Dec. 5, 2024

Holiday Spirit: Spiritual Practices for Connection and Peace Amidst Chaos

In this episode, I explore the gifts of spiritual connection during the holiday season. I share a personal experience with my spirit guide, Anya, and reflect on the importance of pausing, practicing gratitude, and setting intentions during the holiday rush.

Learn simple spiritual practices to stay grounded, connected, and peaceful, and hear a special channeled message from Anya on how to find peace and acceptance in the midst of holiday chaos. Plus, get a sneak peek at my upcoming Learn to Channel course.

00:00 Introduction to Spiritual Signs
00:56 Welcome and Episode Overview
01:08 Personal Holiday Reflection
01:31 Connecting with Spirit: A Personal Story
03:08 Practices for Spiritual Connection
04:11 Amplifying Spirit Messages During Holidays
06:03 Channeling a Message from Anya
07:08 Anya's Insights on Holiday Connection
13:13 Reflecting on Anya's Message
14:26 Conclusion and Invitation

https://intuitivereiki.com.au/channelling/

Hosted by Lisa Brandis—bestselling author, world-renowned Intuitive Reiki Master Channeller, and founder of Intuitive Reiki International—Connecting to Spirit is your space for spiritual insight, healing, and transformational growth.

As Australia’s first Intuitive Reiki Master and a Master of Masters, Lisa brings over 20 years of experience as a Reiki teacher, channeller, clinical hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner, and spiritual mentor. Her unique approach to Reiki blends energy healing with deep intuitive guidance, empowering thousands of students around the world to awaken their gifts and create thriving, soul-led practices.

✨ Want to go deeper?
Explore Lisa’s latest courses, live events, and spiritual tools at:
👉 https://www.connectedtospirit.com

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00:00 - Introduction to Spiritual Signs

00:56 - Welcome and Episode Overview

01:08 - Personal Holiday Reflection

01:31 - Connecting with Spirit: A Personal Story

03:08 - Practices for Spiritual Connection

04:11 - Amplifying Spirit Messages During Holidays

06:03 - Channeling a Message from Anya

07:08 - Anya's Insights on Holiday Connection

13:13 - Reflecting on Anya's Message

14:26 - Conclusion and Invitation

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Notice the signs, repeated patterns a song that really resonates, or even a sudden insight can all be gentle nudges from spirit.

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Hello and welcome back.

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I'm so glad you're here today because this week's episode is all about the gifts of connection.

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Tapping into spirit during the holidays.

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For me, the holidays are a time that is filled with so much love, gratitude and quality time together, but they can also bring moments of reflection.

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For me, this season always feels like an invitation to slow down and to really deeply connect with ourselves, with others, and also with spirit.

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Let me share a moment that stayed with me over the years.

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One quiet evening I sat alone by the Christmas tree.

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My girls were fast asleep in bed and I just was really present of the energy in the room that I was sitting in.

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The soft lights from the Christmas tree were glowing gently in the dark and I recall closing my eyes.

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And just taking a really deep breath and letting that stillness just wrap around my body.

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And it didn't take long before I felt that all familiar presence of my spirit guide Anya.

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And I could hear her connecting with me and she communicated to me the words Relax Lisa, connect in with gratitude and let the moments, the peace of this moment, fill your mind and your body because love flows when you allow it.

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And I'd been quite stressed during the day and it was really a moment of exhaustion that led me into that space of connection with my spirit guide.

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And this really just represents one moment of connection with Anya that is like many of the others.

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It was a powerful reminder that even in the busiest times, connection is always possible if we take a moment to pause and to simply breathe.

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So in the midst of the holiday chaos, carving out moments, quiet moments can feel a little challenging, but it's so worth it.

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Here are a few simple practices that you can try.

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The first one is to pause in gratitude.

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So those of you that have studied Reiki with me understand it's one of the core foundations in the Reiki healing system.

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And it is also, as I've spoken before, the antidote to anger and worry.

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So when you take a few moments to really quietly reflect, whether it's in the morning or at the end of the day, focusing on gratitude, opens your heart and makes space for meaningful connection.

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My second point is use nature to ground yourself.

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If you're feeling overwhelmed, step outside and let the sounds of nature, or even those beautiful twinkling holiday lights, bring you back to stillness.

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And number three, set an intention.

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Spirit connection often begins with a clear intention.

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Even saying to yourself, I'm open to receiving creates a pathway for guidance.

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Okay, so spirit communicates in many ways, but the holiday season has a way of amplifying those messages.

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So for those of you that are already connected with your spirit guides, who have done my learn to channel course, or have automatically started to intuit and tap into the energy when you're doing Reiki, or even just if you've experienced it through other courses or through meditation, notice the signs, repeated patterns a song that really resonates, or even a sudden insight can all be gentle nudges from spirit.

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I love the term lean back into the seat of your soul.

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So Gary Zirkov described finding the seat of your soul allows you to shift from the noise of the mind and into the love and peace of your spiritual self.

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And I think sometimes we overcomplicate connecting with spirit.

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They're always here.

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They're always willing to communicate with us.

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We just have to ask and really have a clear, understanding that when we breathe and relax and surrender into the moment, our guides will bring through meaningful messages and quite often we dismiss them because they come through our own thoughts just like our mind does and sometimes it can feel a little bit like our imagination but of course we've got to interpret the messages through our mind So it is going to feel a little familiar because we are often connected to our intuition without even knowing that's what we're doing and connecting to the spirit realm is just a little step beyond what we're already doing.

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So trust what you feel, that first instinct, the message that comes when you're still is often the clearest.

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And then our little monkey mind, as I like to call it, gets in and starts to overanalyze and therefore distort the messages from spirit.

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So now I want to take this deeper and invite you to join me in connecting with spirit directly.

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I'm going to channel a message from my spirit guide Anya to help us explore this week's theme of the gift of connection.

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So before we begin, I invite you to settle in wherever you are, whether you're listening at home or if you're in your car or out for a walk, take a moment to pause, close your eyes if you can, or simply focus on your breath.

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Feel your feet grounded to the earth and just let yourself relax.

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And as I connect with Anya, I will invite her to share her insights on how we can all lean into the spiritual gifts of this season.

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Her wisdom often surprises me and I hope it will resonate with you too.

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I connect with Anya, I invite her to share her insights about how we can lean into the spiritual gifts of this season.

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Her wisdom often surprises me and I hope it will resonate with you too.

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Let's listen together.

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Ah, yes, yes, we are here.

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We are here.

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Oh, we often love the invitation when you call us through and ask us to be here to support you on your physical journey.

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And we do feel the pressure, the intense activities.

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And even though as we experience it through you and with you, they can be times of joy and times of fun.

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It is as if we see your, time packed, jam-packed with activities that are all a part of gift giving and celebrating the year that has been and coming together.

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And it can often feel like you're just moving through the experiences almost in a super drive.

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And we invite you to set the intention before you go out, even when you are all dressed and ready and you find yourself behind the wheel of the car, just take a moment before you set off on your journey, set an intention to connect, to really appreciate the experience, appreciate the environment that you find yourself in.

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It is an opportunity for you to engage with work colleagues and to laugh and reminisce about what has been.

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And also.

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To really take time to connect with your loved ones and to celebrate the meaningful relationships that are in your life.

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Christmas and this time of year means so much to so many different people and we understand that different cultures celebrate this time of year in many different ways, but we would like to speak mostly about it being the end of the year and the wrap-up of the year that has been.

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December is a time for children coming out into school holidays.

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It's a time for families being together and celebrating.

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And it is also a time to reflect and reminisce on those loved ones who are no longer with you.

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And whilst we understand that this can bring a certain amount of sadness.

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or a reflection on those loved ones, it can also be meaningful when you can recall and remember that their essence lives on in your hearts.

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And you can fondly recall the ways in which they, your family, your loved ones would surprise and delight you.

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And often it's these times of years that you can lean into that experience of unconditional love and understanding that their, are, Many, many ways in which you can move through this Christmas or this holiday season.

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And we also wanted to remind you that everything is okay.

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Quite often it is the expectations that then create anticipation somewhat in the negative and also in the positive that can derail you.

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So.

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Breathe, make sure that you are getting adequate sleep, enjoy the moments and the differences that come and whilst we understand it can also be chaotic, really find a way to accept people as they are.

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It is when our expectations don't match up in the experiences that are unfolding, especially with families or when there are dynamics where there is difficulty or even when the work has just piled up and there is a lot of stress, and one's carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

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It can really be powerful to shift into that beautiful, unique connection with your own guidance.

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Knowing that spirit is here for you in every moment of every day.

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And as Gary Zirkoff said, you can simply just lean into the spirit of your soul with a few deep breaths and just the intention to really lean into the peace and the harmony that is.

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In presence right here, right now, and then continue to reenter the world with a feeling of love and a wind supporting you as you move through the next few stages.

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Segmenting can also be really powerful, especially when you're finding yourself particularly busy and full, it can be really helpful to just break down your days.

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into smaller segments where you're just simply intending to get through each segment with as much ease and joy and playfulness as you can.

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Spirit is always here as a reminder to awaken you to the different beauty and the unique connections that are available when one lives primarily in their mind's perception, life can take on a very different quality.

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When one can sit back into the seat of their soul, they can find that they can move through the exact same experiences.

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With a sense of ease rather than trying to control through one's mind's direction and action.

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So we hope that this has given you some insights and some tips to gently navigate your way through this holiday season.

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We love connecting and speaking with you and if you have Any questions, please feel free to connect with us and share them.

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We are Anya.

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We are here to nurture, uplift, teach and inspire you on your Connecting to Spirit journey.

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Namaste.

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So as I reflect on Anya's message, then they're really, I think if I was to choose one word to wrap up that message, I would just say it is acceptance.

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Whenever I feel Anya's presence, it's almost like there's no judgment about the business.

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There's no judgment about, What we're eating or drinking or how we're moving through this holiday period.

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There's just a sense of anticipation and excitement and acceptance, and I love that, when we just accept our loved ones as they are, when we release expectations on how people should or shouldn't be or what we expect of ourselves.

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Most importantly, it's just a way of.

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I don't know, taking the pressure off and really allowing us to just relax into all the beauty in all the chaos that comes with this Christmas period.

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So thank you for holding space with me today and for allowing Anya's message to flow through.

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I hope her words brought you a sense of peace and clarity as you move through this Beautiful yet busy season.

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As we wrap up, I want to remind you that connection is always available to you, whether it's through a quiet moment like I experienced by the Christmas tree or a deep breath taken during the rush.

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The gift of spirit is there waiting to support and guide you.

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And if today's episode resonated with you and you're curious to explore your own ability to connect with spirit, I invite you to join me for my learn to channel course, beginning in March, 2025, this program is designed to help you strengthen your intuition, trust your messages and feel empowered in your connection to spirit.

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Details are in the show notes or you can reach out to me directly.

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I love to answer any questions that you have.

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Take time this week to pause, breathe and lean into the seat of your soul.

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Let the love and peace of this season fill your heart.

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And until next time, stay connected and let your light shine.