Your energy fields are designed to be protective, connective and to hold you strong and resilient in all situations.

Since I was born, I’ve been able to see energy. If I was looking at you now, I would be able to watch your energy weave and flow within you, around you, and continually interact with every other form of energy and life around you. Paraphrasing Thich Nat Hahn, you are designed to inter-be.

How do you feel about that? Perhaps this knowledge lights you up as you realize just how essential and interconnective every being is in the great weave of the web of life. Perhaps it feels utterly exhausting and brings up awareness of overwhelm that you already experience in your daily life.

Because of the emerging shifts in planetary consciousness that we are all living within and being affected by — every second of every day — we are experiencing connection at a new depth than in previous decades.

And if you have a sensitive energy system, or already know that you are an empath, then you will likely be noticing a greater level of sensitivity — which, of course, can lead to overwhelm, and feeling bombarded by the energy of others, places, animals, plants, technology, EMFs, lights, and noise.

You may feel as if you always need to guard and protect your energy.

First, let’s explore what is meant by “empath” or “highly sensitive person.”

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Being empathic versus being an empath

While being empathic means showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another, an empath is a person with the ability to perceive and often experience the mental or emotional state of another individual.

Sensitivity and the Highly Sensitive Person

Sensitivity can be defined as being quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences, or as having and displaying a quick and delicate appreciation of others’ feelings. The Highly Sensitive Person is someone who experiences acute physical, mental, or emotional responses to stimuli. Highly Sensitive People know from long experience that they feel things far more strongly than others do.

How do you know if you’re an empath or highly sensitive?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself

• Do you find bright, busy, noisy places like supermarkets, shopping centers, or social gatherings overwhelming, draining, and stressful?

• Do you struggle to be around and connect with loved ones after you come home from a long day of work?

• Are you impacted by the emotions and energies of those around you?

• Do you feel wiped out or unwell after being on screens for a short amount of time?

• Do you feel you need a lot of quiet, alone time to recover from normal life?

If you are answering yes to any of these questions, it is likely that you have a highly sensitive or empathic energy system that is tuned into everything around you, potentially leaving you drained, frazzled, and fractious.

But does that mean that your sensitivity is a curse and you are always going to feel overwhelmed? That you have no choice?

No.

Before I go on, I want to share with you that everything you experience and perceive is energy.

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You are energy. Your thoughts are energy, your emotions are energy, your relationships are energy.
The cosmos is energy. Everything is energy.

You can’t be separate from it. You can’t protect or defend yourself from it. You are a co-creative vibration thrumming your own way through the cosmos connected to everything else.

I also want to let you know that as someone who has a super-tuned, super-sensitive, super-plugged-in system, you do not need to be a victim of your own sensitivity, and it is totally possible to thrive as an empath or highly sensitive person.

I love being connected at that vast and cosmic level. It lights me up and helps me sing my soul into the world, as well as deeply grounds me and holds me, keeping me feeling strong, trusting, and safe.

So, as an empath or Highly Sensitive Person, the big question is: how can you feel grounded, safe, protected and joyful in your everyday life?

It’s easy! You learn to understand and support your energy system, which is the foundation of your health. Understanding your energy is not only easy, it’s also key to being able to hold your own dynamic energetic container so you are protected and connected, so you can be you — joyfully, utterly you.

And yes, it is possible to be protected and connected at the same time.

Connection means protection. Protection means connection.

• Protection does not mean your shields go up and nothing penetrates

• Protection does not mean your intuition will be blocked

• Protection does not mean limited empathy or compassion

• Protection does not mean you miss out on anything in your life that enhances you and your ability to be your fullest self

When you activate your energy systems in their balance and health then your fullest, most magnificent protection kicks in.

• Protection means you can stay grounded in all situations

• Protection means your system is resilient

• Protection means not having to react in fight, flight, freeze response in situations that aren’t life-threatening

• Protection means an easy ability to connect and relate with others in your life

• Protection means not experiencing overwhelm

• Protection means always feeling safe

Being grounded and staying energetically cohesive are essential forms of protection, and therefore healthy, safe, and balanced connection. They also help you stay strong in the face of difficulties and still hold your own space. Your energy field becomes resilient.

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So what does being energetically grounded mean?

Simply put, being “grounded” means your energy fields are holding your energy body and physical body connected to the world beneath your feet, and the world above your head. You are physiologically and energetically designed to have an electromagnetic flow moving through every cell in your body every second of the day.

Without this flow, your energy fields will lose coherence and cohesion. Your system will not feel safe, your stress response will be easily triggered, and you will be in a spiral of energetic reactivity.

When you understand how to support your energy, you are able to support and sustain your groundedness — even when you are in stressful or sensitive situations.

Life should be about living, about thriving, about discovery and enlightenment. Your energy fields hold this understanding deep within their templates.

Along with your incredible protective system, you also have the template for optimum health and vitality at every level of your energetic anatomy. It is this pattern of optimum health that you need to encourage daily — and there are so many ways that you are able to do this.

One of the most wonderful and empowering aspects of understanding your energy anatomy is that you really can affect deep and lasting change every day by working with simple energy practices and techniques.

Here is one of my favorite practices for enhancing protection and connection, building resilience, and restoring grounding to your system.

Wings of Strength

1. Bring your hands together in front of your chest with your thumbs gently pressing into your breastbone.

2. Breathe in deeply as you visualize that the oxygen and fresh energy that you are bringing into your body are stoking up your battery one breath at a time.

3. As you breathe out, visualize that you are holding all of that fresh oxygen and energy deep inside you.

4. Do this for at least three breaths.

5. When you feel ready, bring in an energizing breath and this time, as you breathe out, move your hands out, palm first, as far as your arms can stretch. It doesn’t matter which direction you move your arms. You are moving them out to the edge of your own aura. As you go, that energy that you have been building inside you will be moving through your hands so that your aura becomes more and more energized. It is as if your arms are wings that build the strength all around you.

6. Keep repeating this breath with your arm and hand movement until you feel strong, safe, and resilient.

And here’s a video!

Prune shares how to cultivate Energetic Resilience in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Prune Harris is an energy expert, British shaman, and soul activist who has been able to see energy of humans, animals, trees, and the Earth since birth. For the past 50 years, she has been tracking, understanding, and translating this world for us all to experience. Prune created an expansive collection of programs and resources that have already empowered thousands of people across the world to return to their natural patterns of health, harmony, and radiant resilience through understanding their energy and fully connecting with their vitality, deep wisdom, and soul path. You can find out more about Prune, and how you can evolve your energy systems and transform your health by visiting Prune’s Substack, website, online school, and global online community.

by Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN

There’s something I’ve known since the very beginning of my career — before I had the language for it, before I had the experience to explain it.

I felt it.

With my very first patient who died.

I was a new nurse, standing in a hospital room that felt like every other — white walls, fluorescent lights, machines humming in the background. Clinical. Sterile. Quiet in that artificial way hospitals often are.

She was alone.

And yet… she wasn’t.

Because in the moment that she was transitioning, as she took her last breaths, something happened.

The room changed.

The energy shifted in a way I had never felt before. Profound. Peaceful. Almost sacred.

It stopped me in my tracks.

No one had taught me this part. There was no charting language for it. No clinical explanation.

But I knew, without question: There was nothing to fear here.

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What I Discovered After 1,000 End-of-Life Experiences
That moment became the beginning of a journey that would shape my life.

I went on to become a hospice nurse, an oncology nurse, and eventually a pioneer in the global death doula movement, sitting at the bedside of over 1,000 people at the end of life.

And I can tell you this: What I felt in that very first room was not an exception.

It was the truth.

I have witnessed:

• Profound peace in the final weeks, days and hours

• Moments of deep connection between loved ones

• A natural unfolding that feels guided, not chaotic

• And again and again, a sacredness that is almost impossible to describe, but unmistakable when you experience it

If more people knew what I have seen, they would not be afraid of death.

And that’s why I’m telling you.

Death Was Never Meant to Be Feared
For most of human history, death wasn’t something we feared.

It was something we understood.

People died at home. Families gathered. Children were present. Communities supported one another.

There were rituals — not to “fix” death, but to honor it.

Death was seen for what it is: a natural transition, a sacred rite of passage, a part of life.

The Moment Everything Changed
About 100 years ago, death left the home and moved into institutions.

Hospitals. Medical systems. Behind closed doors.

And while modern medicine has brought incredible advancements, in that shift, we lost something essential.

Death became:

• Medicalized

• Hidden

• Isolated

• And unfamiliar

And what we don’t understand, we begin to fear.

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Fear Was Never About Death
Fear didn’t come from death itself.

It came from our disconnection from it.

When we stop…

• Seeing death

• Talking about it

• Understanding it

• Participating in it

… it becomes unknown. And the unknown is where fear lives.

This is why today:

• Death is avoided in conversation

• Families feel unprepared

• Grief is often rushed or minimized

• And dying is treated like a failure instead of a natural part of life

But this isn’t the truth of death.

It’s the result of forgetting.

What We Lost — and Why It Matters
When we lost our connection to death, we also lost:

• The understanding of how to care for someone at the end of life

• The rituals that helped us process grief

• The communal support that held families through loss

• The profound teaching about life that people at the threshold often share

• The recognition that this moment is sacred

Without these, people are left navigating one of life’s most profound experiences without a map.

And that’s where fear takes over.

Bringing Death Back to Where It Belongs
The truth is — death hasn’t changed.

We have.

And the good news is, we can remember.

We can:

• Talk about death openly

• Bring presence back into the dying process

• Support families with education and compassion

• Reintroduce ritual and meaning

• Honor this time as the sacred transition it is

Because when we understand death, we don’t just fear it less.

We live differently.

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What My Patients Have Taught Me
After more than 1,000 end-of-life experiences, I can tell you this.

Death is not what people think it is.

It is not something to be feared.

It is something to be understood… honored… and even, in many ways, trusted.

Because the most consistent thing I have witnessed is this: There is a natural intelligence to the dying process.

And when we stop resisting it… when we support it instead of fear it… there can be profound peace.

That very first patient taught me something I have spent my entire career confirming:

Even in a sterile hospital room… even when no one else recognizes it… death is still sacred.

We just have to remember how to see it.

Suzanne shares the 7 core truths that emerge at life’s end in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN, is a speaker, author, elder advocate, and wellness warrior. Suzanne spent most of her nursing career in hospice care and oncology care, and in 2008, began offering free community educational seminars at her local library to teach families how to care for their loved ones at the end of life. In hospice care, the nurse manages the care of the dying patient and teaches the family how to do the same. It is far from successful, due to the overwhelming fear of death (the number one fear in the U.S.) and how late in the dying process people commonly receive hospice services. Seeing this systemic break and the compounded amount of suffering it causes fueled Suzanne’s passion to help teach families the life-changing skill of how to care for their loved ones before the need actually arises. This training and concept proved so successful that Suzanne now travels to communities, offering training in person and on live webinars so that people around the world can attend. She was named a “Worldwide Leader In Healthcare” in 2016 by The International Nurses Association for her humanitarian work.

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by Jane Hardwicke Collings

There is a kind of forgetting that has happened in our culture.

Not a sudden loss, but a gradual drifting away from ways of knowing that once guided how we lived, how we cared for ourselves, and how we understood our place in the world.

Many women feel this without necessarily having words for it — a sense that something is missing, something that would help make sense of their bodies, their lives, and the changes they move through.

And yet, the clues for how to live in a more connected, sustainable, and meaningful way are still here.

There are clues hiding in plain view for how to live a sustainable, earth-honoring life — and one of the most overlooked places we can find them is in the menstrual cycle.

For most women, this idea is unfamiliar. We have been raised in a culture that largely ignores, suppresses, or even rejects the menstrual cycle and the wisdom it carries. This long-standing taboo has distanced women from their bodies, and from the natural rhythms that shape our lives.

And when we reject the cycle, we reject the body. It is the same thing.

When we look more closely, we begin to see that the way women’s bodies are treated mirrors the way the Earth is treated. The same pattern runs through menstruation, childbirth, and menopause. It is often said that how a culture values the feminine is how it values the Earth — and we can see the truth of that reflected everywhere.

The menstrual cycle offers a simple but profound teaching: honor the rest phase — or there will be consequences.

When a woman does not rest, nourish herself, and respond to her body’s needs during her bleeding phase, the rest of her cycle is affected. This often shows up as discomfort, imbalance, or distress. The cycle is not broken — it is responding.

This wisdom extends far beyond the body.

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We live in a culture that prioritizes constant growth, productivity, and output. There is little space for rest or renewal — yet these phases are essential to any living system. Without them, depletion is inevitable.

The cycle teaches us another way: to move with the phases of life rather than override them. Everything in life moves in cycles. The day moves from light to dark. The moon waxes and wanes. The seasons shift from growth to harvest to stillness. A woman’s body follows its own rhythmic pattern. And a human life unfolds through distinct stages or life seasons.

Each of these cycles reflects the same pattern: birth, growth, full bloom, harvest, decay, death, rebirth. There is an intelligence to cycles and our body’s cyclical nature. When women begin to understand this, something shifts.

Life starts to make more sense. There is less self-judgment, less confusion, and less pressure to keep going in ways that are unsustainable. Instead, there is an opportunity to align with what is actually happening, internally and externally.

One of the simplest and most powerful ways to develop cycle intelligence and begin reconnecting with this wisdom is through menstrual cycle charting. Tracking the body’s rhythms reveals patterns in energy, creativity, mood, and desire. Over time, this becomes a kind of map — a way of understanding oneself that is grounded in lived experience.

If there were such a thing as a woman’s body owner’s manual, this would be one of the first instructions.

At the heart of my work is the understanding that a woman’s life is shaped by her rites of passage. These are the moments when we change from one version of ourselves into another — menarche, sexual initiation, childbirth, menopause, and beyond.

They are not small events. They are transformational thresholds.

And yet, in our culture, these transitions are rarely recognized, supported, or honored in meaningful ways. What happens at a rite of passage matters deeply. It teaches us, often unconsciously, what is expected of us in the next stage of life, how we are valued, and how we must behave to belong.

When rites of passage are ignored, rushed, or stripped of meaning, they can become confusing or even wounding experiences. But even then, they are not without purpose. They become what I call soul-crafting opportunities — invitations to understand ourselves more deeply, to recognize the patterns that have shaped us, and to consciously choose a different way forward.

One of the most powerful questions a woman can ask is: “What did this experience teach me about being a woman?” And then: “Is that the message I want to continue living by?”

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It is never too late to reclaim a rite of passage. In fact, this is a lifelong process.

We begin by understanding the impact of what happened, and how it shaped our beliefs, behaviors, and sense of self. From there, we can consciously create new experiences that honor who we are and who we are becoming.

This might look like creating a personal ceremony, gathering in circle with other women, reflecting on past transitions with compassion, or offering new messages to younger parts of ourselves.

Rites of passage are not only personal. They build community. They create connection, belonging, and shared meaning. And when they are honored, they restore something that has been missing for many women: a sense of being seen, supported, and initiated into each stage of life.

We are living in a time of profound change. Many of the systems that have shaped our world are showing their limits. The model of endless growth and control is no longer sustainable, and the consequences are visible everywhere — especially in the state of women’s health and wellbeing.

Menstrual cycle pathology continues to rise. Unnecessary intervention in childbirth, and the resulting birth trauma, increases year by year. Menopause is increasingly medicalized. Women are being led to believe that their natural bodily processes are faulty and in need of fixing.

This is deeply demoralizing. It turns essential, intelligent functions of the body into problems to be feared, leaving women disconnected from — and even resentful of — their own bodies. And it comes at a cost — emotionally, physically, and financially.

What is being called for now is something different.

We need women who are resilient.
Adaptable.
Grounded.
Connected to both their inner world and the natural world.

This is not something we have been taught to do or become. The capacity for this kind of change emerges through inner work — through understanding how we have been shaped, releasing what no longer serves, and reconnecting with our own nature.

When women do this work, something shifts.

They begin to trust themselves.
They begin to see clearly.
They begin to act from a place of embodied knowing rather than external pressure.

And this is where menopause becomes particularly important. Because menopause is not simply an ending. It is an initiation into the Wise Woman stage of life — a time of clarity, authority, and perspective. When supported and understood, it prepares women to step into roles of leadership, guidance, and contribution in their communities.

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I live in the bush in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, at the edge of a vast forest. Living this way brings me into daily relationship with the cycles of the Earth — the seasons, the weather, the movement of life around me. It is quiet, spacious, and deeply grounding.

There is a kind of conversation that happens when you live close to nature.

You begin to feel the shifts.
You notice the changes.
You respond differently.

And this way of living is not separate from my work. It is the foundation of it. Because ultimately, the invitation is simple: to return to a way of being that honors the cycles of life.

To rest when it is time to rest.
To grow when it is time to grow.
To harvest what has been lived.
And to allow what is complete to fall away.

This is how regeneration happens — in the body, in our lives, and in the world.

Today there is a growing recognition that the menstrual cycle, childbirth, and menopause are not just inconvenient, messy, and risky biological events, but are profound life transitions that deserve understanding, support, and meaning.

When women are given a framework for these transitions — one that includes the body, the psyche, their lineage, and the spirit — everything begins to change.

This is the work I have devoted my life to.

Jane Hardwicke Collings is an author, teacher, and speaker on women’s mysteries, and the founder of the School of Shamanic Womancraft, an international women’s mystery school now in its 16th year, training hundreds of students worldwide. A retired registered nurse and former home birth midwife with 30 years of experience, she is an expert in menstrual cycle awareness, rites of passage, childbirth, menopause, and sacred feminine knowledge. Jane is also the creator of the Wisdom of the Cycles map; a sought-after contributor to podcasts, summits, and educational programs, and a facilitator of transformation using body wisdom, nature connection, and ancient spiritual practices. Find more about Jane here.

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by Dr. Divi Chandna, MD

I have worked as a professional intuitive for close to two decades. I trained as a physician more than three decades ago — yes, I am aging myself. And yet, despite all of that training and experience in the healing fields, I was shocked when I discovered something profound: parts of my own personality were blocking my intuition, limiting my business, and creating stress in my body.

This is what we often refer to as “shadows.”

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When Life Brings the Shadow to the Surface
I didn’t come to this realization in a quiet moment of reflection — it came through something much more confronting. A few months ago, I lost my vision in my left eye — completely. Thankfully, much of it has now returned. It was one of life’s big moments, and it brought me to my knees.

The medical diagnosis was a retinal detachment. And if you know me at all, you know that I deeply honor the medical perspective. I believe in understanding the clinical reality of what is happening in the body. But I also ask a deeper question: “Why did this happen?”

I have never been someone who can settle for “bad luck” or “this just happens with age.” Alongside receiving medical care, I began to explore what might have been happening beneath the surface — emotionally, energetically, and unconsciously. What I discovered surprised me. It opened my eyes to shadows that many of us as sensitives carry — patterns that may be quietly impacting our emotional wellbeing, finances, relationships, and health.

The Moment That Changed Everything
A few months before the detachment, I went home to see my parents. I only see them a few times a year because of the distance. They are both in their 90s, still living in the home I grew up in. During this visit, my mother was in the hospital, and I was shuttling my father back and forth to see her.

My father had already lost his vision due to glaucoma. Seeing him like that — physically weakened, dependent, and shut down — was deeply painful. There was grief, but underneath the grief, there was something else.

I couldn’t immediately name the emotion, but over time, I began to hear the thought looping in the background: “You didn’t do enough. You should have helped him more. His wellbeing is your responsibility. Your job is to take care of him.”

I could feel that thought moving through me — the guilt, the sense of responsibility for his health — even though logically I knew it wasn’t true. That thought stayed quietly in the background of my awareness. At the time, I didn’t fully understand the impact it had — but my body did.

The Hidden Pattern
As I reflected during my healing process, I realized that this moment had activated something much older — a pattern I had been carrying for most of my life. Somewhere in my childhood, I had internalized the belief that it was my job to take care of him, that his wellbeing depended on me, and that a part of my purpose was to make sure he was okay.

As I grew and moved through life, that belief extended into many areas — my husband, my business, my clients, my finances, my friendships, even my dog. How others were doing, emotionally or mentally, somehow became my responsibility.

Underneath it all was a simple but powerful belief: if something is wrong, it must be my fault.

On a conscious level, I knew this wasn’t true. As a physician, a coach, a healer, a mother, and a wife, I understood this logically. But the subconscious is faster and often more powerful than the conscious mind.

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A Different Kind of Vision
In my own way of understanding the world, I began to see that losing vision had brought me a different kind of clarity. It showed me that I was still looking at life through an old lens — one shaped by guilt, responsibility, and emotional burden.

And as I brought awareness to this subconscious pattern, something began to shift. Not through force, but through noticing. This is the essence of shadow work.

What Are Shadows, Really?
On the spiritual path, many of us eventually encounter shadow work — sometimes intentionally, and sometimes life brings it to the surface.

Shadows are unconscious patterns that hold onto stories we formed early in life. Most often, they begin in childhood, when we interpret experiences — big or small — as moments of emotional survival. Over time, these patterns become part of who we believe we are.

They are not “bad.” In fact, they are often the very patterns that helped us succeed. But eventually, they can begin to limit us.

Empaths and Shadows
As sensitive people, we tend to carry very similar shadow patterns — patterns that impact us in ways we often don’t even realize.

They affect our mental health, our relationships, our physical wellbeing, and even our financial flow. Some of the most common include perfectionism, chronic vigilance, and people-pleasing, among many others.

These patterns are not random. They are adaptations formed in childhood as a way to feel safe, loved, and seen.

When Strength Becomes Strain
Let me share a very common pattern I see, especially in many of the sensitive women I work with — in their relationships with partners, children, and even close friends. As you read this, just notice if you recognize even a small part of yourself here.

You’re at home at the end of a long day. Your partner walks through the door. Before they even take their jacket off… you can feel it. Something is off.

You don’t say anything right away. Maybe in the past, when you have, it hasn’t gone well. So instead, you try to keep peace. You might ask a gentle question, or maybe you will say nothing at all. You subtly pull your energy back — just enough to protect yourself.

But internally, everything is activated.

Your mind starts moving quickly: “What’s wrong? Did I do something? Are they upset with me? How can I fix this? How do I make this go away so I can feel okay again?”

At the same time, you’re scanning — using your intuitive sensitivity to read their tone, body language, and energy. Trying to understand, anticipate, and restore peace. And all that has happened is that they walked through the door.

This is the inner world of many sensitive people, and it can be exhausting. Because underneath this moment are multiple shadows operating at once — people-pleasing, perfectionism, chronic vigilance, fear of abandonment, and the need to feel loved and safe.

These patterns run unconsciously, shaping how we interpret situations and respond to them. Over time, they affect not just our relationships, but our nervous system, our energy, and our sense of self. We may feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or even “crazy” — without understanding why.

We often label this as being sensitive and feel like victims of our intuition. But this is not just intuition. Your intuition picked up the energy when they walked in the door. The rest — the mental and emotional spiral — is your shadow responding.

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The Sensitive’s Dilemma
These shadows do not have to hurt us. And yet, many of us feel powerless to our empathic gifts. A core part of my work is helping people understand the difference between intuition and shadow.

As you can see in the example above, this pattern can leave us drained and mentally exhausted. It impacts our relationships through subtle miscommunications. On a physical level, the nervous system stays activated — cycling through fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Over time, the body begins to shut down.

For those of us who use our sensitivity in our work, the impact can also show up financially. If money is energy, and we are leaking energy through worry, tension, and self-doubt, we are ultimately costing ourselves.

So, the question becomes, “Does it have to be this way?”

The answer is no.

We do not have to live like this. Awareness is the first step. It takes honesty and vulnerability to notice these patterns, but once we do, we can begin to shift them. There are tools and practices that support this healing. The nervous system can be released from these cycles we have been living in.

Personally, I teach my clients to work with Divine Mother — the energy of unconditional love that resides in the heart. She is deeply compassionate and able to meet our pain and help release it, often in just a few breaths.

As someone who has experienced this personally, and who has supported thousands of clients in moving out of feeling like victims of their sensitivity, I can say this with certainty: it is possible to heal these shadows, and when you do, your sensitivity no longer becomes your burden — it becomes your super-power.

Dr. Divi explores the Shadow of the Empath in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Dr. Divi Chandna, MD, is an intuitive spiritual teacher, author, and founder of Intuitive Coach Training, who helps clients shift, heal, and transform their lives through intuition, love, and waking up to their own power. She started her career as a family physician, but after becoming sick herself, discovered the power of yoga and meditation — practices that unlocked her intuitive gifts. She is a professional certified intuitive, and sees the link between our thoughts, emotions, illness, and health. Find more about her here.

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by Monique Brignoni

There is something fascinating about the way we, as humans, relate to beginnings… and endings.

When a baby is born, the room is often filled with a very particular kind of energy.
There may be intensity, even chaos. The cute little soul enters this world covered in blood, crying, while the mother may even experience physical strain. All these moments, if seen out of context, could easily be interpreted as distress or even danger.

And yet — no one panics.

Everyone’s mantra is: Breathe — everything will be all right.

Why?

Because we understand what is happening. We know that birth is a process. We know that the body is doing something intelligent. We know that what may look alarming is, in fact, part of something natural, purposeful, and deeply meaningful. And so, instead of fear, we bring presence. Instead of urgency, we bring support. Instead of trying to stop the process, we allow it to unfold.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the other end of life. Because here, something very different happens.

When a beloved animal companion begins to approach the end of their life, many of the signs that naturally arise in the body can feel frightening. Withdrawal. Loss of appetite. Altered awareness. Physical weakness. Changes in breathing. Without context, these moments can feel overwhelming. They can look like suffering. They can feel like something is going wrong.

And so fear enters the space. And when fear enters, it tends to take the lead. Suddenly, decisions are made quickly and urgency replaces presence. And many loving pet parents are left feeling like they must act fast — often without truly understanding what is unfolding.

But what if we approached dying the same way we approach birth? What if we understood that dying, too, is a process? And that just like birth, it’s a sacred moment to be fully present to, so we can catch the often hidden, but meaningful transformations.

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The Missing Map

We live in a time where veterinary medicine can do more than ever before. And this is a gift. But at the same time, something essential has been lost: an understanding of the process of dying itself.

Most of the guidance available today focuses almost entirely on the physical body, on symptoms, interventions, and outcomes. Yet dying is not only physical. It is emotional.
It is energetic. And above all… it is a deeply spiritual transition.

Without a map that includes all of these dimensions, we are left trying to interpret a sacred process through a very limited lens. And this is where fear takes over. Because when we don’t understand what we are seeing, the mind begins to fill in the blanks. And it almost always fills them with worst-case scenarios.

A Small Shift That Changed Everything

I remember working with Robin, whose dog, Wilson, had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Robin had been told to start preparing for the end. It was time for that heartwrenching decision.

With tears in her eyes, Robin shared with me that Wilson had a basket full of soft toys. For 14 years, his favorite pastime was to pick one, bring it to her, and wait — full of anticipation — for her to throw it. He would run, retrieve it, and come back again.

But now, with Wilson’s weak heart, if he ran too fast or got too excited, he would have a coughing or panting episode. And that was painful to watch. So Robin stopped playing with him.

Wilson wanted to play. Robin didn’t want him to be in pain. Wilson didn’t mind the cough. What he wanted was Robin.

I asked her gently, “When he runs after the toy — is he suffering, or is he happy?”

She paused. Then she smiled softly. “He’s the happiest.”

In that moment, something shifted. Robin began to see that she had been focusing on the few minutes of discomfort, rather than the moments of pure joy that filled the rest of his experience. And that focus was shaping everything: her energy, her choices, and the space she was creating around him.

So she made a very courageous decision: instead of focusing on her fear, she would focus on Wilson’s joy. Instead of throwing the toy far, she rolled it closer. Instead of stopping life, she adapted it.

And Wilson came back to life! Not because the illness disappeared, but because fear was no longer leading the way. And that was over 2 years ago. Today, Wilson still goes on his walks. Still meets his dog friend — the one Robin lovingly calls his “wife.”

Wilson still engages with life, in his own rhythm, in his own way. He has slowed down, yes. But he is living. And Robin is no longer holding her breath. And even Wilson’s symptoms softened in that new space.

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When Fear No Longer Needs to Fill the Blanks

This is the power of understanding.

When we begin to recognize the natural stages of dying, the same signs that once felt alarming begin to reveal their meaning. Withdrawal can be a turning inward. Just like with Wilson, changes in the body can be part of a progression, not a crisis. Less activity does not mean less life.

What once felt like “something is wrong” begins to feel like “something is unfolding.”

And from that place, everything changes. The nervous system softens. The urgency dissolves. Space returns.

Imagine that in fear, our energy is close to our body, whereas when our energy expands, it also encompasses our pet’s energy. This allows us to get messages from them and how they are really feeling (which is very different than what we imagine when we are in fear). And in that connection, everything changes.

This connection, if nurtured well, can be what keeps our hearts filled when our beloveds grow angel wings.

The Hidden Impact on Grief

There is another layer to this that is often overlooked.

So many people carry grief — not only because their pet has died, but because they believe they did something wrong.

I have worked with people who, years later, are still replaying a single moment. A decision. A sign they didn’t understand at the time. And underneath the grief, there is a question: What if I had known? Could I have done better?

Understanding the process of dying does not remove sadness. But it changes how we move through it. Because when we are present, when we understand what is happening and feel connected in those final moments, there is a completion that happens. The grief is lived as the journey unfolds but then it heals — and what remains afterward is different.

Yes, we still miss our little ones, but we also find peace. And above all, there is love, without regret.

Beyond the Physical Body

One of the most important shifts we can make is to recognize that dying is not solely governed by the body. The body has its own intelligence — and at the very end, it is capable of regulating pain and guiding the final stages of life in ways that are not always visible from the outside.

But beyond the body, there is also an energetic and emotional experience unfolding — one that deeply affects how our pets actually experience this journey. So it becomes essential that we learn to recognize what is happening on all levels — because how we show up shapes the space they are moving through.

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A Truth We All Carry

If we are honest, most of us hold a silent wish. We hope our pets will simply go to sleep and die in their sleep. A peaceful passing. Without decisions. Without uncertainty.

But when we don’t understand the process of dying, we leave that peace to chance. Understanding gives us something different. It allows us to participate in the experience with awareness.

To recognize when the body is letting go. To stay present when things change. To support our beloved animals in a way that aligns with what is actually happening instead of what we fear might be happening.

Walking Each Other Home

We are not helpless on this journey. Not because we always have the answers…
but because of the presence we bring.

When we understand the process of dying, we are able to offer something deeply meaningful:

A space that is calm.
A presence that is steady.
A connection that remains open… even beyond what we can see.

And in that space, the end of life becomes a moment of deep connection. Of completion. Of love that continues beyond the physical form. And perhaps this is what our animals have been showing us all along.

That the end is not something to fear, but something to meet with the same presence we bring to the beginning. That nothing essential is being taken away… only transformed.

And that when we are willing to stay, to soften, to listen, to trust what is unfolding, we don’t just help them feel truly at peace in their final moments, but we also discover a deeper kind of peace within ourselves.

A peace that doesn’t come from controlling life or from a medicine, but from walking this journey consciously, fully present, all the way to the threshold — and realizing that love was never something that could leave.

Monique offers supportive techniques for what to do when your pet is nearing the end in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Monique Brignoni left the glamorous role of personal assistant to a prince to follow her true love — animals and the unseen. Today, she trains pet death doulas around the world and supports animal lovers in transforming end-of-life experiences into peaceful, conscious, and regret-free journeys that transform loss into a loving bridge across forever. Her journey began with the heart-wrenching death of her beloved cat, Rami, which sparked a decade of deep study with a vet, a shaman, and Tibetan monks, and ultimately led her to become a human death doula. The animals themselves brought these teachings to life and shaped her unique approach — The Awakened Pet Parent Pathway — which turns challenging moments into opportunities for healing and awakening.

For a long time, I thought being a good person meant being agreeable and pleasing.

Being loving meant being accommodating.

Being kind meant overriding my feelings.

And being successful meant not rocking the boat.

I was very good at that version of life. I built a respected corporate career where I succeeded and did well. I did what was expected. I made responsible choices. I became a wife and a mother, and from the outside, everything looked solid. Stable. Shiny.

But inwardly, I was slowly disappearing.

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I had learned long before I could name it to silence my own needs. To over empathize. To shape shift for others’ approval. To prioritize harmony over honesty. To override the quiet voice inside me that knew when something wasn’t right.

I told myself that was strength. That was kindness. That was maturity.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was practicing self-betrayal. Deeply and fully abandoning myself.

The first wake-up calls were subtle. A heaviness in my chest. A constant sense of being “on.” A quiet grief I stuffed down with sugar. A sadness I couldn’t justify. A feeling of “not being enough.”

I ignored it. I started having children, and this was not a good time to question anything.

But intuition doesn’t operate on our preferred timelines.

The soul has a different plan that runs on divine time, not human time.

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As my marriage became increasingly misaligned, with two children under the age of two, my intuition decided it was time for my cosmic wake-up alarm to go off.

My body began to react to the years of not listening. I experienced a terrifying panic attack. I was exhausted in a way sleep didn’t fix. My mind felt foggy. My spark dimmed. Eventually, my thyroid stopped functioning properly.

I now understand the symbolism clearly, but at the time, it felt overwhelming and daunting, yet also eye-opening. Figuratively and literally, I felt my (third) eye open.

As well as my throat and my voice. The place of truth and expression. I hadn’t been speaking mine. I had shoved my voice way down into the ground, but now she was ready to emerge in the light.

One day, while on vacation, shopping with a friend at a Target in West Palm Beach, Florida, my body made the message impossible to ignore. I passed out and saw myself lying on the concrete floor, disoriented and scared. I had a moment of clarity that cut through everything: I cannot keep living this way.

That was my shift.

I finally admitted what wasn’t working and felt an inner, loving presence that was guiding me beyond my understanding.

In the months that followed, I began listening differently. Not to fear. Not to obligation. But to something quieter and steadier inside me.

I started asking new questions like: “What is being asked of me now?” and “What is the most loving thing I can do here?”

The answers required courage. And massive trust. I left my marriage with two very young children in tow. I became a single parent at a time that felt impossibly hard. Divine timing, I learned, has a way of arriving when it feels anything but ideal, yet it is often leading us toward something more true, aligned, and right.

I also felt called to understand the deeper connection between the mind, body, soul, and inner wisdom. I returned to school to earn a master’s degree in health and wellness coaching, with an integrative focus on mind-body science.

What I was learning intellectually mirrored what I was discovering intuitively: the body never lies, and intuition speaks through sensation, emotion, and inner knowing long before the mind catches up. In fact, my body had been signaling to me for years, and I had used my thoughts to rationalize and push those signals away.

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I made a vow to myself. I would never abandon myself again, to the best of my ability. I would live and teach these seemingly magical, yet deeply innate, principles that had saved and transformed my life.

The more I honored my truth, the more my life flourished, my relationships shifted for the better, and my health began to stabilize. The more I listened inward, the more alive and connected I felt.

Eventually, another intuitive nudge arrived audibly, clear as could be, this one even more daunting. I was being asked to leave my corporate career and step into the unknown.

I had no business plan, no safety net, no trust fund, and no guarantees. What I did have was a growing trust in a higher wisdom, one that had already guided me through loss, healing, and profound change. I also had a master’s degree, and a few wonderful clients I loved working with. That work lit me up from the inside out.

So 12 years ago, I took the leap.

Julie explores how to communicate with your Intuition Language™ in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Julie Reisler is founder and CEO of Empowered Living, Inc. She is an author, TEDx speaker, and holds a Master’s degree in coaching, with more than 15 years of experience. She has also completed advanced training in yoga, HeartMath, and Positive Neuroplasticity. She founded the Intuitive Life Designer® Coach Academy, a board-certified, soul-centered certification program for heart-led coaches and spiritual seekers. She’s the creator of the INTUITION Framework™ and Intuition Language™ — powerful systems that help people awaken their inner guidance, trust their soul’s wisdom, and live with divine clarity and confidence. Find her at www.juliereisler.com

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Intuitive energy healer and author Cyndi Dale and The Daily Shift editor Pamela Hill Nettleton both live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area.


Pamela: How do we navigate through and recover from the brutality and desensitization to violence that so many of us have witnessed here in Minnesota and in the nation and world?

Cyndi: My strong philosophy is it’s on each of us to ask whatever we talk to — our higher power, our higher self, our creator, the divine, our own heart — “What am I to do?”

I think everybody’s called to do something. I would be the last person to come up with what somebody’s supposed to do.

I’m scared of crowds. I get overwhelmed, so I have joined small protests. I give money to restaurants that feed people for free, I drive over with tip money for the servers scared to come to work. There were some seniors in front of their home the other day, and I just joined them. I went down to the tribute site for Renée Goode and Alex Pretti. There is a huge rally coming up this weekend, and I’m attending one of the smaller ones in my neighborhood to stand in community and to also not feel overwhelmed.

Prayer is worthwhile, as long as we’re not spiritually bypassing. Love, for many of us, has to also equate with some kind of action. And it’s very easy to find action steps.

Churches are fundraising for immigrants who can’t leave their house and work. Signs in the yard are bringing people together in my neighborhood. I’d say half the people voted for Trump in my neighborhood, but now all the Roman Catholics on my block are incensed, and have notices like, “ICE OUT” in their yards.

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Pamela: How do we safeguard our energy? How do we avoid getting depleted? How do we take care of each other and ourselves?

Cyndi: We can use our own chakras, because I’m a chakra person. We can pull from what is the mysterious and the ineffable, and still stand strong in the face of oppression. We can surround ourselves with the Divine to be safe, and emanate our own divinity from the center of every chakra while sharing our truths. During this time, I’ve altered the architecture of my own energetic field, inserting more gold (“God” power), and silver (deflects negativity and attracts higher messages), and pink (ability to command for change.) We have the right to update our own energetics as needed. If we start to get burned out, it’s important to nourish our own inner fire before directing more of our fire toward the good fight.

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Pamela: I have friends who drive other peoples’ kids to school, who stand around the preschool in a circle.

Cyndi: I have friends doing that, too. It takes a lot of courage. You have to find your own safety level.

I know what it takes for me to be balanced. One discipline I have undertaken is to only look at the news just once a day. And then, I read through five different outlets, so I get a bigger picture. And I know my outlets have very balanced approaches.

I get my exercise every day, I do my work every day, I talk to a friend every day, I haven’t let go of any of my way of living, even with all this.

The other thing I do, too, and I think it’s important, is I feel my feelings about what’s happening. When I went to the memorial site, I just cried. I cried all day.

And then I pick a few outlets that I support with money or time. On my personal Facebook, there are a few people I really love what they say, so I do go on every day and remark to keep them supported. I know many of these individuals — those with the loudest voices — are getting attacked, and I make sure that I give them reinforcement.

I think we can all find something to do. If we’re doing something, I think we’re not going to be as stressed, because we’re putting our energy somewhere.

For instance, there’s a man in town who runs a towing company, he tows the cars that are abandoned from ICE arrests when they pull people out of cars. He tows them and stores them for free for the families. We can all contribute something that reflects our graciousness.

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Pamela: How do we elevate interactions and conversations so we can face fear and violence with more peace, and work with our own fearful and anxious energies?

Cyndi: You know, I think many individuals who initially supported the policies and politicians who are causing and reinforcing the psychological and physical violence have done so because of trauma. Basically, they projected their own inner angst into the populace to follow a leadership that was stoking their inner dramas. The problem with subconscious trauma, however, is that it is survival- and tribal-oriented. If these individuals change their minds, they lose their tribe, even though that tribe is now causing horror, war, fear, racism, and sexism.

Making a statement like, “I made a mistake,” or, “I’ve changed my mind” (although Joe Rogan is doing this!) also stirs old shame and guilt. It takes a really big person, a person with a healthy ego, to say “I wish I hadn’t done that” or “I’d make a different decision now.”

Knowing this, I usually try to avoid psychological arguments and instead speak about the darkness underneath the current violent and violating paradigms. My theme is when the dark rises, so does the light. I like to talk about how we can draw together in the face of oppression. It doesn’t need to matter who we voted for, or why we voted for somebody. It’s about how we think now, and if we’re willing to stand up to leaders with no principles and instead represent goodness and justice.

Sometimes all I’ve done is ask individuals what kind of world they want for their children or their children’s children. I try to abstain about making a discussion about liberal versus conservative, or Democrat or Republican, and place it instead in the realms of Constitutional rights, civil rights, and people being safe. I think we can come together about that.

Cyndi explores Interdimensional Psychic Healing in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and intuitive healer. Her groundbreaking books on chakras and intuition include The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy and Advanced Chakra Healing. She’s been a natural intuitive since she was young, works worldwide as an intuitive coach and energy healer, and is passionate about helping people open their “essential energy” — the powers and perspectives unique to them. She believes that once an individual understands their own essence, they can tap into the energies of and beyond the world.