This Saturday At The Center SF: Guides, Angels, Ancestors...And How To Tell The Difference

Cover Photo: Marc Olivier Jodoin

By Deidre Norman

Courtney Alex is an intuitive, teacher, and one of SF Yoga's amazing writers. We had the chance to sit down with her and learn more about her upcoming workshop Be Your Own Psychic: Angels, Guides & Wisdom of Our Ancestors.  

Courtney loves helping reconnect people with their own inner voice and innate wisdom. As a born empath, psychic, and medium, she was overwhelmed with perceiving energy, confused about what she was sensing and how to interpret it. But her life changed dramatically when she began studying tools to read energy. She was floored by how much information is available to all of us, all the time, and how little use we make of it. Now, her mission is to share the wealth of knowledge she's learned. She believes we ALL have the gift. And with it comes a deep sense of faith, ease, and awakening to our true potential. Here is what she shared with SF Yoga about her exciting upcoming workshop at The Center SF.

Your upcoming workshop is about connecting with guidance. Specifically, ancestors, guides, angels, and masters…what’s the difference?

Well, there’s a big difference between the various types of beings out there, and they all have a role to play in offering support! While all of them are there to help, they can all be useful at different times. For instance, if I need help with cooking, my grandmother Elizabeth, who was an amazing cook, is always there by my side so I can make delicious meals, especially when I acknowledge her presence. She was an excellent craftsperson too, as was my grandfather, and so they come with me when I go to make ceramics. On the other hand, if I need relationship advice, I’m more likely to turn to my grandma Evelyn, who was great with people, while heeding Elizabeth's advice sometimes gets me in trouble, only because we relate to others very differently. Our ancestors love us, and they want to support us, but they don't always know better. That's where understanding how to call in guides and angels and even masters of a certain craft comes in handy. For instance, I often call in help from authors I admire when I sit down to write. When I'm done, however, I make sure to thank them and cut off the connection until next time. We really are very influenced by the spiritual 'climate' surrounding us, whether we're aware of it or not. A simple example: think about how much easier it is to get through a yoga class in a yoga studio. Energy affects us greatly. But back to our spirit helpers...

Guides and angels are here to help us on our unique spiritual path. We all have guides, especially personal guides who are here to help us with our specific purpose in life, they’re sort of like a spiritual ambassador. Same with angels - they’re all love. Receiving answers from guides and support from angels feels very different than ancestors and masters, and it’s super helpful to understand where your guidance is coming from, so you don’t get tripped up.

And how do we do this?

It’s easier than you might think! We’re all getting guidance all the time, reading energetic cues all the time, even if we’re not paying it much mind. In this class, we’ll focus on HOW we each uniquely read energy, and then through a series of exercises, we’ll understand the unique signs and symbols we each get from various sources.

I do so many readings where it becomes apparent that a loved one who’s passed over is desperately trying to get the attention of my readee, and on some level the readee knows, but they can't voice it because it's not a societal norm. When we do give it voice however, it's so healing for both the person who’s still here and the one who’s passed on to acknowledge their connection. Or for a person to acknowledge the presence of guides and angels in their life. It makes me cry every time. Everyone wants to feel loved, supported and connected. And we truly are, even when we think we’re alone.

But what if someone is afraid of taking on bad energy from a relative they didn’t have the best relationship with?

Well, we very often carry on with the lessons of our ancestors who came before us. It’s just what happens. To me, it seems similar to that beautiful book 100 Years of Solitude. When we take fear out of the equation - facing it, rather than running from it - we’re more equipped to handle our life lessons and we're more empowered to get through them. So whether it feels comfortable or not, our ancestors, even the ones we fear, are still helping us. Beyond this, when we know what it feels like to have them around vs our guides or angels, we can also politely ask them to quiet down when we need to. I've seen clients, especially sensitive ones, who have 20 ancestors around them, all wanting them to work on different things and that can get quite overwhelming.

What if someone has never done an intuitive class before?

If you can have a dream, you can do this too. As humans, we are wired with this skill. We’re just not taught to use it.

What else will the class consist of?

We’ll be using powerful Qigong (Chinese Yoga) techniques and breath work for tuning in. I love using Qigong because it’s a movement based meditation and easily calms an over-active mind - something we all struggle with! My friend, Sinead Patience, a local Qigong scholar and teacher will be leading us through some specified exercises…this is sure to be a fun one!

Click here to sign up from Courtney's class this Saturday, Be Your Own Psychic: Angels, Guides & Wisdom of Our Ancestors.

Photo: Marc Olivier Jodoin