by Judith Orloff, MD

Empaths are highly emotional sponges that is heightened around negative energy, which overrides their sublime capacity to absorb positive emotions and all that is beautiful. If empaths are around peace and love, their bodies assimilate these and flourish. Crowds or negativity, though, often feel assaultive, exhausting.

For empaths to fully enjoy gatherings with family and friends, they must learn to protect their sensitivity and find balance. Since I’m an empath, I want to help them cultivate this capacity and be comfortable with it.

As an empath, I’ve always been hyper-attuned to other people’s moods, good and bad. Before I learned to protect my energy, I felt them lodge in my body. After being in crowds, I would leave feeling anxious, depressed, or tired. When I got home, I’d just crawl into bed, yearning for peace and quiet.

Here are six empath survival strategies from my book, The Ecstasy of Surrender to help you manage empathy more effectively and stay centered without absorbing negative energies.

by Kristina M. Wood

Mount Shasta is a phenomenal place that most people have heard of, but few have visited. The massive volcanic mountain erupts out of the towering pines of the pristine Mount Shasta Trinity National Forest in Northern California. It has been considered a sacred place since the beginning of time. Visiting there is like taking a pilgrimage to a vast outdoor cathedral. Similar to the wonderful lenticular clouds that often cloak the summit, the mountain itself is shrouded in legends and stories that create a mystique for the entire area.

Here are seven secrets you might not have known about magical and mystical Mount Shasta:

7 Mount Shasta Secrets

Mount Shasta Secret #1: It is a UFO Hotspot

Many visitors from around the world have reported contact with extraterrestrial beings in the star filled skies of the mountain, while driving along the roads, and in several outlying sites around Mount Shasta. Local residents often see ships passing through the night sky...

by Darity Wesley

Attention: The energies and directions for the month of February are evolving around focusing our attention this entire month. What can that mean? It means that we need to understand that first of all there is much more going on than meets the eye and second of all that we can discern some of these goings on to our advantage if we focus our attention all along the way this month…so do, read on…

We have probably all heard that whatever we put our attention on is where we produce results or what we focus on expands. If we focus on what is working in our lives, we will create more of that and if we focus on what is not working in our lives we get more of that.

It works the same in relationships, if we pay attention to and focus on the complaining, the negative, the judgmental and critical attitudes of others, we get more of that. If we do not step into that mode and just continue on, focusing on our own non-complaining, positive, allowing attitude, it strengthens our balance and equilibrium rather than putting us into a lower vibration. It is about supporting everyone in our lives in feeling successful or positive and they will continue the kind of behavior that promotes those feelings.

by Shelly Wilson 

We are always getting ready to live, but never living. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Each one of us has chosen to incarnate at this time in order to have a human life experience in a physical body. This journey may include the proverbial roadblocks, pot holes, and pit falls.

Sharing my own personal story, I consciously made the decision to stop existing and to start living my life fully without regret several years ago. Doing so transformed my life in a multitude of ways. My perception of life and all of my life experiences shifted.  I recognized that from the moment we breathe the first breath of life, we are beginning to die, and there is no guarantee that we will live for any specific length of time. Therefore, I believe it is important to live each day as though it may be our last.

With this new-found awareness, I consciously began living my life, and I actively encourage others to do so as well. If you are not currently doing so already, allow yourself the opportunity to begin living your life fully right now...

by Kathy Biehl

February 3, 2015

14 Leo 47 / 14 Aquarius 47

3:08 PM PST / 6:08 PM EST / 11:08 GMT

In the depth of winter, the Leo Full Moon directs attention to our inner fires. It’s always prone to drama, flair, and aggrandized emotions, but this year’s model is more exciting and larger-than-life than usual. This one comes with the cosmic equivalent of tossing accelerant and couple of sticks of dynamite into the flames.

The mix is motivating, energizing and, ultimately, life-affirming. Even if the week’s events are not exceptional (which is unlikely), your inner experience will be. Energies are coming to the surfacing that have been sparking for some time, and they are signs of developments to come next month. Consider what happens this week as starting to come back to life in the midst of the winter doldrums and Piscean fog.

Watch for themes in the hubbub: How brightly and how far does your light shine? Are you holding it back, or do you fan and revel in it? Who notices? Who finds warmth in it? Who appreciates, validates and/or fuels it?