THE FIRST TIME I HEARD SPIRIT
& How to Hone Your Clairs
We’re all psychic.
Your grandma, your coworker, and especially your newborn baby — encapsulated in wide-eyed wonder, fully unbothered by societal shoulds and should-nots.
This divinely-guided energy is quite literally imprinted within us upon conception. We’re born from the earth, which was created by a collision of cosmos, and those stars were created, god knows when, by some higher power. Thus, we’re a tiny spark of that stardust higher power.
I’ve heard this higher power a few times, I’ve felt it countless times, and I have a distinct inner knowing nestled in my core regularly.
One time I heard spirit was particularly profound.
It was a chapter of my life when I would consider myself the farthest from being spiritual — 7am SoulCycle was my church and clubbing on a Wednesday was my weekly communion.
I was in between jobs and took the opportunity to embark on a 4-day trek to Machu Picchu with two girlfriends. Note, this was indeed a privilege, but far from a glam adventure — camping would’ve been way more luxe than some of the hostels we shacked up in. Needless to say, this no-frills nature immersion was exactly what I needed.
We hiked from sunrise to sunset in the Inca jungle and I slowly shed layers of my twenty-something fashion assistant stress — that “Devil Wears Prada” shit is real, let me tell you. We painted our faces, plowed down cliffs on mountain bikes, zoomed through the trees on sketchy zip lines, and rendezvoused at local watering holes over cheap wine. It was a raw, rooting and liberating adventure.
On the final day, we climbed up to peak of Machu Picchu to watch the sunrise. As the sun crowned from behind the mountains, washing golden light over our dirt dusted cheeks, I heard the words “here and now” drop into the top of my head. It sounded like my voice, but felt different. I paused, pulled out my phone and jotted a few wise words down.
Six months later I was diagnosed with cancer. The words I wrote distinctly foreshadowed a darker adventure I was about to go on.
Source speaks to us regularly through our senses. It’s up to us, to be present enough in order to fully receive its cosmic communication.
Just like every one of our physical bodies are divinely unique, so are the ways that spirit speaks to us. “It really depends on the type of psychic that you are and how energy or spirit is choosing to speak with you,” says Maryann DiMarco, my medium mentor. She refers to this as your “psychic structure” in her latest book Medium Mentor — highly rec!
We may have one or two primary clairs, but this may shift over time — or if you’re a reader, it may depend on who your reading and what’s coming through.
There are six primary clairs — or six ways that spirit communicates with us through our senses. These are all covered in-depth in Maryann’s book.
Clairvoyance: Seeing
Auras, colors, symbols, visions
Clairaudience: Hearing
Voices and sounds
Clairsentience: Feeling/sensation
Changes in temperature, pressure, texture
Clairalience: Smelling
Phantom smells
Clairgustance: Tasting
Phantom flavors
Claircognizance: Knowing
A strong sense of what has happened or is going to happen
I consider myself claircognizant above all, with a smidge of clairaudient. Claircognizant is challenging because it forces me to fully trust my inner psychic knowings.
“When we complicate it, that’s when we start to question spirit...maybe I’m making this up? The ego gets in there. Just trust that you’re hearing it exactly the way that you’re supposed to be hearing it,” says DiMarco.
I learned I was clairaudient, when Maryann taught me that spirit doesn’t speak to you in some deep, robust, godly voice, but rather through your own voice. For me it’s a very gentle voice and speaks to me once before typically vanishing into nothingness, leaving me in utter awe — sometimes confusion, and very often, wanting more. That’s just part of the unseen magic of being mortal! Everything is uncertain, despite our consistent cling for more control.
If we are more aware of how spirit uniquely speaks to us, then over time, we are able to connect the golden download dots which further help strengthen our psychic trust muscle. It helps us embody a state of empowered surrender.
Here are a few ways that have helped me hone my “psychic gifts” (again, we all have them) over the years:
🤫 GET QUIET.
This doesn’t need to look like sitting on a meditation cushion, but rather exploring what “getting quiet” means to you. Perhaps you can tap into a divine flow state when cooking, walking or running. Do what works for you — but try not to layer in too much tech stimulation.
I’ve recently found that meditating at 5:30am is a very different experience for me than meditating from 6:30am-7:30am because the majority of the “city that never sleeps” is actually asleep. The energy genuinely feels so different — it feels very intimate and sacred.
They say before you fall asleep and right after you awake is when the veils between cosmic worlds are the thinnest. Perhaps its the case with our own intuition as well.
🔓 BE OPEN.
Let go of any preconceived notions of what “psychic speak” looks, sounds or feels like. Simply be curious and trust that it will channel through just how it’s meant to, when it’s meant to.
👂🏼LISTEN.
I keep a little list of pings on my phone — specifically, what they are and how they came through. Perhaps it was a feeling, sound, word or fleeting color. Having this list of affirmative psychic moments helps you hone trust and get to know your unique soul speak style.
Note, I don’t obsess over this list or feel the need to always track when soul speaks to me. Maintaining a lens of levity and letting these signs organically appear has been really key for me.
📞 ASK, AND RECEIVE.
When spirit speaks, we don’t always listen, but when you speak, spirit definitely listens!
I recently mentioned to Maryann that I don’t remember my dreams and how it’s frustrating to me. She pointedly replied, “Well, tell them then.”
It really can be that easy though. Communicating with spirit doesn’t have to be an exhausting ceremony or lengthy full moon ritual. You can simply ask out loud or write it down in your journal. Sure, you can sweeten the soul talk by adding a crystal or flower to your altar, but that really doesn’t do much unless it truly resonates with you.
I have remembered approximately three dreams since I actively asked spirit to help me remember my dreams. That’s more than I have remembered in years.
❤️ SAY THANK YOU.
Lastly, just because spirit is cosmic doesn’t mean they don’t respond to common courtesies. Consider this — gratitude is connected to our heart center and the “other side” lives on this love frequency. That’s why I typically start and seal any practice or ritual with gratitude. It’s not only a kind gesture, but it creates a clear strong bridge, leveling up your frequency so you can easily connect with your soul squad.
Like anything and everything, working with your clairs is an ongoing practice. There are phases where I feel so intimately connected with spirit and other times, the door is barricaded and I’m left there knocking, searching frantically for my psychic key.
It’s in these moments that I drop back into embodied surrender and trust. I try not to reach, seek or cling — as hard as that is.
We are not meant to hear it all or know it all, but rather live within the uncertainty of it all. Let the times of psychic nothingness be an invitation to drop deeply into your humanness. Drink up the joys of your mundane existence and trust that the magic lies within each and everything around you.
If your grandma, coworker and newborn baby can speak soul, you can too.
Psyched for you,
K
Beautiful!! I loved this part:
"We are not meant to hear it all or know it all, but rather live within the uncertainty of it all. Let the times of psychic nothingness be an invitation to drop deeply into your humanness. Drink up the joys of your mundane existence and trust that the magic lies within each and everything around you."