KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

May 18 through May 24, 2026

We could experience a busy week as planetary activity surges. On Monday, Venus will move into the sign of Cancer, followed by Mars’ entry into Taurus. With the Moon in Gemini on the same day, our focus will be on higher education and inspired conversations! The Moon wades through Cancer on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we’ll need to watch for the urge to be overly sensitive or emotional. If we have important decisions to make, our best bet is to wait until Wednesday when the Sun exits Taurus and takes up residence in Gemini. The Gemini Sun will set the stage for four weeks of focusing on new technology, updating or adding new apps to our smartphones, and diving deeper into subjects we are most interested in. It’s also a powerhouse for expanding our insights, improving our communication skills, and charming people into our way of thinking! The Leo Moon holds court in the heavens on Thursday and Friday, which could bring us into the spotlight, or at the least, make us the center of attention at any meetings or gatherings we attend. We’ll have to stop this weekend and restore order to our surroundings as a Virgo Moon instills the drive to clear out clutter and become more organized, so we can move more freely into the future!

The Body Remembers: A Journey Toward Healing Trauma, by Lisa Collins, EdD

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Trauma is an elusive foe. It hides in the body, making it tricky to recognize—mainly because it often is not what people think it is. Many believe trauma results only from major events like a fire, a terrible accident, or a natural disaster. However, the truth is that trauma happens when the body perceives a threat or senses danger—whether real or imagined.

Everyone has experienced these sensations at some point. The panic might hit when you realize you may have left the stove on or the sinking feeling from a hard-to-read email at work. These moments leave a trace. Each time your body encounters a perceived danger, it stores that experience as a marker of harm and builds a protective response for the future. The body then reacts to anything resembling past harm, even subtly.

Hebb's axiom (Hebb, 1949) tells us that "cells that fire together wire together." Researchers have noted that such cells also "survive together" (Post et al., 1998). This information means that the elements of an experience—sights, sounds, emotions—link to form a neural network that encodes the memory. The whole system can react when even one part of that network is triggered by a present-day event. This process is what we often call "remembering."

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's well-read book The Body Keeps the Score describes what happens with trauma. It truly is miraculous how our bodies care for us. They care so well that trauma can start to feel like part of our personality. But here's the good news: we can identify and heal from past harms. We can move trauma out of our bodies and create space for peace and wholeness.

As an author, trauma practitioner, life coach, and assistant professor in higher education, I have done this work myself. I've walked the path of healing from my trauma, and I share what I've learned in my book, The Truth About Trauma.

Healing trauma requires a roadmap—a guide to restoration and resilience. That's what The Truth About Trauma offers. It is a companion for those seeking to understand their pain, release what no longer serves them, and build a peaceful life.

For a long time, I believed that how I reacted to words, actions, events, or proximity was just "who I was." I was wrong. I wasn't responding as myself—I was reacting to the trauma that had taken root in my body. But those experiences don't have to define us. The harm may be in the body, but you can be free.

Three Levels of Healing
The book describes three levels of healing. Level 1 focuses on the body's sensations. Since trauma lives in the body, it is foundational to get to know your body well. One step toward getting to know the body is getting still enough to hear your body communicate.

Pay attention to body sensations and sudden changes in behavior or feelings. When the body experiences too much too soon, it could respond differently. When your body gives you information, listen. A sensation could be a sudden change in feelings like irritation, fear, pain, dread, or reactive behaviors. Many times, we ignore our body and its sensations.

First Tip
Pay attention to your body and what it is communicating to you. Responses could be flight, fight, freeze, fawn, or flock. Flight is the need to get away. Fight is the feeling of pushing back or confronting. Freeze is the inability to move, a sense of stuckness. Fawn is the feeling of currying favors or pleasing people. Flock is the need to be in a group (safety in numbers). We live with collective, historical, and cultural trauma in our society. The Truth About Trauma explains what trauma is and is not and details different forms of trauma. The book provides guidance to assist in establishing a relationship with your body—an array of self-care tools for body connection are in every chapter.

Level 2 is paying attention to our mind patterns. Our thoughts are important and influence the body. What thoughts are going through your mind? Many times, we take our thoughts for truth. Our thoughts can be a manifestation of past harmful experiences.

Second Tip
If thoughts are degrading, mean, and unkind, be curious about where these thoughts come from in your history. Loving, kind, and peaceful thoughts are aligned with living in peace. Being curious about these thoughts can uncover harm. Thoughts could originate from an earlier time in younger life or any problematic situation. In The Truth About Trauma, practical tools guide you toward healing mind patterns. The activities assist you in learning more about your thoughts, like Younger Selves and the Thinking Map, and establishing healthy habits like meditations, rituals of self-care, and affirmations.

Level 3 contains reflective tools for positive reconnection to the body, mind, and Spirit. Level 3 builds on the previous levels to pave the way for peaceful living.

Third Tip
By listening to your body sensations, you begin to identify possible trauma responses in your body. These curiosities assist in removing experiences through learning about trauma and using the tools in the book that work for you. Negative mind patterns are interrupted by the menu of tools provided in the book. These processes provide a fertile ground for exploring the being that harmful experiences have covered. Level 3 includes the beautiful exploration of your soul through chakra healing, muscle testing, and spirituality. The Truth About Trauma consists of tools for body sensations, mind patterns, and connecting more deeply to yourself.

The Truth About Trauma is a book about a healing journey based on my experience and the use of all the tools in the book, and supports the personal exploration of health. Start your own healing journey with your copy today.

Reference:
Badenoch, B. (2008). Being a Brain-Wise Therapist: A Practical Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology. W. W. Norton & Company.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2025. All rights reserved.

Something happened in the last couple of months; it's like a light bulb has turned on. I woke up one day and all of a sudden everything seemed three-dimensional to me. Colors are more vivid and I am acutely aware of my surroundings, even the smallest little details in nature and the faintest sounds. I'm asking myself what this life is all about and if there is more to it than what I can see. I can't really put my finger on any one thing that happened, but it's like I am sensing another plane just beyond my reach. I am preoccupied with what my purpose is and who can benefit from my being here on earth. I feel like a hungry child that can't get enough to eat and I am always reaching out for more but I don't know what I'm reaching for. I feel like I am supposed to be doing something meaningful but it's just beyond my grasp. I feel like I'm a stranger to my husband because he doesn't see what I see and doesn't even want to think about what could be beyond whatever is right in front of his face. I feel like I'm traveling at warp speed and he has chosen to stay behind. What is this that I'm feeling and how can I tap into more of it?

Vicki

Astrea:

The feeling that you're having is greater awareness. Try to slow down a bit, for if you rush things, you'll turn yourself OFF instead of on. Right now, you're on overload, which is a frantic feeling, but you can take control. Meditate and take your time determining what you would like to receive from these experiences. Don't make this into something that you or others may resent.

You are starting to notice your various psychic abilities. You've had these all your life but you haven't been as aware of them as you are now. Often our religious training or lack of spiritual life can create an atmosphere where we aren't into our own awareness. Your spiritual development has finally taken first place in your life.

While everything is a choice, I personally feel that the timing of when we come into awareness isn't always convenient. Labor Day, 1985, was the date I finally accepted my potential. I still have experiences of that extra you're describing, but they're not constant or new now.

At first, breakthroughs in awareness can be so overwhelming that we can't get our minds around them, and psychic powers can take us over until we get control of those abilities.

Even people who ask God to take their gift away can come to a point where their gift must be acknowledged. People who are born with psychic ability and try to ignore it throughout their lifetime are often destined to live a future life without the ability they threw away before.

We have a responsibility to make the most of our gifts. If it's in your Spirit, you can ignore it but you can't destroy it. You can put it off but you can't escape it. I'm happy to have it, now. When I was younger and super busy, it was a drag.

At first, experiences like this can make us feel all alone in the world.
As for your poor husband, you might view him as a gift too. Being with someone who is totally skeptical about this kind of thing can save you some time when it comes to processing. Don't try to explain what he can't understand. Even if he NEVER understands, you will still be able to rely on him for centering and grounding.

Try to be patient and use his reactions as a barometer to determine how much you can open up. All of this could actually make you two closer if you appreciate that someone has to stay in normal reality.

Also, as you struggle with feeling like he just doesn't understand, please remember that this isn't all about you; your ability is with you so you can better love and help others too.

*****

Susyn:

It can be exciting as well as unsettling to experience this type of spiritual awakening. Although it seems to have come on fast, this transformation has been years in the making. Each of us has a timeframe for our own personal development, and when we are ready, we can find ourselves in a brand new world quite unexpectedly.

When in the midst of an awakening, many find it common to have the sorts of experiences you describe: vivid colors, acute hearing and vision, and a longing to know more about what is happening are classic signs.

I recall the wonder of my first awakening as quite similar to what you describe. It seemed to happen all of a sudden, and once it did, everything in my world took on a new form. As in the case of your husband, no one else seemed to understand or be able to relate to me or what I was experiencing.

There is no need to worry, however, as you will calm down somewhat as time goes by, and your husband will acclimate himself to the changes you will continue to experience.

During a first spiritual awakening, everything seems to look, smell and feel different. This happens because your entire being is awake and aware of a whole new dimension of life. It can be quite exhilarating, and is definitely a feeling you will want to capture and maintain.

The important thing to remember is that once you are spiritually awakened, it is impossible to go back to sleep, so you need not concern yourself with the possibility that these feelings will be lost to you at some point.

Now is the time to follow your instincts and allow a brand new world to open up to you. Whether this awakening draws you into a new group of people, different spiritual or metaphysical studies, or a new career, you can be sure that your world is about to be transformed.

One of the most powerful ways to understand and work with spiritual awakening is to immerse yourself in spiritual practices. Meditation, divination, spiritual classes and interaction with other people walking the same path can enhance this process.

As you begin to cross paths with others who are awakened, you'll want to keep an eye out for a spiritual mentor who can guide you through all the stages of your transition. An experienced traveler can guide you if you start to go off track, affirm the unusual experiences you have, and teach you new methods to connect more deeply with Spirit and the world around you.

Congratulations on your awakening, and welcome to the world of spiritual enlightenment!

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.