the awakening journey
week 1: A World Divided - Life on Automatic Pilot
Do you live in a world divided on every level of existence?
Everywhere, you see people of all walks of life, of all persuasions, of all beliefs and affiliations in disunity with each other, knowingly or unknowingly, existing as islands unto themselves.
*art my maine shaman
Being spiritually asleep simply means being unaware that anything outside of your perceived reality exists.
For example: Who you are - beyond your physical body? Why you are here - beyond the physical experience? How you came to be - beyond the scientific facts and explanations. You have no knowledge, nor understanding that you are choosing and creating the life you are experiencing. In essence you are "blindfolded" to the world beyond yourself.
You are blindfolded to the knowledge that you are so much more than you currently understand. Until you begin to awaken spiritually you may only have glimmers of this knowledge.
How do we return to our natural state of peace & harmony?
When living in a world of chaos and uncertainty, what can we do to ground and calm our mind & body? How do we relax our nervous system? How can we release the uneasiness & the feeling of being overwhelmed or in fear?
We are branches on the tree of life. Just like the branches of a tree, we are connected as a whole to the universal source of life, we are connected to each other, whether we realize it or not. Ground. Heal. Build. Nourish. Love. As Above, So Below.
Exercise:
Stand Tall, Ideally barefoot, on the earth and imagine yourselff as the tree of life, inhaling its energy and wisdom from its roots, deep within the earth. Take a moment and feel its connection to life and all that is. Slowly breathe this energy all the way up to your crown, where it meets with the energy of the divine. Hold this breath. Now imagine pulling in white divine light coming from far above, as it co-mingles with the energy of the earth. Let it trickle down each branch that you are, into each twig, each leaf and down your trunk, tinto your roots, connecting you back into the ground. Repeat as many times as you like.
The Collective Consciousness
I live in a rural community. Small town, big heart. One can feel the good energy here. People are drawn to our area for the simpler lifestyle it offers. Nature in abundance.
However, you may live in a beautiful community but your inner self community does not feel that beautiful lifestyle. You may resonate more like the picture on the left. Non-stop chaos. Living on the treadmill from the moment you wake up. Moving to get everyone out the door. Go, go, go. Shower, coffee—can’t deal today without coffee—thinking, grab your lunches, race for the bus, move, move, move. It doesn’t matter what city you live in; the collective consciousness is pretty similar. Wake up! get up! go! Do!
I did this. My life choices led me to the insurance world. The world of fear. Fear of the “what ifs.” I sold the fear of what if you’re in an accident, what if you slip and fall, what if your home catches fire, what if your commercial building collapses under snow load, what if someone sues you? The collective unconsciousness and consciousness that I found and attracted agreed. I found myself in fear of lack and limitation, fear of losing everything, fear of the death of loved ones. I felt alone. I felt alone in a family of five. I did not stop to breathe.
I started to realize this wasn’t working. I wanted more. More calm, more love, more light, more abundance of happiness. The words “I have to work to provide for my family” could be changed to “I want to provide for my family.” Changing the narrative to a peaceful, grateful morning before work and choosing to be happy was a new collective consciousness I wanted to attract. I desired more for all of us. So the reality of riding to work with a basket of flowers was becoming more of a reality. I could feel it. I could taste it. I began this journey to follow my heart, and in doing so, I wanted this for the world. Because I wanted the world to have flowers. That work is what I want to attract. I want the world to stop and smell the roses everyday. I wanted the world to stop and breathe. Together this collective vibration is a powerful vision for me. I choose to love.
Your pre-programmed responses to events and circumstances and ego-influenced thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors.
Have you ever noticed that the repetition of events and the commonality of attitudes, beliefs, and opinions emitted by ourselves and others seem all too preprogrammed?
Why do we so often respond to internal and external events similarly? Why do we share common beliefs or opinions about certain circumstances in life that happen to us, around us, and throughout the world? Why do we automatically say "fine" when someone asks how we feel? Do we ever stop and take a moment to consider that the commonality of responses in such diverse people points to a vast repository of human thoughts, feelings, emotions, words, and behaviors?
These preprogrammed responses are commonly shared and prompted by real-life events and circumstances we consciously or unconsciously tap into.
This collective expression is common to all mankind and encompasses the human experience. It is created, empowered, and sustained by all humanity's thoughts, emotions, feelings, words, and behaviors—they directly shape and influence how we respond emotionally, mentally, and physically to everything we may face in life as long as we remain spiritually asleep.
You are more than just a physical body
At night, do you look at the sky? What do you see, feel or wonder is beyond the unknown inky black sky dotted with shimmering stars? When you look in the mirror, what do you see beyond the physical image? Have you asked the question, who am I? Why am I here? We are so much more than just a physical body. We are energy and we can receive, sense & feel it. Everything on earth has an energy frequency. For instance, sound is the perfect example. It has an energy and frequency that we naturally respond to by feeling or hearing its vibration. Everything on earth, including ourselves has its own natural energy and frequency.
Our mind imagines, creates, deciphers, defines and stores information. We allow it to control our thoughts and sometimes how we react & respond to life. This is called ego. We are also spirit. What does that mean? When you allow yourself to follow your path of awakening, you learn to become the true essence of living in spirit. You learn to let go of ego and live a life of joy as you walk your path on earth. We are body, mind and spirit.
Summary. We began your journey of discovery to remember who you are. Through this process, you also understand why you are here and your purpose - why you came into your physical experience.
This process begins when you first become aware that you live in a world divided on every level of the human experience, characterized by strife, disharmony, fear, and every expression of chaos. It begins with a feeling inside that what you feel within and observe around you no longer resonates as truth or the way you desire to live your life.
Preconceived notions, commonly held opinions, attitudes, beliefs, and well-learned behaviors that are still a part of who you previously believed you were but now discover yourself no longer to be may continue to play out in your experiences. However, these patterns of thought, emotions, words, and behaviors no longer give you a feeling of comfort, contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, well-being, or peace.
You realize that all of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and all that you believed yourself to be are being played out in your experiences without any conscious thought on your part—these preprogrammed responses were automatic, but did they truly represent who you believed you were, or were you acting out what others told you that you are or who they thought you should be?
No matter the collective consciousness source of these identifiers, they no longer give you a feeling of comfort, of knowing who you really are. At this moment, you may be asking yourself an important question - who are you? Why do you identify yourself according to what other people think or insist that you should be? You may feel empty, unfulfilled, uneasy, and restless - you are left with a feeling that there has to be more to life, much more, than you have previously thought was possible. Not only must there be more to life, but you must also be more than just a physical body.
