Black and white portrait of Sarika in her own apartment, looking to the left where the light from the window comes through.

Hi, i’m sarika.

A part of my own healing journey happened in 2019 when YouTube suggested a video on how a pendulum can be used to balance chakras. Having no idea what that could possibly mean, I just rolled with it. I hardly believed that a dangling object could be moved with someone’s non-physical energy or the supposed energy of the Universe (also called Spirit). But seeing it circle over a person’s chakras in that video made me curious enough to try it for myself and, lo and behold, it swung! I began my practice by asking yes/no questions, and soon the lightbulb in my head went off realizing that I could ask this yes/no question: “If I hover the pendulum over the keyboard, can you spell out whole sentences?” You can guess what they told me. A delighted, strong-swinging Yes!

I was then able to go from simple yes/no answers into phonetically-spelled messages like this:

Question: Who are you?
Answer: hierselfnxestanse (I clarified with spirit that this meant “higher self and existence”.)

And this transitioned into full sentences typed out one letter at a time, like this:

Question: Can the body be healed through visualization? If so, how?
Answer: thebodyrespondstowhatyouwantanddoesitmiraculouslyandfortuitously [“the body responds to what you want and does it miraculously and fortuitously”]

Question: what do you mean by "fortuitously"?
Answer: wemeantthatithappensbcuzofsmthingyoudobychancethathealsyou [“we mean that it happens because of something you do by chance that heals you”]

Question: Why does this work?
Answer: thebodyneedsloveandwhenyouhealititgetslove [“the body needs love and when you heal it it gets love”]

Over time, I learned to “hear” the messages better and better, using the pendulum to confirm what I heard. And being able to do this supported my personal and spiritual development in a variety of ways. For one, receiving guidance that felt substantively very different from my usual thoughts was relieving and cathartic. It enabled me to work through my challenges from a sensing and feeling perspective rather than solely from a thinking perspective, which often made me feel stuck on a hamster wheel. But knowing that this guidance was partially from “outside” of me and partially from my own higher knowledge enabled me to trust this guidance as supporting my own intuition. Leaning into this, my mental and emotional sides are more integrated than ever. I feel much more whole, as opposed to being made up of separate parts working simultaneously. Said differently, I feel that I am working with myself rather than in competition with myself.


The health benefits of chatting with spirit

What are some specific ways that speaking with Spirit helped me? First, my physical health vastly improved. I was a steady gym-goer, but sticking to my usual weight routines. Thus, at some point I knew I wasn’t improving as much anymore, but was scared of changing my routine to something I knew would be harder. And so, when the pandemic arrived and I couldn’t even use the gym anymore, I freaked out. But Spirit told me to relax. They (Spirit speak of themself in the “we” form) helped me change my physical health by introducing me to new workouts and increasing the level of difficulty as I adapted to them. Here’s what they did:

  1. Created bodyweight trainings and directed me to exercise programs online that I could do at home

  2. Brought variety to my regimen: some days weights, some days kickboxing, some days yoga, some days cardio, some days rest

  3. Asked me to meditate at the end of each workout, giving me a mantra for a personal development aspect I needed to focus on at a given time

And how did this change my well-being, physical and otherwise?

  1. I could see, feel, and use the physical changes: my posture improved, I could talk to friends while walking upstairs without heaving, and I increased my push-up count

  2. I developed strength in unexpected places, such as my (flat) feet, which now play a more active role in helping me keep my balance

  3. I reduced muscle imbalances, relieving some pain (not all, sadly) in my lower legs and in my knees

  4. I became more aware of which parts of my body were engaged in a particular exercise, pose, or activity

  5. I learned that breathing into the burn helps me to make gains :)

  6. I had more fun during a workout rather than just being glad that I’m making myself stay healthy

  7. I felt mentally brighter and more connected to myself at the end of a workout.

I know you might be thinking, couldn’t she just look up some things online and figure it out herself? Yes, I could have. And some things I already knew (ie, workout variety > muscle confusion > gains). But prior to Spirit’s help, my main workout goals were increasing my physical strength, increasing the number of reps I could do, and maintaining a basic level of fitness. With Spirit, the outcomes of my workouts were getting my body to function better, relieving pain, and feeling satisfied and confident.

Secondly, Spirit led me to making better decisions insteading of choosing what was safest. In a few big moments, making these decisions led me to confronting long-standing challenges in my professional and personal life. Breaking down barriers in these parts of my life was very hard, but brought me to the other side of myself–the side that I could see and where I knew I wanted to be, but hadn’t felt equipped to reach. Spirit did not tell me how these decisions would turn out. In fact, Spirit intentionally misled me so that I would confront the truth and break out of a cycle. While Spirit misled me, Spirit always told me which decision was the right one for my growth. I faced people and situations that scared me, I said “no” more often, I chose against a steady but unfulfilling path, and I took risks that improved my sense of self.

Black and white portrait of Sarika swinging the pendulum on top of her open laptop, eyes softly closed, in her living room.

Thirdly, decoding my dreams has been a big part of my work with Spirit. I used to have repetitive dreams that showed no change. When I started asking Spirit for guidance, though, Spirit showed me how to look at certain elements in my dreams, such as bodies of water as my own emotions, these dreams progressed into bringing me out of their repetition and showing me the bigger picture. They changed from dry desert to lush green landscapes, from being chased to getting out, and from being stuck to flying! Combined with other personal healing, dream work has helped pull the unconscious into conscious knowing. The result is fuller awareness and agency in my everyday life. 

Fourthly, I would like to mention that Spirit has been my trusty interior design consultant. I am the type who is overwhelmed by decisions. But Spirit helped me choose the right carpet, the right dining table, and even the right coffee mugs when I moved into a new apartment and had to buy everything new. I was overwhelmed with the choices, not knowing how to make all the colors and designs of all the products I needed to buy fit together. But Spirit gently, yet firmly, guided my sight to each piece that made me feel enjoyment, coziness, and happiness in my home. This process taught me to notice and rely on my own preferences. I look back at myself from two years ago now and realize I’m much more at ease now in choosing what I like for myself—without the extra help😉 . 

So, my friends, I hope some of my story inspired you, or at least made you curious, to try out a conversation with Spirit too. I’m here to help you get started.