Dutchbuzz blog of September 2nd 2025, a 3 minute 1 second listen to. OR…read the text below:

Which booklet tells a story that only takes a few hours to read in one go, has been translated into more than 40 languages, and inspired millions of people to break away from conformity in search of a deeper purpose?

Richard Bach’s timeless parable Jonathan Livingston Seagull tells the story of a seagull who refuses to live just for survival. Instead, he dares to explore what is possible in full flight.

When it first appeared in the early 1970s, the book became an international phenomenon. Today, its message feels even more urgent: we are more than the routines that keep us alive — each of us carries a soul longing to live in freedom, authenticity, and meaning.

Over 30 years ago Jonathan Livingston Seagull was one of my first wake-up calls. I recognised myself in the young seagull who wanted to break away from the material things that seem to carry such importance in our present-day culture. Most of all, I could feel the yearning of Jonathan’s soul to explore the world beyond what we are told and instructed to do.

Learn nothing and the next world is the same as this one

I guess this gives me away as a bit of a rebel back in those days  and perhaps I still am. Rebels, however, aren’t necessarily bad news. They can bring about positive change and inspire people to explore and follow their own path.

After re-reading the book a little while ago — as it “accidentally” crossed my path again — I decided to revive my explorations into what inspired Jonathan. I would like to invite you to join me in this quest.

On the Friday evenings of September 19th and October 10th, I’ll be hosting a two-part soul writing journey at the Natural Health Centre in Scheveningen, centered around the famous seagull. With the book translated into so many languages, it will be an international gathering where everyone can either bring the book in their own language or simply themselves, and the Jonathan that lives within them to share insights on this visionary novel from their own cultural perspective.

Together, we will read passages from Jonathan Livingston Seagull, explore its themes of freedom, purpose, and flight, and engage in guided soul writing exercises. The common language will be English, yet the diversity of voices will enrich our exploration with each participant bringing a unique “wingbeat” to the shared flight.

To book your ticket for the evenings of September 19th and October 10th at the Natural Health Centre click here

I look forward to seeing you at this special seagull gathering.

Already in full flight,

Ingrid Schippers

The post Jonathan Livingston Seagull appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Ever find yourself pulling into your driveway and wondering how you got there? Not in an existential way—just literally no memory of the last 15 minutes of driving. Congratulations: you’ve successfully completed autopilot mode. No points deducted.

Posture, Prana, Presence, a 3 minute , 6 seconds listen to…

Or how about that party, where someone is enthusiastically talking at you, you see their lips moving, probably about their new job or a juice cleanse—and you’re nodding, smiling, utterly unaware of the actual topic.
A true masterclass in social camouflage.

And then there’s the Talk. You know the one.
The Important Conversation with a friend or partner where you’re meant to really connect…
But instead, your brain is busy filing taxes, or wondering if you left the stove on, or daydreaming about a slightly better version of this exact conversation.

Being present—it’s hard.
Having your mind and body occupy the same zip code? Practically a superpower.

But here’s the twist: this isn’t your fault.
This beautifully scattered state of being? You came equipped with it.
It’s called Ego—your internal project manager.
Its job? Select, protect, overthink, and occasionally ruin a perfectly good moment with a memory from 2009.
Useful? Absolutely.
Overzealous? Constantly.

And in our era of infinite inputs and existential TikToks, Ego is pulling double shifts.
The cost? Sometimes your soul—spelled S-O-U-L, in case you forgot you had one—gets shoved backstage.

You end up:

• Driving without noticing the trees.
• Partying without seeing the person behind the personality.
• Talking without actually listening.

Posture. Prana. Presence.
It sounds like a yoga poster, but it’s actually the secret handshake for being human.
Stay grounded where you are.
Keep on breathing—not just because it keeps you alive, but because it reminds you that you are alive.
Feel your presence. Seriously. You’re right here. Try not to ghost your own moment.

So here’s the pitch:
Keep your Ego. It’s sharp. It’s efficient. It would make a killing on Wall Street.

Just… don’t let it drive all the time.
Check in. Breathe. Look around. Be in the actual now.

Wishing you a grounded and deep breathing presence in where you are nd what you’re doing right now

Ingrid

To the Body Language of Energy Pilgrim Circle Page 

The post Posture, Prana, Presence appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

You are cordially invited to  a presentation on the Lifestyle Vision Quest, Tuesday May 20th at the Natural Health Center in Scheveningen.

R.S.V.P through the NHC events page, section: Life Style Vision Quest

 What are you looking for in life? What is your inner voice telling you? Are you living the logistics or embracing the journey in full?

Each and every one of us has the birthright to a unique life mission, a potential with boundless possibilities.
This promise starts in how you  connect with yourself and the world around you. When you  tend to look away, give away or follow suggestions made by commerce, politics or what you think others think of you,
it might be time take a look inside and do a reality check, using the love and wisdom of the inner sanctuary we all have within.

10 ways in which a  Lifestyle Vision Quest will help you to:

1. Enhance your Potential

 The reasons for doing a lifestyle vision quest are as personal as one’s fingerprint. It will however at least do one thing: it will lead  you to your Potential as it is ready and waiting for you right now.

2. Become aware of your Freedom of Choice

 Do you find your life  journey is often  conditioned by what happens in the world? Or do you resonate with your personal mission and embrace your  inner voice?  A vision quest helps disclose the great many options  to choose from between those two.

3. Co-create your Life- Journey 

Is life something that happens to you or are you the co-creator? In a vision quest imagination, intuition and inspiration, the three layers of  your being in body, mind and spirit,  are  especially vivid and as always ready to  give you a peek in what is possible.

4. Keep Balance

A vision quest in its true form is a reality check and mindful way to maintain  balance; to reflect on the question  if your patterns are in sync with your mission.  

5. Find your true self

A Vision Quest opens portals to the core being of who you truly are.

6. Communicate better with yourself and the world around you.

A lifestyle vision quest helps you  distinguish fact from fiction,  reality from illusion, make-believe from genuinity and agenda’s  from unintentional misunderstandings.  
It was William James, (1842-1910)  founding father of psychotherapy in the U.S who said: 

 “Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.”

7. Be content with what is.

Rather than estimating you need something else first before you can do what you think you need to do, a  vision quest shows you how all you need is already there and how  life is already  complete as it is under the given circumstances.

8. Find Fulfillment. While it is often seen as a way of correcting a wrong, Karma in its essence is a destination.  It’s up to up to the challenges, insights, gifts and tools of every unique individual how to  position themselves in what happens in life. The secret is to have the inner voice have  its say, while using the brain as a compass

9. Be Connected to yourself and the world around you in a wholesome way.  The way you connect to the world begins with the way you connect with yourself. A life style vision quest helps you explore what resonates for you.

10. Explore  your own truth. What comes to your mind when thinking of a Life Vision Quest…?

.

The post Ready for a Lifestyle Vision Quest? appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Attachment to outcome, a true story on self-fullflilling prophesy, a 3 minutes and 3 second listen to

I once heard a story that came from a 200 year old little booklet , holding records of  real life court cases from the 18th century. The particular story I am going to tell you about, always stayed with me as it so pointedly shows how following predictions made by others – rather than your own sound judgement and free will –  can become an awkward self fulfilling prophesy.

Here’s how it goes:

Somewhere in the seventeen hundreds a young man of reasonable wealthy means goes to a fortuneteller. The fortuneteller tells him his life will be full of pleasures and he will never lack money; however ,….he will die at the age of 32.

Now remember this is a true story based on a true court case.

At first the young man is a little taken aback by the prediction he will die in his early thirties, but according to the court case records, he decides to make the best of the years he has left. Bearing the fortunetellers prediction in mind; he decides to thoroughly enjoy and indulge himself the pleasures of life. And so he does indeed. But then he turns 32 in excellent state of health. No one has challenged him to a duel; all around him everything seems peaceful and quiet; except for the fact he is in severe debt.

Thinking he was  only to live to be 32 years of age the young man spent all his resources And since spending all his own money went a bit quicker than he expected; he also borrowed quite substantial amounts from others; knowing….or should I say thinking….death would be his ally in escaping his debts.

Here’s where the court case comes in. The young man was arrested and imprisoned. In the court case records he explains his misadventures.

The morale of this story it seems to me is to never be guided by what others predict will happen to you, as that has potentially disastrous consequences. Follow your own gut feeling instead, rather than be lured into the temptation that promises you miracles. We all get our challenges, in spite of what other people predict will happen.

The 18th century court case story reminds me a little of our 21st century commercials; where we are promised flawless lives as long as we use the products advertised. Just as with the  young man; they are only temptations that will make you spend your money, rather than invest your own sound judgment.

O and by the way, the prediction came through all the way. After using his lifetime to spend all his money; the young man died at the age of 32; in prison. He hung himself.

The card that goes with this is card number XVI The Tower. People often shy away from this card as in our material world it seems to depict doom and failure; having to give up the riches in life and the hopes of Fate. One of these I will…..

Looked upon from a spiritual point of view however this card from the third row of 7 cards mirroring the prerogatives of the spiritual world; is about letting go of old convictions and patterns that hamper your true destiny in life.  “Come out of the ivory tower” so to speak

To learn more about its meaning, click the card.

The abridged version of this blog, as published below, was written and recorded for ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radioprogram for Internationals on The Hague FM, every Tuesday evening in season from 8 till 9 p.m.

The post Attachment to Outcome appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

3 minute (abridged) recording of the end-of-the-season Dutchbuzz blog of June 25th 2019, ‘The treadmill of tweets”

Yeaaah (Kermit style) holiday time is here! I have the honor to speak the famous last words;  of the Dutchbuzz season that is, until it resumes in September. For those who are packing their suitcases to go on a well-deserved break here’s a little holiday tip;

There’s a Buddhist saying that goes:

You are not unhappy because you live in the world; you’re unhappy because the world lives in you.

So my tip is: Take a break from the tweets, mails and social media posts that tend to string our days together. Have a proper look around! Nothing beats being in the moment and enjoying the spot on earth where you are right now. No need to check your phone to see what is happening in the rest of the world.

Constantly checking a cellphone is basically like eating. When you would count the number of calories (or bites) consumed per day; you’d find you’re consuming much more than you think. Remember though that what is in that phone; what you are being fed, is only a small selection from trillions of things you could really choose from if you had a personal overview of everything that is happening in the world this very minute.

The news items are mostly about money anyway; or politicians biting each others heads off or taking the biggest share for themselves. Don’t let it ruin your day. Stay away from the commercials and temptations that urge you to buy, invest or join; thus shaping your understanding of what life outside the cellphone apparently looks like. It’s what you are told, hundreds of times per day and end up talking about with hundreds of other people a day, people you don’t even see or know; while there is so much to be found directly around you; people to talk to; things to talk about.

The information we get on what is happening in the world has shrunk to the size of a cellphone.

Without realizing it we have reached a point in evolution where we are  being mass-managed and manipulated by what a relatively small group of people in power give us to read.  When you start your working day; what you see on your laptop shapes your first thoughts.  We live in a treadmill of tweets, commercials and social media posts and keep on running from one subject to the other.

Instead go birdwatching or go for a bike ride, watch the rabbits hop through the fields. Only use a phone when you have a flat tyre and need help. Write a postcard, letter or in a diary what your day has been like; what you’ve noticed directly around you; what moved you; what you’ve discovered.

I bet you a dollar you’ll find another world out there.

The Archetype to go with this subject is definitely The World’ itself; card number XXI; the last of the 3 rows of  7  to do with 1) life in the physical world; 2) life of the Soul and 3) life in the Spiritual world; the all encompassing Archetype of Life and All It Involves. To read more click the card.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday close to your self; a personal stay-cation

Ingrid Schippers, June 23rd 2019

The post Escaping the Treadmill of Tweets appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Don’t Offer the Good Biscuits; Abridged version of the spoken end-of-the-program-blog of June 11 2019 for Dutchbuzz; the radio broadcast for Internationals on The Hague FM, every Tuesday from 9-10 when in season.

a 3 minute listen to.

In the world around me I see a lot of angry people. Angry at their governments for taking down perfectly healthy trees to feed the bio mass ovens. Angry about animals in the bio-industry being maltreated. Angry at the present president of the United States, – the one whose name we do not mention.  Angry at multinationals being exempt from paying taxes; while other workers- who earn far less than multinational CEO’s –  are being mauled between the millstones of the Dutch tax system.

And all of this is true! All angry people have every right to be! There is loads of injustice in the world! There are a great many inconsistencies in how things are divided. It is true people who pay mandatory health care premiums die or remain ill because the Dutch healthcare system denies them the care they are entitled to. And again the CEO’s of these insurance companies have million plus yearly salaries. Why? Because they are good at squeezing money out of the system they are part of; rather than good for the people they should be serving. It is all true! And yes the present president of the United States is a blatant liar and totally unfit to rule that office. Future historians and investigators will find he committed more than the just now visible crimes against humanity to serve his own interest and that of the billionaire people in his vicinity; the rich who apparently never have enough.

There’s also local injustice. Politicians lying through their teeth during election-time. Deals behind closed doors. Decisions by civil servants ruining other peoples lives; simply because they can.  All of that happening in your own city; a place where one would expect things to be just; a place that should  be just.

The thing though about targeting the negative is that it tends to take up the place of the positive.  Of course one should object against injustice. Beware however of getting stuck. Remember to also pay attention to the things going right. It is much healthier to put the main focus on the good things of life.   Positivity preserves and multiplies the radiant energies. Put the bad happenings in perspective by approaching them with a good sense of humor like the sign someone held up during the recent state visit in England of you know who;  saying : ‘Dear Queen, don’t offer him the good biscuits’

When we emanate the negative; we attract the negative.  Emanate the positive and attract the positive. This Universal law applies to everything.

So my humble take on this is:

• Humor the negative things
• Understand the Injustice without allowing it to take you Hostage
• Make the Difference
• Be The Change
• Live to Be Grateful
• Evolve into a life changing human being

While there are plenty of Nan Yar-Who Am I cards that fit the bill connected to the subject of replacing the negative with the positive (basically all cards really) I ‘happened’ (do these things really happen by accident?) to bump into a lovely practice presented by Prune Harris; one of the teachers I highly value in Energy Medicine.

This 7 minute meditation helps release emotions that no longer serve you

Wishing you loads of positive vibes and energy

Ingrid

The post Don’t Offer the Good Biscuits appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Audio recording  ‘Who else could have done it?” as broadcasted in the radioprogram for internationals ‘Dutchbuzz’ of May 28  9 pm on Den Haag FM.

Suddenly I see… a 3 minute listen

There are those moments in life where suddenly, while I’m right in the middle of doing something daily-life-like; in between the hustle and bustle of  all the things I feel I need to do and need to get; that the world directly around me seems to fade out and goes into slow-motion just like in the movies. I’m standing in a bubble looking out and see, with harsh clarity, something I had not noticed or realized before.

It happened to me last week as I stood in line at the cash register of a discount drugstore; where loads of things are for sale for less or 3 for the price of 2 or get-one-get-one-free. Everything was beckoning me to buy. It was screaming in my face I had to do it NOW; for it would be for my own good and in my own interest. The products without exception promised me I would profit if I bought them.

At the same time I also noticed how all the products within my range of vision were packed in plastic bottles, tubes or other form of environment unfriendly pollutants.  Without warning my minds eye started to picture the mountain of tossed-away packaging of only this shop alone. Then my mind expanded on the fact that this shop I was standing in, was only one of hundreds of other shops operating under the same franchise; and that in turn this franchise was only one of the hundreds of other franchises selling the same sort of products; of which all the useless packaging would all end up on our societies’ big piles of waste.

I also realized a roughly estimated 90 % of all the products within my eye’s reach were products I do not necessarily need . Perfumes; body glitter, make up,  plastic purple heart- shaped sunglasses, sugared drinks with colorings in them; candy in all sorts and sizes next to weight loss powders; scented candles in green plastic frogs with an open back; plastic flip-flops with plastic daisy ornaments;  all gathered within reach around  a 3 meter radius of the cash register

I had to think of the short time span these products will have; consumed, tossed out or forgotten within days if not hours. How did we let it come this
far? How did we grow to be people who soil their precious habitat and keep on polluting it with the proficiency of ants working their colony, except that ants don’t pollute or ruin the environment their next generations have to live in. And at least ants only use what they need and give back by being scavengers rather than consumers and serve as a nutritious part of the food chain; while most humans have Monsanto to poison them.

Is it just me? Or is it something to notice next time  you stand in line at the discount drug store; and  then maybe just buy what you need and what is good for you?

The card that goes with this is without a doubt Temperance; the card that closes the line reflecting the journey of the soul. Our Souls are not dependent on the matter we buy and consume to identify ourselves with. The Angel on the Temperance card only uses wat It needs and gives back just as much; in perfect balance with the powers that be. It doesn’t abuse and doesn’t sell Itself for no good reason.

To read more, click the card

Wishing you insight and contentment with what comes your way,

Ingrid

The post Suddenly I see appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

‘The Tower” or ‘Detachment’ as I prefer to call it in the Nan War Who Am I cards, is a card people prefer to keep in the pack during a reading. For many it signifies they have to detach (which is true btw) from what they are used to; what they are taught and therefore think they need in order to survive; sticking to the old ways of doing things.

Sometimes however Life provides us with ‘things’ that force us to face a truth we’d rather deny. And even though it might feel safer and more agreeable to stick to the same old same old; the reality of things inevitably opens gateways of new energy, filled with inspiration and new incentives. In that sense card number XVI in the third layer of the spiritual path is an important card to identify with if we want to open new sources of energy.

It seems to me that many people in this day and age are still in denial.  This in spite of many others who are sounding the alarm on why it is high time all people should open their eyes to what is happening.

I’m always curious what history books will say about this day and age in a hundred years from now.
Will they be appalled at the homelessness and emotional or material poverty some people lived in these days?
Will they wonder why so many of us chose to turn their backs on each other rather than turn around and reach out?
Will they have figured out why the rich and mighty got away with saying that people who live in poverty have themselves to blame for that and should use their circumstances as an incentive to become rich like the rich…. As if that is all that matters?
Will they have figured out that we are all connected in an intricate web of give and take, and that what happens to one, happens to all? Just like the butterfly that flaps its wings in Japan, has an effect on what happens at the other end of the world.

I have my hopes up. I see more and more people and groups of people taking action; in spite of ‘the system’ trying to freeze people into fearful robotic entities.
In spite of those watching the news, and perhaps shaking their heads but still live by the rule of those in power who all that time only serve themselves.
In spite of television programs showing how people are evicted from their homes because they can’t keep up with the materialism that is running this world.
In spite of commercials making us believe we need certain things for survival that we can do perfectly well without. In spite of people crying out about the oceans being polluted with plastic while at the same time buying new packs of plastic bottles filled with soda’s, shampoo’s, cleaning liquids and even more dangerous poisons that contaminate our environment.

But I still have my hopes up. I see more and more people stepping out of denial and create change for the better.Some are surprised to see at how initiating change for the sake of the greater good also turned out to improve their personal lives. But that’s how energies work. It only takes one butterfly to flaps it wings of transformation.

Steppin’out of denial might seem challenging, but just think of the potential it has. A potential the world very much needs, if we want to turn our it into a better place.

To read more about ‘The Tower” and its meaning, click the card.

Wishing you the opportunity to detach from the old and explore gateways of new energy,

Ingrid.

The abridged spoken version of this spoken blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM’ and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated February  26 , 2019 or click the link below, 2 minutes 54 seconds.

The post Stepping out of Denial appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Over the years the theme of gratitude crossed my path in many ways.  I try to remind myself  to count my blessings. Yet like so many of us, I also tend to get drawn into the every day drama of life, often forgetting in that process how much I have to be grateful for.

I could of course claim this to be the inevitable consequence of living in a world  where many things have yet to change for the better.  But when I point at the outside world only, I overlook my own ability to make a contribution in how I experience life. It’s quite simple really. When I only focus on the negativity surrounding me; my view of the world literally becomes a negative one. When I focus on things to be grateful for, it soothes my heart and relaxes the frown between my eyebrows.

To quote an old Buddhist saying:

We suffer not because we live in the world, we suffer because the world lives in us

Or as, American author and personal development counselor Wayne Dyer puts it:

Most people spend the last minutes before falling asleep thinking about the things that went wrong that day; or how they were wronged by others.  By doing so they program their subconscious to marinate negative feelings all night long and wake up next morning with the effects of it.

The first weeks in January are quite notorious for people waking up in the morning feeling off. After the consuming Christmas holidays, life goes back to normal and back to the barricades. While sipping my morning tea last week in one of those early January moods, my eye fell on a social media post suggesting to take a big glass jar and fill it over the year with notes on things to be grateful for. Empty it by next new years eve and you have a year full of goodness to look back on.

I really liked that suggestion and adopted it with a little twist. Every year for Christmas my children give me a big personalized weekly calendar with little notes, thumbnail pictures and previews of highlights for the coming year to look forward to. In fact last year I had already started to record memorable events, adding small notes on the back pages of my weeks.

For this year, 2019, my resolution is  to write down at least one thing I am grateful for with every passed day in my calendar and use it as my mantra before I go to sleep. I’ll be curious to see how this affects my view on on the world and in effect my contentment in life.

The card that goes with this line of thoughts might well be the  Knight of Gifts; the knight who observes the world from within and decides accordingly what to think, rather than allowing the outside to determine the knights way of thinking. As such it is entirely up to the knight how life unravels itself…

Click the card to learn more and/or draw your own card on the right of this blog,

Wishing you a grateful day,

Ingrid

The abridged spoken version of this spoken blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM’ and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated January 15 , 2019 or click the link below

The post 365 days of gratitude appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

In the old days a farmer or seafarer would look up at the Sky and predict what type of weather it would be in two days time. These days we look at our phones instead of out of the window to check if we need an umbrella.

Navigation systems in cars tell us which way to go.

Television news selects 20 minutes worth of news items gathered from all over the world, a summary of what happened to over 7 billion people in one day; that same story shown to millions of people, often repeated a few times a day

Zillions of commercials lie to us about the properties of products we should really buy; things we never even knew we needed until the commercial told us so.

Social media narrow down our minds to cat video’s and funnies and again all sorts of trend-setting commercial feeds, also here repeated in several cycles and timelines.

All in all…

When you really think about it; without being aware of it,  humanity in the 21st century lives in a horror movie, directed by a small group of very, very influential people who tell us what to eat, what to wear, and even worse how to think, what to feel and what to want.

On a daily basis we are bombarded with a scary amount of feeds, that shape our understanding. Even more so, we react to them. We go to the shops to buy the products advertised; buy the fashion and the foods as dictated by multinationals.

My point is that while we live in the so-called days of consciousness and growing awareness of who we are, who we want to be and how to separate the lies from reality;

There is an anti-current trying to mold us into a prototype of human beings. West World characters serving an elite who feel they can do as they like to the robotic mob.

And while social media also give that same mob the opportunity to connect and post their delights and concerns; we are at the same time being brain washed to an extend that it manipulates and eliminates  our first birth right: Freedom of Choice.

All this, while each unique individual  is meant to go through their own learning curves, their own fires; sail their own waters, create their own breathing space and in the end even dig their own graves; as there is no one else who can make that last journey for them.

So next to switching off the television, I try and remind myself to only buy what I need, to look around me to see who needs help, and look at the sky to see if I need an umbrella.

The card that goes with this train of thought is: The 8 of Tools, Exploration;

‘Tools’ being the earthly things and properties we need, to find out way in the Jungle of Life;
And the number 8 being the number with which we start to add our own unique characteristics to a life time.

Click the card to read more.

You can also draw your own card at the right hand side of this page and see what it has to mirror from your very own subconscious

EnjoY

Ingrid

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM’ and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated  November 6th, 2018.

The post The Old Farmer Looked up at the Sky and Said: It Looks Like Rain appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Life has a habit of bringing us these day-to-day challenges. Next to the big stuff, we also get the small irritations between partners or petty power struggles at the office; parents, children, businesspartners… Any relationship really has its own bumps in the road and even small pebbles can cause big impact on our functioning together;  leaving us somewhat bewildered at times; distracted from our own banner and what we want our daily lives to look like.

But as someone once explained to me:

Relationships are there to learn from rather than to be happy in.

I took me  a while; but measuring this piece of wisdom against some of my own daily life little struggles with people around me I have come to believe, it is indeed the eventual learning, the process of figuring out the lesson and drawing your own conclusions that makes us happier in the end.  If the other person in a relationship would solely be there to make our lives work the way we want, there would be no challenge, no ground for exploration left for ourselves. Just imagine how boring that would be. Plus we would be totally dependent on that other person.

So the ultimate challenge in day-to-day life may well be to avoid being drawn into another person’s storyline and the way this person chooses to behave. Instead figure out and learn how you feel about something; what is important for you in life, rather than have someone else  hijacking your thoughts and feelings, your life basically.

How to stay close to who you are,  that is the question. How to stay in your own lane on the path we are all travel together.

Here’s a possible 3-step recipe.

1 : Forget the Blame.

Avoid feeling wronged. Things are as they are. Mulling about the injustice done or running around in blame-circles will keep you needlessly occupied while you could be doing totally different things with your life. So:

Be Careful What You Mull For

 2: Forgive

The most effective way to stop Mulling is to Forgive. The Magic of Forgiveness is that it liberates you all on your own accord, as it is you who changes the energy of the situation and creates a way to let go of the venom. And it goes both ways. Asking for forgiveness has the exact same effect… So:

Surf the Magic of Forgiveness

3: Be Grateful

The third thing is to be grateful you’ve stopped Mulling; have been Forgiven or have found it within you to Forgive. Rather than trying to mend a struggle and convince people to see things your way, alter it into the best antidote you can think of:

Smother it with compassion.

Allow people their own space, their own mistakes, their own wrongs and their own rights. If we would all do that, I think daily life would be a whole lot more agreeable.

The card that goes with this is the 6 of Insights; the 6 being the number of communication and relationships; the Insights the suit all to do with personal development.

Click the card for further explanation and see how it reflects for you. I wish you a compassionate, forgiving and blame-free time to come.

Ingrid Schippers, 30-10-2018

Draw your own card on the right of this blog

More Questions? Mail me at info@energycounseling.nl

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated  October 30, 2018.

The post Forget, Forgive and Smother it appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Normally I switch off television or radio commercials, but the other day I accidentally fell into the message of a big Dutch supermarket chain urging people to:

Buy more so it will be cheaper.

So what they say is:

Spend more money so it will cost you less.

Which of course is ridiculous. What they really say is :

Buy more than you need so you spend more money on us.

Isn’t it surprising how many people still obey these kind of advertisements and run to the supermarket to actually BUY whatever it is that is so called on offer. Is especially Western Society so brainwashed that we fail to see the seduction?

Supermarkets are like casino’s. They tempt us with what we think we need the most to survive: money.  Meanwhile they take what we are willing to spend.  Their very clever marketing departments promise a chance to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It makes us spend our money on profitable products rather than foods that are wholesome and good. Of  course Dutch government helps by coming up with a plan to double the tax on healthy fruits and vegetables and lower it on unhealthy soft drinks.  Apparently this is better for society, economic health being regarded as more important  than individual health and welfare.

What happened to the good old times when we were thrifty and only bought good quality durable products and only what we needed ? How come many obey to the commands of Lord Economy, and spend their money on things they actually already have in another version? Or lack the nutrients food should represent?

Fortunately things are changing. On social media I see people becoming aware, refusing to buy non-durable products; choosing to eat wholesome foods; moving to smaller houses and decluttering their homes. Cudo’s also for a local  The Hague entrepreneur who celebrated the day of durability last week  by organizing a clothing exchange where people bartered goods instead of buying more for less.

In a way it is so simple: The thing to remember is to

Do As You Like and Be Content With What You Have,

rather than being seduced by the illusion laid out as bait by pocket fillers.

I challenge you to find out for yourself how much is possible by using your own imagination and freedom of choice rather than following the Pied Piper of marketing departments. Give it a week’s try and use your own creativity to buy more for less. You may well be surprised about how good it makes you feel about yourself….

The card that goes with this is ‘The Wheel of Fortune’, or as it is dubbed in The Nan Yar – Who Am I version: Freedom of Choice.  As members of a community we tend to follow the culturally conditioned rules; at times forsaking our our own dreams and goals by doing so. We also use the ‘wheel of fortune card’ at times to escape responsibility by blaming the outside world or individuals other than ourselves for the things that go wrong in our lives.

Remember you are unique and own the birthright to create your own life life in your own world, where you take responsibility for your own actions; for the way you turn the wheel, rather than following the Pied Piper.

Card number X is the third card of 7 cards that represent the path of the soul while on earth, meaning it represents a universal truth that cannot be disguised by the veil of illusion.

To read more, click the card.

Ingrid Schippers, 16-10-2018

Visit my website  to draw your own card or for more information about card readings, either by Skype or in person

More Questions? Mail me at info@energycounseling.nl

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated  October 16, 2018.

The post The Wholesome Spending Challenge appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

A dear Dutch Energy Medicine friend inspired me big time today by publishing a post from the NOS.nl national news station about five American ex presidents, Bush Jr, Bush Sr, Carter, Obama and Clinton, participating in a fundraising event for the survivors o hurricanes Harvey. Irma and Maria.

For 5 American ex presidents to come together like this I think is a stroke of genius.They presented themselves as they are at this point in time, vulnerabilities and charisma included.

• Bush Sr, not afraid to show up in stage in spite of the fact he can hardly respond due to Parkison’s disease;
• Bush Jr, whom I never admired for his politics but who had the guts to speak up about a fellow republican president;
• Carter, whom I actually learned to appreciate after his presidency.
• Clinton, from the ambitious Clinton clan who held the world’s attention during one of the most public political catfights ever
• and then ofcourse Obama, whom I can only admire.

The present president of the United States showed up on a big screen. Had it been Obama’s days, America’s first would have been on stage as well, but maybe in a morbid sort of way this worked even better.

Mr. Trump, – I’ll say his name once- , had to make an appearance because of the other 5 ex-presidents stating their case. Had it be up to him he would have left it at what he was criticized for, supplying not enough aid to the people of Puerto Rico. Now however he was forced to praise his predecessors for their effort to stand united and serve as an example on how America should stand united to help those in need.

A brilliant brilliant move against today’s ruling narcissism and self interest politics.

It taught me an important lesson on a personal development level as well. For even tough quite well acquainted with the principle of forgiveness and turning the other cheek towards those who make my life miserable, I find it extremely hard to live up to the challenge of being mild to people I dislike. Instead I turn my back on them and avoid any form of interaction.

What The Bushes, Carter, Clinton and Obama are doing here however is facing the problem heads on. They are doing something about the deadlock by cheerfully stepping right in the middle of it, saying ‘hi, we are here to help’.

We should all be doing that. Defy how world leaders want us to think and act, pack our own suitcase and do what we think needs doing, rather than pointing the fingers at those who are not doing what they should be doing.

Something to chew on perhaps. If you need some inspiration; click the link at the top of this blog, to watch the NOS.NL news story on the ‘Amerikaanse Presidenten’.

I say:  Let’s All Embrace Each Other Now

Ingrid Schippers, for Dutchbuzz 24-10-2017.

Click on the cards to learn more about their background

The spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday ( with the exception of summer and Christmas recess) from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated October 24 th 2017

Scroll through the website for details on the

Body Language of Energy and Nan Yar Who Am I,

personal development  individual and group sessions

or send me a mail at info@energycounseling.nl

The post Let’s All Embrace Each Other NOW! appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

On youtube I saw an intriguing piece of storytelling recently about a teacher who one morning in high school gave all
her pupils an unexpected test to make. She placed the exam forms face down in front of the students on their tables, just as she would always do, and once everybody had received their questions, the teacher told them to turn their papers and start the test.

To the students surprise however; there were no questions on the piece of paper they had been given. All they saw was a black dot right in the centre. When they asked their teacher about the meaning of this, the teacher said:

“Just describe what you see.”

So the students wrote down what they saw on the piece of paper; the teacher collected the results and read out loud how each and every student had been writing about the one black dot. After reading out the last one she said:

I’m not going to give marks for this test; I just want you to think about what I am going to say….All of you have described the one black dot; none of you has described the white sheet it was on.

The moral of this story I think is this:

Just as we are conditioned to learn and speak certain languages and are unaware of words and languages we have not been taught to speak; our minds are, through cultural conditioning, upbringing and personal experience taught to see certain things a certain way. In the case of the black dot test; the students dealt the with the task they were given in the way they were conditioned to think; they answered the question on the exam form; they never looked at the carrier of the question.

Is it fair to say that this is what happens in daily life as well? That the first thing we tend to see is the black dot, the imperfection, rather than the good things that also happen in life? Naturally some negative happenings in life are so overwhelming that it is only fair to give them time to process; but is this true for all things that seem to block our happiness? Do we sometimes forget to look at the bigger picture and overlook the many good things that also happen? How come we often give that one black dot a front seat in our thoughts?

It reminds me somewhat of the way the media work by selecting the most devastating pieces of news from among the happenings of over 7 billion people. This, because they know modern society’s human brain is geared to watch for the most dramatic breaking big first. Thus, the media generate lots of money. (making it more about the money than about giving people a fair view of ‘all’ that is happening in the world)  That doesn’t mean however all the good things that happened in the world at the same time are non-existent. While the black dot surely exists; there is also more than meets the eye.

This is applicable too for relationships; businesspartners, lovers, parents, whatever relationship between one human  and the other you can think of. The one black dot has the power to wipe out lots of good things to be grateful for.

A slightly different perspective on the subject of ‘not seeing things’,  is depicted in ‘What the bleep do we know’ , the 2004 documentary on quantum physics and how things only happen when we observe them happening, and how the outcome also depends on how we observe these happenings.

Particularly one scene stayed with me,  picturing a native American shaman who at first was unable to see the ships that brought Columbus to America as the concept of a Clipper Ship was not embedded in his cultural conditioning. (link to this particular extract of ‘What the bleep’ can be found underneath this blog)

So, while ‘black dots’ may divert our views on the bigger picture in life and we might at times be unable to recognize things for what they truly are; I think the message is to keep our eyes open an take in as much as we can; or ….’make the most of it’……

Ingrid Schippers, 31-08-2017

Click on the cards to learn more about their background

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday ( with the exception of summer and Christmas recess) from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated September 5th 2017

Link to ‘What the bleep to we know’ excerpt: native American shaman who at first is unable to see the ships that brought Columbus to America

The post Breaking news: The Black Dot Revealed appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Ever since I started up as an entrepreneur in spiritual land in the mid nineties, I have been noticing how spirituality can be big business.

Having been fortunate enough to have mostly found teachers with integrity on my path, which is not always a given, I’m a lucky camper on the spiritual market. Some might state that you always get what you go looking for, but outside of my self-chosen training courses I have also encountered teachers in my life who have given me experiences which, – had I known in advance what they would do to me- , I would definitely never have chosen to have.

When finding your way around in life you basically never know where you’ll end up. If we knew in advance what we were going to experience most of us would say ‘Thank you!’ and book an all inclusive holiday to the Caribbean, which.- to be truthful- is what many of us are doing. And when we can’t afford such a holiday we make sure something else is occupying our lives.

I’m always happy to quote one of my favorite sayings of Sogyal Rinpoche;

Western laziness consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time left to address the real issues.

But having said all that, plenty of people these days are mending their ways and looking for the spiritual experience. Courses, workshops, live stream podcast and people going live on Facebook offer a wide variety of solutions in love, life, weightloss, sixpacks and enlightenment.

When I was working as a yoga teacher I noticed how some yoga institutes would have very little in common with the original 5000 year plus old version. Yoga is a philosophy; its a way of life; not something you do hopping up and down on Lady Gaga in the one hour class of the local gym.

Sorry, I am not usually this blunt, and again there  are plenty spiritual teachers out there today who are grounded, genuine and do what they do with integrity. But just like in the rest of life, there are some who are simply and only after the money.

While doing my posts today I came across an unsollicited advertisiment on my Facebook page, that triggered me to write this blog. The post carried some title or other: ‘The Abundance of Money”  accompanied by a picture of a “Ken- good looking guy”, (Ken as in Barbie and Ken, so basically an artificial good looking guy) with a dark blue starry sky behind is head where only the finger of God touching him seemed to be missing. I get these sort of advertisements because cookies tracks my  spiritual surfing behavior on the web, but dear o dear do I disapprove  of that sort of money making.

So my reminder this week to you and myself is to please watch out when you go and do your personal development shopping. While I totally agree everyone has a right to an income that serves their purposes, do not be tempted by workshops that sell enlightenment to you; go for the ones that guide you.

There is a huge difference.

Ingrid Schippers, February 2017

To connect, send me a mail at info@energycounseling.nl, or scroll down and leave you comments through the contact form.

This blog is featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of February 28, 2017 and broadcasted  on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm every Tuesday or can be heard as a closing note at the end of the Dutchbuzz podcast of  February 28 2017

The post The Spirit of Money appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.