A thank you…
This past week I taught a meditation workshop all about the energy of communication, particularly with people who do a lot of work online, including bloggers, journalists, twitterers, etc. It was a small, intimate group, and an amazing experience. We really cleared some major energy. It was awesome to watch the group of participants really discover their truth, gather up the energy they had expended on projects over the years, and bring in new influence to create inspiration in their lives.
One of the participants, a good friend from college and principal at Natiiv Media, Leah Jones
, wrote a really thoughtful and flattering review of the event on her website. I wanted to share it with my blog readers because I think it illustrates the enthusiasm that people feel after my workshops. You may have read books on meditation, you may have tried it at home on your own, you may have even listened to guided meditation cd’s, recordings and podcasts – but trust me, you’ve never experienced anything like one of my group meditation workshops. It’s truly magical.
It’s taken me a long time to say that, but I believe it to be true. Here’s an excerpt of Leah’s post:
“During the 3 guided meditations we learned how to ground ourselves, how to stay open during the meditation and then we started working on clearing the old energy. Much of what happened was deeply personal, so I’m not going to go into the details of the work, but I will say that Billy did an amazing job leading the workshop, teaching us new skills and keeping the space safe.
I learned a lot and felt different the next day. A few lingering relationships were cleared up and I finally felt like I was “over” it. I felt lighter, refreshed and slept like the dead that night.”
Read the whole post here. And reserve your spot for my Meditation Immersion weekend experience by emailing me at billypacholski@mac.com today.
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My dad taught me to play chess.
When I was young, I was obsessed with games. Pretty much any game that I’d come across, I would be really into for a while. This might explain the fact that in adulthood, I am pretty much not into playing games, even at parties. 
But when I was like 7 or 8 years old, I was the game master.
It was around this time that my dad introduced me to this game called Chess. It was complicated. It had lots of strange rules. Old men played chess. I was *not* interested.
I wanted to play Monopoly (I think it had something to do with all the cash), I wanted to play LIFE. I played “Mall Madness” with my sister and her friends (remember that?). But I emphatically did not want to learn how to play chess. It seemed boring. Your opponent could take 15 minutes to make a move. Everything was weighed, considered and thought thru. I wanted more instant gratification to my game playing.
Couple this with the fact that my Dad and I didn’t have a lot in common when I was a kid. He is a tradesman, very blue collar and I was, well, different – as you can imagine. I was into creative things; art, theater, singing, nintendo, nintendo and nintendo. We didn’t have a lot of common ground. And here he was, trying to teach me this boring, old man’s game that none of my friends new how to play?
My Dad didn’t give up, however, and eventually I learned Chess. Once I understood the rules, and once I got over my need to do everything as fast as the nintendo – I became obsessed. I couldn’t get enough. I taught my friends to play (tho, not too well – so I could beat them.) They were totally impressed that I knew how to play this strange foreign game. I played my dad. I played my uncles at our family gatherings. I’d play chess with pretty much anyone I came across. I was a chess player.
Once in a while we’re put in a situation, or asked to learn a skill that seems tedious. It seems out of context, unimportant. It’s not as exciting as monopoly. Its not as fast paced as Sonic the Hedgehog on our best friend’s Sega. In this moment we have two options – we can resist it, instead focusing our attention where it’s always been, and casting it aside as worthless. Or, we can own up, go into it with both feet and just learn it. Or just do it, taking the little lesson into our life in whatever way it fits.
Eventually, I grew out of my game phase. Even Nintendo lost it’s luster. (Altho, I’m currently considering buying a Wii!)
A couple of years ago, I was on a plane coming home from Canada. I had been in Halifax and it was a long flight; at this point it was probably about 1am. A businessman, probably in his 50′s, was sitting across the isle from me on the nearly empty plane. we struck up conversation and he asked me if I’d like to play one of those travel edition chess sets with him. Enthusiastically, I said yes. He seemed surprised that I knew how to play (and that I was pretty decent.) He asked where I’d learned to play.
“My dad taught me.” I told him. He smiled. I imagine that he had taught his son to play, too. And for a moment, he imagined his son making a casual bond with a stranger over chess. And it made him proud. It made me proud too. Everything that I thought was important when I was 7 or 8 seems so distant. But Chess – the thing that I thought was so silly, so unimportant – well, Chess is here to stay.
Whenever I think of Chess, I think of my dad. We don’t have much in common, as far as people go. But he’s my dad, and he taught me how to play chess. Here I am, 20 years later, thankful that I took the time to learn.
Read More...How to heal the world? Heal yourself first.
“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley
I have a very radical belief. I believe whole-heartedly that all healing, in every form, is self-healing. You do not have the power to heal anyone or anything else except yourself.
Now, that’s not to say that one shouldn’t help others, or be giving. But one of the best gifts we can give to each other and the planet is to live in our absolute truth, to do the things we love to do and be the person we long to be.
Yesterday, I passed a guy on the street who was selling those monthly subscriptions to Greenpeace. I shouldn’t say passed on the street, I should say I was energetically assaulted. It’s not his fault; he’s paid on commission, and I look like the kind of indie-hipster-sensitive type who would sign up for something like that. So he blocked the sidewalk and asked me if I wanted to sign up. I politely told him that I wasn’t interested. He insisted: “But the earth needs your help!”
That got me to thinking – does it? Haven’t we been “helping” the earth enough? It seemed to do just fine for a couple of billions of years before we arrived; what could the earth possibly need from me to be ok? Sure, I could eat less tuna. Sure, I could burn less fossil fuels. Sure, I can do my part. So I started to think about what I do to help the earth.
I consume far less than almost anyone that I know… I live out of a suitcase, only have enough clothes for about a week’s worth of wearing. I don’t own or rent a home, I stay with friends and barter for the roof over my head. And what’s more, I’ve shunned my corporate life and marketing background to give psychic readings and healings professionally, dedicating my life to helping other people clear energy out of their life, allowing them to live the life they dream of and want to have. I am a healer and reader. And you know what? I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
When I give someone a reading or an energy healing, I’m not forcing or even encouraging them to change or heal. What I’m actually doing is working with a neutral, universal energy that is in abundance all around us. I’m harnessing this vibration and directing it wherever I sense there are blocks and I’m inviting the client to release whatever it is that they are ready to let go off – old relationships, old energetic habits, old grief, pain, judgement. Whatever they are ready to release. In a way, what I’m doing is giving that person permission to heal themselves. It’s that simple. And it works…. amazingly well.
Perhaps, instead of funneling our money and time into charity after charity, we could focus our energy on healing ourselves, and living more presently in our truth. If 100,000 people did that today, I believe that we would be giving the earth permission to heal itself – and it would.
Now, before I draw the ire of everyone who works for a nonprofit or charity (and I can speak on authority – I did for 4 years myself), I just want to say that what I’m proposing is the same thing that I tell people who tell me to “pray for change” – if praying was enough, wouldn’t it have worked already? If donating a couple hundred thousand dollars to save the whales was enough, wouldn’t they have been saved? For all the commerce we throw at charitable causes – every cause seems to be getting worse and worse. There has to be another way. Perhaps that way is for us all to turn that healing energy inward – and healing our bodies and souls until each one of us are happy, content and living on our path. Maybe then we’ll stop doing so much harm to the things around us.
So, Mister Greenpeace, while I don’t judge, and I appreciate your concern for the earth, I think it’s doing alright without me. And while it might be hard to see on the surface – I’m doing my part. Are you?
Read More...Suburban Energy
Yesterday, my roomate Emily and I drove out to IKEA in Schaumburg, IL and spent the day shopping like maniacs. The amount of energy we handled was simply staggering! I hadn’t been to a mall or a place like that in ages, and I had forgotten all the attention and energy that gets stimulated when you’re in that kind of a space.
What was kind of fun to “see” and experiment with was the energy of different stores, different kinds of marketing and the experience that the body goes thru in each one. For instance, Emily and I both got so overwhelmed at IKEA because they try to get you to buy into entire rooms, rather than simple items. We were only looking for a few small pieces, but we both felt like if we didn’t spend a ton of money, there was really no point. It was also interesting to note how difficult IKEA makes it to purchase anything; you have to write down the name of an item, find a sales rep, have them deliver it to your car. Not exactly easy – the really make you work! But it seems to be working – the extra effort makes people feel like they are getting a more valuable item than what they are actually getting. (In my opinion.)
After that we zipped over to Woodfield mall, where we stopped in some familiar store noteably - Urban Outfitters and The Buckle. These two stores really cater to the same demographic, but ultimately take a very different approach. Urban has this “hipster-I-could-care-less-if-you-but-anything” vibe, which of course, makes you want to buy everything to prove that you belong in there. The Buckle is interesting because I remember when they were a second-rate American Eagle cast off back in the mid-nineties. The store has really revolutionized their energy by selling upscale denim and shirts/hoodies with that very popular “grunge” design all over them. It was interesting to see our perception of the store change as we shopped from what we “knewit as” to what it has become.
In both cases, it was interesting to watch the salespeople try to “read” us and sell us what they thought we wanted. Almost the entire time, they were way off base! For instance, on our way out of the mall, we stopped at a perfume vendor on one of those carts in the middle of the mall. I walked up and told the guy I wanted to buy a bottle of “A-men”, which is my favorite cologne. It also happens to be one of the most expensive bottles he was selling. He tried to talk me into
buying three bottles of cologne that were on sale for 50% off – and I ended up walking away buying nothing! He would have had a sale if he had read me right – a guy who knew exactly what I wanted and was ready to pay for it.
We topped off our day with lunch/dinner stopping to eat at The Cheesecake Factory – where there was a 45 minute wait, which seemed extreme. So we walked across the hall to Ruby Tuesdays – were there was no wait and truly friendly service! It ended up being great.
Read More...What a great night!
Last night I had so much fun (as usual) reading and healing at the Life Force Arts Center’s psychic fair. I got to work with some really interesting people making big changes in their life, which is my passion. There was also a lot of interest in my April 4 & 5 Meditation Fundamentals immersive weekend. So I look forward to seeing a lot of those people there!
Earlier this week I went out for sushi, pool playing and dancing with my roommate Emily. We had so much fun! Yes, even psychics like to get out and cut loose a little bit. 
All about love.
This past weekend I had the good fortune to do readings at a wedding reception. I know, I know what you’re thinking (I *am* psychic, afterall) – what an interesting idea! It was definitely unorthodox and it took a while for the attendees of the party to warm up to the idea of getting a 10 minute clairvoyant reading during the reception. But once they did, everyone wanted it!
What was most interesting to me in reading the folks that I got the opportunity to see was that it was ALL about love. Not a single person really asked about the economy, about money, etc. Looking at the energy of the room, it was set at permission to make it all about the energy of love. When people have permission to not worry about surviving, we naturally gravitate towards love. Its our nature. Who we love, what we love, etc. It was very cool to experience that with such an amazing group of people!
It really got me thinking about how we are all happiest when we’re doing what we love in all the areas of our lives. The work we love. The relationships we love. The creativity we love. When your energy is set at being able to have love in all ways – you are unstoppable! People gravitate towards you because you’re so happy. Things just happen like magic when you’re operating from love.
After that, I ran over to the Hotel Sax where I was a featured guest on Sleepover 2.0. I got the opportunity to talk on their all-nite vidcast about psychic energy work, what I do and how I read. I even did some mini readings right on the air! It was a lot of fun, and the ladies were all good sports. It was so flattering to participate!
This Friday I’m reading at the Life Force Arts Center’s psychic fair from 6pm-10pm. Come on out and get a mini-reading or energy healing for $1/minute. Email me for details!
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