This is a list of answers to some of the questions that I am sometimes asked. I hope this helps to delineate the shape of the services I offer. Of course, I am always delighted to address your questions and concerns.

• I ask you to create a list of questions and bring them to your appointment because I believe it is an important way for you to focus your energy in the direction of the issues at hand. This method will also help you to determine the importance of each matter that you would like to explore during our time together. When I offer psychic information, I am requesting material about you from the eternal—think of it as taking a trip to the Hall of Records. When you tell me what you would like to focus on, that helps me to locate the specific information that you're wanting to hear about, as opposed to what happens when I look for information without a focus. What I find is still valid, but it may not be as useful to you—may be material that you know already, and did not want to spend time thinking or talking about.


• I will use my abilities to help you feel empowered to create changes, and make the best choices that are available to you in the moment, with respect to your resources and capabilities. Your general wellness is my most important concern. (This is why, if you ask me about other people in various types of relationships, my answers will always incorporate information about how you can best protect yourself, and grow!)


• I will not use my abilities to help you focus on people or ideas that may be harmful for you. To this end, I offer a maximum of three readings regarding the same issue in a six-week period. In addition to this, I do not answer questions about upcoming dates of physical transition (death), stock market, celebrity matters, or lottery numbers. (Read “lottery numbers” as “gambling pursuits”. I'm not making an anti-gambling mission statement of any sort; I buy lottery tickets too! I'm just saying that it is not the best use of my abilities to focus on these areas.)


• I am not likely to offer you reading time more than once per week. If you request readings more frequently, then I'll suggest a later date. I want my work to support your life, rather than interrupt it. My job is to offer you perspective and reveal information, so that you feel supported in moving forward and exploring your options.


• While I do my best, I can't claim to reach complete accuracy. The information that I receive is often encoded. Sometimes I make mistakes when I decode the information.


• In addition to this, the future is flexible in conjunction with our choices. We are co-creators of our own future. Instead of envisioning the future as something that's chiseled in stone, think of it as a group of stones set in a river. As we choose the next stone, the part of the river that we are looking at changes...the same way that life circumstances are altered every time we make a choice.


• I look forward to our time together! To this end, I have created an account at www.Schedulicity.com, where, at any time, you can schedule an appointment with Goddess Within. In addition to this, I will do my best to reply to your calls and emails within 24 hours. This is not always possible. If you have left a voice message that has not been returned, please accept my apologies. Sometimes e-mail is the best way to reach me.


• You can always expect that I will be committed to the time that we are scheduled to spend together. I will ask you to commit to our appointment also, by reserving your appointment time with your payment, and then by attending the appointment that you scheduled. If you cannot attend our appointment time, then I will expect that you let me know by 24 hours prior to the time you scheduled. Otherwise, your payment will be forfeit.
  


• Do you have questions about how a reading could help you? Send me a message. I would love to meet you.
  

While I will admit to having been a cheerleader in high school, that does not mean that I am interested in following professional sports. I mean, let's look at it this way: I watched sporting events while scantily-clad and standing out of doors, where I participated in, as Season 1 Buffy said, "...the intellectual thrill of spelling words with my arms".

Frankly, that alone should be enough to snuff out any lingering interest in, say, football. I am grateful that our culture has continued to adopt this modern version of the Ludi Maximi--we seem to need the outlet.

Be that as it may, I have an offer for you. If you are also disinterested in participating in Superbowl festivities, then you may are cordially invited to a delicious escape into nurturing massage (and other treatments). It will be delightfully quiet, with soft music and treats to your liking, and you will feel wonderful from beginning to end.

Interested? Follow this link to see Goddess Within's page on Schedulicity. Scroll down to the Limited Edition treatments, where you will see the special services--some with pricing that is also good for a limited time only--offered as part of the Superbowl Escape menu.  Click the links to schedule something satisfyingly free of  chicken parts, molten cheese, and malt beverages.

(Note: The Superbowl is taking place on February 3rd this year.)

I look forward to seeing you there.

I spent much of Friday in Hamden with a dear friend. While we had planned to spend time together, that particular location happened organically. Originally, we were thinking of choosing a place to meet for lunch that was near her work; but then, surprisingly, she took the day off. This friend works six days every week, so I was very excited when I learned we would have more time together than I originally understood.

Since this was originally a lunch date, we decided to meet at a restaurant. There are a number of fine establishments in Hamden, so we had a happy discussion as we debated where to eat. Ultimately, my friend decided on our destination. After we settled on a time, our plans were solid.

I made it to the restaurant before my friend did. When I told the host that I needed a table for two, he stated that he would be happy to give me a table when the remainder of my party arrived. Hmmm. Okay, I understand not seating one person out of a four-person party, or two people out of a five-person party...but not seating one person out of a two-person party is on the ridiculous side. Since there will only be one additional seat at the table, there is no way that the restaurant is losing anything.

When my friend arrived, the host seated us at a table. The new location made me aware that it was somewhat chilly in the main portion of the restaurant. After several minutes, I realized that I needed to put on my coat. (Is this any way to save money?)

Sadly, my entree contained very little of what I had asked for. Because I am aware that the kitchen staff is, if you will forgive the quote, made out of people, I don't expect perfection. But this overall situation might have been less disappointing if the server, who could have helped us fix these problems, had not been so scarce that I felt she was avoiding us.

Why have I told you this tale of woe?

I told you this story because there are lessons in it.

When we don't get what we want, we can come away from the experience clutching our dissatisfaction to our bosoms. That's one option. For the majority of us, at some point in our lives, it is a fallback position. (We can get stuck in this place until one of two things happens: First, we learn that there is a different option; and secondly, we decide that we want it for ourselves.)

One of the other major things that can happen when we don't get what we want is that we can look at what happened and mine some goodness from it.

So what is good about not getting anything you've asked for?

Well, there is a service issue. As a provider of personal services, I like to pay attention to the way I feel when I've received a service. It always gives me something to think about regarding ways that I can offer something better.

There is also an opportunity for me to consider ways that I might approach the people who can make the situation better. Do I find them approachable? Do I hesitate? If I do hesitate, is it because of something foreboding that is happening as part of the situation, or because of my own reticence?

And of course, there is also the opportunity to consider how what we got is better than what we might have asked for.

I have come to believe that it is always better when I look for more possibilities.

When I do intuitive work, I offer the answers to questions. But there are always blind ends when the people who are involved with an issue come up with the questions themselves. We humans can't see around corners, after all. All we can do is approach the situation from the place where we have arrived organically. Our emotional involvement causes us to see unclearly, which ensures that we can't see the whole picture.

In that case--in every case--my job is to look for the most complete information that there is. I look for, and examine, all of the possibilities, even if my client can't or won't bear to do so. I am a compassionate, but ultimately impartial, observer. By approaching every question with a manner that lets the end result be okay no matter what it is, I can find the most information.

And that is wherein I can create the most advantages for you, my client. I may be an impartial observer when I'm seeking psychic information, but I am always thinking of how to glean the best and highest results for you. That almost always means that you go home with homework assignments. These will help you to develop your mindful awareness, and take more responsibility in your own life. Often, people find that they have more clarity as a result.

Ultimately, we can always ask ourselves the question: How might this unexpected outcome empower me?

Take the time to meditate on the question. The answer might surprise you.

What do you do when you don't receive what you have asked for?

My name is Tanisia Smith, and I am a psychic intuitive. Through my practice, Goddess Within, I offer holistic healing services to benefit the whole self. Embodying the Goddess is the intuitive arts branch of that practice.

"Trusting the flow" is one phrase that I sometimes use to describe the intuitive process.

Sometimes, the information comes through in bits and pieces. Often, the bits and pieces feel completely unrelated--I may see a bicycle, and then smell chocolate--and part of my work is to form an understanding of the connection between the two things, and then help the client understand where their power lies.

Other times, the information comes through in one massive package. This can happen so rapidly that I am racing to describe the enormous amount of data that has come through to me, before I can no longer remember it all. This is always exciting, but it's always a challenge, too--sort of like getting a sneak preview of completely unconnected portions of a movie. (You know, the parts when someone is standing in the kitchen chopping onions, or walking outside to the old playground, or choosing a bottle of juice from the shelf. For someone who is just flipping channels and turning past the movie, the moment itself may not appear to mean anything, but to the person who has watched the whole thing, the same clip may explain who stole the cookies, or who the corporate mole is, etc.)

There are stages in between, of course; times when the information is relayed to me through a series of video clips, or when the answers suddenly appear in my mind; or seem to have been written across a large chalkboard.

By trusting the information as it comes clear to me, no matter what the method, I make my channel stronger. But when I try to pick the information apart, the common threads disintegrate, and the bits of knowledge swirl away from me like dry leaves in a strong wind.

It has taken a while to reach a place where I understand how to be a good channel for whatever is coming through. Part of that is developing some habits that help me understand when I am, energetically speaking, in the right place--which means that I have mindfully opened my channel, and am unavailable to other kinds of distractions--versus being in a more physically present mindset.

Trusting my flow also means being mindful about what is happening around me. Instead of trying to control everything, I can act on faith that things are proceeding just as they ought.

It also means that I need to have clarity about when it is up to me to take action. 2012 revealed a lot of client questions about how intuition works, about anxiety, and about how to have more peace in our lives. I am listening to the wisdom of the universe. Part of my plan for 2013 is to offer workshops on meditation, handling anxiety, and a collaborative series on developing intuition.

I am also committed to Health at Every Size principles. Health at Every Size, developed by Dr. Linda Bacon, is a set of principles that suggests that overall health is dependent upon eating well and moving our bodies. That means that health is a series of habits, and anyone who has a body can participate in these habits, independent of body size and shape.

This year, I will offer workshops about using massage and Reiki to help you develop a new relationship with the body that you're living in right now.

All of these things are in the flow for me. I have learned that when I try to work against the flow, things do not work out the way I plan.

What is your awareness about flow? How do you work within your flow? What do you notice when you work against your flow?

It's time to welcome more into your life. I stand ready to help. Are you ready to say yes?

I have had the fortune to meet with a number of people who are receiving psychic services for the very first time. They often have a certain look about them, as though they are expecting someone to leap out of a nearby copse of shrubbery and announce, "You're on Candid Camera!"

(I suspect I just dated myself. What is the new-century equivalent? Punked?)

The good news--and there is only good news--is this: There is a distinct lack of shrubbery near my door.

There won't be awkward surprises of any sort.

I am genuinely glad to see my clients.  When they arrive, I welcome them into my sitting room, where I offer them a space on one of my comfortable loveseats. Once they are seated, I offer a cup of tea from my (admittedly large) selection. If they accept, then I invite them to come fully into the room while I gather hot water and various sweeteners.

Once my client's tea and mine are steaming beside us, I say a brief and silent prayer, and then I ask my client what they would like to focus on first.

I encourage my clients to come to the reading with a list of questions they would like to address during our session. It may helpful to put the questions in the order in which we should address them. That will make the list easier to navigate, by means of not having to search the questions to see what is next.

Ask me anything. When you are my client, my first priority is giving you the tools and information that you need to make decisions that will help you go where you want to go. I have answered questions about pets, health, weather...oh, the list goes on.  I am committed to telling you what I can discern, in a compassionate and nurturing manner.

A reading is your time, during which I address what concerns you bring in with you. It is intimate and intense; joyful and affirming.

While my immediate goal is to answer the questions that the client presents, my larger concern is creating a framework within which the client can utilize new information for self-empowerment and more thorough planning and self-care. You will emerge feeling hopeful, refreshed, and renewed.

I stand ready to help. Are you ready to explore the mysteries?

Come now. All are welcome at my table.

Light to you,

Tanisia