What does it mean to “Live Consciously?”

The ceremony offers the opportunity to open the doors and windows to the unexpressed emotional trauma hidden in our subconscious.

After the ceremony, the real “work” begins. What does this mean?

Doing the work, or devotional practice, involves learning to love yourself fully, and embracing the person you are, the unique you. It is knowing that you are enough.

Feed our body, our mind, and our Spirit.

• Body:  Your body will tell you what it needs; what types of foods, sleep, protection, rest, exercise. Listen to it. Your body houses your soul. Nourish it.
• Mind:  Your mind and ego will continually tell you stories of all the things you are not. Observe the stories, but don’t feed them by believing them. Just push them aside. If they are not in alignment with your truth, don’t engage them. Meditation is an amazing way to nurture the mind and quiet the stories. It is the single most important practice for your spiritual journey. Breathwork, yoga, walking, running, gardening, and other practices which allow you to still the mind are forms of meditation. Listen to podcasts (Eckhart Tolle, Michael Singer, Videos - Matt Kahn) and read spiritual books (add link to book list) which will reframe your mind and move you in the direction of what you wish to manifest in your life.
• Spirit:  Know that life, creation is always watching, loving, and protecting us. This work reminds us that we are not separate from Source, we are reflections of divinity. Ask and you shall receive. Pray from the intimacy of your heart for that which you desire, the questions and the support that you need. Relax, ground with the earth, and pay attention to the signs and messages all around you, the synchronicities. Feel the vibration and dance of the melody of life. See beauty in all things. Our spirituality is a sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Review your life and recognize the events which could have gone very wrong or could have had a worse outcome. These are blessings from life and our confirmation that we are not alone.

Choose a new direction in your life. We cannot change anything in life except ourselves. This happens through our words, thoughts, and the choices we make. If you want to change your life, you need to make different choices and change your behaviors. You cannot continue the same patterns and expect a different result.

We cannot change anyone else. Don’t try to steal many anyone else’s life journey by trying to fix them.  Offer support, but don’t disable them.

• Practice Presence and Vulnerability. (put link here to What is Presence).
• Review the behaviors and practices which are not serving you and have the courage to ask yourself if you still need that “crutch.”
• Recognize that we are creators. Feel what you desire in your heart as though you already have it and move in the direction of that desire.
• Choose to remove your mask, your armor, and let the world see you in your uniqueness. Allow yourself to be transparent. Let people see you completely, with nothing left to hide. Walk your talk. Stop comparing yourself to others. You are unique reflections of light and are meant to express that individuality with the world. (put in link to Marianne Williamson’s poem, Our greatest fear.”).
• Be in acceptance of all things. Remove expectations. Stop fighting with life! You will not win! Life is our daily “school.”  Each day life gives us opportunities to growth, expand our consciousness and vibration and to heal. Learn to flow with life and recognize that things don’t happen on our timeline; it happens in Divine time. Life is always speaking to us through our heart and through different signs. Can you learn to interpret the messages?
• We are Spirit living a human existence. Our journey is to find our way back to love and compassion. Our life is a “remembering” of who we really are.

Own your triggers:  When you have a strong reaction to someone, get enraged or angry, feel a keen sense of humiliation or other intense emotion, you are being triggered. Own them! Nothing outside of you is creating it. The situation is emotional trauma reflecting and mirroring back to you. Your inner child or life asking if you are ready to heal this part of yourself. Do not speak from a place of anger or fear, as the reaction will originate from a wounded part that needs expression, love, and compassion. Take time to sit with your feelings. Where do you feel it in your body? Anger is only the symptom. See if you can see what is below the reaction. Search for the true meaning hiding underneath. Emotional Triggers: What They Are and 9 Tips Deal With Them (betterup.com)

Build community. We are not meant to go through life by ourselves. We are meant to share and hold space for one another. (Link to What is holding space?) Reach out to those who have earned your trust. Share your experiences. By expressing your feelings, we can draw our own conclusions. It allows for the energy to leave the body. Ask for support from a coach, therapist, or psychologist if you are still struggling and need help in reframing your thoughts and receive tools to heal yourself.

We will never finish learning and growing, but we can unravel the layers of emotional wounds, and choose the qualities, values, and behaviors we as adults wish to model to ourselves and the world. Doing so will manifest an amazing life, filled with calm, harmony, love, joy, integrity, and abundance. We will uncover meaning and renewed perspective from our life experiences and embrace wisdom and clarity.

Embrace the journey!