Illness is just another pathway to awakening.

“Believing that we ‘create our own illness’ and that with ‘better’ practice we can ‘defeat’ it, is another version of believing in sin and salvation. Sickness, old age, and death are natural parts of life; and pain simply is. None of them are sins, enemies, or failings.” ~Ezra Bayda~ 

I read of a conversation between teacher and student once. To paraphrase: The student asked, “Teacher, how can I tell if my illness is karmic, trying to teach me something or an imbalance created by my actions?” The teacher replied, “I don’t know. Begin by clearing any internal blockages, do your work, move into love and forgiveness for everyone. If it remains it is simply what your soul requires in this moment to awaken.”

Our human experiences will take us many places. None is right or wrong, each is simply another aspect of person-hood. Illness can be a teacher in a multitude of ways. It can remind us that we need to nurture ourselves if stress or overwork has created an imbalance. It might allow us to meet someone with whom we have a healer/healed karma – perhaps we helped them to heal in another life and now we must have a situation that allows them to return that gift. In the journey toward wholeness, perceived problems lead us to discover certain teachers, books or knowledge that we would never have been part of our explorations without the imbalance.

When the body begins to change, keep stillness inside of you. See yourself and the various aspects of of your journey without judgment. There is sacredness to be discovered within any situation. Always begin with the knowledge that everything works toward your highest good, move into stillness and acceptance and make any necessary decisions based upon love rather than fear.

When you shine the light of consciousness, everything is transformed.

“If you understand it, the world is a great device to make you more conscious. Your enemy is your friend, and the curses are blessings, and the misfortunes can be turned into fortunes. It depends only on one thing: if you know the key of awareness.” ~Osho~ 

Do not run from the darkness when it appears in your life. Moments of confusion, disappointment, depression or anger can become the most important aspects of your spiritual awakening. Begin your practice by bringing consciousness into your experience right now. First, walk for a few minutes while completely engaged in thought. Then, while standing still, take a few slow breaths and begin to walk consciously while deeply engaged with the world around you. Notice the difference? 

The idea is to purposely access consciousness often throughout the day. This will change the quality of your life experiences. Being aligned with the present moment, tension disappears and the subtle joy of being alive arises. 

When you are deeply rooted in awareness, you’ll notice that you eat slower. There will be a new quality in your communication or your work. Life becomes a walking meditation. By extension, when challenges arise, your consciousness will be easier to access because it is already an active aspect of your daily experience… and from there, transformation is possible.

Find what brings you peace and balance and allow that to be your expression of life.

“Laziness means that you have dropped out of the creativity of the universe – you are standing aside while the universe goes on creating, day in day out.” ~Osho~ 

Consistent practice opens our energy to new ways of expressing the creative force of life. Whether prayer, meditation, yoga, mindfulness or gratitude, the key is to make it an ongoing, consistent aspect of your daily journey. 

As with anything we do, practice makes it easier. It tones those spiritual muscles and makes our journey effortless. Even extreme challenges don’t seem to disengage those who have a powerful daily spiritual routine.   

Many people are very focused when they begin to awaken. They discover various tools that create greater joy and satisfaction and when life begins to go well, some forget to continue making their spiritual practice a priority. Life takes over for a time until a challenge disrupts their peaceful balance and reminds them to begin again.   

A flash flood can move things and create dramatic immediate changes in the landscape; however, it is the slow, consistent drip of water that alters the shape of a rock. Find what works best for you and do it until it becomes an easy routine. 

This nightly communication with my angels and inspirational writing began as an experiment. It has created ease and grace in my experience and played a greater role than any book, workshop or course I’ve explored in my development. I do not set an alarm or purposely seek inspiration. It simply occurs one day at a time and is a joyful expression of my way of being in the world.  

Make your practice this: Harm no one… including yourself.

“Truly healing suffering requires experiencing in your very cells, the distress that arises when you hold to your requirements that life be other than it is.” ~Ezra Bayda~ 

When considering the various levels of consciousness, love and judgment are at opposite ends of the spectrum. They cannot coexist. Observe any judgmental thoughts that arise and recognize that this is a moment filled with infinite possibility. Why are you choosing to limit your experience with the expectation of bad behavior or challenges when you can instead accept life as it is and create greater joy?

Judgment is always ego-driven. When combined with a feeling of victimization, it creates pain. When combined with hatred, we are seeking to inflate our sense of self-worth. Whether aimed at someone else or directed inward, judgment says that the situation is wrong.

Love calls upon us to look past idiosyncrasies. Rather than seeing them as flaws we begin to recognize them as unique expressions of the divine as well as aspects that may be ready to be released. Our love creates a space in which a transformation is possible.

For each of us, our struggles are simply vehicles of awakening. Let’s support one another through this very important process. By choosing to see the best in others, you may help them to see it in themselves.

Everything that unfolds in your experience is an opportunity to awaken.

“Looking with a mind that’s awake shows the pulsating, shimmering beauty of life. Looking with mind engaged in thought shows only your thoughts.” ~Ezra Bayda~ 

When something goes “wrong” the ego creates a story in order to lay blame, justify actions, give up, procrastinate or generally move one into a position of victimhood. In moments of unawareness, we allow these stories to repeat unchecked in the mind until we come to believe them or we may repeat them to all who will listen in an attempt to have others agree with that mental position. Both scenarios solidify the story.

Whether this occurs in a personal relationship, through the collective experiences of gender, sexuality, politics, religion or familial patterns, the approach to healing is the same: taking personal responsibility.

The journey from victimhood to empowerment begins within. When we choose to honor the moment as sacred, see the challenge as an opportunity to grow and immediately drop the story line, we begin to shift the energy in a way that allows us to transform repetitive behavior into conscious awareness. Events that are seemingly random are, in actuality, a response from the call of your soul. When we are ready to heal a particular issue, life will facilitate a circumstance that provides an opportunity to break free from old energy.

Despite appearances, you are never a victim. You are a soul seeking to awaken and have more support, guidance and love around you than you can imagine.

All the energy that you send out into the Universe returns to you.

“Can you imagine living in a world where paying too much, giving too much and trusting too much would all inevitable make you more? Yeah, everything makes you more in time and space. Especially spending, giving, and trusting in excess.” ~Mike Dooley~ 

We live in a world of limitless possibility. Whatever you choose to send out will return to you ten-fold. Mindfulness calls upon us to recognize the power of intention. When you pay bills, send that money out with gratitude. When others succeed, celebrate with them. When you have an opportunity to share your gifts, light up the world with your passion and joy.

Place your focus only upon that which you wish to experience. Love yourself through self-approval and self-acceptance. Spend time with those who support and reflect the very best in you.

It’s important to nurture your entire being – mind, body and spirit. Your soul will thrive when every choice you make is beneficial to your well-being in some way. Healthy food, yoga, conscious breath, meditation, forgiveness and gratitude are practices that lift your energy higher. Weave mindful moments throughout your day and you will be able to tap into your infinite potential.

Our subconscious beliefs silently run our lives.

“We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs.” ~Louise Hay~ 

When arranging the circumstances of this incarnation prior to birth, you chose the perfect parents, life situation and personality traits to facilitate the particular lessons you wanted to explore in this life. Perhaps you wanted to experience the transformation of poverty to success, insecurity to strength,  unworthiness to self-love or addiction to empowerment.

Remember, the soul’s only desire is to awaken; therefore, in conjunction with your spiritual guides, angels and ancestors, you set the necessary energy in motion to create the life situations that would inspire your soul to awaken.

It can be challenging to recognize the subconscious beliefs that silently run our lives. We must look to our repetitive experiences in order to determine what they are. Without judgment, we are called upon to observe limiting beliefs and go through the process of releasing all that blocks us from gratitude and joy.

Periodically, you’ll experience the ecstasy of breakthrough. It may come and go in a flash as the ego-mind seeks to pull us back into the known through inner resistance or the behavior of others that seems to sabotage our efforts to change. See this resistance as an indicator that great change is at hand and push through consciously and consistently. You are on an adventure of your own creation. Live your story, love those who assist you in your awakening and enjoy the journey.

Act from the heart and allow life to unfold as it will.

“Trust is yes. Knowing that this existence is our mother, that nature is our source and it can’t be against us. It can’t be inimical to us. Seeing this, understanding this, trust arises.” ~Osho~ 

Life, by it’s very nature, is constantly evolving, transforming and uncontrollable. Our role in this process is to learn how to recognize and step into the flow of energy, rather than fight against it. Our human perception is very narrow and to think that we can plan and rationalize the world around us accurately is laughable.

A higher source of truth moves through you. When the focus is on creating balance in your experience and detachment from the mechanisms of the ego-mind, you can trust the processes of life knowing that you are safe, guided, protected and loved each and every step of the way. This is not to say that challenges won’t arise – it only means that there is always a purpose to the challenges we face and trust keeps us from moving into resistance.

The key is learning how to trust even when you feel doubt. Do not wait for the doubt to disappear; instead, realize that trust absorbs doubt and transforms it into empowerment.

You are a powerful co-creator of your own experience.

“When we first meet people, we inevitably see them through the filters of our associations, expectations, and projections. Over time, as the filters diminish, we may feel betrayed or deceived. ‘You’re not the person you were when we first met!’ Of course they’re not – in fact, they never were.” ~Ezra Bayda~ 

There are billions of people on the earth with whom we can play. No matter what your soul is ready to experience, you will draw in the perfect people, circumstances, teachers and lessons to facilitate your spiritual work. At times it can be challenging because the ego wants to thrive through creating struggle; however, the possibility of growth, healing, love and spiritual insight is always there. We have the ability to rise above limiting thought.

As we awaken and move into higher levels of consciousness, we discover the power of intention as well as the subtle but powerful ways that we often sabotage our own efforts. Slow down and take the time to ensure that your thoughts, words and actions support one another.

Those who are stuck in fear or anger trigger the fear and anger of those with whom they come in contact. These energies often collide and wreck havoc in their daily experiences. Conversely, those who choose love draw love into their experience. When you learn how to consciously direct the type of energy you send out into the world, you play an empowered role in your own awakening.

Old souls teach by example. Let your life be your message.

“Your Old Soul [aspect] has the ability to rise above the mundane events of life and put you in touch with the greater purpose of being here.” ~From Michael, The Basic Teachings~ 

Our world is primarily inhabited by Mature and Young souls; therefore, as an Old Soul, you may not have had many role models. One aspect of being an older soul is learning that it’s okay not to fit in. Most Old Souls struggle with unworthiness and that struggle typically plays a specific role in our awakening. Your belief system is probably a unique perception that has been cultivated after studying many different spiritual approaches.

We must learn detachment, acceptance and humor in order to see ourselves objectively. Utilizing this higher level of awareness, we are able to go with the flow more easily than younger souls. Prior to leaving this plane for new experiences, Old Souls must assist others with their spiritual journey.

The final Old Soul lesson is unconditional love for themselves and others. We must release everything that blocks us from love and learn to honor all paths as sacred. Act with integrity, do your best, accept what is. You are here to make a difference. Be being yourself, you participate in the awakening of our collective consciousness.