Guardian Angels and Other Staff Members

Relax. They've got you.

[This is a repost from January 2024, for my dear friend and fellow Yogi, Amy. I love you.]

A yoga student of mine recently revealed that she takes a moment after we say Namaste at the end of class to pray to her Guardian Angels and to her father (who died last year) to help and guide her through daily life and interactions with family and work. My immediate thought was followed by a Tourette’s-like response: “isn’t that their (Guardian Angels) job?” While I understand and respect what she was sharing with me about her spiritual practices, I could not help but wonder why one would imagine said Angels of the Guardian kind would potentially be in the breakroom taking a nap while awaiting our instructions via prayer. Aren’t Guardian Angels, by their very description, always guarding and watching over us? Why would a request on our part be necessary? Surely these Angels are not off on vacation or taking a coffee-break as we mortals are out here flailing around helpless.

After I verbally painted her the above “Angels in the breakroom” picture, my friend clarified that it was more about being “ready and open to their guidance” rather than a prayerful request for action. This is a definitive clarification - setting an intention for us to be more available to receive guidance is different than asking for attention in the form of help when it is supposed to be already happening on a kind of autopilot like insurance coverage. Still, I wondered…don’t the Guardian Angels know all about our intention (or lack thereof) of readiness and openness? Aren’t they hanging out there in the ether in a state of rapt attention? I mean - these are quite important beings, if you believe in them.

Due to their importance combined with my belief in them, I expect their role involves preemptively knowing and anticipating our daily needs, problems, and traumas while we are all out here living our lives, making our mistakes, performing our good works, and displaying lovingkindness toward dogs. Additionally, are they not ours? Aren’t they our very own personal Angels? They are not the Guardian Angels of the Galaxy or the Guardian Angels of the Democratic Party. I am absolutely certain that Jennifer Lopez has different Guardian Angels than I do. We do not have to get in line or take a number. This is one of the few things in life that I rely on to be true without needing to see a meta-analysis laboratory trial stat.

My friend also mentioned that she talks to her father, who died a little over a year ago. I can absolutely relate. I talk to my mother, my uncle Bill, my friends Christopher, and Paula, all who died way, way too young. I refer to them as my Spiritual Staff. I will typically ask them to watch over me as I do something difficult or ask them to give me a spiritual helping hand with something. Unlike my Guardian Angels, I do not expect my Spiritual Staff to know what’s up. In fact, I am almost sure they are not paying attention to me very much - they have their own afterlives to live, after all.

If you are unsure of all this speaking to beings/entities that aren’t seemingly in the room with you, think about those infrequent occasions when you feel so relieved, happy, grateful, or just had a major brush with death or dismemberment, that you find yourself saying out loud, “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Then ask yourself this: who are you talking to?

I tend to get heavy-lidded and dozy when I watch movies from the 50s, so even though I have seen only parts of It’s a Wonderful Life, I am aware of a Guardian Angel by the name of Clarence in it. He was assigned by God or another supernatural being up there in the aforementioned ether to George Bailey. Some belief systems state that God dispatches Guardian Angels to us. The prophet Muhammad said that all humans have ten Guardian Angels, and for others (the better-behaved ones?) up to 100 of them. I am not sure what that differentiation is based on - perhaps Geminis and Republicans need more help than the rest of us - but however many we have been assigned; we are not alone. We have abundant help at hand.

So, rather than focusing on our perceived need to herald the rally cry of “huddle up” to our Guardian Angels and/or deceased friends and relatives, I think it is our job to “listen up.” Our intention brings their attention. Asking for help is fruitless unless we are willing to listen to the response. It is us who are the ones on a break, on vacation, taking a nap, looking at our phone, being distraught and distracted, bewildered, and otherwise busy racing someone to the next red light. It is our job to heed all the incoming information no matter how it is packaged or at what moment it comes to us. Our challenge is to listen, process, and then act accordingly. This is how problems are solved, how healing happens, and how we become more empathetic.

In the realm of yoga, this is called cultivating awareness. Awareness is muted if we live in a cluttered mess of house, home, and email inboxes. However, we can cultivate our listening skills. We can pay attention to our dreams and intuition; to the movies, books and music that make our bodies tingle.

Think about all the messages that you have received but have ignored or put off. What were the consequences of that neglect? I am sure the captain of the Titanic had a moment of regret after he chose to disregard the many ice warnings coming from various ships on the night of April 14th, 1912. Interestingly, there were a few ticketholders for that maiden voyage who refused to board the ship because their intuition, a “sense of foreboding,” or a voice in their head told them not to. They listened and lived.

Throw out (or up) a “thank you” to your Angels on a regular basis while simultaneously putting it out there that you are working on your listening skills; you are poised and ready for incoming information. You are tuned in, ear to the ground, antennae up. You are open to receiving messages in all forms, ready for their guidance.

Playlist: The Enchantment

Blessings & Comfort,

Photo credits: Top and center - Images by Freepik | Bottom - Image by Coolvector on Freepik