You are invited to a workshop Relief is a few taps away. Automatic Writing. Dream Interpretation. Lucid dreaming. Surviving family over the holidays.

Automatic writing is another form of channelling. This is yet another tool to connect you with your inner wisdom, your guides or even your subconscious.

I have often taught my clients how to do automatic writing so that they can continue to grow their intuition and to become more dependant on themselves, rather than constantly seeking the advice of psychics. In other words, I teach them these tools in order to stand within their power and not be so ready to hand their power over to others.

There is an incident that happened to me that I would like to share with you. Every year at the primary school that my children attended, there was a Spring Breakfast event for the Mothers. I attended these events as often as I could as they were always a lot of fun. This one year in particular, I had booked to go, but my friends couldn't make it. Undeterred, I went, knowing I would meet other people and still have fun. Unfortunately. I landed at a table upstairs and we were glassed in, which made it impossible to really interact with the main body of the restaurant downstairs. As a result, we started chatting amongst ourselves. When one of the women discovered what I did for a living, she became very animated and asked whether I could find missing items. I said that I have on occasion managed to locate lost items and pets. She then proceeded to ask me if I could find her lost nephew. He was only eleven years old and it was suspected that he had run away. Well, by this stage, the majority of the women at the table were listening to the conversation. I agreed that I would try, but I put certain stipulations into place. One, the parents were not to know that I was attempting this as I didn't want them to get hopeful, only to perhaps have their hopes dashed and the second stipulation was that I wanted something that belonged to the young boy, in order to get a stronger feeling for him. She readily agreed and said that she would bring his crayons to me that evening. We exchanged cell phone numbers and I left soon after.

That evening I waited for her to call round. She never came. I called her on her cell several times, but kept on getting voicemail. I left several messages for her, but she never responded. By now, I was so focussed on the little boy, that I became quite concerned. Eventually, after about three days, I sat down and started to write. I started with the question: "Why hasn't she contacted me and is the young boy safe?" I started to write until I couldn't write anymore. I glanced at what I had written, but didn't really pay attention to the words, because I was so emotionally wrapped up in worrying about the young boy's safety. I put what I had written into my desk in my healing rooms and resigned myself that I would never know the outcome.

About three months later, I went to see a woman who channels your guardian angel. I went for the experience and when it came time to ask questions, I remembered about this young boy and I asked why the woman hadn't contacted me and more importantly, was he safe. The answer was: " He was never in danger. He was always safe. It is the one who asked for assistance that needs help. She is the one."

Well, you can imagine how angry I felt. When I got home, I remembered that I hadn't discarded my writing and when I read it again, (this time properly), I read the same message, almost word for word. All along I had the answer, but I had allowed myself to become so emotionally entangled in the story, that I was blinded to what my intuition had told me. A few good lessons for me there..............

Where to begin?

When starting out with Automatic Writing, the best thing to do is to first set aside time when you know you will not be disturbed. Take the phone off the hook, sit in you favourite chair and allow yourself to relax.

Start off with asking questions that do not have an emotional charge for you. Until you are comfortable with this procedure, emotionally charged questions will stop you in your tracks. So, think of a question that the outcome will not affect you either way.

Initially, a good tip is to write with your non-dominant hand. This stops the usual neural pathways your brain uses to write, which helps to switch off the logic part of your brain. Just keep writing until you feel that you have no more to write. Once you are proficient with Automatic writing, you switch over to your dominant hand again.

While writing, do not stop to censor anything. Just keep going. The minute you stop to read what you have written, you take yourself out of that space and your logic kicks in. Oftentimes, you will discover that while you are writing, you are not actually aware of what you are writing.

You will also notice that most times, your actual style of writing and use of language will change; almost as if someone else and not you has written whatever it is.

Once you are proficient with this, you can try and do the same thing on your computer. Instead of writing, you can type.......

As with everything, approach this with a sense of fun. If you get too serious too soon, you will find yourself struggling and wanting to give up.

Most importantly of all. be discerning.

Who can benefit from Automatic Writing?

Everyone! Whether you are a writer and are experiencing the dreaded "writer's block" to Jane Doe, who just wants to try it out for fun.

Neale Donald Walsch, the author of the now famous books, "Conversations with God", channelled all the information in this manner. He was so down and out and angry, that he started pouring his frustrations out on paper and he didn't stop there and then the answers started coming...... and the rest is history!

Remember, practise is the key to unlocking the wisdom within.

So go ahead, give it a try and approach it with a relaxed attitude.

Have fun....

With love

Helen

Ok, so now it's official.

I became a guest on SABC TV 3 Talk with Noleen, The topic was Dream Interpretation,

It is amazing how our dreams have such a significant pull on us and how much we want to know the meaning of them. If you have any questions on your dreams and you're not finding any help with interpreting them, I will gladly help you out, (for a llimited time period), to interpret them for you. If you are reading this on Wordspace, just leave your comment and I will reply, but if you are on MyListManager, just e-mail me on helen@helenrandal-smith.co.za. I will answer your queries until 14 February 2009. I am extremely busy, but I also know what if feels like, when you have a pressing question and don't know where to turn. I am quite happy to help out if I can. If you haven't read my website on Dreams and Dreams and Interpretation. please check out: http://www.helenrandal-smith.co.za/content/view/19/26/. ENJOY!

Love

Helen

I received this e-mail over the festive season and thought it would be a good idea to share it with all of you. If one person has this question, then there are many more with the same question, but are too shy to ask. So here goes, and please, as always, feel free to add your comments or criticism, for that is how we can all grow.

Hi, I heard you once on 702 and got very interested. I need some help, how does one become lucid? How does one start the journey of lucid dreaming? Thanks in advance.

Lucid dreaming requires motivation on you part. Keep a dream journal and record your dreams when you remember them.

Before falling asleep, set your intention that you will have a lucid dream. Create a statement which you can repeat a few times in your mind that you are becoming lucid in your dreams.

Pretend you are dreaming during the day. Take time out and pretend that you are dreaming and allow your imagination to take over.

The Buddhists believe that the reality as we know it, is just a dream state. Develop a conscousness of: " If this were a dream, what would it mean?" attitude during the day. Keep asking yourself: "Could I be dreaming now? If I were dreaming, what would this situation symbolise to me?"

This sets the tone for lucid dreaming. Remember, it takes practice, so don't get discouraged if you seem to get no results at first.

Hope I have helped you out - With love Helen

Hi Helen, I've read some stuff on lucidity, but I need your knowledge here. What are the negative effects of lucid dreaming? Some say lucid dreaming is evil considering spirituality. I need to know, how does it influence one's spirituality? From what I've gathered, dreams are the subconscious speaking......does this mean lucidity guarantees full understanding of oneself? Does it put one in total control? Thanks

As far as I know, there is no danger with lucid dreaming. We tend to do this naturally anyway, so how can something we do naturallly be evil, just because we are learning to use it consciously?

Lucid dreaming describes the state wherein you are aware that you are dreaming, while you are dreaming (a dream within a dream). Generally, most people who can reall their dreams quite well, occasionally experience having a lucid dream, while those who regularly work and record their dreams, these experiences become more frequent.

Many therapists regard lucid dreaming as an importnat skill to inner growth and development. It is in this space that you can try our different ways of dealing with issues than you are wont to do during your "awake" state. Lucid dreamers develop a strong sense of their own power and individualitry and are less likely to be influenced and swayed by peer/group pressure or to conform to society without questioning.........

Lucid dreaming can help us to grow spiritually, and often allows us the feeling of freedom and control......So my advice to you? GO FOR IT.....

Hope this helps

With love
Helen

Let's face it! We've all been there, one way or another. This time of the year 'forces' family members to come together. Often, they have had very little contact over the year, but come these holidays, especially Christmas day and the 'virtual' strangers have to become family members again. This can and is a very stressful time for many people. Just knowing you have to be with your parents or siblings can make you break out into a sweat. What is it that can make a grown man/woman turn into a jibbering wreck because they are going home for Christmas?

There are many factors that come into play. The major one is that no matter how much older you become, you are transported back to childhood stuff and more often than not, the stuff on nightmares. The holiday works as a trigger to remind you of all your past hurts and failures etc. It is far easier to avoid this stuff during the year, but come to Christmas and you can feel like a rabbit in the headlights - no place to run or hide.

What if one approached the holidays with a different perspective? What if one welcomed this trigger that sets everything in motion. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, contemplate why. Look at the family member that in your opinion causes all the grief. What are they mirroring to you about yourself? Face up to that part of yourself that you do not like. Work with that part of yourself and the healing takes place when you realise that it isn't so much about that irritating relative, rather about an aspect of yourself. When you can see this in yourself, you release that relative and somehow what seemed so dire and stressful, doesn't seem to hold that power any more.

I often put my clients into the situation of being in the 'other man's shoes'. The realisation is usually one of 'they were just doing the best they knew how. They did not know any better.' An understanding occurs and the relief is tangible. The client becomes more 'whole'.

If we welcomed the uncomfortable, knowing therein lies a gift somewhere, we release the stress and depression that goes hand-in-hand with these situations. When we blame someone else for our pain and suffering, we unwittingly hand our power over to that person. The way to bring your power back to yourself, is to be able to go within yourself and to heal what is within and to release the person you have held responsible. Ask these questions of yourself: "What have they actually taken from me? The only aspects of me that they could have taken, are the aspects I have allowed them to take". This self-talk is the difference between being a victim or a survivor.

How do you feel about family and Christmas? I welcome any suggestions or comments you may have on surviving the silly season......