LIFE ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH: HIGHS AND LOWS AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

There is currently a greater awareness of spirituality than ever before and many different paths to follow. But why would you necessarily want to be spiritual? If you are drawn to this subject, it will feel like an inner yearning for deeper meaning in your life, a searching to understand the purpose of it all, an intuition that it can improve our lives in some way, a knowing that there is more to life.  More and more people are waking up to realising that the material world does not hold all the answers to our problems and that maybe, just maybe, we can do something to help ourselves and transform our relationships and the world around us. The knowledge that was once in the domain of only a privileged few is now becoming available to each and every one of us.

 

From April 2014 to April 2015 I went through my own personal spiritual crisis when many things I took for granted and believed in, most predominantly my health and my supposed abilities as a Reiki Master Healer, fell apart but towards the latter part of this time I ended up learning my greatest spiritual lessons.  When someone asked me at the beginning of this year how I was feeling, the only word that came to mind was ‘broken’.  Now, having built up my energy body with Reiki self-healing, mindfulness meditation, seed sound mantras, colour visualisation and plenty of walks in nature, I have discovered that I am channelling a greater amount of healing energy than before and have a clearer, more intuitive communication with my guides and angels who have inspired me to put together this list of what to expect along the spiritual path – and, yes, I do think this includes a spiritual crisis of some sort for us all at some point as part of this process, almost as a test to see how we cope and whether we have fully integrated what we have learnt, because when you think about it, most of our spiritual practices like meditation and reading spiritual books remain at the mental level without being brought down fully into the physical, material realm.  Now when I look back, I believe that my own crisis brought me to where I need to be in order to start the next stage of my healing work.

 

Below are guidelines of things to expect when you start to develop your spirituality. They can also be regarded as a paradigm for a new way of living as the planet emerges through its current chaos into the new promised golden age of peace. One important point to note is that spirituality and healing go hand in hand. As you develop spiritually, you will start to release a lot of the old hurt, anger and pain that was held in your energy body which is contributing to current health issues.  This hurt, anger and pain is what is often referred to as ‘negative energy’, ie. energy that is not vibrating at the correct frequency, which can cause blockages in the chakras which eventually leads to dis-ease and illness mentally, emotionally and physically.

 

So what does it mean to be spiritual and what can you expect as you progress along your spiritual path?

 

• First and foremost, to me being spiritual means looking at the world in a completely different way. It is seeing the things we have in common as human beings rather than focussing on the differences that cause and perpetuate the illusion of separateness.  It is seeing what connects us rather than divides us as human beings. This implies seeing things from a higher viewpoint, through the eyes of the soul.  When you develop this higher level of sight, you will become aware of karmic patterns in your own and other people’s lives; how people seem to attract the same kind of experience until they address it in a different, better manner and the lesson is learnt and the karmic issue resolved.
• An interest in and regular undertaking of spiritual practices such as meditation and/or prayer, as well as interest in crystals, Reiki and/or alternative medicine/holistic therapy. There is a subconscious knowing that we are all made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies and can use forms of energy medicine to bring about balance and healing.
• The ability to practice forgiveness of yourself and others, recognising that holding onto past grudges or indulging in self-blame is futile and takes up valuable energy that can be put to better use in the present moment. Recognising when it is time to ‘let go’ of a situation that is draining you and offering it up to a higher power (God or the angels), asking it to be resolved for the highest and greatest good of all.
• A belief in a higher force guiding our lives which we can actively work with through intermediaries such as angels and spirit guides.
• Recognising that people play certain roles in our lives to give us opportunities to learn lessons we need to learn or to instigate changes we need to make.  We are all actors playing roles in each others’ lives, with no real conscious understanding of what we are doing and why. People often feel compelled to do things without knowing why. Maybe we don’t have as much free will as we think we have!  I do think it is important not to demonise others too quickly for playing the bad guy: these roles are determined before we even incarnate. If you bear in mind that our greatest enemies can be our greatest teachers, it helps you to look at your situation in a more empowering way rather than from the place of victim.
• The development of greater tolerance, compassion and inner peace.
• A growing desire to be of service to the world and to humanity. Self-interest, greed and materialism lose their appeal. Along with this comes a growing interest in peace and humanitarian causes, human rights issues and peaceful spiritual activism.
• Many people are drawn to healing in its many varied forms, on a personal and/or global scale.
• Increased sense of personal responsibility for your actions in terms of how they affect you and others. A greater understanding of the law of cause and effect.
• Increased inner strength and self-worth as you honour your role and contribution to your community and the world, however large or small that may be.
• Honouring and living your truth is essential: you can no longer live with what is not right for you. As you align more and more with your truth and ultimately your higher self, you start to move into your life purpose. This leads to a stronger sense of the importance of truth and authenticity in all your relationships.
• A growing maturity and not taking things so personally. Staying strong when people appear to behave badly towards you, accepting that everyone has their own issues to work through.
• Letting people go with love, not anger, when they move out of our lives. Not everyone can stay with us for ever. Some may only be in your life for a short time but have a massive impact in terms of lessons in love, forgiveness and self-reliance or to help you move onto a new path.
• Attracting tests and crises to give you the opportunity to put what you have learnt intellectually into practice and, ultimately, to deepen your spiritual awareness and understanding.
• Understanding that surrender and release bring the greatest peace and always, eventually, the greatest result. Relinquishing control can be a very difficult thing to do but sometimes you have no choice if you are to stay sane; fighting is destructive and resistance uses up valuable energy that can be put into other things. Offer difficult situations up to God to sort out for the highest and greatest good of all concerned and new solutions may just miraculously appear.

 An ability to look at the world in this new way implies that you are developing greater spiritual sight and understanding. The third eye chakra is activated, enabling you to see the inter-connectedness of all things and see the situations in your life from a higher perspective.

 

 If everyone starts to adopt at least some of these principles, we can all contribute to both healing ourselves and creating more peaceful, spiritual communities and countries and, ultimately, a more peaceful world.

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Teacher, Spiritual Coach, Meditation Teacher and Holistic Therapist based at 15 Wheeler Gate in Nottingham city centre. For further information please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics.

 

 

MEDITATION: IS IT REALLY BAD FOR YOU?

An article has been published in several national newspapers this week stating that meditation can be a dangerous practice, leading to anxiety, panic and depression.  In the article the author, Dr Miguel Farias, clearly states that the problem lies with excessive meditation practice, the kind done for hours on end such as you would find on a meditation retreat. However once a statement gets into the mainstream media, it is all too easy for claims to be exaggerated and the entire subject of meditation to be viewed in a very negative light.

 

First let me say that the claims made would pose no problem for people who meditate fifteen or twenty minutes a day, maybe a couple of times a day, or for those who take a five or ten minute breather out of the day to re-centre and refocus.  We need to maintain perspective here and bear in mind that potential problems only arise when practices are taken to extremes.

 

The true goal of meditation is to go into the space between the thoughts with a view to expanding the sense of self and your concept of reality. It can take you beyond the mind and the ego and therefore beyond your sense of self. The ego is a construct of your beliefs and life experiences through which you define yourself. When you go beyond Mind into nothingness, the ego disappears and we lose our sense of self and who we are. Psychological breakdown can occur when you do not know what is happening and are not prepared to deal with it. The resulting ‘breakdown’ can send you in to what is termed ‘spiritual crisis’, some symptoms of which include anxiety, panic, fear and depression. Other symptoms include muscle spasms and jerking, ego inflation, confusion, vibration in the body and rushing/roaring sensations in the head.

 

Spiritual crisis is the extreme end of spiritual awakening. Many people are awakening spiritually at this time, exploring various healing modalities, crystals, meditation among others. Spiritual awakening itself is a journey of healing past trauma and wounding.  It is a process of learning, growth, healing and purification; learning to love yourself and forgive others who have caused pain and wounding.  A spiritual awakening can turn into crisis however when it happens too quickly, the person is no longer in control, and it is all happening too much too soon. The crisis can be triggered by excessive spiritual practices such as meditation and qigong as well as taking too many Reiki/energy attunements in too short a space of time. The speed of the awakening is unmanageable and the person is left experiencing terrifying symptoms of mental breakdown.

 

During intense meditation, the meditator opens up to the transcendental state beyond Mind.  Unresolved trauma and wounding that has been suppressed, repressed and denied over the years comes up to the surface seeking to be resolved and healed.  The inner wold takes over and the person often finds it hard to cope with everyday tasks.

 

Meditation can produce great highs and feelings of Oneness, inter-connectedness with all things, blissful inner peace and love but it can also be followed by great lows. When you have let more light into your energy body, more of the shadow self is exposed and thrown into that light for healing. Life can start to feel like a constant inter-play between the themes of light and dark. Ultimately however the goal of the psyche is always to heal, transform and move towards wholeness. Spiritual crisis is part of that process, albeit a painful one.

 

For those people who want to practice meditation as safely as possible, I believe Mindfulness to be the ‘safest’ form of meditation. It is body-focused, particularly on the physical senses of taste and touch. It is very grounding and is excellent for bringing you back into your body if you have a tendency to zone out and be carried away by your own thoughts and worries. For this reason it is very beneficial for anxiety and mild depression. If you want to try it, start off with something very simple: next time you have a cup of tea, eat a sandwich or brush your teeth, focus entirely on the sensations in your hands and mouth. Follow the sensations in your body as you drink the tea or eat the sandwich. If you can become totally absorbed in what you are doing, you are being mindful. With Mindfulness there is no attempt to go beyond the realm of mind into the space between thoughts; you are simply absorbed in what you are doing in the physical realm.

 

I hope I have provided some reassurance that meditation is perfectly safe when practiced sensibly and in moderation. There are great benefits to having a regular meditation practice (including lowered blood pressure and stress levels, managing anxiety and mild depression, and improving clarity, focus and creativity). It would be a shame to tarnish the reputation of such a beneficial spiritual practice unnecessarily.

 

Notes:

Help and resources are available for anyone who believes they are suffering from the symptoms of spiritual crisis. Visit www.SpiritualCrisisNetwork.org.uk for further information.

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Meditation Teacher based at 15 Wheeler Gate in Nottingham city centre. For further information please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics.

 

 

IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING DURING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

The week 11^th - 17th May 2015 is Mental Health Awareness Week.  The Mental Health Foundation will be staging events across the country to raise awareness of how anxiety and sleep deprivation can affect mental health.

 

Various complementary therapies are particularly beneficial for positive mental health and greater wellbeing.  Reiki healing, for example, calms the mind and emotions and restores balance, peace and harmony.  Healing is channelled through the practitioner into the body, chakras and energy field of the receiver using a light touch.  Many people report feeling lighter after a treatment as worry and grief are released from their energy field during treatment.  Indian Head Massage and Back Massage are very effective in terms of relieving tension and anxiety held in the neck, shoulders and upper back.  Reflexology can be beneficial in relieving the physical manifestations of stress, calming the adrenals and rebalancing the physical body.

 

Alternatively you may like to try some Mindfulness techniques to restore calm, control and perspective.  Mindfulness Meditation helps you to be in the present moment, not worrying about the future or the past or getting caught up in negative emotions.  Here are some suggestions which can easily be incorporated into your daily life.  Making them a regular habit is the key to success!

 

• Take a 2 or 3 minute breathing space when necessary at work or at home.  Stop what you are for 2 or 3 minutes and focus solely on your breathing.
   
• Become mindful of how you talk to yourself.  Become aware of statements such as “I can’t do that”, “I’ll never be good enough”, “I can’t cope”, “I’m not attractive enough” or “I’m not clever enough”.  Nothing destroys self-esteem quicker that negative self-talk.  The way you talk to yourself reflects deep held inner beliefs which, when negative, need examining and releasing.  Every time you catch yourself making a negative comment about yourself, stop the thought and choose a different one, such as “I can do this”, “I am as good as everyone else here” or “I always do my best”.

•  Practice being fully present in the present moment.  Note where your mind actually is when carrying out routine tasks such as preparing or eating a meal, drinking a cup of tea, brushing your teeth, walking the dog or out with a friend.  Make the effort to focus completely on what you are doing instead of letting your mind wander off worrying about something else.

•  Practice a simple Mindfulness breathing technique for a few minutes two or three times a day, such as just after waking up, on the bus journey to work, at lunch or before you go to bed.  Place one hand on your chest and feel your breath moving into and out of your body.  Notice the natural rhythm.  Be aware of the coolness of the air as you breathe in and the warmth of the air leaving you as you exhale.

 

Notes:

1. For more information about Mental Health Awareness Week please visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk.
2. Reiki healing, Indian Head Massage, Reflexology and other complementary therapies are available with Helen Shortland.
    

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Teacher, Meditation Teacher and Holistic Therapist based at 15 Wheeler Gate in Nottingham city centre. For further information please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics.