How do you deal with toxic people in your life who also happen to be family members? It can be very difficult to separate from toxic people, and even more so from family members because we are so closely interwined.

I love my family very much, but the home environment I was raised in was extremely dysfunctional (domestic violence, etc). I made a vow to myself from a young age not to emulate certain patterns. I have made a lot of progress in self-healing by doing things such as going to counseling, developing my spirituality, and generally moving towards positvity. I've accepted the fact that my family is addicted to drama and will probably never change, but I don't have to be that way. Emotionally, I've found it best to distance myself from them.

In the spirit of my last blog, I decided to add some notes from another book by Sanaya Roman called Personal Power Through Awareness: A Guidebook For Sensitive People. This book was channeled by Sanaya's spirit guide Orin.

Notes from Personal Power Through Awareness

One of my favorite books is called Creating Money: Keys To Abundance by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer. I wanted to share a few snippets from the book that I found helpful.
Notes from Creating Money
• Abundance means more than having quantities of things; it means having things that fulfill you as well.
• If anything is truly serving your higher good, it won’t be taken away.
• Manifestation is a process of bringing your ideas, concepts, visions and dreams from your inner world into your outer world where you can experience them with your physical senses.
• Your soul stops lower and negative thoughts from becoming a reality unless having them manifest will teach you something that will help you grow.
• Some of your negative thought may come from being around people whose fears and doubts amplify your own.
• You create your prosperity no matter what the economy is like. Your challenge is to keep your thoughts about your economic future positive and not be affected by what large groups of people are thinking or saying.

There is a certain attitude that I have noticed in many women who wear their hair naturally. In my opinion, many of these women are very judgmental towards women who choose to chemically relax and/or color their hair. There is one website forum in particular that I am thinking of, although this behavior is not limited to that site.

I am all for embracing for one’s natural beauty and celebrating that. But why does that mean putting other people down? I see comments like “Why is she still on that creamy crack when her hair is falling out?” “People who relax their hair are self-hating.” “Coloring hair is hypocritical and means you don’t accept yourself.” However, 99.9% of these ladies have used chemicals in their hair at some point. This nappier-than-thou attitude has in fact turned me off from participating in certain message boards.

My theory is that these women behave this way for one of three reasons:
A) Deep down inside they are not as comfortable with their decision to go natural as they would like the world to think

I was inspired to compile a list of things I have taken from the various spiritual traditions I have studied. Everything here has become a part of my personal belief system and practice.

Buddhism
Non-attachment to the material world
The importance of being in the moment
Every day activities provide an opportunity to grow
Re-incarnation
Karma

Wicca
A close relationship with nature
The feminine aspect of the divine ( I love the sound of “goddess”)

Various “New Age” Traditions
Thoughts create reality
Life doesn’t have to be a struggle-it can be joyful
The Law of Attraction
A deeper understanding of Karma and the role it plays in our life
Who Spirit Guides and Angels are
Connecting with my higher self
The chakra system

Caribbean/Southern Traditions
Using candles, herbs and roots as spiritual tools
How to perform spiritual baths