Numerology tells us that we go through cycles that last approximately seven years. The more we are aware of these cycles, the better we can learn from them and the richer our lives become.

I have just completed a major cycle in my life - the 7 times 7 cycle. To me this means that everything in my life has over the past six months been turned upside down in a way that makes my jaw drop, but that is a story for another day.

What I am aware of is that I am seriously entering a new life phase in my life - a far more challenging one than I have ever experienced, and it is so exciting. That is what my heart and mind says, but there is evidence to the contrary in my body. Let me explain.

In my experience each new phase conquers more fear and expands my awareness massively. With every change I become more aware of the power of the prayer of Jabez.This prayer is in the Bible in 1 Chronicles 4:10 and reads as follows: "Oh that thou wouldst bless me and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from harm harm so that it might not hurt me". Each life change enlarges my border in the sense that more false illusions are broken down and more blessings come my way. Read the book The Prayer of Jabez for a very insightful explanation of the prayer.

I regularly deal with clients that are going through these big life changes, and in the readings that I do the changes are often described as shedding a new skin. It conjures up the picture of us leaving an old, dry skin behind, but this only happens at the right time when the new skin is in place. The new skin is soft and beautiful like a new baby skin, and something to treasure and enjoy. The process of moving from one skin or phase to the new one of course leaves us vulnerable and sometimes feeling alone on our spiritual journeys, because we often forget that we have been in this space before.

Because I have started to recognise the pattern and my awareness has grown over the years, it has become easier for me to recognise the new cycle. Of course when you know you are at the bottom of a foothill, you forget to look back at the part of the mountain you have conquered, and only see the series of foothills ahead of you. It then becomes so easy to resist and to say this is too much for me, I cannot do this, I want to have a break and so on.

That is what happened to me. My mind and heart know that there are exciting times ahead, but my body decided to resist. Of course our bodies simply express the state of our souls ' like a barometer, and I had fears that I did not want to acknowledge to myself.

I am normally in very good health and have never been allergic to anything in my life. Imagine my surprise when recently I woke up one morning, covered in dark red spots, literally from head to toe. My first thought was that I had picked up some contagious disease and I was at the doctor's surgery before opening time.

The diagnosis was an allergic reaction that attacked all the hair follicles on my body and caused inflammation in every single one of them. It took about a week for the red spots to turn into ' you guessed it ' baby pink spots, and then to disappear.

For the next three weeks my skin was as dry as yes - a snake skin. By the time the tiny scabs came off, I was still puzzled as to why this had happened.

Then I had a dream about leaving my body and not liking the experience at all. I found this quite strange for various reasons. Firstly I had left my body on various occasions before, but this always happened when I was awake. On each occasion I can remember leaving and returning, but I cannot re-member what happened while I was out of my body. After each experience I could identify a distinct difference in the way my mediumship progressed, and the effect has always been a pleasant surprise.

The second reason why I found this dream strange was that in the dream I did not like being out of my body at all. Even though I cannot re-member what I experience while I am away, I know it is always pleasant and something to look forward to.

Then suddenly I realised what it was about. I have been resisting the changes, and the allergic reaction was in its own way a message from my body to me that I was "shedding my skin" as part of the new cycle that I have been entering. The message is now quite clear: I can resist the changes in my life, but they will happen anyway because they are part of my Path. I need to let go of any fears that I have, because I know that those fears are only illusions. I have learnt to trust my inner compass, and there is no reason under the sun why it would fail me this time.

And guess what? I have not made any changes in my diet, and the allergy is mostly gone. And in terms of the changes in my life, I am white-water rafting and screaming at the top of my voice, because I enjoy the ride and not because I am afraid.