A Personal Journey of Spiritual Enlightenment

Sometimes I find myself thinking, with youthful enthusiasm and impatience, “I want spiritual enlightenment, and I want it now!” I liken it to some great accomplishment or place within me that I will some day be. But enlightenment isn’t a video game; It doesn’t lie in some magical place at the end of my journey. I have the theory, or knowledge, that it is the journey. It’s in each and every moment. When I find, even briefly at times, that place of stillness that can only be found in the moment, in that moment, I am enlightenment.

Even with all my theories and knowledge, of which I am so very grateful, I sometimes forget that it is the experience that makes it real and true for me. The answer can only be found in the question, and once found, seems to lose its importance. But I’m okay with that – most of the time – as I’ve found, and have been saying for years now, the more I learn the less I know. The depth of one’s soul is not in having the answers, but in knowing to ask the question.

One great question I remember asking myself years ago was, completely without judgment, in a place of childlike innocence and curiosity, was “What would possess someone to become a hypnotherapist?” What was most interesting about the way in which I asked this question was, (1) It was more a feeling than spoken intellectually with words, and (2) That I cared more about the path of one’s life that brought them to that place than the decision itself.

For me, I just decided one day. It wasn’t some long, thought-out process, but was more about the path of natural healing within the body (through herbs and nutrition), and the connection with energies that I had been exploring for a number of years. It was a natural evolution for me, just as incorporating nutrition and energy work into my practice of hypnosis and meditation seems for me now, even though there was more “conscious thought” put into the latter process.

I guess, no… I feel that I have always known this was the work I would be doing. However, I had to allow the process to evolve in its own time. As Sue Monk Kidd states in her book, When the Heart Waits

The fullness of one’s soul evolves slowly. We’re asked to go within to gestate the newness God is trying to form; we’re asked to collaborate with grace. That doesn’t mean that grace isn’t a gift. Nor does it mean that the deliberate process of waiting produces grace. But waiting does provide the time and space necessary for grace to happen. Spirit needs a container to pour itself into. Grace needs an arena in which to incarnate. Waiting can be such a place, if we allow it.

Where is your passion and energy being focused?

People can, and do, become physically addicted to their emotions, just as one would become addicted to heroin. How exactly does this occur? The same “receptor sites” on the cells that accept the neuro-peptides released by the brain when experiencing different emotional states are the one’s used to accept addictive substances. Once you become addicted to the “high” of stress, drama and fighting, you will be unconsciously looking for situations in your life to feed that addiction.

Have you heard of the String Theory? It states that the particles that make up atoms may not be the little “dots” that we once believed them to be. Instead, they are “strings” that vibrate at different frequencies. Just as when you place two pianos in a room, hit a specific note on one, the same note on the other piano will vibrate, this is how the atoms work. So when we are bombarding our bodies with specific neuro-peptides (made up of atoms, made up of vibrating strings) that give us the “high” we are looking for, we are actually physically changing the make-up of our bodies. These strings are then “vibrating” at a specific frequency, attracting people and situations into our lives to feed into that very addiction so our brain will again give us another dose of the “drug” the body is craving.

Ever find yourself experiencing the following:

• “Destructive emotional states.
• “Same situations over and over.
• “Inability to change.
• “Feeling helpless to create something new.
• “Deep cravings for certain emotional responses.
• “Voices [not literal] in the head saying “I want. Give me, give me!”
• “Saying you’ll never do something ever again, then 3 hours later, doing it.”

(above quote from the book, “What The Bleep Do We Know?!”)

Sounds like addiction to me. I myself have been working through my own emotional addictions since learning all of this. Paying attention to the people and situations that I attract into my life, and using them as a mirror to find what in my life I am doing/feeling to attract these things to me.

There was also a study in Washington DC a few years back on meditation. They got 4000 people together to meditate in the DC area over one summer, claiming that this will lower the violent crime rate by 25%. The local police, at first, stated that it would take two feet of snow that summer to lower the crime rate by that degree. However, by the end, the police dept. was the study’s biggest supporters because that summer the violent crime rate was lowered by 25%. Incidentally, after the study was over, and all those in the meditation study left, the crime rate went back up.

This goes to show that we are all connected on some way. So when many people are focusing their energy into something, be it positive or negative, others are influenced. Think about the state of the economy right now and how many people are focused on how “bad” it is. What are we, as a whole, attracting? This is why it’s important to pay attention to the people and situations you attract into your life. It may be affecting more than just you, and could have long-term effects on the world we leave behind for our children. If you believe in reincarnation, it’s also the world you may be coming back to as well in your next life. If that doesn’t fit into your personal belief system, just pretend it was a joke.

My workshop, the Law of Attraction: Self-Esteem & the Physical Reaction goes into even more detail. Please feel free to check out the “Events” section of my website, www.UseTheAdvantage.com to learn more about where and when the next workshop will be taking place. Feel free to also check out my Facebook Fan Page to learn more.

If you are a business owner who would like to schedule this workshop to be given in your location, please feel free to contact me at 609-792-3056.

Guided Meditation Workshop – December 5, 2008

Learning the Art of Meditation

Group Guided Meditation Workshop

Friday, December 5, 2008
6:30pm – 8:00pm

Hosted by Dragonfly Yoga & Pilates Core Center
Location: 176 Route 70, Medford, NJ 08055
Cost: $20/person

Just as when we were children, learning to ride a bike, or read and write, what seemed to come so easily to those around us was completely foreign to us. We had to learn each of these practices and over time, perfected it in our own, unique way. It’s unfortunate that in today’s society we are not taught as children to tap into this amazingly powerful gift that we were all born with, this gift that is stored in the minds of each and every one of us. Luckily, it’s never too late!

Learning The Art of Meditation

We exercise our bodies through walking, running, swimming, going to the gym, Pilates, etc. We all know the benefits of physical exercise, we see the results in how we look and how our clothes fit. We feel the results in increased energy and strength. But true health is not merely a physical condition. Health is complete well being and balance, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

So, how do we exercise, strengthen and increase our mental and emotional energy?

The answer has been around and practiced by many cultures for over 5000 years. It encompasses a wide range of spiritual, mental and emotional practices and can lead one to the achievement of a higher state of consciousness, increased focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more peaceful, calm and relaxed state of mind. The answer is meditation.

A Beautiful 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise Retreat

How would you like to spend the last long weeks of winter this year? How about watching the sunrise break over the open ocean as you begin early morning sun salutations at 6:15, then nourishing your body at a breakfast buffet  …Or sleeping in ’til noon and waking up on a sunny water slide? Enrich your day with a full availability of workshops, yoga and Pilates classes… settle in for nighttime meditation at 10:00pm (and get zen on the dance floor afterwards perhaps??).

Cruise the Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival “Liberty” with Pilates Core Center March 21 – 28, 2009. We will depart out of Miami and visit San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Join us on a retreat of world and self-exploration in pursuit of wellness, balance and personal growth (and fun!!).

Enjoy a week of Pilates and Yoga classes, meditation, workshops on wellness, nutrition, as well a other topics of interest…all this and more!!!