{PERSONAL JOURNEY} Money, Money, Money — And Spirituality.

Have you heard of Abraham Hicks? 

I was told about the book, The Vortex, almost a decade ago, when I was in yoga teacher training, but I never looked into it. 

It wasn't until we arrived in Austin, that I decided it was time to start listening to the book on audio, especially during my commutes to and from my last full-time gig.

Everything that Abraham said made sense. It was woo-woo, sure. I mean, here's this woman, Esther Hicks, channeling spirits that she and her husband, Jerry, dubbed, "Abraham."

But, everything that they said still had rationale behind it, and in recent weeks, I've begun to dig deeper, especially after listening to Jess Lively's podcast, The Lively Show.

During one of her episodes, Jess mentioned that fans of Abraham are sometimes called, "Abrahamsters," which I loved.

I also resonated with the fact that Jess, over her hundreds upon hundreds of hours of listening to Abraham, had the same feeling about channeling.

**

Let me back up for a second...

The first time I really experienced "channeling," was when I was teaching at The Soul of Yoga in San Diego.

There was a woman coming into town who said she could channel Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion and Lost Children, and because of my personal association with Kwan Yin, thanks to my grandmother praying to her every day while growing up, I wanted to see this woman.

I wanted to see if she was legit... if channeling was legit...  and ultimately, I think I just wanted my grandmother back...

This white-haired woman began to channel, and I have to say that in listening to Esther Hicks in the beginning of her "channeling career," it was surprising to me that they both sounded the same — as in, they had the same kind of weird accent.

In the beginning, this woman said that when she first experienced channeling, her eyes "went Oriental," and of course, the Asian in me guffawed. 

What the fuck? I looked around the room. No one seemed to be offended.

No one, that is, until my newfound fellow yoga teacher friend, Lindsay, said, "Dude, did you hear what she said about her eyes going Oriental?? I was totally looking around the room like, 'Isn't anyone else offended by this?!"

Lindsay was from New York and felt my pain. We immediately bonded after that.

A few days later, my wonderful spiritual yoga teacher and mentor called me while I was in my studio apartment. 

"What are you doing this morning?" Trisha asked, as though it were normal to get a call from this woman who so many people in the San Diego spiritual community adored.

"Um, just writing?" I responded.

"Well, can you sub my class this morning?"

"What?" I replied, shocked. I was a newly minted yoga teacher and knew how beloved Trisha was in the community, so I was afraid that if I showed up in lieu of her, students would actually leave.

"Yes," she said gently and encouragingly. "I checked in with the Higher Ones, and they said YOU were the perfect person to teach the class."

"Okay..." I replied, still hesitant. 

Up until now, I had often said 'yes' to any opportunity that came my way, which usually led to great outcomes, but this required a new level of be-ing.

"Oh, and one more thing," she told me, right before she hung up the phone. "Do you remember how there was that woman who channels Kwan Yin?"

"Yes?"

"Well, she's going to be co-leading the class with you. She'll be channeling Kwan Yin while you're teaching."

"Ah," I paused. "WHAT."

"Yeah, she'll be channeling and co-teaching the class."

"I, uh, I've never taught a class like that...?" I told her.

"It's okay, you'll know what to do," and with that, she said goodbye, and I was left, staring at my phone.

I had about twenty minutes to get ready, so I did just that, then bounded into my car and went off to the studio.

Of course, the class was absolutely packed. Students were even filling the hallways. I was beyond nervous, but simply said a little prayer before beginning that the Universe use me as a channel for the greater good of all.

The class unfolded beautifully... with the woman channeling in between my pauses of physical direction for the students on the mat. I'd pick up where she left off, then she'd take the same cue from me.

At the end of class, one woman came up to me. 

"You were the perfect person to teach this class," she said. "You embody the spirit of Kwan Yin."

I thanked her. This meant more to her than she could realize, since Kwan Yin was the only connection I could feel in my daily life to my late grandmother.

"I'm the woman who painted the floor-to-ceiling portrait of Kwan Yin you see in the studio doorway," she told me.

This was beyond... it's precisely that painting that led me to saying "yes" to choosing The Soul of Yoga as this studio would change my life when I became a yoga teacher... profoundly. 

It gave me permission to pursue my spiritual path, to find who I'd always wanted to be.

And they were the ones who eventually gave me the name Parvati, which is tattooed on my wrist: the Goddess of all Goddesses, the Creative Life Force of the Universe.

Shakti. Embodied.

**

Back to Abraham... I've been listening to their YouTube videos every morning to set my mindset right, and I've even contemplated going to their event in San Antonio, since it's right nearby.

That, combined with Jess Lively's latest episode about living the Law of Attraction for 19 months, gave me the inspiration to do this from now until the rest of the year...

My story with money has always been a negative one, since my parents were/are always in debt... hundreds of thousands of dollars from failed entrepreneurial endeavors.

After working with an amazing mindset therapist, Heather Grey, I realized that the story I have about money was never mine to begin with: "You don't have a money problem. You just picked up your parents' story." 

SO...

From now until the end of the year, I'm going to live my life upon the principles of The Law of Attraction, specifically blogging about it here when it comes to money.

I'm tired of people online talking about five- and six-figure launches overnight, of not being real with where they are financially. In fact, it's been really weighing on my heart, and I believe in being transparent, so that we can remove the guilt and shame of comparing our insides based on someone else's outsides & social media highlight reel.

Here goes: 

At this point, my husband and I have about $30K of debt. Let me be clear that these were conscious choices. That my leaving my six-figure job was a choice, which I still have qualms about. However, in a year of running my business, I've also invested about $15,000 in coaches & courses and my husband has invested upwards of $5,000, so two-thirds of our debt has been an investment in our futures.

I have no doubt that this'll all be paid off in 2018, because we were able to pay off $20,000 in six months this past year when we chose to take off 6 months to not work at all and buy our camper van and pursue #vanliving.

I'm saying this, because I want to actually apply the Law of Attraction into my daily life, and you can be witness of the experiences of one woman flowing through this approach to money & success.

I want my life to be filled with magic and I know I'm a powerful manifester — I now want to have a focal point to direct everything I would love to achieve with an approach that has proven to work for many.

So, here's what I'll be documenting:

• The spiritual practice I pursue each day.
• The effects at the end of every night.
• The intention I'm setting and the results I experience.
• How this impacts my relationship with money and actual $$ in the bank account!

This or something better still.

Would you like to join me? Comment below if yes! And, you can even subscribe to this journey via email below... :)