What Is Spiritual Alchemy and How Can You Practice It?

A butterfly is shown immediately below a row of cocoons, with a soft-focus background of green and blue

Like ancient Egyptian and Greek scientists before them, European scientists and philosophers of the Middle Ages believed that everything in the world was made up of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water.  They saw these four elements as having specific qualities and properties that could be manipulated to create new substances. As a result, the early chemists, or alchemists as they came to be called, became focused on turning base metals, such as lead, into higher metals, such as gold. This sounds like the pursuit of wealth and power. And given human nature, for some of these alchemists,…

What Does Cosmic Energy Feel Like?

Close up of a woman's face, eyes open, with colorful shapes behind here

The term cosmic energy can have different meanings to different people, cultures, philosophies and spiritual practices. In this article, we’re going to touch on only a few of the most widely reported meanings. Cosmic energy is often used in metaphysical spiritual contexts to describe a universal energy or life force that permeates all things in the universe. This energy is thought to be responsible for the movement and transformation of matter and energy throughout the cosmos. Some people also refer to this energy as universal energy, prana, qi (or chi), shakti, mana, and life force energy, to name only a…

Learn this Fast and Easy Way to Stop Repetitive Negative Thoughts

Using a double-stop photographic technique, a bearded person appears to quickly move their head from left to right, eyes closed with a peaceful facial expression

Are stressful thoughts and negative emotions often on a loop in your head? It’s not fun. In fact, it’s stress-upon-stress that seems to take on a life of its own. It begins with feeling anxious about something and then your thoughts and feelings seem to spiral into a vortex of stress and negativity. It can feel as if you have no control and instead are being held prisoner by your own negative thoughts and emotions. Does this describe what you or someone you care about is experiencing? This article will help get this negative jumble of thoughts and feelings under…

How I Changed Everything in the Universe, Including Meditation

This is a true story about how I changed my meditation practice and everything else in the universe in one simple step. Well, one simple jump, anyway. In an effort to overcome fear of something entirely different, I jumped out of an airplane because I thought skydiving would be scarier. As it turns out, I was wrong: skydiving was way less scary than the thing I was avoiding. But the point is that the overarching result wasn’t what I expected. Instead of overcoming fear, I instead learned first-hand about how everything becomes different when seen through the lens of infinite…

How Long Is Long Enough in Meditation?

Even if you have just 5 minutes to relax, doesn’t it feel great? There are days when you can relish a 5-minute break as though it were a mini-vacation. But with meditation – how long is long enough? What if you have just 1 minute? Can you experience benefits from a mere 60 seconds of meditation? Let’s find out. One Minute Together  We’re going to do a single minute of breath meditation, together, with eyes closed or open.  All we’ll do for one minute is gently notice the breath, coming in…and going out. Move at your own pace, gently and…