Gentle Journeys

Our purpose and our past lives

Cheryl Umberger — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:54:00 GMT

One of the most common struggles for everyone I know and everyone I meet is to understand what our particular purpose in life is. Mistaking what we do to make money as our life's purpose is something all of us do at some point in our lives. This error in understanding can either create utter devotion to our occupation or complete despair if we loathe what is required of us in order to make money. Even the most wealthy among us must DO something in order to sustain a lifestyle, but the bottom line is that we are more than what we DO.

When we completely comprehend that we have existed as other human beings then our sense of self becomes much larger than the limitations of what we DO in this life time. Our past lives have included times when we have been poor, rich, black, white, male, female and a whole host of other adjectives that would take life times to list! My point is, our purpose in THIS life is the same as our purpose in every past life. It is just to be here.

Sure, our souls have lessons to learn and we've absolutely mapped out a journey, but there is no need to live a life filled with confusion about the purpose of this life. Just being here is enough. Each of us has already achieved greatness because we are a part of all things. All things being magnificent, whole and outstanding! Yup, that's us. Past life, current life, future life......we are enough just the way that we are.
Cheryl

A Sneak Peek

Cheryl Umberger — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:46:00 GMT

The summer is just flying by and just as soon as I blink my eyes the leaves will be turning and the air will be cool again! Although I can't claim to be adhering to the "lazy days of summer", I'm definitely trying to "smell the roses". With that in mind I haven't been holding any classes during these hot months. It has given me time to work with some folks one on one and plan for a terrific fall line up!

I'll be posting full class descriptions, fees, dates and times on my web site but here is a little peek at what we have to look forward do!

August 23, 2008 - Please join me at the Unity Church of Harrisburg located at 927 Wertzville Road, Enola for a Health & Wellness fair. The fair will be from 9am to 5pm and you'll have an opportunity to meet many practitioners, hear great, free inspirational talks and walk the labyrinth in the peace garden at the church. You can contact me at 717-608-7926 for more information. I will have a booth and will be speaking at 2:15pm that day.

September 21, 2008 - Introduction to guided meditation with a practice of empowering affirmations.

October 31, 2008 - A night of spirits.

November 2, 2008 - Start of the 28 Day Soul Coaching class.

December 7, 2008 - Creating your fabulous future through vision seed maps and spirit sticks.

Like I said, this is a sneak peek, so I'm working on the title for the classes. I might also squeak in an introduction to past life regression class, but I'm not sure where I'll put it yet. I'm excited to get started again!

Cheryl

Catching Up

Cheryl Umberger — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:27:39 GMT

Wow! I can't believe that the weeks have flown by and I have had no chance at all to blog! For the past two weeks I have been blessed to be away on vacation with my family. We have journeyed to my home state of Rhode Island and we'll be heading home tomorrow morning. I return to Rhode Island each summer for at least a week to hang out at the beach and visit with family and friends, but this year a whole host of things seem to be stirring inside of me while I'm here.

The first week that I was back we stayed in Charlestown, RI, which I love, and I had a wonderful chance to meet and spend time with a fellow soul coach. During our meeting she referred me to someone from my home city of Woonsocket who is now a well known and popular spiritualist. His name is Roland Comtois and while I was unable to meet with him or to attend one of his workshops while in New England, I hope to see him in the fall in Maryland. You can check out his web site at www.blessingsbyroland.com. Very interesting.

I also talked a little about my angels and spirits with this fantastic soul coach and I made the comment that I didn't think that I wanted to really focus on spirit readings. Wisely, she said, "You probably don't have a choice." I was quiet for a little bit after that and pondered it.

As a mother of four, I find myself attempting to control most situations as a necessity. When it comes to receiving messages from the angels and other spirits, there is nothing about control involved and I continually think that I'm not getting it all or that I'm not skilled enough. In the past few months, I've communicated very little with the spirits, but during the last two weeks, the message has been loud and clear that I need to pay more attention.

When I return home to Pennsylvania I have some clients that will be coming to work with past life regression and I'm still working on getting my class schedule together for the fall. As I proceed with the spiritual work, I'm going to consciously put less Cheryl in it and let the spirit go where it will! Blessings.

Cheryl

Past Life Regression in Pennsylvania

Cheryl Umberger — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:50:50 GMT

Very often I hear the people around me talk about the narrow mindedness of the community that I live in, but I challenge that idea! When I talk about what I do, it is usually met with curiosity. I've found that there are people all over my community that have an interest in past life regression, guided meditation and fulfilling workshops. Sure, its not for everyone, but I haven't had anyone completely blow me out of the water or blast me for offering controversial services.

I have, in fact, found interested people in places that were completely unexpected. I remind myself of this when I get caught in that idea that what I have to offer will not be well received by those in my immediate surroundings. Anything that can enhance our lives is a valuable tool, so I'm off to promote such things as past life regressions.....even in Pennsylvania.

Cheryl Umberger

Past Lives, Future Lives & NOW!

Cheryl Umberger — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:51:53 GMT

So, you might ask how I can advocate reviewing past lives and exploring future lives while also believing in Eckhart Tolle's teachings of NOW. It is true that all we have is now and that nothing happens except right now. Which is why its important to make the most of your now.

Many people are incapacitated by an inability to deal with every day life. They play the same recordings over and over in their mind and can't seem to move beyond their own story in order to improve their quality of life. When you go back to review a past life, you can visit a time of anxiety or trauma, but see that life still unfolds in a miraculous and wonderful way. You can also choose to make changes, which increases the frequency at which you vibrate, and assists you with getting past those same old recordings in your head that sabotage your NOW.

Future lives are similar. You're not living to experience some great thing that will happen in a far off time, you're merely envisioning yourself at a different frequency and assisting the thinking that you do now to be more meaningfully positive today. It's different than dwelling on the past or obsessing on things that have not yet happened. In both cases, you have an opportunity to reach to the subconscious, be an observer and FEEL how you are the means of change today.

They're magnificently compatible! Blessings.
Cheryl

Future Lives

Cheryl Umberger — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:24:22 GMT

I've been exploring future lives and the more that I do it the more excited I get about it. Remember that time is not linear. The idea that time moves forward is only a fiction of our minds. I've blogged a bit about time, so I won't go deeply into it again here. I only mention it as a reminder and to preface why and how future lives can be therapeutic.

Imagine yourself watching the movement of a train from a helicopter. You can see the surroundings of where the train has been, where it is at that very moment and where it is going. Now imagine yourself looking at the journeys of your soul in the same way. Past lives represent where you have been, your current life is who you are now and your future lives are where you are going. At any time, you have the power to make changes and to vibrate at a frequency that will create your most fulfilling life now and a powerful future life. Cool, huh?

Its a little harder for the brain to accept visiting a future life because we think that it hasn't happened yet. But, it's happening now, so when you visit what is to be, you can make changes by experiencing the dimension or frequency in which that life is occurring. This is not predestination!

If you experience a future life that is disastrous, we take the time while you are progressed to go to the supreme consciousness of your soul, connect with the frequency of that life and re-write it. By resolving your issues in this fashion, you are also releasing the problems and pressures of this life that are associated with that particular matter and making peace with certain, recurring karmic issues.

Ok, admit it, you're as fascinated as I am! Right?
Cheryl

This Fall

Cheryl Umberger — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:07:56 GMT

Hey Everyone!
I know that I don't blog as much as I did over the winter, but the beautiful outdoor weather tugs at me every day and I just find myself not wanting to spend as much time at the computer. Now that the weather is heating up, though, I'll find myself wanting to stay cool and stay put! With that in mind, keep an eye open for some really terrific things that will be happening at Gentle Journeys this fall.

I'm working on some classes and workshops that I am truly excited about sharing. In addition, we may have some special guest interviews on the blog and a live UStream show that you can tap into. All great stuff, but for now, I'm going to enjoy a little more cool spring weather.
Blessings!
Cheryl

Past Life Regressions - Again

Cheryl Umberger — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:25:04 GMT

Last week I was out early on a Saturday morning and found a yard sale being held in an Amish barn. This was odd because the Amish typically wouldn't have anything that they would sell at a yard sale. What was even more strange was that there were dozens of VHS tapes lined up immediately when I walked into the barn, which no Amish person would have! I must have look perplexed because the kind, Amish lady said, "We cleaned out one of our apartment houses and all of this stuff came from there."

As I rustled around the stuff I came across several boxes of books that I began sorting through. It was like finding gold! There were the coolest books there for twenty-five cents each! I picked up several Sylvia Browne books, an Egyptian Mythology book, one about auras and a book called Past Lives, Future Lives by Dr. Bruce Goldberg. He's a dentist that has been a popular hypnotist for some time and he wrote this book in the 80's.

I have done a number of past life regression sessions, but this type of work hasn't been my main focus or interest - until now. I'm really beginning to see different aspects of the therapeutic nature of the work and I'm feeling all tingly about working with people! Since I would not share a client's personal experience I've asked a number of friends and family about having sessions with me as volunteers. The reason for this is that I'd like to be able to share the experiences here on my blog.

Dr. Goldberg has some interesting twists on how he conducts his sessions that are slightly different than the way that I was trained. After reading his book, being trained by Denise Linn and also becoming more familiar with the work of Dr. Brian Weiss I'm feeling more confident of how I would like to blend their ideas to create an effective, therapeutic technique. I'll be posting more, for sure! Blessings.
Cheryl

A Purple Angel

Cheryl Umberger — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:40:35 GMT

The more that I learn, the more that I question. Of one thing I am sure, there are no definites. No one can tell you definitively the meaning of anything because everything can be interpreted thousands of ways. I say this because I encountered a purple angel the other night. He had a specific message for someone and he didn't address me directly, but rather through my angels, Alexander and Susanna.

Some of you may be familiar with Doreen Virtue and know that she is widely accepted as the foremost expert on angels. I've read some of her books and I have given her angel card decks as gifts several times. In her writings, she describes the Archangel Raphael as a purple angel. Dr. Virtue respectably trains many people to do angel readings, and I haven't had any training by anyone, so I'm not here to say that my experience is any more definite than anyone else's. I say all of this only because there were parts of my experience with this particular angel that is different than how Dr. Virtue describes the purple angel.

The purple angel that appeared to me was clearly an angel of rank and power. I also understood that my conversation went through my angels because at my stage of acceptance and understanding, it was easier than trying to communicate directly with this powerful angel. This had nothing to do with the angel's capabilities, but rather with my own limitations. I had the feeling that there will be another time soon when I will see this angel again and will speak directly with him, but now was not the time. It often happens that the angels and other spirits give things to me in pieces that I am able to handle. A little at a time. It's like they don't want to overload me!

This angel did give me a name and it began with an H, but I can't spell it or properly pronounce it. The angel may or may not have been Raphael, who knows? I only know that angels have many names and can appear in any way that they think is most appropriate for you. I will say that the purple was stunning and I was in awe in his presence.
Cheryl

A few cool things on Oprah

Cheryl Umberger — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:30:58 GMT

On Tuesday Oprah had Dr. Brian Weiss as a guest on her TV show and they showed a wonderful representation on how a past life regression session goes. I don't think that there is a repeat of the show any time, but you are able to read a transcript of it on her web site.

Also, on Monday evenings at 9pm EST, Oprah is now doing a web cast of some of her interviews from her Soul Series on XMRadio. Last Monday she interviewed Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and if any of you have not heard Dr. Taylor's amazing experiences, take 20 minutes and watch the interview on Oprah's web site. You won't be disappointed!
Cheryl

Hatched!

Cheryl Umberger — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:26:57 GMT

Three little fur balls are barely noticeable in the depths of the nest just outside of my window! I peeked out on Wednesday to find the little blue eggs and I kept straining my neck, but couldn't find them. My mind was imagining all kinds of horrible things that might have happened to them when suddenly, a teeny beak opened wide, waiting for something to be dropped in! I was so excited!

Mommy Robin was off hunting to get something to feed her little critters and when she returned, I saw not just one little beak opening, but three. They look like those fuzzy pom pom's that you find in craft stores and they blend in with the color of the nest so well that you don't notice they're there until they open they're mouths. I think its kind of funny that Mommy Robin still sits on her critters and when I suggested to my three year old that I sit on him to keep him warm he told me that he thought that would hurt.

Nature is so beautiful!
Cheryl

The Mommy Robin

Cheryl Umberger — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:44:45 GMT

I haven't left my house in a week because I cannot drive or even comfortably sit. My normal daily activities have been completely changed as I can't lift anything and can only stand for short periods of time, so, I've been really learning my lessons in stillness. On Wednesday, I was all alone and trying to fold a basket of laundry. As I leaned forward awkwardly to place a folded shirt on the couch, I noticed that just outside of my window, in the tree below, was a small nest with a bird that fit perfectly in it.

It was such a beautiful picture! I wasn't sure at first that it was a robin because she looked small for a robin, but later, when I looked out again, she wasn't there and I saw two tiny, bright blue eggs in the nest. When she returned I sang a song to her through the screen and she didn't seem to mind me being that close. I check on her several times a day because I don't want to miss when those little eggs hatch!

It seems in my required stillness there are lessons abounding everywhere around me. My little robin perches perfectly in her nest. It isn't a large nest and, in fact, I don't see how she will fit into it at all once her eggs hatch, but she has no worries. She also has no agenda or any need but to be simply sitting on her eggs. She goes away for short periods to get food, but never with any sort of rush or anxiety. Its like she feels peace in the fact that she has chosen a safe place for her eggs. She doesn't worry that something will happen to them. She isn't anxious about all the other things that she could be doing and she shows no concern for how she will provide once her babies are here in the world.

I'm fascinated and enthralled by her behavior. Nature is not pressured by time, ambition or recognition. The birds don't experience anxiety or stress. Everything just is. And whatever is, is perfect.
Cheryl

Acceptance

Cheryl Umberger — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:04:56 GMT

Many of you know that I've been studying the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. I find his books to be a perfect compliment to my work as a soul coach. Of course, I am always learning just as much as I am teaching. One of the basic foundations of soul coaching is the teaching that "who you are is enough - just the way you are". Tolle teaches this as well and talks about how we very often look for fulfillment in "doing". I am a classic "doer". For a very long time I've found my value in the things that I "do" and like many others, I validate myself to other people by reciting all of the things that I've done.

This is the spiritual practice that I've taken on as my personal lesson. Completely grasping that I am enough even in doing nothing. It's been a tough lesson because each day I make lists of all the things that I have to do. It wouldn't be practical if I gave up doing the laundry, but I don't need to identify laundry doing as part of myself. I find myself time and time again getting caught up in all the doing even for my business.

But, on Sunday afternoon, I was given a great cosmic help for non-doing by the Universe. I fell and severely bruised my tailbone. This means that I can barely walk, I can't sit or stand comfortably and most household chores as well as driving is out of the question. I am typing this blog lying on my side in bed. Wow, talk about having to "do" nothing! Not only that, I've also had to ask many people for help!

Now I will learn to do nothing and still appreciate myself. I will accept what is, lie here and learn a lot more about just BEING. Many blessings.
Cheryl

Link Error

Cheryl Umberger — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:19:03 GMT

I made an error when I typed the link for The Modern Goddess Magazine. The correct link is www.moderngoddessmagazine.com. See that, I'm getting better at making mistakes and feeling good about them!

Cheryl

May 5 and May 10

Cheryl Umberger — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:07:55 GMT

It is no surprise to me that Emerald is the gem stone for May. Everything around me is a brilliant green that just astounds my senses! So here is some news for May:

On Monday, May 5 a new edition of the Modern Goddess Magazine will be available! We're celebrating Mom this month and you can read the articles at www.themoderngoddessmagazine.com.

Saturday, May 10 at 6pm I will be having a Vision Board workshop. Communicating the desires of your life to Spirit in an outward form is vital and vision boarding is the perfect, concentrated and fun way to that! This class will begin with a guided meditation, a short clearing using the Tibetan singing bowls and then we'll jump right in to creating our vision boards. All materials are provided and the cost of the class is $25.00.

Empowerment parties are available for booking (see my web site) and I'm still working on a specific design for couples coaching. I hope to be posting that on my web site soon! Happy spring to all!
Cheryl

Mistakes

Cheryl Umberger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:04:54 GMT

I've never been good at making mistakes. What I mean by that, is that too often in my life I've allowed the fear of being wrong or doing something incorrectly to prevent me from experiencing something. Shame on me! I previously was unable to allow the possibility of a mistake to be a time of learning for me and for that, I've missed out on what might have been some very cool things.

Sadly, even recently I told several people that I couldn't do an angel reading for them because I allowed a fear of being wrong get in the way of being of service. Since I can't go back to any missed opportunities in my life, I can only learn from THAT mistake and begin to always jump in with both feet!

Maybe I'll look like a fool from time to time, but even that isn't going to stop me anymore! Let mistakes abound! I'll learn, I'll grow and I'll probably even have a lot of fun along the way. Blessings.

Cheryl

It's Spring!

Cheryl Umberger — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:17:37 GMT

I've been outside. I didn't forget about posting, but now that the sun is shining and my perennials are returning like old friends, the outdoors is calling me! Herbs like comfrey, valerian, elecampane and evening primrose are growing in leaps and bounds by the day and I'm beginning to think that I'll need to trim them even before I plant my annuals.

As I was contemplating the enormity of my comfrey I started to think that perennials are like past lives. They live, thrive, die and return again with a passion! Of course, they usually return in the same place and always at the same time of year, but it could be said that they are living a new life for a new season. They also never actually die. They simply lie dormant in the great cosmos of the ground until it is time to reappear and enjoy the sun.

The same way that we never die. We rejoin the great cosmic consciousness until we decide to drop into form once again. And just like my comfrey visits with my feverfew each year, so also are we reunited with old soul friends each time around. Isn't that cool?
Cheryl

Photos

Cheryl Umberger — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:42:36 GMT

I took some pictures of the loveliness in the woods at this time of year. I use them for the blog that I have on my web site. Same material as here, only you get to look at the pretty pictures too!

Cheryl

Time - Part Two - Dejavu

Cheryl Umberger — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:40:14 GMT

If you're reading this, I hope that you've read part one in order to understand where I'm coming from. We left off with the idea that all of time is happening at the same time. Timelessness. Within timelessness, your expansive soul is living many human lives all at once. I believe that one small example of that is the experience of dejavu. All of us have experienced this. It is when you are doing something or you are in a place and you know for certain that you've done that very thing before or been in that very place before. The experience is something that has already occurred for you, though you don't know when or how.

Now, in timelessness, nothing can happen other than in the here and now. Also in timelessness, you are always in the here and now even in "other" life times. My theory is that when you experience dejavu, perhaps your life times are overlapping. In other words, the "you" 200 years ago (in the linear time that you comprehend) is colliding with the "you" now in that place of timelessness, and you're experiencing the same thing. Hence dejavu.

We can only discuss past lives as if they indeed took place in the past because our limiting minds only understand and comprehend time linearly. It is within the stillness and quietness of our soul that we can begin to grasp expansiveness. Once we are to that point, we no longer have a need to believe in the separateness of all things. Now we can understand how exploring the experience that our soul had as an individual human being in another "time" can, in fact, be changed. This is because time is a fiction of the mind. If we change something in our past life, we are actually changing it now.

Tolle states that our bodies cannot tell the difference between our outer reality and the stories that are made up in our minds. When you ponder this long enough you will see that it is true. That being said, we can get one step closer to understanding how exploring a past life experience and changing the story of that life in our minds, can powerfully impact the life we are currently leading. Which, of course, is all of our lives at one time.

So, in my example as a runner, I saw a shortage of time. I aged 60 years in a 20 year period, but, in fact, what I saw was that time is not linear. I also lived some of those 80 years during the same time that I am living now! I'm not going to say that this isn't mind bending, because it is, but it is also profound and powerful. I have never run a marathon in my life now, but I have always been extremely drawn to fitness. I'll go so far as to say that during the times in my life when I deemed myself to be unfit, I have felt enormously inadequate. In my life as that man running a race, I identified very strongly with the physical power of my body and with being an adept athlete.

I've given you some big things to chew on! Have to run outside now and enjoy the great day in my timelessness. Much love to all.
Cheryl

Time - Part One

Cheryl Umberger — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:14:03 GMT

During one of our practice sessions while I was training with Denise Linn, I had a past life experience where I was a man that was running a marathon. I could see the number on my shirt and the muscles in my legs very clearly. Denise had divided us into groups of three and our task was to visit a past life and we were to recognize what our unique talent or ability in that life had been.

I could feel and see myself running in place and stretching in order to get ready for the race. I knew that I had run many races before and that I was a strong athlete. In fact, the specific ability that I took away from this life was my individual fitness and strength. That had been my source of pride in that life time. That part was unremarkable. The interesting and confusing part for me was that my race was taking place in San Francisco and from the design of the automobiles around me and the clothing that the spectators wore, I would place the time period some time in the late 1960's. At the end of each regression, it is common to bring a person to their death in that life time in order to go full circle and feel closure. When I saw myself at my death I was in an apartment, sitting in front of a television with a TV dinner. I was an old man wearing a thick, brown sweater and I knew that I was in Ohio. The scenery indicated that it was the late 1970's or early 80's. I was distracted by this. How could it be that I was a young man in the 60's and a very old man in the 80's? Additionally, the year of my birth for the life time that I am currently in is 1971. This made no sense.

When we returned to our group, I explained my confusion. Denise shrugged and said, "Oh, that is not uncommon. Time is not happening in sequential order as we preceive it. Everything is happening at one time. All life times are lived at the same time." I didn't get it. The past is done, the future hasn't happened yet and all we have is right now. Of course time is happening in a linear fashion!

Only now am I beginning to understand. We have only this moment and eternity is not about dying and going to a place where time goes on FOREVER. Its about timeLESSness, as Eckhart Tolle says. The angels, too, have been trying to tell me this from the beginning. Eternity is now.

I seem to slip in and out of understanding. I'm writing it out here in the hopes that it becomes more clear for me. Here are the steps of my understanding:
A. Our souls are connected to all things. We are, in fact, all one in this giant realm of consciousness.
B. We are not only connected to other human beings, but we are a part of the vibrations of animals, trees, rocks, angels etc..
C. As a part of this enormous consciousness, we drop in to have an individual experience, but our souls are not limited to only this body in this time. We are greater than time and space.
D. Our souls are having a multitude of individual experiences at one time. Like being in a hall of mirrors where you see yourself mulitiplied and divided everywhere that you look. We see this hall as an illusion of replicating ourselves.
E. The life that we perceive as our sole reality is in truth, the illusion. Our BEING (or higher self, soul or spirit) is expansive and unified. We don't lose our uniqueness or individuality in the vastness of consciousness, but rather we gain freedom from our limiting minds.

This is why I believe anyone can see angels or spirits. Why wouldn't you be able to? We are all part of each other and our thoughts limit our ability to understand that there is no SEPARATION from the spirit world. Or any other world or any other creation.

I have more ideas, but will type them in part two.
C