133: Eco-spirituality; the nexus of nature

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Cani Crystals the podcast. I hope that you're all well. As I sit here on a Thursday evening Put baby to bed, me mum's gone to bed, Johnny's gone to bed. I'm sat here and I'm thinking, there's something that I forgot to do, and I just couldn't for me life think what that thing was. And all of a sudden I thought, oh my God, my podcast comes out in 2 and a half hours and I haven't even recorded this week's episode. Oh my God, the stress. Anyway, I'm here. Aren't you just glad that we are now out of Mercury retrograde? Jesus wept. I remember last year when it was retrograde season I remember that Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram all went down one day, and that's because there's always these technology issues when it happens, and I think it's too wild to just be a coincidence, but I always wonder, you know, why it's never spoken about on national TV, to be honest. But during this latest one anyway, my hair dryer packed in. It almost singed off me non-existent eyebrows with a flame coming out the end, followed by a lot of smoke. Then I put the baby bottle in the portable warmer thing and it just smelled, you know, like melty plastic, like wrong. And then I noticed that there was actual melting plastic in the little well where you put the bottle. So I threw both of those things out. And then during the night I went into the bathroom to the toilet and I realized that the extractor fan hadn't come on. And then the next day our Hoover had just decided to stop picking things up. And as soon as I would turn it off, everything would just come back down the pipe onto the carpet that I'd sucked up. And then just to fully piss me off, I put me little walking pad on the other day, me little treadmill, just under the table where I was working, and it let out this almighty groaning noise, like a grrr, followed by this huge bang, and the treadmill just stopped working. So in 24 hours, I had a hair dryer, a bottle warmer, an extractor fan, a hoover, and a treadmill all decide to stop working during retrograde. Is that a coincidence? Well, actually, come to think of it, it might be my electrics that need looking at. But no, in all fairness, I'd posted about this in me business group, and some of the others in that group had had similar incidents as well. Maybe you did too. The power of the planets and the moon energy are absolutely wild this year. Is anyone else feeling it? So yes, it's been a bit of an expensive month getting things fixed, having to buy a few new bits and bobs that weren't repairable. Not what I was hoping for, but here we are. What else have I been up to? Oh yes, so I'm very excited about this. I am midway through writing my new book, which I started with Chloe from Inspired Publishing back in January. I'm writing a chapter a fortnight at the moment, which I'm doing basically once baby goes to bed on a night. But to be honest, I am enjoying it so much more than just sitting and binge-watching Netflix on an evening because It feels like I'm being super productive. I can't wait for you all to read it as well because Chloe has been so, so lovely at giving me feedback in places, you know, that I need to flesh out on chapters and other places that I might have wrote a bit too much without splitting it up into sub-chapters, all that malarkey. And I might be biased because obviously I wrote it and it's my story, but I honestly think it's my best work to date. I'm so, so proud of it. I know it's not exactly probably going to be out until, hmm, I'm going to say January 2025, along with the audiobook and stuff like that, but I am just so excited to share it with you all. It's all about my journey into spirituality and going in depth about everything that has helped me to get to where I am in the last few years. It's kind of like a self-help book for people that feel a bit at a loose end and they want to explore all these different facets of life, you know, like crystal healing, manifestation blocks, meditation, gratitude, but it's my spin on it all. And there's little stories thrown in here and there of how they all help me. I'm very proud of it, and I am only 7 chapters in. I can't wait for you all to read it. Something else I've been up to this week was that on Wednesday I spoke at an event here in Newcastle for female business entrepreneurs who were having a spirituality and mindset evening with their group, The Ladies Collective. I only had a 20-minute slot, so I knew straight away that it was going to be so hard to fit everything in that I wanted to. But it went so well. It was actually really, really nice to meet everyone as well. Everyone was super, super lovely. And as soon as I sat down at the table where all of the people that were speaking for the evening were sitting, they put down a couple of bottles of Prosecco and they were like, "Oh, you know, help yourself." Me, not having drank since probably New Year's Eve, had— I'm probably gonna gauge that it was, you know, near enough a bottle to myself before I even spoke. So I got up there and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "Good evening, ladies. I bet you're probably wondering why there's a guy stood up here with a lack of vagina." Well done me. Well done me. Everyone seemed to find it funny anyway. Someone even came up to me afterwards and said, "You could be a stand-up comedian." And I was like, stand-up comedian, is that my calling in life? Probably not. But anyway, we move. It was an amazing event. Thank you Jude and Julie and Claire for inviting me. It was amazing. I absolutely loved it. I want to do more stuff like that. If you have an event, and especially if it's in Newcastle as well, because it means I don't have to travel, but if you have an event and you want me to speak at it and tell my story about, you know, mindset, spirituality, manifestation, business send me a DM. I am all up for that. Unless you have been living under a rock, you will also have seen this week that myself and Francesca Amber have been formally announced to do a joint talk at Fern Cotton's Happy Place Festival. Now, for long listeners of the pod, you will know that this is a huge manifestation come true for me, and I think I've even spoke about this previously, like months ago as well, because Last year we went to Happy Place Festival, and afterwards in the hotel room I said to Fran, "I want us to come back this next year, and I want us to talk at it." And then after that, back in November, I met Fearne herself at the business conference that I was at. I'd wrote her a letter because I'm a fangirl. I just knew fine well I wouldn't be able to control myself and, you know, say everything that I wanted to say. My mind tends to go blank when I meet celebs, and I probably would have just come up with like, 'Oh, I used to love you on Saturday mornings watching Dig It,' or something like that. You know, '90s kids will understand. So it looks like she took in what I had to say in my letter anyway. She put in a good word with the management team because they asked us to do the London date of Happy Place on Saturday the 13th of July. It's at Chiswick House and Gardens, and we were absolutely both buzzing at that. But we weren't allowed to formally make the announcement until they had announced it themselves last Friday. But whilst we waited on that announcement being made, they actually messaged me and they said, "Look, we love what you're planning to talk about and having spoke to the rest of the team, we'd love you to also speak at the Manchester event." How wild is that? So we're actually speaking at London at Chiswick House and Gardens, but we're also speaking at Manchester at Tatton Park. So the Manchester date is Saturday the 31st of August for all you northern lot. You can buy tickets for the day, for the weekend, whatever takes your fancy really. We'll also be there for the rest of the day around our talk as well, so please, if you are going, come and say hi. We don't bite. Please come and watch our talk. There'll be free crystals, there'll be a workbook, so don't miss out. Saturday the 13th of July for Chiswick in London, Saturday the 31st of August for Tatton Park in Manchester. Right, anyway, enough of me blabbing. Let's get on with today's episode. So a couple of weeks ago, I really looked into my whole packaging process with sending out crystals from the main shop because I was reading this article online about our carbon footprint and all of these emissions that postage and parcels actually use up. And after finding out that Royal Mail are the worst culprits for this, as well as them being generally dogshit, I went and I moved to Evri. I also discovered a scheme that I could incorporate onto my website whereby for every order that you lot place, I could send a percentage of that order to this company and they will plant a tree on your behalf to offset the carbon footprint. This is wild because I got this little app that incorporates the current numbers into me website. If you haven't seen it already, go and check it out. Go to cannycrystals.co.uk and just underneath the main scrolling image carousel thing, there's there is a green box that says carbon neutral shipping on all orders. And it tells you how much we've actually offset as a company since I installed this at the start of last month. At the minute, it says something like, I think it's like 49,000 smartphones charged. 49,000 smartphones charged. That is wild. That is absolutely batshit crazy. So you lot have managed to offset that with your orders. That's like a football stadium of people all charging their phones, and that's being offset by your orders. I just love it. I love to see it. So I got onto a bit of a sustainability trip, and I thought, how else can I make my business eco-friendly? So I looked at, you know, sending smaller postal boxes rather than the padded envelopes for Tumblestones, for example, because those padded envelopes, they aren't recyclable, whereas everything else in my business is. Obviously the cardboard, the little flyers, the leaflets. You obviously burn the incense. You're using the crystals. The stickers on the front are recyclable. So now we send out around 200 of these little cardboard boxes every single week rather than a plastic bubble mailer envelope. We're saving the planet here, people. So it really made me think about the link between being eco-friendly and spirituality and manifestation. And I'm not going to lecture you all day and say, you know, stop flying around the world on your private jets like Taylor Swift. But there are so many things that we can do to enjoy this eco-spiritual life. So eco-spirituality for me is all about integrating environmentally friendly practices with spiritual practices as well. And it's just acknowledging that our well-being is intrinsically linked to the natural world, because sustainability fits into this, because It's about that interconnectedness between humans and the natural world. So it's not just these environmental concerns, but it's also a holistic view that includes social and economic affairs, which directly influences our spiritual practices and our broader life thoughts. So at its core, sustainability is about caring for the environment in a way that respects and preserves its natural rhythms and resources. And that's a reflection of eco-spiritual values that recognize the Earth as this sacred space. Whose health and well-being are linked to our own. Just like, you know, how we receive different energies from the full moon and the new moon each month. So it's all about that spiritual act of honoring and protecting the Earth, which is seen as a living, breathing organism. So sustainability just highlights that interdependence of all life forms, basically, because it reinforces the eco-spiritual understanding that everything in the universe is connected and that the health of one element directly affects the health of all others. Does that make sense? Hope it does. And I've said this before, but we all have a sense of unity and collective responsibility where really we should all try to act in ways that benefit the whole ecosystem, not just ourselves. So when it comes to manifestation, aligning our daily actions with our spiritual beliefs is crucial. Sustainability offers a concrete way to live out these beliefs as well, because When we make choices that reduce harm to the environment and promote that social equity, we're effectively aligning our actions with our intentions to manifest a better world. This alignment is obviously then going to enhance the power of our manifestations, as it creates that sense of coherence between what we desire and how we live. It's like, let's take The Secret, the book by Rhonda Byrne, for example. I know I always refer back to this book, but It's the book that started it all for me. This isn't about sustainability, but it is a good example of how we create that coherent message. So in the book, Rhonda speaks about someone wanting a long-term life partner, but then having the realisation that they're parking over 2 spaces on their drive at home, or they're using up all the drawer space in the bedroom with their clothes rather than leaving space for someone else, or they might only have 1 plate in the kitchen for food because all the others have smashed. So although that person is putting out there that they want nothing more than this loving partner, their actions are in total contradiction to their wants. Does that make sense? We need to practice things in alignment with our manifestations, and for me, that was sustainability. I don't feel like I can hit that next level and, you know, ship worldwide, say, 1,000 times a week because I know that it wouldn't be eco-friendly. So by installing this new app, by That's offsetting the carbon footprint. That's allowing me to then progress with my manifestation of 1,000 orders a week internationally, guilt-free. Are we following? Let's hope so. Sustainable practices often lead to the cultivation of positive energy, both personally and environmentally, and it's this positive energy which is essential for effective manifestation. So practices such as using renewable energy, Reducing our waste, supporting ethical businesses, that all contributes to a cleaner, more vibrant planet, and therefore they're going to foster a positive mental state that's really conducive and in alignment to manifesting our desires. So we all know that the Law of Attraction suggests that like attracts like. So when we commit to sustainability, we send in a powerful message to the universe about the type of world that we wish to create. So let's be real for a second because, you know, none of us want to see animals die, for example. But look at the Great Barrier Reef. All that coral is dying from pollution, and because of this, the fish that live there are all dying as well. That sounds pretty dramatic, I know, but this commitment can attract more opportunities to engage in other sustainable practices, and that can generate more circumstances that align with sustainable and spiritual growth. Something else that is quite similar between sustainability and manifestation is that sustainable living requires mindfulness, which is a key component of many spiritual practices, not just the Law of Attraction, because being mindful of how our choices impact the environment and other people, that encourages a reflective, meditative approach to daily life. And it's that mindfulness that strengthens the spiritual connection and it enhances the clarity and the focus necessary for all that manifestation as well. So you see, it's all connected. Many sustainable practices can kind of become rituals to us, and they can become habitual because they will reinforce our spiritual intentions. For example, you might choose to compost, like, organic waste. For example, you might decide to recycle things rather than just binning them. You might even choose to use water sparingly instead of the 15-minute showers that you normally have. That last one is aimed at myself because I'm usually doing my tapping routines and visualising my best life and everything else whilst in the shower. Before I know it, I haven't even been washed, but I've been stood under hot running water for 15 minutes solid. Little things like that can become daily rituals that remind us of our commitment to the Earth, and these rituals not only benefit the planet but they also deepen our spiritual lives by embedding a sense of purpose and mindfulness into our routine actions. Sustainability often involves community action and, you know, the sharing of resources and ideas too. So if you feel that you want to get started with your family, do something small to raise awareness, like get yourself a little composting bin for your garden for your food waste, or turn the hot water off once your partner's had more than 5 minutes in the shower. Lol. Sustainability isn't just a component of eco-spirituality, it is a foundation, okay? It enhances the effectiveness of manifestation techniques and it provides you with almost a pathway for living in harmony with the Earth. And the best part is, as more of us embrace this sustainable living, we're going to contribute to a collective energetic shift towards a more spiritually and ecologically balanced world. So moving on from sustainability, I want to talk also about how connecting with nature not only enhances our spiritual and mental well-being, but it also aids in the manifestation of our desires and our intentions as well. So we're still talking about this living, breathing organism called the Earth here, and by delving into practices like grounding, you know, forest bathing, moon bathing, sustainable living, We are uncovering that symbiotic relationship between ecological health and personal spiritual growth. I often say to me members in Manifest With Mart on a Sunday afternoon that I hope everyone's well. I hope that, you know, they've all had that chance to get out for a walk in nature if possible to do so, because connecting with nature can dramatically enhance our spiritual and mental well-being. That is science. It's an actual fact. Activities such as grounding or earthing, you know, walking barefoot on the earth, that really helps to reduce stress and inflammation by absorbing all the negative ions from the ground. This physical connection with the earth can also then lead to a spiritual grounding, you know, a sense of being anchored in something that's greater than ourselves. Crystals do this as well. So black crystals such as an obsidian or a tourmaline, they're grounding. They're connecting us to the earth and therefore all the nature around us. So forest bathing is something else. It's a practice that originated in Japan, and I've wrote down here it is also known as— wherever I wrote it— shinrin-yoku. I do hope I've pronounced that right. Apologies to any Japanese listeners if not. But it's a practice that involves immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the forest. So this practice is shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure. It's shown to reduce stress hormone production and boost the immune system. The spiritual aspect of forest bathing is equally as exciting as well because it offers an opportunity to gain clarity, rejuvenate the spirit, and enhance mindfulness. And that's going to facilitate that deeper connection with our inner self and the surrounding life force, or chi if you're into feng shui. When we align ourselves with the calm and the abundance of nature, we're going to be much more likely to attract that similar energy into our lives. And this is where eco-spirituality intersects with manifestation, because by adopting that attitude of gratitude and mindfulness towards the environment, we foster positive energies that facilitate the manifestation of our goals. So like I mentioned earlier, by minimizing waste, reducing consumption, and respecting all forms of life, we align our actions with our values. And it's that harmony between belief and behavior that magnifies our ability to manifest, because it ensures that our spiritual practices are not just internalized, but they're also externalized in ways that promote all that ecological balance. Something that I've started doing, as much as I fucking hate it, is I've been capturing spiders. And when I say capturing spiders, I don't mean like I'm going out literally hunting for spiders with my, like, my little shotgun or anything. I have been capturing spiders that are running like around the house. Oh my God, it makes me ill just to think about it. I had a nightmare about a huge tarantula the other night. Jesus Christ, I nearly woke the whole house up screaming. Um, but you know, I capture these spiders in my house under a glass or anything like that. I usually have to get Johnny to help because I'm such a fanny, but I will then run across the road from my house and I'll release it. And the reason I do that is so it doesn't come back in my fucking house. But it gives me such incredible anxiety that it's going to run up me arm, and I'm often, you know, screaming as I do it. But I now have in my head that it's not just bad karma, but it's also bad for the environment killing something for no reason. Me mam mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she killed 3 mice in a week with her mousetraps. I was horrified, absolutely horrified. Honestly, I had such a go at her telling her how inhumane like all the different traps are and stuff like that. And her response was, "Well, they shouldn't come in my house then, should they?" So I dug deeper and I asked where they're coming from, and she said, "Oh, there's a hole in the wall outside. They're coming in through the kitchen cupboard." And I was like, "Okay, so have you closed up that hole?" Seriously, I had a go at her last weekend as well because she was on the phone to me and she said, "Oh, there's a bee that's just come in our house and it's just landed on me new flowers." and she killed it. I gave her such a lecture at how bees were good for the ecosystem, and her response was, "Well, one stung me nephew years ago and the sting was pretty bad." So that poor bee had been tarred with the same brush. I know this is taking it to the extreme, stay with me guys. So just taking a little action of releasing the spider, or, you know, releasing the bee, or blocking up that hole that the mice are coming into in your house, that can all help promote that ecological balance that can help us live the life in alignment with our manifestations. And I am not saying all of this to, you know, make you an eco-warrior by any means, by the way. But I am saying it because I want you to really think about how in alignment you are with your manifestations by really getting deep with what you want as opposed to how you're living right now. So I hope that this little reminder made at least one of you listening just think and give thoughts to how you're living instead of just wanting and taking constantly. This work seriously links with gratitude too, because we're appreciating the life and the beauty around us. So it's going to up your gratitude game as well, because it's going to help you manifest from that angle as well. If you've enjoyed this episode, please, please, please leave me a review or a star rating. I really would appreciate it. And just before I shoot, my 21-day manifesting money challenge is back for free. Woohoo! I'll pop the link in the show notes below, but it's also in the link in my bio on Facebook and Instagram as well. It's a 21-day challenge including a free 21-day workbook which is about 100 pages long. You can buy the physical workbook if you really want to, it's on Amazon as well. Just type in Mart Tweedy 21-day manifesting money challenge. Um, but it really helps you to look at your money mindset, and it looks at all the money blocks in your life and why you're not manifesting the money that you deserve to. So visit the link in my bio or the show notes to download it for free right now. And in the meantime, I hope that you all have an amazing weekend. Don't be killing spiders, don't be killing rats or mice or anything like that, and I will see you all next Friday for another episode. Thanks so much for listening, guys. Bye!