I have been on the spiritual path now for over 10 years. As often happens, my spiritual path landed at my feet during the darkest of times. I was in a job that I really wasn't enjoying (that's putting it mildly) I was also physically ill with very painful fibroids, was anaemic and also suffering from an eating disorder. I was moody, irritable and basically a nightmare to be around. Then a lady I worked with told me she was a reiki master. We chatted about reiki and she gave me some books, she also gave me a book by Lorna Byrne called stairways to heaven. These two things changed the trajectory of my life in a big way. I went for reiki, read the book and started asking my angels for help. I then met another lady at work who told me about other books to read, Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Diana Cooper and I was off. I've learnt a lot over the last 10 years, here are my 5 tops tips for those on the spiritual path working towards spiritual growth.
Go within
The spiritual path isn't all about crystals and wafting sage around. For me it's doing the inner work, it is all about 'dissolving the ego' the part of you that believes that it is separate from the source, the part of you that feels fear, shame and guilt. The part of you that feels like you're not good enough, the part of you that wants to compete & compare. This part of you is tricky, it doesn't want to go within, it doesn't want you to change and it creates a lot of resistance through confusion, denial or excuses. If you want to change what's going on in the outside world the only way to do this is to go within and get help because you can't see your own stuff, hire a coach or join a group.
As a holistic mindset coach, I love helping people do this work because we will get in our own way. The ego blindsight's us so we can't see our old patterns and we often required help to do this work. I've also seen many people shy away from doing this work. Spiritual bypassing is the term used for people who hide behind spirituality but don't do the inner work. The practice was first coined by John Welwood in his book Toward a Psychology of Awakening and is defined as"a tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks."
In this case, nothing gets resolved, it just glosses over the problem. You may think you haven't got any issues that need resolving but ask yourself this, do you get triggered by certain people or situations? Do you stay stuck in situations that make you unhappy? Do you find it hard to let go or forgive people? Are you mostly unhappy? Do you feel like people take advantage of you? Perhaps you are always struggling financially. If you answer yes to any of these things, perhaps there's some inner work to do to help you shift into a better place
Make it a priority
I have always made my spiritual path a priority, I have a morning ritual – read the blog about morning rituals here. Every morning I study my course in miracles lessons for the day & meditate. I have had a coach for the last 5 years to help me do the inner work. Over the years I've walked over hot coals, taken seminars, courses, practised yoga and became a yoga teacher.
I've noticed if I get triggered by something and then ask myself what was going on and what unresolved issues need to be solved. I have dedicated my life to my spiritual work and I have to say it's not always been easy. Sometimes when we do this work we go through periods of growth and often before that growth comes some kind of breakdown. As I write this I am just coming through one of these periods. I've been physically ill. I've been having a lot of kundalini awakening symptoms, spasms like I'm giving birth but from the bottom upwards (happens during yin yoga class) involuntary movements of the body, twitching, Severe headaches and back ache, periods of high energy then very low energy. I've also been working on creating greater success in my business – with ease and without having to work so hard. This certainly goes against my ancestral patterns.
When we up-level or take a shift 'up the ladder' it can get a bit wobbly. Find support, having people around you who will understand what is happening will help. My advice is keep going, it's so worth it. I'm starting to come out of one of these wonky phases and I feel amazing. Self care is important during these times.
Read, read read, study, study, study.
Most of what I've learnt has come from spiritual authors, Louise hay, Wayne Dyer, Neal Donal Walsch, Michael Singer and my favourite Robert Holden. I study A course in Miracles every day. Learn from people who have walked this path. Take from them what resonates with you and leave the rest behind.
I find that my 'spiritual learning fest' comes in waves. I'll listen to a book on audible in the car and read in the evening or spend a Sunday morning reading or going over some of the sessions from the course in miracles group I'm in. Then if I'm really busy at work it goes by the wayside for a while, but I always get back on it. All you need to do is follow the path, watch what is being put in front of you, this could be on social media or the internet, it could be something a friend tells you about. I believe the universe is always guiding you towards your highest & greatest good.
My top tip here is if you are reading a book and then suddenly decide to nip to the loo even though you don't really want to, or make a brew even tho you don't really want one, stop yourself and re-read that last part of the book you just read, this is often an avoidance tactic by the our ego so that we don't have that penny drop moment that can cause a lovely big shift or realisation for you!
Practice self care
For me self care is a huge part of my spiritual journey. Taking time out for a massage, a walk in nature, time to meditate or whatever resonates with you is so important. The ego voice is very loud and usually the one we hear first. In order for us to tune into our 'soul voice' we need some quiet time. The soul voice is very quiet and we need to carve out some time for this voice to be heard. Busyness can be such a distraction, the ego can use busyness so that we don't get to 'tune in' and connect to our soul.
Do whatever feels good for you. Meditation may work for you but sometimes the mind is so busy that meditation can be difficult (especially If you have an open mind & ajna centre in your human design chart) try mindfulness or yoga instead.
Get outside, take your shoes off and walk barefoot on the grass, this helps to ground yourself. There are so many way to take care of yourself and make time for self care as often as you can.
Observe yourself around people
According to A course in miracles our spiritual path is very much about our reaction to and how we serve other people. One of the biggest changes I have seen since I started on this path is my relationships with my family & friends (any myself) have got so much better. I had to do a lot of forgiveness work and a lot of my own inner self worth work to be able to have better relationships.
“What you see in other people is a reflection of yourself, a person of goodness see goodness in others and a person of evil sees evil in others” Omar Suliman
I could write a whole blog on this topic but for now what I will say is take a look at your relationships and notice firstly if you need to do any forgiveness work. Sit with the questions who do I need to forgive, release & let go of and see who comes up. Forgive them and also forgive yourself.
Secondly, are you having any issues in relationships right now? What is this reflecting back to you? If you feel unheard where, when & why are you not hearing yourself? If you feel separate from your family group, how are you separating yourself and what is the underlying reason? This was my biggest issue with my family. I always felt left out, like the odd one out and that nobody really cared. This wasn't true at all, but I was creating this 'separateness' because of my huge inability to be close to people and to love them. The more I learn to love myself, the closer I got to my family and I no longer felt 'left out'
So there you go a few tips from me about navigating spiritual growth. I love this journey, my life just gets better and better. My last tip would be that while you're on this path you'll meet lots of like minded people and you'll also meet people who are not ready for any kind of awakening or spiritual growth and that's just fine. In my case it's my whole family, they probably think I'm mad but over the years they've got used to it. My mum just went on holiday and bought me a crystal as a present, they accept it and I accept where they are. I don't try to ram my ideas and beliefs down their throats. To be honest I think it gradually rubs off onto the people around you as you become happier you make others happier. As you grow spiritually and your vibration rises you help to raise the vibration of the world so do your thing with love and compassion for all.
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