If you’ve read Wholly Holistics with any sort of regularity, you know that there is one tenet we usually end up highlighting in our columns, regardless of the subject matter. That tenet is meditation. Why? What practical use does this provide in the everyday? If you’re striving to connect to yourself, Spirit, and others in a fuller, more dynamic way, you have your answer.
In conveying this meditation message to you, I feel that sometimes I have come up short. It occurred to me that I take for granted that certain premises are arrived at by others like I arrived at them. Academically I get that we all don’t think the same, but true understanding is another thing. Given, energy work is a nebulous subject to put one’s mind around, much less put down on paper, nevertheless, I must strive to do my best. I get impatient or oblivious exactly where patience and keen observation are required. I am learning to love that flaw about myself. It becomes a key to growth when placed in such a context.
So, let’s start with my perspective. That’s what holistic work is all about, right? Alternate perspectives. I almost always think about Robin Williams’ character in “Dead Poets Society” to illustrate. Wonderful movie, but do you recall him having his students stand on top of his desk? I still do this from time to time myself. It’s wild how you can see the same room every day, but if you sit in a different chair or get on top of a desk, then you see the room in a whole new light. It becomes a whole new room, if you take my meaning.
What’s the point in all this you ask? Why do we need anything but science and logic? Cut art and intuition out of anything and it’s at least bland, at most unimaginative and potentially dangerous. How often in life has a solution to an issue come from an off-hand comment or action that causes one to pause and see an obstacle in a different light? Do your best to ignore the esoteric spin I put in my writing. Answers are answers.
I now understand that most aren’t like me when it comes to using alternative therapies for mental and spiritual health, even some physical issues. Just so you know, I do go to a mainstream doctor. She doesn’t ask me if my chakras are aligned or if I have open portals with negative entities, and that’s okay. Note that it takes being open to multiple perspectives to fully appreciate a situation. I actually went to mainstream therapy once only to have her tell me she had abandoned her impressive degrees on her wall and was doing what is called Theta Healing. She became my first mentor. Theta was my first modality and it eventually led to becoming Reiki which has become fairly ubiquitous. Hospitals such as the Cleveland Clinic now have Reiki programs. I digress.
Speaking of Reiki, do you have to be Reiki attuned to run energy? I don’t feel this is so, but it is helpful from a mental standpoint. Reiki, or any other form of energy work, comes from decisions made at the self and Higher Self area, thus making a Reiki Master like myself a formality. Is the formality of a marriage always necessary? That’s debatable, but at a basic level, no… That said, everyone needs a boost—a helping hand, from time to time. One core question to always keep in mind when working with a guru is this: Is this person helping me look within? Be cautious about remaining “comfortable” in being a student. Run your own race.
Always think of esoteric modalities as tools in your work shed. Crystals, tarot cards, Reiki, or whatever, becomes little more than a parlor trick if we don’t meditate on results and feelings they unearth. Use them as you would a lever to move a heavy burden.
As you develop your meditation muscles, it becomes no different than time spent working out. Can you run a marathon or bench press 300 lbs. right off the bat? Of course not, it takes dedicated daily practice. Why? The short answer is that Spirit can be extremely subtle until we build up the muscle memory to notice. ESP is not like the movies; I can tell you that.
Spirit usually won’t hit you over the head. Messages from Spirit come in the form of songs, dreams, “odd” occurrences, smells, pennies from Heaven, “random” memories and feelings, animals, numbers (my numbers are 45 or 445) etc., but if you haven’t properly trained those meditation muscles with regular practice, these messages go unnoticed – unheeded.
I can hear it now, “Sutty, I don’t have time to meditate.” Firstly, not many have the time nor desire, to spend hours burning sage and ohming on the beach or in the woods, so that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about just listening to your breathing for a few seconds. Notice how your muscles respond to any given situation. If you have a little more time, spend a quiet ten to twenty minutes sitting or lying down and see what comes. It’s okay if you fall asleep; it apparently was time for your body. While doing any of this, pay attention to what comes up. What angsty things come to mind from the depths of your being? Love the angst.
Let’s spend a minute and talk about what I mean by loving something or sending love to something. When I suggest you love a problem, what I mean, in this context, is to acknowledge the problem. How many years have any of us spent pushing down and ignoring a certain issue or issues? Feel those issues in the tissues?! Feel how you relax a bit, just by acknowledging an issue rather than pretending something doesn’t exist. How many elephants in the room are you ignoring? It’s staggering, but when handled in this manner, it becomes a bite-sized piece that can then be digested and dealt with rather than some specter that causes us to pull the covers over our collective heads.
Further, I’m never going to suggest you “love” an abusive situation. That’s hippy dippy s*** that’s reckless and potentially fatal. Get out however you can and then you can learn to love/accept what put you there.
Does developing meditation muscles lead to everyday miracles? No, it leads to noticing everyday miracles that already come about. Others can help, but only the individual can teach and learn for themselves. Only the individual can develop the meditation muscle memory required to notice the gifts that keep on giving.
