Ashley Brannan Ashley Brannan

Can You See Your Self for Who You Truly Are?

I channeled this sitting at my desk at Work on 7/13/23

It's incredibly relevant to where I am at right now, as I find myself in a place where the old stories no longer have the same hold on me, and as I am writing new ones. I hope this impacts you like these words have impacted Me.

Your conditioning has led you to a place where you expect to have to prove yourself to others. Your conditioning has led you to a place where you can see the pattern in the proving.

So now- it’s time to step outside those limiting beliefs. It’s time to make the change. Any one can sit in the discomfort and call it good. Not many people can move beyond it and choose something different. To be something different.

In order to move in this level of Acceptance and to See Yourself- you have to move with a level of Grace. Grace for others is great- but unless you give that same grace to yourself, it is useless. You cannot pour from a cup that does not believe- and you have to be willing to give that grace o your self in order to move into that new direction and embrace that change.

When was the last time you saw how truly perfect you are as you are? You play a game of remembering and forgetting now. Now it’s time to really lean into your Soul and remember that you are a Soul too. Not just a human in a physical body. A Soul that needs nourishing and tenderness. A Soul that needs Love. Until that love comes in from the internal part of you, along with the Grace to get it wrong and to not be perfect- you will continue to feel lost and like you are drifting. Because Love is Always the missing piece. Always.

Stop holding on so tight.

Stop clenching the things around you like they will disappear if you let go.

Stop trying to hard.

Lean into the Grace. The imperfection. The whole point on this journey is to find yourself and who you are in your Human and in your Soul. You found the Soul. Now it’s time to take it back to the Human and relearn. Start at the basics again. Sit in your Power. Learn what it feels like. And let go of the need to be perfect. Let go of the need for it to make sense. Keep playing with your readings- keep finding your comfort zone. Follow what comes up and hold onto that authenticity. Stop making it so hard. Breathe in and out and lean into flow. Flow state works best- when you aren’t trying to force your energy forward. You need to stop pushing and just breathe.

Step back and Surrender.

Remember Grace.

Grace is the ultimate form of love

Now I’ll ask you again- when was the last time you saw yourself? When was the last time you loved yourself? We can show you all day long, but until you believe it and the disconnect is gone- you will still operate in the same behaviors and need the same reassurance.

Where is the Holding your Power? Where is the retraining of the mind? Where is the changing your thinking? Step out of the forcing. Take a deep breathe in. Remember- you are not of God, your Soul is a piece of God and therefore you ARE God. It’s the collective power as a whole that feeds each and everyone of us. Our collective light shines together and alone in order to reach the world.

So breathe in-

Yes you are a piece of something larger.

But you are also an individual.

Do you See Yourself for Who you Truly Are?

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Ashley Brannan Ashley Brannan

Don’t Take Your Self so Seriously

My Journey through 108 Hanuman Chalisas on a Full Moon and the Insights about the Practice of Grace, Acceptance and Love on the Development Journey and within our Daily Lives

Venus went direct and the Full Moon in Libra happened on Saturday. That day, I sat inside a Chalisa’s for Peace Event (Go Dharmic), and did 108 Hanuman Chalisas. The Event lasted just over 13 hours and by the time it was over, I felt like I had taken a bath internally I was so CLEAR. Anything that was not nailed down as Center was touched during those Chalisas. I went through so many emotions that day, and was able to observe so much about myself. Funny story- I was at Chalisa #89 or #90, and I was reeeeeally projecting my voice and trying to push it out loudly and forcefully- I had my chest out, my back straight- and picture INTENSE chanting with bulging eyes haha. I was at about Verse 20 or 27 (?) into it- and I got sent the image of me sitting on the bed and what I looked like at that particular moment. I lost it and started laughing right there mid-meditation. And I heard “You can’t force it- or whatever you are attempting to do right now” in a very gentle male voice while pointing out what I was doing internally and externally. And I heard in my Baba’s voice “I’m Soooo Serious’ (sarcastic/joking- there is a Lecture where he said the same thing about himself and exactly what I hear) and he pointed out my Voice was projecting through my Throat. He then asked me, “What happens if you project from the Heart? It meets the Solar Plexus and the Throat, and feeds them both. At that moment going forward, I began to watch where I am speaking from- my heart or my throat. It’s not perfect with the watching, but as I become aware of it, the space is able to create change within my Self. I ate and went to bed that night at 8:45. I started at 5:30 AM about 4 Chalisas “late”. I say “late” because we are never really late, are we? If we are aware of Divine Timing, we know we are always on time for everything.

This was the first time I had sat in something like this. I had only recently learned about the Practice of Chanting the Hanuman Chalisa 108 times in January, around the same time I had the nudge to learn the Hanuman Chalisa. I was aware that I would be sitting for at least 12 hours that day- but I HAD to sit. There wasn't really a question of whether or not I would that day for me… there were signs everywhere that the Hanuman Chalisa was important to learn inside my personal practice- and I started learning it back in January.

Learned the Invocation and got the first four or five verses down in Hindi, and I ended up walking away from the Prayer for a few months. The Chalisa came back around about the same time I started the Initiation with Danielle Searancke again in February. After I took a Development Class in Tulsa locally back in 2022, Danielle was my next Mentor. I started with her Podcast and then took the Initiation Round #9 in the Fall of 2022. I returned back to her container this Spring for my yearly Development Class, and because she is an amazing Teacher when it comes to Mediumship Development.

In August of 2023, I started sitting for a regular Meditation Practice when I took up Kundalini Meditation with Kyle Gray and I took 2024 to explore Eastern Philosophies and Spirituality after meeting Ram Dass. I began to sit with myself in 2023 every day, and I learned how to listen to My Spirit inside my daily practice. Mavis Patilla has been a major influence inside my Development as far as my Personal Journey goes- especially around her Teachings about connecting to our own Spirit Within. Meditation gave me the chance to connect within Myself, and a chance to learn who I really am behind all of who I think I am.

Kundalini Meditation introduced me to chanting, especially Mantra Practice and Yoga Nada (the Yoga of Sound). Yoga is absolutely beautiful when you get into the Spirituality and Philosophy that is the Practice. Most of us in the West know about Yoga through the bastardized physical Practice that is Yoga in the United States. True Yoga is about Union between the Body, Mind and Soul (the Spirit Within). Because my introduction to Yoga Philosophy was through Ram Dass, I was also introduced to Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and more Eastern Philosophies and Meditations. I changed my Spiritual Practice and started sitting Vipassana this past summer to connect more to my body and left the Kundalini space. I took the chanting with me as a permanent practice, and found Bhakti Yoga- the Yoga of the Heart where chanting is an integral part of the practice.

Chanting is one of my favorite ways to Meditate. I can tell when I am not focused on the Meditation (especially when the chanting is in Hindi or Sanskrit), and I am caught thinking. The prayers and mantras stay with me all day and replay in my head as a steady stream (autistic- and my brain is constantly spinning). When I have a standing Chanting Practice (a Japa Practice) for 40, 90, 120 days, the mantra begins to teach me. One day I might hear every syllable that comes out of my mouth and every space between syllables, one day I might feel the Chant within my body within my chakras and move up and down my spine, one day I might get absolutely lost in the space within, one day I might not be able to quiet my brain at all and just have to keep coming back to the meditation and redirecting myself back to the prayer or Mantra. Chanting and singing are way to reset the Vagus nerve and brings balance to the Body. As a Medium, I have been able to access Trance states through Chanting and I have had some of my deepest conversations with my People and Friends beyond the Veil during these types of Meditations. My brain works well with something else to focus on beyond myself- and when it can stay busy thinking something repetitive. Sometimes I even listen to Mantra when I am doing readings because it works that well for me at keeping that part of my brain busy.

It had been at least 6 months since I had sat for longer than 20 minutes in meditation, and probably closer to 9 months since I had done a Mantra meditation. I did not know the Hanuman Chalisa fully- it is a 40 Verse Prayer in Hindi and I struggled with everything past verse 5. The first 20 chalisas were me trying and trying and trying to get the Hindi part correct. I had bought Krishna Das's “Flow of Grace” in January because he does a word-by-word pronunciation guide inside one of the Chapters to learn with, and I had been through it enough to know how the Hindi was pronounced if I could listen to the Prayer slowly, and I have always been a quick study when I am motivated and good with languages if I can hear the pronunciation. I spent a little bit winging it with the Prayer. Every time the frustration would arise because of a mispronunciation, or an error, or a wrong word, or a stumble, and I felt that Reactivity arise within myself, I had enough space to stop and observe. I remember saying to myself at one point- this is going to be a long meditation if I choose to make myself miserable. I decided at that point to lean into trust that I would pick the words of the Prayer up when I was supposed to and I would just stay and not give up. So I did- and by about Chalisa 90 the kinks were worked out. I decided to choose to treat myself with Grace instead of Pressure. Compassion instead of Anger. Love instead of Shame. That might sound like a no-brainer, but for me that was a turning point.

I took notes as the impressions hit me during the whole experience. Danielle had mentioned chanting a few times, the Hanuman Chalisa had come back into my awareness along with an urgency to learn the Prayer, and I know because of the timing of the Event and the Intiation that sitting inside this Experience is a part of my Mediumship and my Personal Development/Spiritual Practice.

I made it 2 hours and 20 minutes (Chalisa #18), and ended things with my long term off/on friend of eight years completely. I saw how not accepting the Impermanence that is Life and that Mediumship teaches us was creating a cycle of forgive and forget that was perpetuating pain and was essentially people pleasing. I chose to give myself Grace and move forward instead of staying stuck in the holding pattern of pain for both of us.

I realized Mediumship eventually moves from being a Spirtual Practice (Bhankti Yoga) to a tool of a Spritual Practice that opens us deeper to the connection to ourselves and the world around us. As we learn to connect to the Other Side, we learn to connect and see and hold the people in our Physical/Human World. My Spiritual Practice is Practicing Moving from a place that Remembers to Love Everyone, Serve Others and from a Place of Compassion, and Remember the Divine that Lives within Us All.

I hit a wall at some point (probably about Chalisa 40 or 50) where I was sitting in grief that had circled back around from ending the relationship, and was in tears. I found myself writing “oh well- I can break. I will still be standing after the break because my Heart can hold it ALL”. When learn inside our Mediumship Practice that we can truly hold the pain and grief of our sitter and our person on the Other Side. We can also hold their joy and concern for their loved ones here. Our Development and subsequent sittings outside our Development teach us how to hold ourselves in our own uncertainty, and we learn how to meet ourselves with this same open and accepting heart. As we continue to grow and explore our consciousness, we learn we don't have to close our hearts in the face of pain and we can carry all the paradoxes life carries within the journey. We can choose peace today, especially when we remember peace is found within us and not externally outside of us.

There are a few more pages of reflections- but about halfway through I burst into tears. In all my reflecting and writing and offering myself Grace, Compassion and Acceptance- and continuing to show up for myself and inside this Experience (because it is NOT easy to sit like this), I realized I am NOT the same person I was in 2022 when I first walked into Danielle's Intiation. There is nothing left of the old me but those parts of my personality that are Me and Who I Am. I move differently today. I treat myself differently today. I embody what I believe today. I truly have no where to go back to. The only way to move is forward and choose new experiences.

We move from a different place when we offer ourselves Grace, Compassion and Acceptance and we create the space to choose to react to the parts of Ourselves we are so critical of with the qualities of the Heart. Mediumship gives us the space to develop these qualities for others. Our super powers kick in when we can turn those same qualities on ourselves and we begin to love all of ourselves from our Heart with the same love we give to Others.

Ashley ♥️

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Ashley Brannan Ashley Brannan

Drip-Drip-Drip

Drip Drip Drip goes the Roof

Welcome to my Page. I want to start getting my thoughts out into the World and using my voice- so I am starting here and today. I am limiting the editing and keeping the roll-out simple, so please show me grace as I move into this space.

I have had a Roof Leak since March that I have attempted to fix for 3 months. Why is this the topic of my first blog post you might ask. Very simply- the drip got me.

Mediumship Development is one of those Spirtual Practices that invites the Human Side of us to illuminate our shadow. The Development Path acts like a Karma Yoga and Bhakti Path mix, showing us areas where we can open our hearts a little more in the face of uncertainty and vulnerability. It enhances our concentration and we learn to be kinder to ourselves as we navigate the uncertainty and learn to speak our truth. One of the concepts Mediumship Development teaches us is emotional regulation in the face of uncertainty and “no”. Learning to manage the dips of the link and the dips of energy that are natural in any conversation lead to holding our Power on a deeper and more empowering level.

So how does the Drip, Drip, Drip from my ceiling translate to Mediumship Development, Meditative Practice and Emotional Regulation inside my Daily Life? Imagine you are sitting in your room, knowing water damage is affecting your home and there is absolutely nothing you can do because you have done everything that can be done. When you hear the water start dripping, what would your reaction be in that moment?

I have had a Daily Meditation practice since 2023. I play with different forms of meditation and different lineages and different types because each style of meditation brings a different awareness of myself into the bigger picture of the Whole. Lately, my focus has been on Vipassana and Breathing based/Body Scan Meditations to invite presence. The problem with presence is if I am not careful, my thoughts can overwhelm me during the sitting. When I sit inside meditation or inside a Mediumship reading, if I am not focused on watching the waves of thoughts and emotions as they arise, I very easily fall into giving the experiences around me more weight than the internal experiences that are gold and that live inside me. As I bring my Meditative practice to my daily world, instances like the drip give me space to explore the feelings that arise like panic, anxiety, and the thought forms that can carry those thoughts on for infinity. While the feelings that arise might live in my body and be tied to individual, familial, societal, generational, and collective trauma- my thoughts and what arises from them and what I do with them lives within Me.

During one of my last Meditations, my Baba impressed upon me the idea that a thought form and the feelings that create the story are like Dandelions. Envision if you will the Dandelions we picked as children and blew on to make a wish. When the Dandelion is blown on, the seeds spread and pollinate the world around it. It acts as the center. Imagine all those seeds being blown off into the Atmosphere and Space, with no direction. When we allow a thought to take off on its own without being conscious of what we are Creating within our World around us, we are effectively leaking our energy into the World with no direction. Those thoughts then create our individual World and impact us and those within our Worlds.

As the anxiety rose with every drip, I sat and acknowledged the rising panic, thoughts and feelings. I started greeting the drip with “ah so” or “this too”. As this process of meeting myself began, I started to see the part of myself that wanted to protect me and greeting her with love and acceptance, the drip started to bother me less and less. It's still there- it's still a problem. That didn't change. My reaction to myself in relation to the drip changed within the span of 3 days of non-stop rain.

Every situation we find ourselves in- chosen or not- provides a unique chance to practice the emotional regulation we learn within Mediumship Development. When we stop rejecting ourselves for being human and we open our Hearts to our feelings and emotions, we learn that our Heart is big enough to carry it all. It's a practice. It is never perfect because we came here to learn how to talk through the fear and the anxiety and to love ourselves through all the things that arise. However we choose to approach the lesson will be different based on the individual or the Karmic path each of us takes this life. For

It all leads back to the Path of the Awakening Heart.

We Never Walk this Journey Alone.

Ashley ♥️

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