The intentional leader podcast

I wrote an article on Medium on how to be a better person in December last year where I talked mostly about being a better listener. It talked also about the prejudice we carry towards groups of people that maybe have been known to have conflict with your own.

In this episode, I go further than that and examine what we, as spiritual seekers, can do to stop some incredibly damaging practices that are commonly carried out by our peers and take a stance. I am talking mostly about cultural appropriation and white washing.

When I started my spiritual journey, these two topics were not talked about much. Because of that, I harmed marginalised groups without being aware of what I was doing, and although it is not an excuse, I want to forgive my younger self for what she has done. It is because of this that I feel the need to be vocal about this. And it was only last week that I saw a post on LinkedIn by Steve Barlett, sharing what happened in the Dragon's Den, which gave me the proof that these practices are still very much happening right here and right now.

As white spiritual people, it is our duty to educate ourselves into topics such a anti-racism, our own biases and beliefs but also the systemic discrimination that marginalised groups suffer at the hands of our institutions such as hospitals and the police for example. Did you know that black people are nine times more likely to be arrested and searched for suspected drug possession in the UK despite the fact that they are statistically less likely to be users than white people? These statistics come from the Institute of Race Relations. I knew that instinctively as a teen. What I did not know was that people of colour are prescribed less pain medication than their white counterparts by the NHS. This stems from remnants of beliefs from the European slavery days when white people considered people of colour as animals and pretended they could not feel pain, to ease their own conscience with how their slaves were treated.

Your beliefs are like the furniture in your house. You are so used to them that you hardly notice them anymore.

The other two topics we need to actively seek more information about are cultural appropriation and white washing. Cultural appropriation is taking a sacred object, ritual or food from a historically marginalised culture and making money out of it, turning it into a costume or using it without showing understanding or respect. The man who pitched the Dragon's Den last week did exactly that. He took a ceremony from a Guatemalan shaman around cacao ceremony, and is now making it the centre of his business by training people in cacao ceremonies (he has his own school) and selling the product in the UK. Other example of cultural appropriation are: dream catches, sage bundles, reiki, but also using the word chakra and desacralising yoga and turning it into mere exercise. Whole industries have been built on this and it time we stopped.

I am inviting you, actually scratch that, urging you to decolonise your spiritual practice now. You didn't know better but now you do. And please share this episode far and wide so we can collectively put an end to the damage we are doing to marginalised groups. Thank you.

Eleanor is an Intuitive Love Coach. Eleanor was raised by two parents who were spiritual seekers who became Buddhists in their 20s and her parents talked about things other parents did not talk about, such as past lives, enlightenment, meditation, compassion and all of those topics. But because there was a disconnect and her childhood household environment was volatile, she moved away from Buddhism and into New Age practices such as the use of tarot cards, crystals and other modalities. This led her to becoming a reiki teacher and a registered holistic nutritionist.

As she built her practice, though, the women who came to her with a health problem, invariably would end up talking about their intimate relationships. Either because they did not seem to be able to find love or they had all these issues in their romantic relationships. However, she resisted embracing this line of work until she felt she had sorted her own unhealthy patterns in relationships, which took her until 2018.

Part of the work is to find your true self, which ironically ties into Eleanor's childhood of observing her parents being disconnected and this led her to call her business Truly Eleanor. This is the starting point of the work she does with her clients, because as long as we are people pleasing, and we tend to do a lot of that in the courtship phase of dating, then we can't really meet the person that will be the right person for us.

Eleanor and I picked up the topic of twin flames, especially the Netflix documentary that I mentioned in Episode 10, and how disturbing this is because it rests on the false premise that your romantic partner is here to complete you, and even fix you, and that you are not complete on your own. But the concept of Twin Flames goes further than that. It rests on the premise that you must be pure to find your twin flame and that it is a privilege that only a few chosen people will experience. It brings in it the notion of elite, which actually speaks to the ego, which is ironically, is the opposite of what being spiritual is.

But what Eleanor warns us against, especially two weeks from Valentine's Day, is that this concept will lure you away from yourself in a sort of chase for the gold, like a love olympics of some sort, and then paradoxically, it will bring you down and make you feel worthless. You end up losing yourself in that process. You also start believing in a kind of fairy tale kind of love, that is supposed to be this exalted spiritual experience, but in reality, it does not exist. And it is easy to get manipulated into this movement because it is incredibly seductive. They are making you feel that you are superior to others. Who doesn't like that? Especially if you have a fractured sense of self, or you lack confidence.

To find true love, you need to be true to yourself and dig deeper into what you truly want. It's never going to be perfect, because perfection does not exist. The ego is welcome to come along for the ride, but it is not in the driving seat.

Asking yourself, how do I want to live my life and how do I want to feel with another person. It's a self discovery process and it's also a trial and error process. The clearer you will be on what you want, the more magnetic you will become. In order to stay authentic in the dating process, Eleanor recommends that instead of focusing on the person that you meet, you take your awareness back to you and ask yourself "How do I feel in the presence of that person?"

Eleanor and I talked about so much more though. I asked her questions about how do we know if we are ready to date again after a relationship breakup but also the top three red flags to pay attention to. To listen to the full interview, click here. You can find Eleanor on her website, on Facebook and Insight Timer.

I wrote an article on medium about this back in November but wanted to expand on the topic. I realised the reason why I felt I needed to wait so long before doing the episode was probably my intuition as it turns out that someone whose work I admire a lot, Caroline Strawson, is literally running her first Rage Release Retreat as we speak to help victims of narcissists deal with their repressed anger. https://carolinestrawson.com/

For years, I never got angry and I believe, wrongly may I add, that it was because I was more evolved than other people. What I did not realise was that this wasn't at all what was happening. What was happening was that my nervous system had shut down and I was living in functional freeze. I even remember a dear friend of mine in my twenties asking me why on earth I was such a cool cucumber. I know better now. I had no space to express my anger as a child so I shut it down. My body was frozen. Interestingly, from a law of attraction perspective, I was surrounded by angry people. The anger vibe was deep seated in me, I just couldn't feel it.

I personally believe that it is a spiritual thing to take responsibility for ALL our emotions, negative or positive. No emotion is actually good or bad. It is what society wants us to believe. Anger is just an emotion. It is not a pleasant one but it's not better or worse than happiness. Until we can accept that, we won't really take responsibility for our anger. We will continue to be in denial. Religions have not helped in this respect, except maybe Buddhism which in my opinion is the healthiest of them all because it has integrated psychology into its philosophy, which is something most other religions could learn from. I want to mention in particular Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who is one of my favourite spiritual teachers, and who wrote an entire book on Anger and another one on Fear.

When you don't take responsibility for your anger, there is a risk that you will:

- act out

- explore

- project

- judge

- lack compassion

- be passive aggressive

Acceptance of our anger is the first and necessary step in that road to responsibility for ourselves. If you have been hurt and feel angry about it, why not join our brand new community called Hurt, Not Heard on FB. It's for women only but if you are a man and need support, I work with men too. Head over to my welcome page and find out about my offers.

I didn't give much thought to angels growing up. I left church at twelve because the Catholic teachings made me cringe. So you can imagine my surprise when a psychic told me in 2003 that I had angel dust coming out of my hands. What?

I wasn't amused, but in a way it planted a seed in my mind that earth angels might exist, just not me.

Fast forward a year or so and I decided to train in reiki. I attended a reiki one workshop and a girl who trained with me claimed she was an earth angel. She was bitter and quite negative and she monopolised the attention of the group for the entire weekend. I wasn't impressed. If that was what an earth angel looked like, I didn't want to meet any.

Then I came across Doreen Virtue's books on angels. She had severa: Angel Therapy, Healing with the Angels, the Lightworker's Way, and even one on Earth Angels. She also produced the most exquisite angel oracle cards. I have several of her decks. But that did not convince me either. It was just a nice idea. And I hadn't met an earth angel yet either.

It is only a few years ago, as I was walking the streets of London with a person I know very well, when suddenly, I looked at her back and saw wings. Energetic wings. This took me by surprise for two reasons. The first reason is that I don't consider myself clairvoyant and very rarely see things, so that was definitely something unexpected. The second reason is that the person I saw with wings was not a lightworker, a healer, or a psychic. They are a highly regarded professional in the corporate finance industry. And the New Age movement certainly never talks about earth angels having these sorts of jobs. I liked it. I like a good paradox, or at least something that commands you to think differently.

As you can imagine, from there, the idea that there could be earth angels presenting as lawyers really appealed to me. I just had to wait to meet one.

So what are the signs that someone might be an angel in disguise (for real)?

1. They are here to serve humanity (although they might not know it themselves)
2. They can have compassion for people that you and I really struggle too feel compassion for
3. They have brilliant energies that can shift a room
4. They love to help people with no strings attached
5. They always look for a better way to do things
6. They always see the good in others
7. Being in their presence instantly uplifts you
8. They want everyone to win
9. They don't like to be the centre of attention
10. They are very bad at asking for help and often neglect themselves

But they are also human and make mistakes. And for them, being human is way more challenging than for us because Earth school is rough.

I have a job for you. I want you to observe around you to find out if you know an earth angel from the list of points above. And if you do, I want you to go give them a big hug. And then I want you to go to my article on Medium that asks whether lawyers can be angels, and in the comments share a story about that earth angel with us. Here is a link to my profile on Medium.

As always if you have enjoyed the episode, please share with people you think might enjoy it, write a review and rate it. Here is a link to the podcast.

What is the best way to achieve your dreams in 2024? Is it through intention setting? Goals? New Year Resolutions? Or maybe even the Law of Attraction. In this episode, I explain the difference between these four modalities and the pluses and minuses of them all.

For me, Goals tend to be purely action driven and are often rooted into what our minds believe we should be doing. They lack the energy of co-creation and can be a big rigid. They can also compound our feelings of failure if we are perfectionists. There is definitely an art in setting goals and if you feel a little bit hesitant to set goals because they scare you or you have failed at reaching your goals before, it is well worth the money to invest in a planning coach who can help you set realistic but also goals that are going to help achieve those big dreams or targets for 2024.

Intentions are usually "softer" and leave more room for inspiration or creativity. They allow more for life or the Big U to come in a co-create with us, but there is a danger that they are going to be too vague. There is also a risk in the spiritual communities that we are going to hand over all our decision making process to God, the Big U, the Universe or our higher self or our spirit guides, and in my opinion that is a real danger. That is what makes spiritual people give up at the smallest obstacle with the expression "It wasn't meant to be". The reality is that once you set your intention, you are going to face some obstacles because it is the way the Universe is going to test how motivated you are to reach that particular outcome.

New Year Resolution are problematic in a different way. They often lack vision or planning which is why they often only last a few weeks. And I feel for people who go through this cycle because it compounds the feelings of failure, which makes it just that much harder the second or third time around.

Knowing this, choose what feels right for you. We have sensitivities and proclivities towards certain words and expression, but then make sure two things are in place: a vision and a plan. And remember that tiny steps are much more effective than giant leaps, when it comes to creating new habits or reaching goals. Without goals/intentions/new year resolutions, we will constantly allow the urgent to trump the important, nothing of significance is achieved.

Before you go, I want to mention that I have taught for many years a planning process that combined the intellect (goals) with intuition (inspiration) which most of the participants have said was a breath of fresh air in the entrepreneurial world. If this appeals to you, there are two ways I could help: through my planning in the akashic records kit for £59 (price valid as of January 2024) or through my two week Get it Done package for £600 (price valid as of January 2024). If you want to discuss these two options to find out which one is most suited to you, why not book a discovery call with me with this link.

Dr Lulu is a paediatrician and coach who works with LGBTQIA+ families, as well as an activist. I asked her to come on the show to discuss how we can create more inclusive spiritual spaces. Although she retired as a physician a little over two years ago, she is now coming back into medicine with a new angle: offering gender care for transgender individuals. She is passionate about rectifying the myths and misinformation around what gender care really is.

But Dr Lulu is also a member of the LGBTQIA+ herself. She describes herself as Bi-Plus although she prefers the term Queer. And she is a mum of three, one of which is transgender, which is actually how we met.

I wanted to have her on the show because I am well aware that some religious people and some spiritual people are not as inclusive as they could be towards the LGBTQIA+ community.

Dr Lulu was born and raised in a Catholic household. Her family is so religious that one of her uncles is a priest. She enjoys having a relationship with something bigger than her. She went to mass for the first fifty years of her life. And when she was in medical school, she even went to mass daily because it was available. She told her dad she was attracted to girls when she was sixteen and he made her believe that it was just a phase. Her father did not say it with any malice, but her aunt, who was much more engrained into Nigerian culture, made her feel that if she indulged into these inclinations, she would go to hell. Her auntie was very close to her. She had helped raise her and she believed her because she knew she loved her so much. So she started to turn down the volume on her attraction until it was nearly down to zero. She got married and had three kids. The pressure to conform was enormous.

Dr Lulu wants people to understand that when you have very strong beliefs, especially about what is right and wrong from a religious perspective, then it can put undue pressure on other people to conform, especially if they are children. It's not really fair. Religion, by nature, is not inclusive, but it's not God. It's the religion. And these are two very different things. If there is a God, God is inclusive and God's pronouns are they/them. It is us humans who love to put conditions on everything. It's an important distinction.

Religion is based on a binary model that is divisive, but to a certain extent, spiritual circles have also espoused this binary model especially when they insist on having separate circles for men and women. No one should have a say for what is right or wrong in terms of gender identity. It's an individual expression that should be respected. In addition to that, just because someone reads a passage from the bible from 2,000 years ago, doesn't make it right. Especially since it has been rewritten many times to suit the people who preached from it. The LGBTQIA+ community is giving us the gift of diversity. It is constantly expanding and offering new ways to express and see oneself. Dr Lulu first thought she was a Lesbian, then Bisexual. Now Bi-Plus and rather than see it with contempt, people who are not part of the LGBTQIA+ community should see it as "a garden that has flowers you did not even know existed".

This goes against the current of religion and spirituality which has tried over the years and even decades, to dictate who people should be, how they should fit in, or else, they go to hell. Dr Lulu mentioned a famous Black Pastor who was openly homophobic, but when he died, it was revealed that he was gay and died of AIDS. Instead of blaming that pastor, we need to look at the institution and the pressure that is put on people to be other than who they are. This causes internalised homophobia. And this can be traced into colonialism, which is a subject that Dr Lulu broached on her own podcast, Moms 4 Trans Kids. podfollow.com/1708676679

But things are changing. Dr Lulu and I discussed several clergy members in the US who are openly either gay or trans. It looks like the Church of England, in the UK, has also appointed their first openly non binary vicar.

Christmas time can be very stressful in the Western World. Whilst everywhere we see images of happy gatherings, the reality can be very different. Everything gets a little frantic. People spend time buying presents and of course there are the family gatherings. Everyone wants everything to be perfect. And I sometimes wonder, if the same pressure exists in other religious traditions such as Diwali, Hanukkah or Yule. Personally, it's too much pressure and if you add to this a relative level of dysfunction that exists in most families, then it can be a recipe for disaster.

In my family, it was taken to a whole new level due to the fact that I have four autistic children so this is the perfect storm to trigger meltdowns, sensory overload and kids actually not even wanting to come out of their bedrooms.

For you it might be another kind of challenge (or a combination of): your family may be far away, maybe a loved one has recently died, you might be under a lot of financial stress or you might be single. Christmas is not kind to single people. Not many celebrations are.

How can you do Christmas differently so that it can be a happier time for you? One way would be to fly away to a destination where they do not celebrate Christmas, but that's not always possible. I want to mention someone who has helped me tremendously to redefine Christmas and make it a much happier time for me and my kids. Lauren Winzar is an Australian decluttering and organisation coach with a signature program called Simplicity. She also has a very reasonable library of resources called the Simplicity Toolkit, available for the very kind price of AUD9 which you can check out here.

One of the tools I used from her kit helps you do a Christmas audit. It's a questionnaire that you can fill in for each person in your household where they will share what they love about Christmas, what they don't, their favourite activities, the people they love, their favourite food, and their triggers. When I did this audit, it made me wonder why I had never asked my kids these questions before, or even myself. And it allowed me to make Christmas a much happier time for everyone.

The other thing you can do is to learn to say no. And if you find it hard because, like me, you are a people pleaser, I share on the show seven ways you can say no without actually using the word. I was inspired by a humorous page on FB called Very British Problems, because let's say it, the British are very good at saying no without saying no, which to Frenchies like me, can drive us a little mad. French people know how to say no. There was a meme recently on FB that circulates of a foreigner who tried to order an oat Cafe au lait in Paris, and the waiter just said "No!" That had me giggling.

I also want you to have strategies to deal with energy vampires over Christmas, because we all have them in our lives, if not in our friend circles anymore, they might lurk at work or in our families. In the episode, I share six strategies to deal with them (one of them is to learn to say no).

I also share ideas of clutter free presents, inspired from Lauren's tool.

I want to invite you to look at what you normally do at Christmas time and look at it with the eyes of an alien, and ask yourself: does it work for me? What could I do differently? Personally, I have gotten rid of the whole Christmas tree tradition and have created a wall one with drift wood and string, which I absolutely love looking at. I was never really satisfied with the real Christmas tree tradition as it did not feel very earth friendly.

Last but not least, I want you to have realistic expectations. I have been reading the Happiness Trap recently and what I have retained from it, is that our emotions are like the weather. To expect to only get sunshine is not realistic and it means that you get upset about the rain. Challenge the assumption that if you feel negative emotions, you are not normal. Be kind to yourself. If it happens to you in the middle of a party, take some time out and allow yourself to feel all the feels without the pressure to perform in the happy happy Christmas play. Do the best you can and be ok with it.

Last but not least, I gave you some tips on how to focus on small things that can enhance your feelings of happiness during the Christmas period even if you are feeling challenged.

If you would like some support in the background, my Sage in Your Pocket package is ideal. You can reach out to me without having to get on a call and I can help you go through those difficult moments. Check it out here.

If you have enjoyed this episode, please go in your favourite app and write us a review. Whilst you are at it, also rate it. And share it on socials. Thank you.

I was invited by a very dear friend of mine to go to Church last Sunday. I am not a church person but she recently joined that church and I wanted to honour her.

The last time I went to church was weeks before my dad died. He was a very devout Catholic and going to church was everything to him. As a child, us going to church was our very special time. Dad was an eye surgeon and worked long hours, so I did not get to see much of him. As I sat in a chair at the back of the room, the tears started to flow. Grief knows no rules. It hits you unexpectedly. Some of the tears came from memories of me at the girl scouts, listening to the songs. My friend has joined an Evangelical Church, so there was a lot of singing and clapping, which I had never experienced before in a house of God.

Before I launch into why Christianity clashes with my values, I want to honour the Vicar of my village and his wife, now retired, for the beautiful friendly and inclusive community he created for the twenty years I have lived here. Even though he knew I wasn't a church goer, I was always made more than welcome and invited to all village events. I never quite made it to mass, but my kids loved going to Messy Church, an after school gathering where kids made crafts, ate cookies with squash and learnt about bible stories.

As I listened attentively, the usual words triggered me: sin, father, savior. The cross always triggers me when I enter a Christian church. Why, of all the important moments of Jesus' life do Christians focus on his darkest hour? Sacrifice is another trigger word for me. Perhaps because my mother reminded me on a regular basis all the sacrifices she did for me as a mother and that weighted heavily on my small shoulders as a kid. Also, my grandmother wore her pain as a badge of honour. It was pretty toxic.

I was fairly young, probably twelve, when I realised that Catholicism clashed with my values. I found the fact that I was condemned as a sinner just for being born unsavory. Come on, God, give me a chance. Now, of course, I know better, but I was raised in that faith and it was all around me. How do you resist? Most of our beliefs are shaped before we reach the age of seven. Is that really the start we want to give our kids?

The moment the pastor referred to God with the male pronouns, I was put off. It was an immediate red flag. I know that most religious organisations are not inclusive, but if they just made the small effort to use they/them when referring to God, it would take that sexist and white supremacist edge. Is it that difficult? Not to mention that the constant mention of a father and us as being his children, plus the idea that he sent his son to save us, made me feel like an irresponsible child. Surely, at fifty eight, I don't need a father to admonish me or tell me what to do.

As my December guest on the podcast said in her interview, if Jesus was to come back he would be non binary. Think about it, it makes sense.

One claim that a lot of religions make and that grates me is that if you don't follow their rules, then you won't be saved. It's the "my way or the highway" rule. How can people claim this? It stems on the idea that there is only one right path. Personally, I value diversity. At the start of my spiritual journey, I wondered why there were so many religions, if there was one god, and I received the answer: each culture is to have their own version of religion to suit their set of beliefs. To claim that yours is better than others is childish at best, supremacist at worst.

There as also the elephant in the room, as a child, which was how religion treats women as inferior. As a little girl, this made me wonder. Why does God not value me as much as my brother? I had a very strong sense of justice and it felt wrong, so I told my dad I did not want to get my confirmation. And so, I walked out.

As soon as I went to University, I started making friends with people from the LGBTQIA+ community and I was even more appalled at the messages conveyed by religious people about them. Condemnation of same sex love? I could see clearly that it was because it challenged a model of society where everyone was to conform: get married, have kids, work hard. And please, do not create any waves that are going to upset the apple cart.

The claims by various religious organisations that their buildings, whether they call it a church, a temple, or a mosque, is the house of God is, in my opinion, false. God is everywhere. And God is here, even for non religious people. God is in the rivers, on the hills, in the sun, in the wind, in the forest, in the sea, in the heart of every animal, but also in your home, in your car... and in the business world.

God is also in the middle of war zones.

God knows no hierarchy. God is inclusive. God is forgiving. God is unconditional love. God is un-judging. God is pure. You can access God directly. You don't need to be a saint or to have permission from another human being, but you might need a guide to help you shift through all the claims that are made in their name. And if that is the case, I can be here for you. You can find out about "Sage in your pocket" offer here https://www.theintuitiverevolution.co.uk/a-sage-in-your-pocket-package/.

Also, I have a brand new quiz available to find out which of the four pillars of success needs strenghtening. Click here to receive it http://eepurl.com/gdEEJX.

In this podcast episode I talked about what really happens when we commit to our spiritual journeys.

First of all, this commitment can be conscious or unconscious. It's obviously more powerful when it is a conscious commitment although, as we are actually 90% driven by our subconscious, having a subconscious commitment is by no means less effective than a conscious one.

What most people think happens when we commit to our spiritual journeys, is that we will live happy, trouble free lives in this bubble of bliss and enlightenment. What really happens is something completely different. This is where I give a warning: anything can happen. And what I can guarantee will happen to you is something in your life that is not aligned will be brought to your attention and you will have to address the issue. I have had several of those wake up calls. The first one was nearly dying three times. The second one was losing my job. Now you could argue that the wake up call comes before the commitment to the spiritual journey. I think they are one and the same.

I believe that life whispers first, but if we don't listen, the volume gets louder each time until life throws bricks at you. The trick is to act before the bricks start to come your way. It's so much less painful that way.

And this brings me to the next point: every person who has embraced their spiritual journey is likely to experience Joseph Campbell's twelve steps journey. Here is a list of the steps:

1. The call to adventure 2. The refusal of the call 3. Meeting the mentor 4. Crossing the threshold 5. Test - Allies - Enemies 6. The cave 7. The ordeal 8. The reward 9. The road back 10. Resurrection 11. The return 12. The freedom to live

Knowing at which point of the journey you are is really important because it will help you plan things a little but also know what kind of help you need. And when you realise that you are the hero of your own life, you can start to understand that life is happening for you rather than at you. You can choose a growth mindset and take back some level of control: in fact the only control you have which is how you respond to things, because there is no doubt that you cannot control what happens to you. If you are experiencing challenges and need a mentor, you are in luck, my Sage in Your Pocket Package is meant just for that. Click here to find out more. https://www.theintuitiverevolution.co.uk/a-sage-in-your-pocket-package/

If you like the podcast please make sure you take a few minutes to write a review and rate it so that more people can find out about it. I would also love for you to share this blog post or the link above with friends, family or colleagues who you think might benefit from it. Thank you.

In Episode 10, I mentioned that friends and relatives can be soul mates, not just romantic partners. https://pod.fo/e/202cde I even said that businesses could be soul mates. https://podfollow.com/1572071820 (see episode 2) What I did not explore is whether our pets can be our soul mates. So I am doing it in this episode, this week.

But first, I wanted to explore what traditional religions say about animals and what I found did not sit well with me. The Bible says that animals are "things" to be controlled by men. And it wasn't so long ago that these same men thought that women did not have souls, nor did children. It's also the same men who promoted slavery and considered that people of colour did not have souls. We need to decolonise our minds from the centuries of brain washing by white supremacy.

When I looked into Hinduism and Buddhism, I wasn't that impressed either. They both consider animals as inferior to men. It's slightly better than Christianity because they are considered to have souls, but the supremacy remains. Full disclosure here, I am not a pet person, but I love animals and get upset when they are not treated properly. And I certainly question the narrative that they are inferior to us. In fact, they do much less damage to the environment than we did, when left to their own devices. And I could be wrong, but there is much less cruelty in their world. We as a species are much more prone to darkness and evil. And yet the Buddhists consider the animal kindgom as part of the "evil" realms.

I know the texts that these religions are based on are thousands of years old. Well then it's time that these religions base their morals on revised texts. Why would "God" have stopped talking to us thousands of years ago?

In this episode I talk about my lived experience and some pretty extraordinary cat stories. This was all possible thanks to a Facebook friend of mine called Sarah-Jane LeBlanc, who is a pet whisperer and who teaches animal communication. You might want to buy her book called Pet Whisperer, my life as an animal healer. I won her home study pet whispering course in a Facebook competition. I am not a pet person, so I actually told her to gift it to someone else but she refused. She said that if I won it, I was meant to do it. And she was right. I did the course and managed to help one of my dearest friends who lives in Dubai (I am in the UK) who had just brought home a rescue cat, who wouldn't come out of her basket and eat. I can't say that what I did had a direct link with what happened next, but the timing was certainly interesting.

The reason I agreed to do the course is that when I first met my ex, who was a cat person, his cat, Tom, behaved really strangely towards me. For one, whenever we were on the phone together (at the start we lived in different parts of the UK), he would sit on top of the sofa and listen to my voice through my ex's phone. And he did this every single time. When I trained as a reiki master six years later, my reiki master told me that he was a soul mate in a past life. At the time, I found her claim bizarre, but now that I know more about the spirit world and spirituality in general, I am more inclined to think "Who is to say this is not possible?"

Animal communication is not that different to mediumship and what I learnt in Sarah-Jane's course helped a lot with my mediumship skills. I actually talk about it in my first memoir, My Father Who Art in Heaven, which is available for sale in my online shop. https://www.theintuitiverevolution.co.uk/shop/ The old concept that we are punished if we reincarnate as animals is obsolete at best, offensive at worst. In fact, I believe animals can teach us humans a lot about spirituality. In the UK there are several famous mediums who specialise in animal communication. But I want to finish these shownotes with a reflection from a vet interviewed by the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/nov/20/pet-psychics-telepathy Dr Chen says she has seen enough evidence to convince her that the idea of pet communication should not be dismissed outright. I like her thinking. She also says that when she trained as a vet, acupuncture was considered voodoo, and it has now become relatively mainstream. So let's all keep an open mind.

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