50% of the way, and<br />
we meet in the middle. This is also the stage<br />
where it’s important to be aware of any<br />
limiting beliefs or fears that come up for you.<br />
As you set out your desires, you may notice<br />
negative self-talk cropping up or feelings of<br />
not being worthy.<br />
‘This is all feedback from your soul and<br />
helps you identify what stands between you<br />
and your desire,’ says Emma. ‘Doing the inner<br />
work is so important with manifesting so you<br />
become a positive vibrational match to your<br />
desire and can attract it into your reality.’<br />
TRUST<br />
‘This is a new step I’ve added into my<br />
manifesting process,’ reveals Emma. ‘Trusting<br />
means a couple of different things: trusting in<br />
the Divine timing of your life and trusting in<br />
the universe’s process, too.’<br />
There comes a ‘waiting period’ after the first<br />
two steps – ask and believe – which actually<br />
isn’t a waiting period at all. But, Emma says,<br />
‘You only<br />
need to ask<br />
once for the<br />
universe<br />
to hear’<br />
A vision board<br />
helps you see how<br />
you’d like your<br />
life to look<br />
so many people hit a standstill with their<br />
manifestations because they aren’t doing this<br />
step – trust. Or the next – letting go.<br />
‘If you want to manifest a new career, you’d<br />
better get updating that CV, applying for jobs,<br />
and even planning your interview outfit,’ says<br />
Emma. ‘All of these are great ways to act as if<br />
you already have your desire right now, because<br />
you trusted the manifesting process, and are<br />
taking action to meet the universe halfway.<br />
By taking this step you’ll soon start to see the<br />
universe bringing opportunities and people<br />
into your life to align you with your desire.’<br />
LET GO<br />
Remember the universe is a gigantic mirror,<br />
so if you’re feeling attached, needy or lacking<br />
in life, guess what’s being mirrored back to you!<br />
‘One of the best things I’ve learned along<br />
my journey is ‘needing nothing attracts<br />
everything’ and your manifestation will always<br />
show up when you need it the least,’ says<br />
Emma. ‘Why? Because when you are in the<br />
present moment, feeling good, and enjoying<br />
life you become an energetic match to your<br />
desire and allow the universe to step in and<br />
meet you halfway.’<br />
Letting go is so important as often we try<br />
to control the timing and outcome of things,<br />
which doesn’t allow the space for the universe<br />
to co-create with us.<br />
Letting go is about becoming OK with both<br />
outcomes – plan A, your desire being realised;<br />
and plan B, it not being realised – and finding<br />
peace with both of those while still keeping<br />
your initial desire strong in your mind. Also,<br />
keep in mind that you want what is meant<br />
for you, or something better for the highest<br />
good of all. Letting go and surrendering is a<br />
powerful process that, when done right, brings<br />
your desires to you – and fast.<br />
RECEIVE<br />
This is the last and best step because your<br />
manifestation is here!<br />
Make sure to truly celebrate when your<br />
desire does turn up because expressing<br />
gratitude to the universe is an important step.<br />
‘It’s easy to fall into a manifestation<br />
checklist where you tick one thing off and then<br />
move on to the next. This never works and<br />
you’ll find yourself in a big, unfulfilled heap<br />
like I did. So, take the time to be present with<br />
your desire, express your gratitude and feel<br />
happy because it’s here!’ says Emma.<br />
✿ More info Emma Mumford is an awardwinning<br />
life coach and mentor, bestselling<br />
author, Law of Attraction YouTuber, host of<br />
Spiritual Queen’s Badass podcast, and<br />
speaker. Emma’s work helps women turn<br />
their dream life into an abundant reality<br />
using the Law of Attraction and spirituality.<br />
Visit emmamumford.co.uk, Instagram<br />
@iamemmamumford<br />
Your desires, delivered!<br />
Take Emma Mumford‘s quiz and discover the<br />
best way to make manifesting work for you<br />
Which area of your life do you<br />
find the most difficult to manifest<br />
your goals in?<br />
✪ Career<br />
✪ Relationships<br />
✪ Finances<br />
Which of these do you feel<br />
most often?<br />
✪ You’re always comparing yourself<br />
to others, which gets in the way<br />
of you doing anything to<br />
change your circumstances<br />
✪ Burnout, a lack of energy<br />
and motivation<br />
✪ Disconnected from<br />
yourself and not<br />
being present<br />
Which of these<br />
books do you like<br />
the sound of<br />
reading?<br />
✪ Ask & It Is Given by Esther<br />
and Jerry Hicks<br />
✪ Positively Wealthy by Emma<br />
Mumford<br />
✪ Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill<br />
MOSTLY ✪<br />
You’re a manifesting queen<br />
Consistency is key. The universe is<br />
calling on you to be consistent in an<br />
area of your life that needs it – get things<br />
clear and step into your manifesting<br />
shoes. You are being asked to embrace<br />
your purpose and who you want to be.<br />
What message do you have within you<br />
to share with the world? How can your<br />
desires positively impact the collective,<br />
too? It’s time to fearlessly manifest the<br />
life you have always dreamed of.<br />
What do you fear the most?<br />
✪ A life without purpose<br />
✪ A life without self-love<br />
✪ A life without money<br />
HOW DID YOU SCORE?<br />
MOSTLY ✪<br />
You’re a positively<br />
wealthy queen<br />
You are being called to focus on what<br />
makes you truly feel like a positively<br />
wealthy queen. Your purpose and<br />
career are in check; now it’s time to<br />
explore who you really are and what<br />
your personal purpose is. Do you feel<br />
fulfilled in your personal life? Slow<br />
down and look at how you can nurture<br />
self-love, self-care and your time this<br />
year to create the space for your desires.<br />
Quiz!<br />
How are you<br />
feeling about 2022?<br />
✪ Good, but I never seem to make much<br />
progress. I need some consistency<br />
✪ I’m working hard but I’m exhausted after<br />
last year. All work and no play<br />
✪ Eurgh, another year of this… Maybe 2023<br />
will be better<br />
Imagine you’ve manifested<br />
£10,000 for a holiday.<br />
Do you:<br />
✪ Fly business class to<br />
New York<br />
✪ Head for the sun, sea,<br />
and a beautiful spa –<br />
hello Maldives<br />
✪ Think you’d better save<br />
the cash instead<br />
What’s your biggest<br />
wish for 2022?<br />
✪ A promotion or new<br />
business opportunity<br />
✪ To look after myself<br />
more<br />
✪ To get out of debt and<br />
in the green<br />
MOSTLY ✪<br />
You’re an abundance queen<br />
It’s time to focus on your abundance<br />
mindset. You’re being called to look<br />
at what abundance means to you<br />
and how you can cultivate a positive<br />
relationship with money and your<br />
finances. This year, make abundance<br />
your goal and work on looking at what<br />
currently stands between you and<br />
abundance. How can you flow more<br />
with money and receive abundance<br />
in all areas of your life?<br />
PHOTOS ADOBESTOCK<br />
34 JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 35
Astrology<br />
ONE<br />
PART<br />
explained<br />
Astrologer Francesca Oddie takes a detailed look at the<br />
seven planets used in astrology. This month, THE SUN<br />
Find your bliss<br />
To understand what drives you and the behaviours and characteristics you will embody on<br />
your life journey, look to your Sun sign. It will help you understand more about your happiness,<br />
direction and calling, underpinning everything you do and the person you are becoming<br />
ARIES<br />
Independence,<br />
leadership,<br />
sports and<br />
athleticism,<br />
entrepreneurial<br />
pursuits, surgery.<br />
Aries are drawn<br />
to any kind of<br />
field that involves moving fast, being<br />
decisive and allows them to win.<br />
LEO<br />
Performance,<br />
glamour,<br />
creativity and<br />
storytelling.<br />
Leo is an<br />
authority. They<br />
make fantastic<br />
managers,<br />
business owners and love to take the<br />
limelight on stage.<br />
SAGITTARIUS<br />
Teacher,<br />
travel blogger<br />
or agent,<br />
salesperson,<br />
clergy,<br />
publisher.<br />
Sagittarius is<br />
ruled by Jupiter,<br />
here to encourage others to expand<br />
their vision and believe in themselves.<br />
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT<br />
When I first became an<br />
astrologer and studied the<br />
subject in depth, I realised that<br />
while the zodiac signs are a<br />
vital reference point, they only<br />
make sense when we have a<br />
deep understanding of the planets.<br />
Some planets are visible with the naked eye,<br />
and somehow feel closer to us than the stars. It<br />
makes sense, therefore, that their movements<br />
impact on our personalities. Over the next<br />
seven weeks I’m going to walk you through the<br />
planets and encourage you to get to know them.<br />
Each planet is connected to a god or<br />
goddess from Greek and Roman mythology.<br />
The stories connected to each planet are rich<br />
in imagery, information and ideas that will<br />
inspire you to know yourself more intimately.<br />
Then there’s your horoscope – a map of the<br />
sky at the moment you were born, sometimes<br />
called a birth or natal chart. It shows you which<br />
planets were visible above the horizon, and<br />
which were hidden from view. As we explore<br />
each planet, you’ll gain an understanding of<br />
how the different facets of your personality are<br />
influenced by your horoscope. It’s so exciting<br />
to understand our inner conflicts, drives and<br />
compulsions articulated in our birth chart.<br />
I’m going to talk about the Sun first because<br />
he’s the ‘big daddy’, the one we all know and<br />
simply can’t miss. When the Sun is out, you<br />
know about it as his warmth and light is<br />
unmistakable. The Sun is our vital force. It<br />
drives us into action, defines our life purpose<br />
and is central to our horoscope.<br />
★ More info francescaoddie.com<br />
Instagram @francescaoddieastrology<br />
Shedding light on your Sun sign<br />
The symbol, or ‘glyph’ to use<br />
the correct term, of the<br />
Sun is a circle with a dot<br />
in the middle. This is<br />
symbolic of our eternal<br />
self. The soul that<br />
continues from life to<br />
life but within this circle<br />
is earthbound and must<br />
seek its purpose.<br />
The Sun is our vital energy. It<br />
describes the direction that will bring us<br />
personal fulfilment and your Sun sign<br />
(also known more commonly as your<br />
star sign) is one of the main things in<br />
your birth chart that defines your<br />
purpose. The word purpose is broad.<br />
I’m not just talking about your career;<br />
this is about your whole identity.<br />
Questions I often ask clients who are<br />
lost and can’t find their purpose are,<br />
‘what do you Google? What occupies<br />
your thoughts? What do you want to<br />
know more about?’<br />
Your focus is on the thing you love<br />
and so it may appear everyone is into it.<br />
Because of this, many people dismiss<br />
their passion as being too common and<br />
obvious. Yet the clues are always there<br />
and sometimes we overcomplicate life,<br />
missing what is staring us in the face.<br />
Just as you literally can’t miss the Sun,<br />
so it will be the same for you<br />
and your purpose.<br />
Another question to<br />
ask yourself is, ‘when did<br />
I feel most alive and<br />
exhilarated?’ Go back to<br />
that moment. My answer<br />
would be when I was 23<br />
and living in Rome, working<br />
at the Vatican Museums.<br />
Learning and teaching groups<br />
of people in an entertaining way made<br />
me so excited because it’s perfect for<br />
me. I’m still doing it now! However,<br />
between the ages of 25 and 29 I lost<br />
that part of myself, yet in a way ‘the lost<br />
years’ are useful because they provide<br />
the contrast we need in order to<br />
understand who we are.<br />
TARUS<br />
Massage,<br />
gardening,<br />
architecture and<br />
building works,<br />
and anything that<br />
involves your<br />
senses, the human<br />
body and beauty,<br />
including modelling and makeup artistry.<br />
GEMINI<br />
Journalism, writing,<br />
multi-tasking,<br />
translation services,<br />
cyclist, lorry driver,<br />
anything that<br />
involves the<br />
process of getting<br />
things, services or<br />
information from A to B.<br />
CANCER<br />
Parenting,<br />
baker, chef, caring<br />
roles, teaching,<br />
nursing or looking<br />
after children.<br />
Those born under<br />
the sign of Cancer<br />
are drawn to<br />
anything that involves nurturing others and<br />
ensures you to feel needed.<br />
VIRGO<br />
Nutrition, health,<br />
working with pets,<br />
a PA, anything<br />
involving analytical<br />
or detailed work.<br />
Virgo makes an<br />
excellent medic,<br />
advisor or<br />
accountant, here to help people thrive.<br />
LIBRA<br />
Diplomacy and<br />
decoration,<br />
mediating, PR,<br />
front of house<br />
charmers. Libra is<br />
represented by the<br />
scales and this<br />
links to law. Libra is<br />
here to deliver harmony to every situation.<br />
SCORPIO<br />
Any highly<br />
detailed, focused<br />
work, including<br />
surgery,<br />
psychology,<br />
detection, finance<br />
and healing.<br />
Scorpios can put<br />
their mind to anything that requires<br />
absolute focus and concentration.<br />
CAPRICORN<br />
Traditional<br />
professional<br />
roles, business<br />
owner, climbing<br />
any career<br />
ladder and<br />
reaching the top.<br />
Capricorn is<br />
ambitious and wants to be in charge.<br />
AQUARIUS<br />
Inventor,<br />
brainstormer,<br />
tech roles,<br />
digital nomad,<br />
humanitarian<br />
roles. Freedom<br />
and truth are the<br />
key words; from<br />
there, do anything that matters to you.<br />
PISCES<br />
healer.<br />
You dive into life’s mysteries<br />
and show us how it’s done.<br />
Artist, musician,<br />
charity worker,<br />
psychic, any form<br />
of non-verbal<br />
communication,<br />
dream<br />
weaver,<br />
➳<br />
TURN THE<br />
PAGE FOR<br />
MORE<br />
56<br />
JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 57
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT<br />
Ask your inner child<br />
For a good indicator of your calling, think back to<br />
school and remember what you were best at. The<br />
simplicity of childhood play can be very revealing<br />
and shows us what brings us the most joy!<br />
Coming up in<br />
ASTROLOGY<br />
EXPLAINED…<br />
✓ FEBRUARY Moon<br />
Understand your primary<br />
love language<br />
PHOTOS ADOBESTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK<br />
Meaning behind the myth<br />
What lessons can we learn from Apollo, the Sun god?<br />
Knowing the Sun symbolises our goals and life purpose is one thing. However,<br />
knowing all about the Sun god Apollo, his life story and the challenges he<br />
faced, takes our understanding to the next level. Myth is evocative and opens<br />
the doors of our intuition and perception.<br />
Many images of Apollo show a hero, his bow and arrow drawn, looking<br />
straight ahead at where he is going. This image shows us how focused, virile<br />
and potent our solar energy can be when put to the correct use.<br />
Apollo was an illegitimate son of Zeus, the product of one of many of<br />
his affairs. His mother, Leto, was afraid to give birth to him because Zeus’<br />
possessive wife Hera had threatened anyone who assisted in the birth.<br />
The unborn Apollo told his mother what to do and his birth was blessed<br />
and auspicious – everything on the island of Delos, where he was born,<br />
turned to gold.<br />
This is the story of a ‘golden boy’ who is successful, multi-talented, has many<br />
friends, some enemies too, but suffers difficult relationships with women.<br />
The lesson in this myth for all of us is that when we are too focused on doing<br />
what we want, and are always looking ahead, our relationships may suffer.<br />
✓ MARCH Mercury<br />
Discover your<br />
communication style<br />
✓ APRIL Venus<br />
Learn more about what<br />
you value in yourself<br />
✓ MAY Mars<br />
Reveal what sparks a fire<br />
in you<br />
✓ JUNE Jupiter<br />
Find out more about your<br />
guardian angel<br />
✓ JULY Saturn<br />
Learn how to navigate<br />
around your blocks<br />
Expert Tip<br />
SUN-day is the day<br />
we rejoice. In the<br />
Western world, it’s<br />
the day we come<br />
back to ourselves<br />
and have time to do<br />
the things we<br />
love to do.<br />
58<br />
JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk
ECO LIVING<br />
When asked recently what inspired me on<br />
my eco journey, I realised I’d always been<br />
a bit of an ‘eco girl’ at heart.<br />
As a child, I loved visiting the bottle<br />
bank and throwing the glass bottles into<br />
the containers – smash! (Hands up, who else loved<br />
doing that too?)<br />
As well as recycling, we collected old paper and<br />
envelopes and used them for our drawings and<br />
notepads. One birthday, my mum made the Barbie<br />
double bed I craved, out of an old cereal box, covered<br />
with material, and featuring dowels as the posts. So,<br />
I guess the eco seed was always there and my mum<br />
really led the way in terms of being less wasteful.<br />
It continued through school, where I was a member<br />
of Earth Action, collected paper from every room to<br />
be recycled, and organised an Endangered Species<br />
Awareness Week. Early in my work career, I helped<br />
organise a workplace Carbon Reduction Summit.<br />
And I’ve always tried to use eco products at home,<br />
buy less plastic and generally have as light an impact<br />
on the world as possible.<br />
Always learning<br />
But my eco living lifestyle really cranked up a notch<br />
three years ago, after my family moved back from America where we’d<br />
lived for three years owing to my husband’s job, and I was able to<br />
expand my business into eco products.<br />
Over the past three years, I’ve<br />
Would you<br />
believe…<br />
Microwaves are so<br />
much more energy<br />
efficient than putting<br />
the conventional oven<br />
on. It’s always quicker<br />
and its smaller size<br />
means the heat is more<br />
focused on whatever is<br />
being cooked.<br />
Love the<br />
Planet<br />
NEW!<br />
continued to learn – about plastic<br />
pollution and recycling; what zero<br />
waste means and whether it’s even<br />
possible; the importance of<br />
biodiversity; and a LOT about<br />
climate change.<br />
As a family, we’ve gone 100%<br />
renewable – our electricity tariff is<br />
100% renewable, our gas is 100%<br />
carbon neutral (green gas and offset),<br />
plus we pay a little extra per month to<br />
plant trees. On top of this, in January<br />
last year we had solar panels<br />
Introducing sustainable living expert<br />
Elena Cimelli, here to help us make<br />
a difference to the health of our world<br />
About Elena<br />
I’m in my early forties,<br />
and live in London<br />
with my husband Al,<br />
two daughters, aged<br />
12 and nine, two cats,<br />
Tilly and Molly,<br />
and two gerbils!<br />
I run an online eco<br />
store called The<br />
Contented Company<br />
which I set up in 2018,<br />
selling eco and zero<br />
waste products. I also<br />
run eco courses.<br />
My mission is to<br />
educate, inspire action<br />
and provide hope<br />
on all things eco and<br />
show how each one of<br />
us can really make<br />
a difference.<br />
installed. By choosing 300%<br />
100% renewable more greenhouse gas<br />
electricity and<br />
emissions are saved by<br />
carbon-neutral gas<br />
eating a plant-based<br />
you can take a big<br />
diet than by<br />
chunk out of your<br />
recycling.<br />
carbon footprint.<br />
We also eat much less<br />
meat and dairy – about four<br />
vegan meals a week, one or two vegetarian, and one<br />
or two meat or fish.<br />
The urgent need for us to act, as individuals, as a<br />
collective, as corporations and as governments, is why<br />
I’m so passionate about the environment and eco<br />
living. We have a small window in which to act, and<br />
I want to inspire as many people to do so as possible.<br />
Trust me though, I don’t judge. Everyone is<br />
different – different levels of income, different levels<br />
of eco awareness, contrasting amounts of free time,<br />
various levels of work and family commitments.<br />
The good news is that there is a LOT we can do to<br />
have a positive impact. I love the quote, ‘It’s only one<br />
straw, said eight billion people.’ If we all start being<br />
more environmentally conscious each time we make<br />
a choice, it will soon add up.<br />
Fresh start<br />
My family set itself a challenge in September last year when the kids<br />
went back to school. That challenge was to buy nothing new until<br />
2022. We wanted to create less unnecessary waste, use things that<br />
already existed and have a much lighter eco footprint. Can I tempt you<br />
to perhaps try this as a new year’s resolution? Maybe start with a<br />
month? That way, it’ll feel less daunting.<br />
Each issue, I hope to introduce you to a new area of eco living and<br />
inspire you to make changes that together will really make a difference.<br />
And you don’t need to try to do it all in one go – just make one<br />
change. And do that until it becomes a habit. Only then, think about<br />
making another.<br />
Happy New Year! With love, hope<br />
and eco action, Elena x<br />
✿ More info<br />
thecontentedcompany.com<br />
NEXT MONTH:<br />
Eco anxiety and how<br />
to approach it<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 73
Be your own<br />
HEALER<br />
Wellness expert and author Diana Cole<br />
shares her 14-step technique to feeling<br />
better by banishing fear, grief or doubt<br />
When Diana Cole was a girl, her<br />
dad taught her an incredible<br />
lesson – we all have the<br />
power to heal ourselves.<br />
‘One time, I crushed my hand in a door and<br />
my dad took away the pain. I was intrigued<br />
and wanted to know more,’ says Diana.<br />
‘As I got older, I was always going to my<br />
dad with little issues, some small, some not<br />
so small, and he would always go back to<br />
“you have the power to heal yourself. Raise<br />
your own vibration and protect your energy.”<br />
‘I’ve used what he taught me throughout<br />
my life and I thought it was really important<br />
for me to share this ability we all have to feel<br />
better. That’s really what healing is. It’s a way<br />
to cure the grief, anguish, fear or doubt we<br />
come up against through life.’<br />
Diana’s dad showed her how to create a<br />
ball of energy between her hands which she<br />
could then move down through her chakras,<br />
attracting healing along the way.<br />
Over time she added her own twist – a<br />
chant – to amplify the healing energy further<br />
by setting the intention to heal herself and<br />
activate the energy in her body.<br />
Here Diana shares her 14 steps to healing<br />
yourself. Read through the entire process<br />
first before starting your session. Commit<br />
to doing the 14 steps every day for five days.<br />
After carrying out the exercises, consider your<br />
general mood each day, and on the fifth day.<br />
Did you know?<br />
It’s believed the soul enters and leaves<br />
the body through the third eye chakra.<br />
Step 1<br />
With your hands 6-12 inches apart, begin to<br />
create a spinning ball of energy between your<br />
palms. Take a few minutes to get it going until<br />
you can feel a tickling sensation on your palms.<br />
Step 2<br />
Repeat the following chant five times while<br />
continuing to spin your healing ball.<br />
Allow your mind to be as still as possible.<br />
Simply let outside thoughts, ideas, or words<br />
float away so they don’t dilute the power of<br />
this practice.<br />
‘I am absolute goodness. Beauty is all<br />
around me. Everything is working<br />
in my favour. I am happy.’<br />
Step 3<br />
After 2-3 minutes, it’s time to<br />
begin the healing process –<br />
to push the ball of energy and<br />
the empowering words you<br />
have just chanted into your<br />
body in order to energetically<br />
raise your vibration and elevate<br />
your mood.<br />
This healing energy ball will<br />
enter your body through your chakras.<br />
Continue to spin the energy ball, positioning<br />
your hands directly over your head, your<br />
crown chakra, while repeating the chant over<br />
and over. Keep your focus for 1-2 minutes.<br />
Step 4<br />
Move the ball down to your eye area and hold<br />
the energy there.<br />
Feel it between your hands and pulse your<br />
hands together, as if you are squeezing the ball<br />
slightly. Do this for 30 seconds.<br />
Step 5<br />
Still holding the pulsing ball of energy<br />
between your hands, place your thumbs on<br />
TRY THIS!<br />
Hold your hands out in<br />
front of you, palms facing.<br />
Wave one hand up and<br />
down in front of the other,<br />
6-10 inches away. Notice you<br />
can feel the movement, like<br />
a tickle, on the still hand.<br />
You can energetically feel<br />
without touching.<br />
your forehead,<br />
just between your<br />
eyebrows. This is<br />
your third eye chakra.<br />
In this position, push the healing energy<br />
into your entire being. Let the energy flow<br />
from the healing ball to your third eye.<br />
Imagine a white beam of energy being<br />
transferred from your hands, through your<br />
thumbs, and directly into your third eye.<br />
Carry on repeating the chant but speak<br />
more slowly this time. Do this for 1-3 minutes.<br />
Step 6<br />
Continue the chant slowly as you begin to spin<br />
the ball again and hover it over your neck<br />
area – your throat chakra.<br />
Pulsate and push the ball towards your<br />
neck, but be mindful not to ‘crush’ your ball.<br />
Keep it strongly intact as you begin to push it<br />
towards your throat. Do this for 1-3 minutes.<br />
Step 7<br />
Pull the energy ball away from you and spin<br />
it again, this time letting it grow larger than<br />
before. Continue to repeat the chant slowly.<br />
Step 8<br />
Hover this healing energy ball over your chest.<br />
Pulse it again to feel it between your hands,<br />
and then lay both hands on your chest – your<br />
heart chakra.<br />
Imagine the white healing light of the ball<br />
going into your heart chakra, with the truth of<br />
the chant being absorbed by your body. Feel<br />
your warm healing hands on your chest.<br />
Continue repeating the chant slowly. Do this<br />
for 1-3 minutes.<br />
Expert tip<br />
It is possible to find a place of<br />
connection that is as beneficial as<br />
meditation without changing what<br />
you’re doing. If you have moments<br />
when you’re alone and feel joy, wonder<br />
or gratitude, it is in these moments<br />
that you are connecting with all there<br />
is. It’s the process of connecting<br />
with everything that<br />
feeds your spirit.<br />
Step 9<br />
Now move both hands down underneath<br />
your rib cage – this is the site of your solar<br />
plexus chakra – and continue to slowly repeat<br />
the chant.<br />
Again, imagine that ball of warm, white,<br />
healing energy from your hands entering and<br />
filling your body. Hold your hands here for<br />
1-3 minutes.<br />
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT<br />
Step 10<br />
Move both hands down<br />
over your belly button,<br />
your sacral chakra, and<br />
continue the chant<br />
slowly as you imagine<br />
more healing<br />
energy entering<br />
your body through<br />
your hands. Stay here<br />
for 1-3 minutes.<br />
Step 11<br />
Move both hands down<br />
to just above your pubic bone,<br />
your root chakra, and slowly<br />
continue the chant as you imagine<br />
white healing energy entering your body. Hold<br />
it here for 1-3 minutes.<br />
Step 12<br />
Now place both hands together, palm to palm,<br />
and with your eyes closed, take a deep breath –<br />
in through your nose, out through your mouth<br />
– and feel the warmth of your hands together.<br />
Breathe in healing. Exhale pain, doubt<br />
and fear.<br />
Imagine a white light surrounding your<br />
hands, then your whole body. Imagine a large<br />
ball of healing light, bigger than you, swirling<br />
around you. Imagine this white light shooting<br />
up to the sky, while simultaneously seeing a<br />
beam of white light being returned to you,<br />
enveloping you in its healing radiance.<br />
Step 13<br />
In closing, repeat the following chant for<br />
1-3 minutes:<br />
‘Thank you for healing my body, my mind,<br />
and my spirit. I feel healthy and vital.<br />
I am love and I am loved.’<br />
Step 14<br />
Go about your day as a healing ball of light<br />
energy. Everywhere you go and everyone<br />
you meet will be positively touched by your<br />
healing frequency.<br />
✿ More info Spirit Translator: Seven Truths<br />
for Creating Wellbeing and Connecting with<br />
Spirit by Diana Cole (St Martin’s Press, £12.99).<br />
Facebook/Instagram @thedianacole<br />
dianacole.com<br />
Diana’s secrets to living well<br />
♥ Find time in your day, every day, to be still, quiet and worry-free.<br />
♥ Act kindly to yourself and others. Feel kindness towards yourself and others. Speak<br />
kindly to yourself and others.<br />
♥ Improve the conversations you have with yourself.<br />
PHOTO ADOBESTOCK<br />
64<br />
JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 65
REAL LIVES<br />
‘The universe<br />
grants my wishes’<br />
I trained as a<br />
yoga teacher<br />
in 2017<br />
With love and children in my life, my<br />
2021 letter focused on my career. I hoped<br />
to find a teaching assistant’s job with hours<br />
that would fit around my family. Three<br />
months later, I landed the perfect job.<br />
It might sound like I always manifest<br />
what’s on my list, but that’s not the case. I did<br />
my yoga teacher training in September 2017,<br />
and had visions of travelling and teaching<br />
yoga, but that didn’t work out. Instead, I fell<br />
pregnant, and I couldn’t be happier.<br />
I think sometimes the universe takes an<br />
executive decision and delivers what’s best for<br />
you. Part of the process of writing the wish<br />
letters is to ask, but then let go of any preconceived<br />
outcome. This year, why don’t you<br />
put pen to paper and try it for yourself?<br />
✿ More info The Break-Up Cure by Lucy<br />
Pemberton-Platt is available on Amazon<br />
Kindle, £3.59.<br />
Lucy Pemberton-Platt has a special New Year’s Day ritual<br />
that’s brought her money, career success – and lasting love<br />
Pen in hand, I settled down to<br />
write the familiar words on the<br />
beautiful paper in my journal.<br />
Dear Universe…<br />
I’ve been writing a wish letter to the<br />
universe – filled with all the lovely dreams<br />
I want to realise over the coming 12 months<br />
– on January 1st, every year since 2009,<br />
when I first read about manifesting.<br />
As soon as I’ve written each letter, I read<br />
it through, pop it in an envelope, address<br />
the envelope to myself, stick a stamp on it<br />
and head for the postbox. Posting my wish<br />
letters back to myself makes them feel more<br />
real, fuels their energy and power.<br />
And when they plop through my letterbox,<br />
I put them in a keepsake box. I like to read<br />
them months later and savour a sense of<br />
gratitude for what’s been manifested.<br />
In my very first wish letter, I asked to<br />
manifest £10,000 because to me it felt like<br />
a realistic amount, not too fantastical, and<br />
in The Secret, a book all about the Law of<br />
Attraction, author Rhonda Byrne suggests<br />
asking for a ‘believable sum’.<br />
Not long afterwards, I landed a job contract<br />
at an international school in Dubai, teaching<br />
five year olds. Out of the blue, I was given an<br />
unexpected bonus of… £10,000!<br />
In 2010, I focused my letter on travelling to<br />
America and listed all the places I wanted<br />
to visit – San Francisco, LA and New York.<br />
I also wished to meet the American spiritual<br />
author Susan Jeffers who wrote Feel the Fear<br />
and Do It Anyway.<br />
To help the universe along, I wrote to Susan<br />
and explained how inspirational I found her<br />
book and asked if I could meet her in person.<br />
I never expected her to say yes – but she invited<br />
me for a one-to-one at her home in Santa<br />
Monica, California. It was especially kind as her<br />
health wasn’t good at the time. It felt surreal!<br />
The whole experience was amazing. Susan<br />
also granted me a licence to teach her ‘Feel<br />
Walking in the<br />
park with Darcy<br />
and Indie<br />
‘I think the<br />
universe<br />
often takes<br />
an executive<br />
decision!’<br />
the Fear and do it Anyway’ course in the UK.<br />
I was already trained in neuro-linguistic<br />
programming (NLP), counselling and<br />
coaching and to progress my career in this<br />
way with this wonderful woman’s help was<br />
truly an honour.<br />
And guess what, I used that manifested<br />
£10,000 to pay for the US trip visiting the<br />
places on my wish list, including Central<br />
Park and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<br />
Finding my soul match<br />
In my wish letter in 2014, I asked the<br />
universe to help me find the focus to write<br />
a self-help book. That September, I selfpublished<br />
The Break-Up Cure.<br />
With that box ticked, it wasn’t long<br />
before I was seeking a new challenge<br />
and the following year, I got a new job in<br />
London teaching maths and English for a<br />
private education company.<br />
For a time, I was happy enough, but<br />
come January 2016 I knew exactly what to<br />
write in my wish letter – that London isn’t<br />
quite what I thought it would be, although<br />
I’m grateful for the work, but I would like<br />
to move to Manchester to be nearer my<br />
family and the countryside, and make a new<br />
circle of kind friends.<br />
Come the autumn, I’d been offered a transfer<br />
to Manchester. Not only that, but it was a<br />
promotion that came with a bigger salary.<br />
The following January, I was feeling content<br />
with my work situation; it was my personal<br />
life that needed some attention.<br />
I feel ready to find my soul match, I wrote in<br />
my wish letter. I’ve been single on and off for<br />
10 years and want to settle down.<br />
As I’ve never had any expectations about<br />
how my wish letter dreams will come to<br />
fruition, or their timing, when Joel, an old<br />
school friend, messaged me on Facebook<br />
out of the blue in August 2017 I didn’t<br />
immediately think ‘romance’.<br />
Joel, Darcy,<br />
Indie and me<br />
However, when he asked me out on a date,<br />
I simply thought ‘why not’. I trusted the<br />
universe completely.<br />
Delivering what’s best<br />
Within two months, Joel and I were making<br />
plans for our future and by December 2017,<br />
I was happily pregnant.<br />
With a baby on the way, my 2018 letter<br />
focused on having a healthy pregnancy and<br />
finding a new home for our growing family.<br />
We viewed the perfect property in December<br />
2018. Sometimes it can take time for things to<br />
become a reality!<br />
The house was worth the wait. The property<br />
had failed to sell at auction and as a result the<br />
price had been dropped to within our budget.<br />
What’s more, it was only a road away from<br />
my mum and in an area we loved – all details<br />
that were in my wish letter. We got the keys in<br />
March 2019 and moved in five months later,<br />
after renovation work had been carried out.<br />
Meanwhile, in my wish letter that same<br />
year, I had already asked for a sibling for<br />
Darcy, who’s now three. I fell pregnant again<br />
the first time we tried and Indie, now 18<br />
months old, was born in March 2020.<br />
Write your wish letter<br />
Lucy shares her top tips for writing to the universe<br />
♥ Choose some nice<br />
paper and a lovely pen.<br />
♥ Go somewhere you<br />
love, like a coffee shop or<br />
a favourite room in your<br />
house, and enjoy the<br />
process of writing about<br />
everything you’re grateful<br />
for currently in your life.<br />
Then, write a list of all the<br />
things you would like the<br />
universe to help you<br />
manifest over the next<br />
12 months.<br />
♥ Open your letter with<br />
‘Dear Universe’ and start<br />
writing as if you’re<br />
speaking to a best friend.<br />
Be open about your<br />
hopes, fears and dreams.<br />
Keep writing until you’ve<br />
said all you want to say.<br />
♥ Once you’ve finished,<br />
read the letter back once,<br />
and then, without delay,<br />
‘Be open about<br />
your hopes<br />
and dreams’<br />
Tr y it<br />
now!<br />
put it in an envelope,<br />
address it c/o yourself and<br />
post it.<br />
♥ When the letter arrives<br />
put it in a safe place to<br />
read at a later date. Often<br />
you need a bit of time for<br />
things to start to manifest.<br />
If you’re too attached to<br />
the outcome, you forget<br />
the most important part of<br />
the process – the journey.<br />
♥ Keep your wish letters<br />
in a bundle tied with pretty<br />
ribbon and in a place that’s<br />
special to you.<br />
AS TOLD TO MONICA CAFFERKY PHOTO ADOBESTOCK<br />
66 JANUARY 2022 spiritanddestiny.co.uk<br />
spiritanddestiny.co.uk JANUARY 2022 67
YOGA<br />
Time to Pause…<br />
Wide angle seated<br />
forward bend<br />
‘This pose suits the dark days of January when we spend<br />
more time indoors seated. It is a wonderful release<br />
for the lower back and hamstrings,’<br />
says yoga teacher Emma Conally-Barklem<br />
RELAXATION<br />
This pose encourages<br />
a lengthening of the spine<br />
with a focus on calming<br />
relaxation as the body and<br />
mind are lulled gradually<br />
towards a surrendering<br />
of tension.<br />
BEGINNER<br />
Wide angle seated forward<br />
bend with bolster<br />
This Yin variation of the pose encourages a<br />
gentle release with the support of a bolster.<br />
It opens out the Yin meridian line of the<br />
inner thighs to aid stress relief and is ideal for<br />
winter when energy levels are low.<br />
ADVANCED<br />
Deep wide angle seated<br />
forward bend<br />
This variation offers a deep release of the<br />
hamstrings and encourages active surrender<br />
with a focus on a longer exhale. This facilitates<br />
a gradual softening into a release which, in<br />
turn, relieves any ‘tightness’ of the mind.<br />
✿ More info emmaliveyoga.com<br />
Instagram @emmaliveyoga<br />
PHOTOS Z. BAJUSZOVA<br />
72<br />
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