Mastering Modern Midlife with Catherine Grace O’Connell and Laura Bruno

Today, I’m excited to share my one and only video interview. I love Catherine’s write up from her newsletter, which you can read here. You can watch this conversation on Facebook, Podbean, iTunes, or YouTube, which I’ll also embed below. We cover medical intuition, healing, Lyme disease, some of my personal story, plus an extra focus on Midlife, the healing power of creativity, and the North Nodes.

Catherine refers several times to our having recorded this interview twice, alluding to me being “a very high vibe being.” The story behind that is the reason this remains my one and only video interview. I’ve done many phone interviews, and I used to have many videos on YouTube until my channel got censored in 2011. However, I don’t do sessions or interviews via video or computer, because I have a history of blowing out nearby electronics. Doing an intuitive tune-in ramps up my energy in a big, sometimes explosive way, so I lobbied hard for using a landline on my end. I delayed too long, and Catherine and her business partner Mike stopped doing audio-only interviews. By the time we scheduled, it was video or nothing.

I warned them about my tendency to blow things out, and I surrounded my laptop with stacks of orgone pucks. I theorized that I should be OK as long as Catherine didn’t ask me to do an intuitive scan or anything too energy related in the interview. If we were just talking, and I was careful with my energy, then it should work. We had a great conversation the first time, but at one point, she asked me an intuitive question. I tuned in and when I looked directly into the camera, I blew out the equipment on their end, erasing half the interview. This had never happened before or since, and they use backup cameras and recording. It was all wiped.

Soooo, we re-recorded, and we ended up enjoying this conversation even more. You might notice me trying hard not to look too directly into the camera. If you know me in person, you’ll also notice my concerted effort in this interview not to talk with my hands. I know from Reiki classes that whoever’s in line of my right hand — the one that almost got struck by lightning — gets blasted with energy the entire class. I didn’t want to send that energy into the camera or laptop screen.

I tried so hard to keep my energy in check so we could have a successful recording this time, and it worked!

I’m sharing the behind the scenes details here, because some people ask for video sessions and may wonder if I can do a video interview, then why can’t I do a video session? Trust me, you get much better intuitive work from me when I’m not spending the bulk of my energy trying not to blow out your or my equipment! It really took a massive amount of concentration not to let too much energy spontaneously leap out.

That said, this was a super fun interview. I love how it showcases Catherine’s and my friendship, as well as the deep topics of healing and transformation we discuss. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Do check out her write up here. Also, just a reminder that my monthly North Node Horoscopes are available exclusively on Catherine’s site. We post those around the 22nd of each month, depending on when the Sun changes signs. Enjoy!

Comment Bump Up from the Mike Clelland interview of Laura Bruno

This is a comment bump up from the post of Mike Clelland’s interview of me on Whitley Strieber’s Unknown Country. (You can read what I had to say about that interview here.)

The comments are all very supportive and excited, until September 7, when reader William C says:

Michael, forgive me, but I cannot believe you take all these New Age practitioners seriously and give them a public forum. Lyme disease is a horrible disease. To equate it to some sort of spiritual awakening is almost obscene. But hey, I was trounced on Whitley’s forum for not being a New Ager, since I guess that is a prerequisite around here. Really sad.

Something led me to pop over to the interview page today, and I happened to see the comment. I felt it important to reply there, and also to share the exchange here, for clarity:

I’m sorry you feel that way, William. I can assure you that I in no way trivialize the horrible experiences of my Lyme clients. I nursed my (then) husband through Chronic Lyme, and I also survived my own infection with Lyme. It IS a brutal, existentially crushing disease, and I do not take that lightly.

The emails I receive from people who’ve read my writings on Lyme disease, as well as comments from clients with advanced, Chronic Lyme, share a sense of relief, a “clicking in,” profound gratitude, and a feeling of finding the blessings and especially the Meaning within the trauma. It’s like Victor Frankl’s ability to survive his concentration camp experience by finding meaning.

Those I know who have completed the “initiation” for lack of a better term, are living deeper, more joyful and meaningful lives than they ever imagined they could prior to Lyme. That in no way invalidates the journey or the scars they acquired along the way, but those soul wounds also triggered much deeper healing and inner peace.

I realize how from a superficial look, other people would consider me a New Ager, but I am actually NOT a proponent of New Age fluffy luv-n-lite. I find it toxic, disabling and disempowering, but I’ve learned not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Some tools and concepts, taken much deeper, can heal in profound and loving ways. “Know thyself” is powerful advice and balm, and sometimes it helps to have someone reflect that self back to you. I consider this sacred work, and I wish you well.

Peace,

Laura

UPDATE 9/9/19 Comment Bump Up from the comments to this post on my blog:

I define “New Age” as diluted and distorted Mystery Teachings that people swallow because of the “truth signature” while not discerning that there may be poison and lies tagging along for the ride. At its worst, luv-n-lite callously victim-shames and/or spiritually bypasses opportunities for real growth. True Love and True Light nurture and heal, whereas New Age platitudes act more like a sugar rush and/or superfoods laced with toxic heavy metals. Not a fan!

Groundhog Wisdom: Editing for Flow in the Garden, Life and Lyme

I love how life brings themes to our attention on multiple levels at the same time. In my case, I feel the need to edit for flow in several areas of life: the garden, relationships, and my book-in-progress, The Metaphysics of Lyme Disease. Although editing can seem like a left-brained process, I find a gentle balance of observation, patterns and ease provides the best indication of what stays, what goes and what grows.

In the garden, this means acknowledging that groundhogs rule this part of Kalamazoo. Our next door neighbor has already trapped and relocated two “whistle pigs” this year, and we’ve got at least three more who venture into our yards from across the street. Two weekends ago, I spent hours adding compost to the front beds, eyeing gorgeous lettuce, which I planned to harvest that evening. I heard some joyful squeals across the street and thought, “Those groundhogs are excited I added compost, because the produce will taste better. They are gonna love this lettuce!” I dismissed the thought, because who listens to groundhogs, right? Who thinks groundhogs cheer because of garden nutrients?

David and I left for a couple hours to run errands, and when we returned I immediately sensed something amiss. I felt, but couldn’t see a groundhog. Big energy. Big appetite! As I looked for the culprit, I noticed all my flowering purple kale stripped to the stem. And my lettuce, oh, my lettuce! In the center of a round bed sat the tiniest groundhog I’ve ever seen, finishing off the last of it. Five inches long, he was the cutest dastardly thing and ate his weight in lettuce.

Out came the very stinky sprays, which I suspect I hate more than the critters do. Within five minutes, back came the little guy. He nibbled on a couple leaves of chard and echinacea, but they must have tasted awful with all that stinky stuff. He made his way across the street and let out a whistle like a rowdy teenager completing a dare. Very naughty! The next day, out waddled Big Fat Mama, sauntering across our front porch and diving into red clover I’d vaguely “heard” a message to weed every time I passed it for the past week. Big Fat Mama doesn’t care about spray. She just likes her some lettuce, kale and clover — even locating hidden ones I forgot about.

This might seem like a minor mishap, frustration or tragedy, but Groundhog (the spirit animal) provides wise guidance.

Groundhog Wisdom focuses on the importance of clear boundaries and the cycles of life, death/hibernation and rebirth. A shamanic totem, groundhog goes into the Underworld and safely returns. Groundhog’s long winter’s nap connects to Dreamtime, and Groundhog honors Ancestral Wisdom by passing along track ways to generation after generation, even with no direct, physical contact.

Also known as woodchucks, whistle pigs, or marmots, groundhogs are resourceful, intelligent, persistent, and great problem solvers. Groundhog reveals hidden desires and aversions. Although they look alike, groundhogs honor their own personal tastes. They eat what they love and avoid what they don’t. They bring focus to long, complex projects, and they can keep these projects secret until completion. They can burrow and tunnel vast distances, but also climb trees and outwit traps. They know how to disappear when necessary. They look cute, but their sharp teeth, strong claws and metabolic control demand respect.

All of these qualities connect Groundhog very closely to the Faery Realm. Do not underestimate Groundhog!

What Do You Really Want?

Lyme Journal Reviews

I’m grateful for and honored by enthusiastic emails from so many people who have found “Lyme Journal: A Guided Recovery Workbook” both helpful and inspirational. A few highlights include:

“Laura, got the book. Phenomenal. So much heart!”

“I LOVE this book. Seriously. It cannot be solely for Lyme, tho, because it is way too beneficial. It pertains to all mind/body/spirit symptoms. It’s so important!”

“I had time to read through it. It’s AWESOME!! I will share it in my client group and FB page.”

Clients have also shared that “Lyme Journal” helps them feel much more supported between sessions. That warms my heart, because I wrote this guided journal to help people help themselves.

I realize this is a 139-page guided journal, so some people may not have finished it yet, but I have a favor to ask. If you have benefited from this book, I would love an honest review on Amazon. As most blog readers know, I don’t do social media or advertising, and I didn’t do a big “book launch” or marketing blitz for “Lyme Journal.” I keep things sweet and simple with just me, my blog, repeat clients and referrals. I know health issues are very personal, so please don’t feel pressured to leave a review.

If you happen to feel led, though, I would very much appreciate your review. It also helps potential readers decide if a book’s legitimate and likely to resonate with them. Many thanks for your consideration and your support, whether private or public. I have a special place in my heart for people dealing with Lyme disease and similar life-changing health challenges. I wish you peace and empowerment on your healing journey.

Much love,

Laura

Lyme Journal: A Guided Recovery Workbook — Now Available

At long last, “Lyme Journal: A Guided Recovery Workbook” is now available! You can purchase the 8 1/2 x 11″ journal/workbook here.

I designed this 139-page workbook based on over 17 years as a Medical Intuitive Life Coach. Since 2004, I’ve focused on supporting clients, friends and family struggling with Chronic Lyme Disease. In addition to my still-in-progress “Metaphysics of Lyme” book, this latest release shares the unusual knowledge I’ve acquired through intuition and supporting amazing souls on their own Lyme journey.

Prompts on each page explore common Lyme issues and foster positive changes, inside and out. This guide works best for people open to a holistic approach to healing. It explores physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual patterns. Whether you write, draw, or collage your answers, this workbook helps you to identify and address hidden aspects of your journey. Since Lyme is “The Great Imitator,” these questions also apply to autoimmune and neurological issues, along with chronic pain, co-infections, adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, toxic mold exposure, and more.

When people shift limiting thought patterns, clear away spiritual dross, and begin to celebrate and cherish their unique gifts, they open space for healing. This journal/workbook is not meant to replace traditional or alternative treatments, but to trigger movements up and out of the vibration of Lyme symptoms. By accessing deep, authentic parts and honoring Lyme as a powerful soul healer/guide, life becomes freer and more magical than ever before. “Lyme Journal: A Guided Recovery Workbook” is available on Amazon.

Thank you to everyone who’s encouraged this project, and special gratitude goes to those beautiful clients who’ve allowed me to walk with them on this sacred journey.

Blessings and Love,

Laura

New: Reiki Level 2 Symbols Guided Practice Journal and Reiki Healing Attunements Record Keeper

As promised, January 2019 begins the rollout of new products I created at the end of 2018. This first batch supports people trained and attuned to Reiki Level 2 and/or Reiki Level 3 (Master or Master Teacher). I have long wished these products existed for my students and finally figured out how to create them in a print on demand format. Details and links below:

Reiki Level 2 Symbols: A Guided Practice Journal

by Laura Bruno, M.A., RMT

You’re a Certified Reiki Level 2 Practitioner, now what? How can Reiki Symbols and Reiki Level 2 Awareness improve your daily life? This guided practice journal shares 42 prompts, exercises, techniques and ideas to deepen your experience of the Reiki Level 2 Symbols.

Learn new ways to give and receive Power, Mental Emotional Balance, and Reiki Distant Healing. Designed by a Reiki Master Teacher to support students trained and attuned to Reiki Level 2, this 42-day program explores Universal Life Force Energy in a profound and personal way.

Please note: this is a guided practice journal for people already trained in and attuned to Reiki Level 2. This guided practice journal helps you to maximize your Reiki Level 2 practice, but it requires prior training in how to draw the symbols.

I’ve taught Reiki since March 2002, and I keep encountering Level 2 Practitioners who finished their certification without a clear understanding of the amazing tools they received. This guidebook includes many tips and exercises I share in coaching sessions and in my Level 3 training of people who’ve taken Reiki 1 and 2 from other Reiki Master Teachers. It turns my research and experience into questions that help you discover how the Reiki 2 symbols work for you in your life. The more you practice Reiki, the stronger it flows. This guided journal allows you to take theory and apply it in a joyful, expansive practice. You can purchase this 7 x 10″ guided journal by clicking here.

Reiki Healing Attunements Record Keeper

By Sync Winks

The Reiki Healing Attunement is one of the most powerful techniques learned in Reiki Level 3. You can use a Reiki Healing Attunement to supercharge goals, health, career, finances, relationships, and so much more.

Use this journal to record the date, intentions, who or what you’ve attuned, and any observations before, during and after the Reiki Healing Attunement. The prompt pages leave room for notes, photos, drawings and other details to track your Reiki experience and results.

Please note: this is not an instruction guide. Learning how to perform a Reiki Healing Attunement requires training and certification in Reiki Level 3 (Master or Master Teacher). This is a notebook for people already attuned and trained to Reiki Level 3, who know how to perform a Reiki Healing Attunement. The notebook contains prompts to record each Reiki Healing Attunement in one convenient location, so that you can track and improve your results.

I published this notebook under the pen name Sync Winks, because this will be your Reiki Healing Attunements Record Keeper, not mine. A hallmark of Reiki Healing Attunements is a major increase in synchronicities and “can’t make this up” coincidences — hence the pen name Sync Winks.

I designed this 7 x 10″ notebook to coordinate with the Reiki Level 2 Symbols practice journal. Both products support greater awareness of how Reiki flows in your life. Recording date, time, intention and results of Reiki Healing Attunements in one place encourages deeper understanding of how this powerful tool works. You can return to your notebook for encouragement, faith boosting, and success reminders. You can also track experiments with different timing (i.e. morning, evening, New Moon, Full Moon, Wheel of the Year, etc.) to see if and how those things affect your results. You can purchase the Reiki Healing Attunements Record Keeper by clicking here.

Additional Products on the Way …

I know many of you are anxiously awaiting the guided Lyme recovery journal. That was a much larger project, and my final, final proof copy should arrive this Wednesday. As soon as it becomes available on Amazon, I’ll post the description and link. Besides the Reiki support products and the guided Lyme recovery journal, I created several other products I’ve long wished existed. Stay tuned for those!

Roots and Writing Updates

I mentioned in February’s “Reclaiming Roots and a Writing Update” that my word for 2018 was “Roots,” and my focus was writing a book with a working title, The Metaphysics of Lyme. By “roots,” I meant both Root Chakra and exploring my Celtic roots/family heritage in much deeper ways. With just over two weeks left of 2018, it seems like a good time to take stock. How did I do?

Root Chakra and Writing

Lyme Book, Gardening and Other Updates

First, a Writing Update

I haven’t given a progress update in awhile, so I thought I’d share some recent developments with my Lyme books. Yes, that’s books, plural!

The Metaphysics of Lyme Disease has over 102,000 words and counting, written primarily by me, but also including wisdom, examples and inspiration from many Lyme savvy colleagues and survivors. I’m so grateful for their contributions, and I cannot believe how much I have grown along with the book. When I couldn’t find an astrologer to write the most important patterns I see again and again in the charts of Lyme clients, I formalized 12 years of armchair astrology, under the perfect-for-me mentorship of my dear friend Ann Kreilkamp.

Now I find another need to branch out, as I would love to offer one, primary, hands-on resource for guided journaling, self-assessment, and timeline shifts related to Lyme disease. I currently have about 30 additional books people would need to read and then discern which aspects and how to tweak them for healing Lyme. If I add all those exercises and questions into The Metaphysics of Lyme Disease, then the flow stops and starts, switching gears and losing the important sense of a larger, interconnected picture. Plus, it would become an even longer book and require major editing to create a cohesive text with all the contributors, my explanations and much more hands-on guidance. I originally wanted to release my Lyme book by the end of 2018, but the project has grown — and deepened — so much that trying to rush for an arbitrary deadline feels wrong.

But I do feel led to release a Lyme book this year!

Last Friday, inspiration struck.

Garden, Groundhog, and Writing Updates

You may have noticed me blogging less this month, and that has a bit to do with increased groundhog patrol and much to do with working to finish my Lyme disease book. The garden took a turn towards Autumn with new mum’s and the tall sedum starting to put on its show:

Radio Show on Friday, June 8

Tomorrow (Friday, June 8th) will be the last radio show for this round of five sponsored shows. This show is at 1:30 p.m. Eastern US time. You can listen live from anywhere by clicking here at that time. I never know exactly what we’ll cover, but I suspect we’ll touch more upon my upcoming book, “The Metaphysics of Lyme,” medical intuition, past lives, and soul journeys. We’ll see where things lead. 🙂

You can find archives of previous shows by clicking here.

Again, this last show is on Friday, June 8th at:

1:30 p.m. Eastern (same as NYC)

12:30 p.m. Central

11:30 a.m. Mountain time

10:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight or Arizona time

16:30 UK time

17:30 in Western Europe and South Africa

7:30 a.m. Hawaii time

1:30 a.m. in Taiwan

and 3:30 a.m. in Sydney, Australia.

If you’re not in those areas, you can still listen at that time, but those are the main regions I know I have blog readers and clients.