Day 237 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - You May Not Experience...

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Lesson 237: You May Not Experience...

We don’t always feel connection with others upon the first meeting. It may take some time or you may need to understand their personalities before you feel some form of Oneness. You might actually feel this with the people that you already have in your life. Then there is the flip side where you gel instantly with strangers and it’s easier with them, than your family and current friends. Today we are to think about a time we felt fully connected to a group of people you didn’t know. What were you doing and what did you experience?

I’ve come to the conclusion that home is where the heart is but also that heart is where your home is. I felt most at home when I started working at a witchcraft store near the start of my spiritual journey. I was so scared of the unknown – whether or not I’d fit in, whether or not it was right for me, whether I’d gel with people. As I slowly got used to feeling comfortable in my own skin, I felt true connection with the customers coming in. I didn’t know anyone personally and even though I was working a retail front, it gave me reign to talk about topics of spirituality that I may not have had normally. It was interesting to find everyone on their personalised journey and what a wide array of learning I needed to do. I am still very much learning but talking to people of all different spiritual paths allowed me to be more open. I loved listening to people’s stories.

As I attended workshops or rituals, I found I was feeling more at home than I ever was. I could connect with complete strangers in ways I didn’t think possible. It gave me an experience I’d never had before. Not saying that in my life I didn’t have good experiences, but I felt with connecting with these strangers, I was more of myself or it opened up a side of myself I didn’t know I had.

I think the concept of Oneness will definitely allow me to be more understanding of interconnected energy. We can all establish true connection if we allow ourselves to be more open.

Day 237 - A Year to Clear - Step Into Stillness

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Lesson 237: Step Into Stillness

Today we are to fill in these statements:

• After one day [ten days] of one minute clearing this week, I am beginning to feel ______

• It is easy [not easy] to "step into" quiet stillness in this way because ______

• It is safe for me to rest the mind because ______

• I must find time to rest because ______

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My answers:

• After one day [ten days] of one minute clearing this week, I am beginning to feel better and lighter.

• It is easy to "step into" quiet stillness in this way because I know I need to do it for me.

• It is safe for me to rest the mind because it adds to my self-care.

• I must find time to rest because it’s good for my overall well-being.

Day 236 - A Year to Clear - The Magic In Repetition

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Lesson 236: The Magic In Repetition

It’s been said repeatedly throughout the practise of clearing that repetition is key. Based on the lesson yesterday of coming up with practises to cultivate stillness, we are to choose one and practise it for 10 days. Each day, it’s about noting down how we feel.

I decided to choose my own practise of closing my eyes and just breathing in through my mouth and out through the nose. As I did this, my body started to feel fuzzy and lighter. I just focused on my breathing and nothing else. It’s easy to escape for a moment and let the worries just go away. It’s definitely a release and a way to switch off. I feel better for it. It’s like a meditation but not quite. I should be able to do this every day. I think the best time to do it would be after work, to actually separate the day from work to home life. I can be inconsistent in my clearing efforts but that’s to say I’m not practising when I can. I will try hard to complete this for 10 days.

Day 236 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Sex, as a Tantra...

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Lesson 236: Sex, as a trantra...

“Sex, as tantra, has been misunderstood by many of you. It is not technique or position, or even breathing. It is allowing yourself to experience Oneness, with another. This can happen in so many ways.”

— Sara Wiseman

Today we are to think about sex being complete for us. Is there something you look for in sex that isn’t about Oneness? What is it?

As I said in yesterday’s post, I don’t know that I have experienced true connection in sex. I think it can be a beautiful experience given that it’s with the right person and it allows you to expand with that person.

I think my own experiences there have been times of passion and lust. I personally have felt used by others and felt physically ill after sex because I think I shouldn’t have given myself away so easily. I think as I’m on this spiritual path, I definitely want someone I can have true connection with. From here, sex allows to have that Oneness with that person.

FYI I am no knocking anyone who has sex for pure enjoyment, fun or passion. Based on these lessons, I’m seeing that it can be so much more – connection, Oneness, energy combined. We should all have the experience of One if we are open to it. I believe it would take connection to another level of understanding.

Day 235 - A Year to Clear - Ways to Cultivate Stillness - One Minute at a Time

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Lesson 235: Ways to Cultivate Stillness - One Minute at a Time

Below is a list that Stephanie Bennett Vogt has cultivated to take moments of time to practise stillness through her own experience. Today we are to think about the ways in which we practise stillness and if they are different to those suggestions below.

“- Rest in beauty: Look up from your screen and place your attention on something beautiful and allow your mind to rest in that.

- Take your time: Deliberately slow down for one minute when your impulse is to speed up (and allow yourself to squirm).

- Insert awareness: Release tension by observing it. See if tightness eases by being a witnessing presence.

- Be curious: Pretend you know nothing; invite wonder; accept mystery as a legitimate state of being.

- Wait and watch: Allow an answer to reveal itself through one of your senses. Don’t force or overthink it.

- Do nothing: Allow things to be just as they are without doing anything to fix or change anything.

- Don’t personalize (since it’s rarely about you): Pretend that everything that does not feel good is not yours. Repeat “It’s not mine.”

- Breathe and release: Breathe deeply from your chest down to your belly through the soles of your feet and into the Earth.

- Wash and release: Use the simple practice of washing your hands (body, dishes) for one minute to quiet your mind and release stress.

- Sit in silence: Sit quietly for one minute with no agenda.”

— Stephanie Bennett Vogt

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My favourite ways to practise stillness include:

·         Closing my eyes for a moment and taking deep breaths in through the nose and breathing our from the mouth.

·         I practise in the shower a visual exercise of closing my eyes and imagining the water is golden light washing over me and washing away any worries and negativity down the drain.

·         I like to be in nature just as it is. Don’t have to do much but just sit there and appreciate.

·         I like putting on some music and allow my thoughts to wander off, so I can just be in the music.

·         Sometimes I like doing nothing… like literally nothing.

·         I like switching off with a TV series that won’t take any brain power to watch it.

·         I sometimes just put on music and dance around because it’s a release.

·         Sometimes I may just go for a walk with no destination.

What are some ways you can get into stillness? There are so many ways to calm everything down to a state of peace. We just need to be aware that it’s needed and we just have to take the step to want to be in it.