Finding heaven here and now

Sometimes I have no clue what the angel’s message will be. I sit and raise my vibration and wait. Then it comes. The energy feels good flowing through me. It feels like love. I guess you could say I get to have a little heaven every week while tapping into the angels in my work. I can be going through nearly anything in my personal life, but the moment I sit to work with a client or surrender to love, all of that is forgotten, if only temporarily.

I really worked my body hard a few weekends ago while lugging boxes of Christmas decor. I hadn’t really exercised much the past several months except for reaching for the candy canes and cocoa! As a result, this burst of exercise felt good –  until the next day when I woke up near crippled! I did all the right things – got a massage, soaked in Epsom salt, used arnica, etc., but for the following week, I was one big owie, except in my client sessions. I didn’t feel a bit of pain while focused on loving others. I forgot about the aches while channeling this newsletter. Somehow the muscles weren’t screaming when I surrendered to receiving or giving love. I forgot about them when I was involved in my creative pursuits. It was amazing to see how we can temporarily tap into a higher vibe and, in that space, temporarily forget all our challenges and problems.

It is a way of life for me to sit quietly and tap into higher vibes when I’ve got anything going on that needs a solution. I don’t expect to hear answers while I’m busy revving up my vibe, but I know I will get answers in a higher vibe.

I’ve experienced heaven directly on a few occasions. My favorite was the time, just after gazing, when the light of heaven opened up right in front of me in mid-air, reached for me, touched me, knew me, and loved me in ways that are inexplicable in human words. I had surrendered completely to love. I was completely present. I felt nothing but love for life and those I served, and suddenly there it was – that light at the end of the tunnel. I later asked the angels why I had that experience, and they said simply, “The light is always there. You just happened to be in the space to see it.” I was staggered. “You mean that light is there even when I’m in pain? Even when I’m worked up? Even when life doesn’t feel so hot that love is there? That awareness and unconditional embrace is there?” “Yes,” the angels answered, “always.” “Wow.”

The experience and understanding changed me. I know the love that is there even if I can’t see or feel it. When I’m having a hard day, I know that love is there, loving me. When I’ve messed up my body, I know that love is there waiting to heal and recalibrate me. When I lose a dear one, I know that love has swallowed them up in its constant delicious embrace, and they are in a bliss we cannot even begin to describe most days. Heaven is present and waiting. We are the ones who tune in or not.

My “heavens” as I call those moments where we touch that space of complete bliss are often in nature. I felt it standing knee-deep in the creek with 300-foot canyon walls on either side and wind whistling through the trees. I used to feel it while holding my dog’s face in my hands and putting our third eyes together in a snuggly hugging embrace. I felt heaven seeing my parents happy in nature during the last visit. Heaven came when I was driving, watching giant billowing clouds in a blue sky. Heaven is a sip of hot cocoa in warm milk with marshmallows and whipping cream, while wearing warm clothes and soft socks. Heaven is that moment when I carry a bug out of the house and feel the little critter’s love and appreciation. Heaven is a single ripe tomato in January. So many heavens. So many small moments to appreciate.

It is easy to find these spaces in easy times or beautiful circumstances. It is more challenging and often quite a stretch when under duress, lost, longing, or challenged. It takes work to focus when you feel bad, sad, or upset. However, it can be done. You can find heaven anywhere, anytime, if you reach for it.

When my back was aching from all the lifting a few weeks ago, I kept challenging myself to focus on something that felt much better. I shut my eyes, hiked in my mind, and all felt better. I walked around the house, picked up random objects, and just “be’d” with them, appreciating them and all who contributed. I thought of ways I could share the love. My back loosened up a bit. Little by little, I got better.

After death, feeling heaven is easy. We are overwhelmed with the love that is always there. We stop turning away from it. It is such a compelling, overwhelming love that it is impossible to look away when our usual defenses are gone. We can find that on earth, however, in a moment here, and a moment there. Gradually more and more moments of heaven and spaces of grace will find their way into our lives.

Here are a few tips to help you experience heaven…

1. Milk the Magic Moments in Life

We are so trained to get fixated on problems, but we tend to race through or gloss over the good stuff. When you get up in the morning, instead of grumbling, take a few moments to appreciate the bed, the sheets, and the calm before the day. Take a few moments to enjoy the warmth (or chill!) of your shower, the scent of the soap, and the feel of shampoo. If you have tea or coffee, feel its warmth, Inhale its scent, and sip with awareness and appreciation.

Take time to truly look in the eyes of your child, spouse… or barista! Appreciate them as they are. Appreciate their humanity, their striving, their goodness, their dedication – anything you can think to appreciate. I do this often in my life. I randomly think of the people in my life and appreciate so much about them. My heart expands. I feel good.

Every time you can sit and savor a simple moment, you get closer to the vibration of heaven. We actually experience it in those moments where we lose ourselves to love and appreciation, feeling filled, blessed, and caressed by the goodness around us. Practice milking your little magic moments; little by little, this will become second nature until heaven finds its way into your nows more often.

2. Have a few Tried and True Moments to Recall

Think back to a few moments that felt like heaven to you, even if they were short-lived. I stopped once to watch a glorious sunset and photographed it through some orange flowers. I was elated to see a lovely lizard climbing the stems to eat the flowers I was photographing. We shared a glorious moment.

Your moment may be a meeting, a hug, a sunrise, the birth of your child, or the first meal that turned out correctly. It might be the feel of a fleece blanket or a soft pillow, a scent that transports you, or music that takes you away. Whatever your little heavens are, pick a few whose memories always make you feel delightful. When times are challenging, call on these moments. Remember them in vivid detail. Relive them in your mind as if they were happening now.

3. Keep tangible reminders of your heavenly moments

You could create a photo album on your phone that feels like heaven when you look at each picture. You can make a playlist of the music that elevates you. You can write little love letters to yourself, reminding you of your heavenly moments so when you’re in need, you can read something loving. If you can keep sensory, tangible reminders of your heavens, it helps to recall them when times are tough. I have thousands of photographs that transport me, CDs that lift me, and happy journal entries.

Some people keep rocks from their travels or souvenirs. Others have outfits that remind them of their heavens. I have a hand cream from a local store that is nothing special but using it feels like heaven after a day of housework.

You can make a basket of heaven – a blanket, a book, a scent, a sound, a candle, and a few photos. It is always good to have heaven on hand!

Whatever tangible things can help to conjure up your heavenly memories or create heavenly experiences, now are beautiful props to help you find those moments of pure presence, appreciation, and love.

It seems too simple –  lose yourself in a moment with appreciation and love and find heaven. That is the formula, however, for surrendering to the love that is always there – knowing, loving, guiding, and embracing us. We just have to relax into the vibes of love and appreciation to experience it –  perhaps a moment here, a moment there, and eventually, throughout your days, any time you take the time to find it.