10 Tips to heal after loss of a loved one

Its common to find it hard to accept the perceived death of a loved one. We are deeply conditioned to believe in loss and to feel this in the physical body, and reinforce our resistance as suffering in the mind. There is no right or wrong way to respond. There is only a specturm of experience to develop or draw from. Consider 10 tips to heal after loss of a loved one:

1) Meditation and Mindfulness: 

A regular meditation practice helps to quiet the "mind chatter" and observe the true nature of the mind and the ego-centered identity. Mindfulness, or bringing present-moment awareness into daily activities, naturally follows and helps in seeing reality as it is, without the obscuring layer of conceptual thought and beliefs.

2) Self-Inquiry: 

Directly investigate the belief in a separate self by examining it against actual sensory experience. For example, try to find the exact physical location of the "self" in your body. By doing this repeatedly, you may realize the self has no physical location, revealing its conceptual, rather than factual, nature.

3) Observing Thoughts Without Judgment: 

The illusion of separation is reinforced by identifying with our thoughts, emotions, and sensations. By observing these internal experiences without attachment or judgment, you create space to recognize that you are the awareness of them, not the thoughts themselves.

4) Connecting with Others:

Engage in practices that foster a sense of shared humanity. Simple exercises like prolonged, silent eye contact with another person can help break down barriers and create a profound sense of connection and universal love. This helps to dismantle illusion of separation so you realize love knows no true bounds except in the mind.

5)  Reframe Language: 

Instead of using labeling statements like "I am sad," try rephrasing them as "sadness is arising" or "tiredness is present". This subtle shift in language helps decouple your core identity from fleeting emotions and sensations.

6) Embrace Vulnerability: 

Allow yourself to be "permeable" by letting things in and acknowledging your desire for connection. Being vulnerable helps join your "inside and outside worlds," moving away from the fear that fuels separation.

7) Challenge Your Beliefs: 

Actively question and re-evaluate your thoughts and beliefs about yourself and the world. Ask yourself if these thoughts are producing the results you want in life and if they are truly fact-based or simply habitual patterns.

8) Focus on Contentment Over Happiness: 

Strive for a baseline of contentment (Santosha in Sanskrit) rather than chasing fleeting happiness. Contentment fosters inner peace and stability, making you less susceptible to the ups and downs that reinforce the ego's narrative.

9) Spend Time in Nature: 

Connecting with the natural world can help remind you of the interconnected, fluid, and dynamic way everything in nature works together. This experience serves as a powerful counterbalance to the individualistic thinking prevalent in modern culture.

10) Seek Non-Dual Teachings: 

Listening to various non-dual teachers can be helpful to ground you, but nothing replaces your own direct investigation and personal experience. 

10 Revelations about Falling Asleep

People often wonder why they may periodically nod off or abrupty fall asleep.  More than one perspective exists.  Your paradigm shapes how and what you experience. Consider these 10 revelations:

1.   Physical fatigue is upon you

Many people assume this simply occurs due to physical over-exertion.  Pregnant mothers also nod off as their body is working to recalibrate and rebalance growth of new life. Physical reasons for fatigue point to additional reasons.

2.  Emotional overload hits a threshold

Certain situations may be hard to accept. Resistance can kick in, prevent us from overwhelm or blowing circuits.

3.  Spiritual apathy stands out

Disconnection from one's higher self, or a period of introspection and renewal is ongoing.  In this case, the conscious mind is quieted to access deeper awareness.

4. Parallel relatities are the new focus

One need not be actively engaged in yoga practice to connect with other worlds or the divine. The soul has differtent ways of shwoing us our being is simultaneously working in other dimensions for its growth. 

5.  Energy is moving differently through the body

We have potential to exert mental, physical and other energies. When we do not expend these energies, they build up. Imbalances occur and must be integrated or released.

6.  Healing is occurring durring sleep

You might be rapidly ascending in your journey which is taking a toll on the physical body. It’s normal to experience a lot of fatigue and exhaustion from all the healing underway!   Knowing your window of tolerance implies you do not push your physical body just because your mind thinks you should heal faster.

7.  This reveals you deepen sleep

You may doze off at night or during the day while meditating, listening to binaural beats, solfeggio frequencies or other spiritual music. This kind of quick nap helps you refresh, rechage, process old thoughts and creates space for clarity in the conscious state. The analogy is like a computer defrag.

8. Deep changes are ongoing

Affirmations don’t always change our conditions. he mental plane isn’t the only place where our limiting beliefs are stored. Our conditions do not simply change if we think “positive thoughts.” 

9. This is a way to process suffering

Pain is physical and suffereing is mental. Our pain is also stored in the physical body because when a tragic event happens, it was too much for us to process. We never really let the energy pass through due to intensity. And rarely were we taught how to explore these uncomfortable feelings and sensations.  For survival brain, the brain can decide to store the pain away (in the form of energy memor or sensation in the body)  to cope. And not only did our system store away unresolved energy it also created takeaways from the event.

10. State of mind is shifting to state of being

As we shift from belief-based existence to awareness, we shift from living from our logical, conditioned mind to feeling our way through experiences with our heart.  Nodding off can be a way for the physical body to digest and integrate energies as part of our evolution.

Dream Analysis of the Week- Lucid Moment

Dream: I was lying on my back and began to levitate.  I found myself rising above my bed. I attempted to press my finger on the nearby wall but the finger passed through. Floating feet first out the window, I found myself above a winding road and floated upward into the clouds. 

Insights: levitating represents the deep desire to be free not of some external circumstances, but of the confines or limits of mind. Its also possible to be moving into a state of greater trust and surrender. Do you move feet or head first?

We can see a difference between flying and floating dreams.  Flying dreams are usually controlled in the sense that the dreamer can control the flying and direction is head or arms first. Floating dreams, however, typically involve less control. The dreamer feels they have given theri power away or feels somewhat powerless that something is in control of his destiny or life course. Usually, the dreamer cannot control the floating and feels that something is pulling him along. Movement above clouds suggest transcendence or at least a spiritual context worth meditating on.

Pay attention to dream details. Floating is a metaphor for indecisiveness, floating between jobs, relationships, geographic locations,  even words or dimension.  Pinpoint the catalyst and context and change your life forever. Pay close attention to emotions you experience while dreaming also. Emotions point to experiences on this and other timelines. If you were feeling negative emotions, can you identify situations in waking life that feel similar?

In truth, with some training, we can learn or remember to control our dreams.  We can dream about specific things, reframe problems, end recurrent nightmares, solve mysteries and do the unexpected.  Some people become experienced in lucid dreaming and can develop ability to consciously rewind, fast forward and change the context and course of their dreams.  This goes beyond fearless behaviour. 

Lucid dreams do not require you have control over the environment. They simply require an awareness of the dream state. There is less frequent control over ream naratives but degrees of dream control and dream yoga we can learn.  In fact, we can benefit from lucid dreaming as a healing tool.  Lucid dreaming has many benefits.

Contact us about Dream Consultations, and online dream discussions.  We also offer an Astral, Lucid and Dream Yoga Course beginning November 3rd. Request further information.

Shift from struggle to surrender

Notice we are each making our way from unconscious struggle to surrender. Some of us may feel we struggle more than surrender, but we get here. Every moment, we have opportunities to shift energy, vibration. The matrix of interactions is complex. Everybody has unique experiences and manages them the best they can based on their references and level of consciousness. We see through the lens of fear (ego) or the mirror of love, acceptance (Soul).

Bottom line is, when we struggle in the external world with events that evoke discomfort, resistance or anything other than peace, its because there's imbalance inside us. We do not feel okay. We store energy that bothers us. It follows we feel restless about all we repress, deny or attempt to escape. As the result, we struggle to experience the outside world in ways that make us feel better. So, external things cannot bring lasting happiness.

Ironically, people struggle with the intention not to struggle. They struggle to forget or let go of their inner struggle. In essence, ego struggles to get things the way it wants and keep them that way. Fighting, disagreement, ill health, all happen because we each have different ideas about what will bring us peace, fulfillment, satisfaction, wellness. And struggle is not spirituality.

Curious thing is, nobody ever satisfies a desire by fulfilling it. Its like we close the door on one desire to feel better until something else begins to bother us. Nothing we do is ever wrong or bad. When people get what they want, they fear losing it. There must be a better way to know peace. We can learn and grow from it all.

The spiritual journey is very much about the inward shift. Then, the competition and struggle are suddenly with yourself. Do what challenges the 'self' concept. If we struggle inside and decide we have no problem then this is not the answer either. Spirituality is not a struggle and not denial of lingering struggles. Fighting with the self is common. What does it mean to grow spiritualy? It is not about how long you can meditate or how quiet you can be. Its the process of surrendering to the fact things are not as you think. Everything has a reason for the way it is without us. It is the result of cause and effect, universal laws. No accidents exist.

Some say the spiritual journey really begins with the willingness to take responsibility for our role in unfolding events. It also takes everything being as it is to interact as it does. Beyond judgement, everything is the result of all that ever was. Wake up to realize what is right here, now. Its not about whether you like it or not. Same thing with every moment. All forces invite us to surrender honour, respect, this moment in front of us. Each is very special. Something inside is distracts us from the reality of the moment in front of us. Shift away from struggle to seeand feel the blessings right where we are. This is the act of letting go of the unreal. We are each on a unique trajectory of radiating divine light, joining dots and streaming beyond space-time.

Be receptive to the present

Notice at some stage, it dawns no separate personal, public, professional or spiritual life exist. The fragmented ways we are taught to view our lives are paths and back to wholeness.As we begin to make the shift from ego to soul, we may encounter opposition or interference. Those most closely connected to us resist our shift because we have created predictable patterns (healthy or not) and this keeps others in their comfort zones.

Anything we attempt to push away, deny, fragment or forget is stored energetically inside us. As we allow ourselves to feel the tug-of war, discomfort fully, honour, accept its right to be, learn, grow from the experience, then energy and related conditions dissipate.

Truth is, we also cannot undo past events. The pain we feel related to what we cannot change is a form of love. To be open and receptive to energies coming through, is part of learning to be comfortable with all vibrations. Growth only happens when we learn to get comfortable with and decode our own discomfort, energies we are not completely equipped or ready to handle. Anything that is stuck inside is unfinished energetic business.

Life is about getting in touch with our inner selves. When we no longer attempt to control and manipulate life, we stop triggering our stuff. If we are unaware or not taking care of our inner world, then our outer world reflects this.

So, if the mind is healthy, no emotional or mental "needs" exist. Yet, if we are afraid, tense, insecure, anxious, not paying attention, our uncomfortable vibration projects into our external. Certain things can happen outside that make it worse inside, that magnify inner disturbance. Most people are disturbed far more than they are at peace. Inner disturbance are the most common underlying reason we tell ourselves we want to take vacations, buy things, get different relationships, new homes, jobs or create new businesses or conditions. Until we deal with the underlying issues that drive all of this in the mind, they simply emerge again.

Some people go out of the way to put themselves in challenging situations. When conscious, this brings out the best versions of us. What if you could awaken in the morning with no notion of what's next? Simply be spontaneous and totally okay about that?

The ultimate aim is to be receptive to energy flows, to let energy pass through and choose not to carry it with you. If it is not unfolding right now, then it is no longer relevant to our attention. Life can be savoured moment-by-moment without unfolding in a certain way. Living with the uncertainties and stress of modern day can feel s of the ego is to know life does not have to be what we are taught. We can feel our way into new realities.overwhelming, but only if we allow it. To recognize dreams and goals are ego constructs is to know life does not have to be a certain way. We can feel our way into new realities.