What Katy Louise Did...

My photo
Katy Louise writes about health, wealth, happiness and relationships, and the spiritual insights she gains along her path. She is currently editor of Top Sante magazine (www.topsante.co.uk). Prior to that she was editor of Bodyfit magazine (now Your Fitness www.yourfitnesstoday.com) and the launch editor of Soul&Spirit magazine (www.soulandspiritmagazine.com). Katy is also a certified Fitsteps and STOTT Pilates instructor. She is the go-to girl for all matters relating to health, wellbeing and spirituality.

Friday 19 November 2010

Your FREE 2011 horoscope book!



See the future, find out whether your children are psychic, and find guidance from the Oracle of Shadows and Light: all this and much more in the December issue of Soul&Spirit, on sale today!!!


FREE 2011 horoscopes book!
Your 58-page book by astrologer Russell Grant has the low down on love and career highlights for the first half of next year, week by week.

Do you have Cinderella Syndrome?
Is finding Prince Charming your top priority? Then it’s time to change your thinking and discover your powerful inner princess, as she’s the one who leads to happy ever after

Horoscope special
Increase your personal power, healing skills and creative talents, and find a cause worth fighting for, with the warrior goddess asteroid, Pallas Athena. And find out more about the 13th sign of the snake!

PLUS:
» Your I Ching astrology forecast for the month
» Psychic love advice from Jayne Wallace

Soul&Spirit magazine is on sale in Asda, Tesco, WHSmiths, Sainsbury, Morrison, Borders, McColls, and other independent newsagents. Visit www.soulandspiritmagazine.com to find out more or subscribe and get a great free gift of Angel, Gods and Goddess cards!

Enlightening animations online!

Newsflash!
OK not really news as such, but I was just introduced to a series of animated talks by the RSA, available on Youtube, which are really fascinating. This one is about 21st Century enlightenment. There are also ones on reforming education, and a particularly interesting one about time, and how some whole countries are future oriented and some past oriented; even cities are classified this way; it all comes down to our perceptions about time. Check out out! ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=channel

Thursday 18 November 2010

Can hugging change the world?


Getting a cuddle from a friend when you are down can be really comforting, but how about a hug from a stranger? And how about if that stranger was actually one of the world’s most revered and followed spiritual leaders?
Well, yesterday I visited Alexandra Palace in London to witness the crowds coming for Darshan with Sri Mata Amritanandamayi – aka Amma. This is the Indian lady – some call her a saint – who has hugged close to 30million people. Not that I was feeling low, but I just wanted to experience what so many others had, to find out for myself what was special about it, if anything.
Most people focus on the hugging aspect but what inspired me most about Amma was hearing about her many charitable initiatives around the world, from helping flood victims, to setting up orphanages, and helping vulnerable women gain work skills and set up cottage industries.

My hug...
Watching Amma hug person after person – and I mean really pulling them into her bosom and enveloping them with her physical and spiritual presence – was very moving. There was something about the genuine compassion being shown that touched everyone in the room. When it came to my turn, I kneeled on the floor (Amma sitts down so everyone has to kneel in order to receive their hug) and leaned forward into her. She began chanting something in my ear, which, having spoken to someone later on, I think was probably ‘My daughter, my daughter, my daughter’ over and over again. She kissed me on the head and showered me with flower petals and all of a sudden I was given an apple and a sweet by an assistant, and ushered quickly away for the next person to have their hug. It was all over in a mere minute, and I sat down near to her in order to ‘soak up’ the experience. 

Caring for others and the world
Charlotte, my deputy editor, also came along and was particularly moved by the hugging experience, more so than I was. I found it comforting, and Amma certainly smelled good and it was nice having the blessings of someone so great, but what I found most moving, and what made the tears well up slightly, was contemplating the genuine compassion being shown, and how this simple act of hugging can be so lacking in our society. People, in the UK particularly, are not often that physical. It’s only recently that some people have started to kiss on the cheek when they greet each other. Hugging, especially anyone not your immediate family or friendship group, is just not the norm. I’m not advocating that everyone goes around hugging strangers, but we can all show compassion and love. How many times are we engrossed in our own little worlds and ignorant of the suffering experienced by so many?
Amma’s message was also one that struck me as slightly Pagan (excerpts of her talks were broadcast into the room at intervals), i.e. that of caring for Mother Nature. We all need to embrace the mothering instinct within us, whether male or female, she says, and take care of our precious planet.

All in all I loved the whole Amma experience. We bought some basil tea (even Amma dolls were on sale!), had our darshan with the great woman herself, and felt really inspired to go out and do good deeds. Amma’s work and whole ethos makes you question life, and look at what is really important. Compassion – for everyone not just your family – is what will help make the world a better place.

Visit www.amma.org.uk for more information.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

How to transform your life

Have recently finished reading Loving What Is, by Byron Katie. It may have been out  few years, but this book is incredible. In my opinion if you only buy one new spiritual book this year, make it this one - especially if you have loads if issues either with other people or other things. This gets you to see life in a whole new way; it sheds light on your beliefs, most of which are not true, and allows you to free yourself from them.
The January issue will have an article by Byron Katie on her famous process, called The Work, but it's worth buying the book too. If you really embrace the process, then you will find yourself inquiring into your beliefs all the time, such as 'he should do this', 'it should not be windy today', 'I hate it when so and so does this' etc. It works on the most petty things, too! right up to world events.

Anyway, I'll probably write more on it another time, but if you do read it, I'd love to have your comments.

On another note, am off to see Amma tomorrow to get a hug! I've heard about these infamous hugs and how they can almost be a moment of enlightenment, so the Soul & Spirit team is heading down to London to check her out and hopefully get hugs to find out what it is like!!! I'll let you know

Monday 8 November 2010

Celebrating with a bang!


Today is my birthday, and to celebrate I’m having not one but two weekends of festivities, which actually started the Saturday night just gone, when I went to see a fantastic firework display with a very dear friend. It was one of the biggest displays in Suffolk – perhaps the biggest – and it was while watching this awesome display, set to music, that I realised what a good reminder fireworks are to live in the now. Being present to this very moment is never more important than when watching a display of fireworks, as if you look away, or are thinking something else in your mind and not really focusing on what is going on, you miss all the beauty. I did try to record some of it on camera, but only a minute or two as I realised that by doing so, I was missing the joy of seeing the beautiful cascades and explosions as they happened. At other times, although I was looking up, I found myself lost in thought about something completely unrelated. But I caught myself doing it, and kept bringing myself back to the present moment, and trying to empty my mind as much as possible so as to truly enjoy the display before me.
For fireworks, once exploded, are gone in seconds. Perhaps they are also a reminder for us of how beautiful and incredible life can be, but how fleeting it really is, and so to live each moment with full awareness as much as possible. This pledge to make this my daily, hourly, minute-by-minute practise from now on (well, as much as possible!).

I also got to spend the weekend doing something else I love: spending time with my family. This began at my grandparents’ house, where gran and I baked her special cookies and also some buns for me to bring in to work today (thanks gran!). This took me back to my childhood days, as it probably at least 20 years ago that I last donned a pinny and made fairy cakes!
Later, I had a roast dinner with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and watched the Sunday night pre-requisite of the Strictly and X Factor finals. So, though my weekend was relatively low-key in terms of events, distance travelled etc, it was one of the best, as I was with loved ones. And what can be better than that? For while it is great to live in the now, and be present to what is going on (the present is a present, after all!) it’s also nice to reminisce about happy memories. May there be many more to come!

The November issue of Soul&Spirit magazine is on sale now, with FREE angel & love cards by Jacky Newcomb. Visit www.soulandspiritmagazine.com for more information

Monday 1 November 2010

on the radio tonight!

Hi all

quick update: I will be talking to Philip Solomon on WCR 101.8 FM tonight (November 1st) at 8pm, all about Soul&Spirit magazine. This can be heard across the West Midlands, as well as live on the internet anywhere in the world at www.wcrfm.com

not sure what he will be asking me but am sure it will be very spiritual indeed!