Inula Austin Soul Growth

It’s been a busy week of 1-1 Readings and I am mentally tired. I love what I do more than anything else I’ve ever done in my life, but the tiredness is one of the reasons I don’t give sittings very often.

Of course, my Mediumship is Service; to the Great Spirit, those who reside in the Next World and the many people here who need comfort and guidance, reassurance that their beloved friends and family members are safe and well and live on.

Some may take issue with the concept of the exchange of Spiritual work for recompense in the form of money, but I do not. In a physical, modern world where we have to be able to provide for ourselves and our families, money is sadly an essential. I would love to live in a world where Mediumship was a respected profession, that what we do would be understood and treated as sacred, but until that time, we have to earn a living AND serve at the same time.

This week I have had the privilege of meeting and working with very many wonderful Souls on both sides of life.

The grief stricken and bereft have sat with me, we have managed to raise smiles through the tears and I hope, I have helped to give some comfort to all who have walked through my door. My mantra is ‘the client must leave feeling better than when they came in’ and I always work with this foremost in my mind.

Mediumship as a mechanism, is not tiring. I am very well protected by my wonderful, loving Guides who make sure everything at a sitting runs as smoothly as possible. Spirit Guides work behind the scenes at sittings and séances to coordinate and protect the proceedings. When I say ‘protect’ I don’t mean that anything dark or untoward goes on, it is simply common sense that when I open my conscious awareness to the Spirit World to work, I only want to communicate with the discarnate loved ones of my sitter, not all and sundry.

This week my guides did an excellent job as usual, bringing forwards some truly fascinating communicators. They talked about everything from their earthly occupations to their new lives and interests in the Spirit World.

My guides also provided a buffer on one or two occasions this week, to protect me from the full strength of emotions on both sides of life. Sometimes the full force of love expressed by a person in the Spirit Realm for their friend or family member on this side of life may be far too powerful for me to experience during a reading. I describe it as a great surge of loving energy that hits me like a wave, breaking against my back and pulses up and down my spine. It’s a sensation that can last many minutes and as wonderful as it is, it can occasionally hit me with some force, causing my eyes to well up with tears, as I feel the amount of love pushing through me from the Spirit Communicator, forwards, to reach the sitter.

It is an incredible feeling, but a little distracting when I am trying to remain composed. So in such circumstances my guides will ‘stand’ in between myself and the Spirit Communicator, working as a dampener to any vibrations that may be too strong in that moment.

I have often said to clients that if I could only bottle that feeling of love in all its purity and power, it would solve all of the problems of the world. It is love in its highest and purest form and there really is nothing else like it that I have ever felt. It is far beyond the simple butterflies of romantic love that many are familiar with.

There has been much counselling this week too. Alot of the work that an ethical medium does is listening. We provide a non-judgemental, safe space for individuals to speak their minds, pour out their troubles, fears and grief. We hold that space for those who are unable to move forwards without releasing the burdensome thoughts and feelings that they carry.

This doesn’t make mediums special. We are fallible human beings, but if compassionate, ethical, well trained and grounded, we are able to offer evidence of survival and a listening, compassionate ear for those who are in need.

Mediumship is not tiring in and of itself, but we do use a lot of our energy reserves in interacting with our sitters and in the time and preparation that goes into setting the correct energy for the space where the reading is to take place. In my own case, I work from my home, so a lot of the preparation before and in between readings is involved with cleaning and cleansing! (I have 3 teenage children, nothing stays tidy for long).

I prefer to take bookings for short periods at a time for the reason that it can be exhausting and unsustainable to read everyday, forever. It’s my experience that I need to pace myself and look after my own energy reserves.

In any work of service I think that there should always be a self awareness which allows one to rest and recuperate if necessary. Self compassion in Holistic Practices (as with other professions) is absolutely essential. It is not our job to fix the world and we cannot heal everyone. Taking time for ourselves is paramount.

If I don’t put my own physical, mental and spiritual health first, who will? (It’s a question you might like to ask yourself too.)

This weekend is going to be quiet. I don’t give readings on weekends or in the evenings as family commitments need to be taken care of. Family life is busy enough; this week one of my kids has tonsillitis and I have pets that need looking after and a garden full of veggies to attend to. It’s always good to fully switch off from work, that way I can remain grounded which helps in conserving my energy over the coming days and months.

It is the privilege of my life to be a medium and work in the service of the Great Spirit, I meet so many amazing people on both sides of life. But rest is important to me too and although I’m still working on getting the balance just right, I think that for the main part, it’s going OK.