TAKE THE PATHWAY OF STILLNESS: FOCUS ON INNER TRUTH AND WHOLENESS
“Transcendent experiences are those rare moments where you are lifted above the hustle and bustle of daily life and you feel connected to a higher (some might even say sacred) reality. For many people it is something that you experience in a religious or spiritual setting through prayer or meditation. For others, it is something you experience in nature — looking up at the stars at night, contemplating your own smallness and insignificance in the grand scheme of things. These experiences shift your perspective. You feel your own smallness in the presence of something much bigger. What that does is it makes not only you feel small, but also your problems and your anxieties — all the things that you worry about and think are important feel smaller, and it puts you in touch with what actually matters. And even though it makes you feel smaller, which can be a terrifying feeling, it also makes you realize that you are connected to something much bigger. And that can be wonderfully reassuring.” Emily Esfahani Smith
Anthropologist John Perkins visited a tribe in the remote African savannah. They were a poor tribe who struggled daily to provide food and shelter, and were constantly at the mercy of a harsh environment. And yet Dr Perkins, one evening sitting around the fire, sharing a humble dinner with his hosts, realized how happy these people were. So he asked one of the elders how this could be so under such conditions. The elder said, “We belong to each other and we belong to the earth. That is what makes us happy.”
An unborn baby in the womb is immersed in the sound of her mother’s pulse. It is the music she listens to for nine months, that fills her soul with comfort and the knowledge that she is not alone. It connects her to a loving person, to nature and the earth. Within the pulse is the nourishment and connection she needs to live, giving her a sense of belonging. She finds security that will give her energy, faith and willingness to express the perfection of the universe through her little body as it grows.
When the child is born, he continues to receive security and nourishment through breastmilk and being closely held by family members. As the child grows, he receives the universal pulse through a network of like-minded friends and family and a growing connection with the natural world. He is taught to be curious, that making mistakes in the process of discovery is natural and to interact with others through kindness because those around him model and teach kindness to him.
At least this is the ideal outcome.
However, for most people, this is not true. Almost immediately after birth, many do not experience the basic need for love, nourishment and validation. As the child grows, the need to control their behavior becomes a system of punishments, withholding affection, or trigger frustration or anger in an adult.
Even if our parents and teachers are well-intentioned, they still made mistakes that left imprints on our hearts. Even if the children around us were mostly kind, there were probably others who bullied or made fun of us, and made us feel separate and ashamed. In a child’s mind, this can lead to a lifelong struggle to feel connected, belonging and nourishment. This kind of experience can lead to ongoing anxiety, feeling stuck, lonely or unable to sleep, leading to a lack of energy for life and work.
Your answers from the assessment indicate that it is time for you to reconnect with the pulse of deeper truth in your life. It is time to find your sense of grounding, security, safety and stability even in an ever-changing world by sinking into silence and stillness.
For most people, this can be a difficult. Often we have to let go of the things we cling to for comfort and face our fear of rejection, yet it doesn’t have to be a painful process. All you need is a nourishing, supportive environment that validates the innocence, purity and truth within. Unconditional love found in your own heart which can be reflected back to you by a community of caring people can set your inner truth free.
Each of us face a time in our life where the desire to be truly seen overpowers our fear of rejection. The need to express what we know to the world can overcome the fear of being argued with, invalidated or demeaned. If you have reached this point, congratulations! There is a time of great rebirth and creativity sourced from your inner truth. It is the pulse of the universe resonating and aligning to the pulse of your own heart.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR STILLNESS RETREAT HERE
TAKE THE PATHWAY OF SPLASH: FOCUS ON PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT & FINDING PURPOSE
“Purpose comes from taking the best within you - your strengths - and using them to give back in some way. For many of us that happens through the work that we do. That is what makes us feel needed. That is what gives us a role to play in society. Without something worthwhile to do, people flounder. Indeed, lacking purpose is a hazard to our health. That’s because purpose gives you something to live for. It gives you a reason to drive forward.” ~ Emily Esfahani Smith
Most people are taught to be afraid. Even through peace and belonging experienced during meditation or enjoying time with loved ones, there may still be an underlying insecurity. Even if on the surface life is good, you may still believe that what you love to do is not valuable. You may think it is shameful to make mistakes while learning, or that anybody who fails will get laughed at and belittled.
A lack of belief in the value of what you love to do and how you contribute to society can feel like suffocating because you’re holding back creativity, expression and play. It is a silence that holds you back from your purpose and possibility to make a splash in the world.
As you curiously navigate opportunities and discover your service to the world, what puts you into a state of flow?
On the island of Okinawa in Japan, knowing what your purpose is in the world, is called Ikigai. It is the meeting point where four things come together:
1. What you love to do
2. What you can be rewarded or compensated for (not necessarily money)
3. What the world needs
4. What you're good at
When you find something you like to do in this world that answers those four questions affirmatively, you have found your purpose — your Ikigai. That activity may awaken a heightened state of awareness that some people call flow. But it's not always easy to find, how we are educated and parented creates challenges.
As children, many are not taught to find what they love to do, instead to follow instructions. As adults we are taught to follow a path that makes money, rewards us or allows us takes care of our families. The cultural story attached to this is one of struggle and sacrifice to contribute. You can only find what is right for you through trial and error. You have to be free to make mistakes, ask questions, try things and then leave them behind if they don't work out for you. You have to enter a state of possibility, inspiration and expression.
If your assessment results indicates you are in need of making a splash in your life, then it's time to let the voice of self-expression and exploration be heard. It's time to liberate your inner child and let them be curious and involved. It's time to stop being like everyone else and start being a leader in your own life. It’s time to figure out your ikigai and live with purpose, impacting the world with your brilliant creative splash!
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SPLASH RETREAT HERE