Who else would love to be able to communicate with spirits and other sides? Do you think you have to be born with some kind of super goofy psychic gift in order to have extraordinary experiences with the wild, weird and wonderful world that awaits you?

The truth is that one of the things that frustrates me the most is reading all the new age spiritual craziness and nonsense surrounding the subject of spirit communication.

On the one hand… you have psychic mediums who want to convince you that ONLY those born with very special gifts can communicate with spirit and that you need them to connect with your loved ones. (or have some kind of extraordinary spiritual experience)

On the other hand… and perhaps more dangerous and frustrating, are the “teachers” of psychic development who want you to believe that any strange or unexpected experience is really a sign from spirit, or evidence of something extraordinary.

For example, I read an article earlier today where the “teacher” who is enrolling people in a psychic development course told her readers that things like “not sleeping well” or being afraid of the dark or even hearing voices that I can’t explain is a sign that you are a medium.

Guess what?

The truth is, these are signs that you are a HUMAN being… with the same foibles, flaws, and foibles as everyone else walking the world around you. (and if you’re hearing voices you can’t explain, it could be a sign of something much more serious and something any responsible advisor of ANY kind would urge you to review before moving on to the middle hypothesis)

With that being said, I DO believe that there are many powerful, profound, and life-changing experiences that you can have that actually DO point towards having a more direct connection to the world that awaits you.

1 – Having had a near death experience. There’s something about having had an NDE that seems to open up survivors to a whole host of psychic abilities thereafter. This has been documented in hundreds if not thousands of cases… and there is even mention of it in the scientific literature regarding the types of life changing after effects that appear to have after NDEs.

2 – You are a dedicated meditator. The truth is that many exceptional spiritual transformative experiences occur through meditation, and this includes the feeling of “presence” that comes with many profound altered states. There are also very specific types of meditations that seem to be really effective in raising the spirits of the dead… including, in my own practice, a type of “metta” (loving-kindness meditation) that works wonderfully well. Many trance mediums use meditation as a way to enter an altered state in which all sorts of amazing information arrives.

3 – You are a more right-brained person at work and at play. In other words, you are creative, dreamy, and more connection-oriented than practical, pragmatic, and coldly analytical. You value self-expression and feel most alive when you are immersed in emotional and sensory activities and experiences. From my point of view, most psychic experiences emanate from this part of the brain that is most attentive and aware of things going on in the world around us… including intuitive perceptions and information that people with brains left block. (hint… and where most of the invisible world can be found!)

4 – You are a dedicated dreamer. The vast majority of my own spiritual experiences have taken place in dreams. But not just any dream… but rather, crystalline, hyper-lucid, life-changing dreams that are very different from ordinary ones. Many lucid dreamers, for example… will have what are called “dream visitation experiences” where a loved one will show up unexpectedly, and the nature of the dream is so vivid that the word “dream” stretches to its core. Many millions of people have had ADC (after death communication) experiences with a loved one in what is also called the “hypnagogic state,” which is that strange gap between wakefulness and sleep that can be a treasure trove of rich adventure. (especially if you also learn to fully accept it)

5 – Lastly, if you have lost someone close to you, especially a spouse or child, you most likely have a visitation experience of some kind. While certainly a community NO parent would welcome, some surveys show that more than 3 in 4 parents who lose a child will have at least one powerful and profound ADC experience thereafter, often with a component visual. Other surveys show that around 50% of those who lose a spouse will have a similar experience, again…often with a visual basis involving an apparition visit or a “full body” appearance.

There are many good books and interesting research on these and other types of communication after death, where ordinary people have extraordinary experiences with the other side… without the need for someone to tell them they are a “medium” first. (“Hello from Heaven” is a great book for beginners)

Being human is often more than enough… and simply being open to embracing the full depth and breadth of what this life experience entails.