In order to assist my clients on their healing journey and to be the best I can be for them, I too have to clear unconscious pain and beliefs and raise my vibrations to a coherent state of unconditional love for self and others.
For a therapist/coach it is even more important to do inner work. As a therapist, it is not about what you have learned from masters, but about what you yourself have mastered through life experiences and by doing the inner work. I can't give to my clients what I don't have myself; the knowledge in my head remains an abstract concept until I embody it by putting it into practice.
Part of this inner work is to meditate. Meditation means I give myself permission and time to find the stillness within, witness that which comes up for healing and allow it all to be there.
The softer and more loving I am to myself, the more I can start living from my heart.
During my meditation I raise my vibrational state by bringing up elevated emotions, such as love, joy and gratitude. You can do this by thinking of people or experiences and associating them with emotions they bring up for you. For example, when you think of your child or grandchild (or pet), this engenders feelings of profound love. Experiences or interactions with others can also engender a deep sense of gratitude or joy within you. So you think of something and feel an associated emotion in the body. These elevated emotions in your body raise your vibrational state.
Vipassana meditation taught me to observe the subtle vibrations within my body (see blog Vipassana meditation). Somehow it also taught me how to open my heart. When I do open my heart, I feel an incredible amount of love flowing through my body, but somehow it extends also outside of my body, as though it is flowing out of me. How I do this and how it works is not yet completely clear to me, but it has become something I can switch on and off. I use it during my treatment. When I open my heart, I get into a coherent state, which in turn brings my clients into a coherent state (they say they feel ZEN). It remains a mystery to me, but it is the core principle of my work as a therapist. If you want to know more about Vipassana meditation, you can visit dhamma.org.
While in this state of higher vibtration, I forgive myself and others for having been the victim, the perpertrator or the hero at different times in life. Nobody is just the victim; no one is merely a cause of pain and suffering to others; and no one is always the hero who saves others and the world from injustice, inequality and damnation. We are all a combination of these three archetypes (Carl Jung). In this state of forgiveness, I understand that we all have the capacity to be and act unconsciously. We all make decisions in life that (we feel) are right at that particular moment in time. Had we known better, we would have done better. Therefore at that particular moment you made the right choice based on the resources, insights and experiences you had available to you at that time. The fact that we feel regret, shame and guilt over decisions we have made (how that we have grown and know more), is a waste of your energy. It is in the past and the only thing we can do is accept, forgive and learn from the past.
Finally and most importantly, being in this vibration allows me to completely trust the process which we agreed to be part of as part of this human experience. In truth, we are pure consciousness, which is unconditional love and wisdom compassion, but human beings have developed an ego, which keeps them identified with the body and keeps them feeling separate from each other and from the infinite, all-knowing love (which is pure consciousness). The lesson we all need to learn is to recognize who we really are by understanding that the ego is nothing more than a label. The problem is that we identify with the label.
Imagine that there is a box in front of you with a valuable gemstone inside. Yet the label on the box reads "pebble". You can't see what is inside the box, but you can see what is written on the label. Because you can read the label, you think that that is what is inside the box and you act accordingly. Until you open the box, in other words until you do the inner work and realize your true nature, you will identify with the label, which is your body and mind. This means that the label is an illusion. The label which says "pebble" (body and mind) is wrong, but we live as if it is the truth. We act as if we are dealing with a pebble, not knowing that it is really a unique, rare and valuable gemstone.
When I meditate and take the time to be submerged in these beautiful vibrations, I am able to see myself and the world with more compassion and understanding. I don't meditate to reach a certain state of enlightenment or to become a bettter person (or to become better than others). That would be ego and spiritual by-passing. Not much is written about spiritual by-passing, but if you want to know more, please read this blog by aletheia of LonerWolf.com.
I must admit that this used to be one of my core motivations on the spiritual path. I wanted to be 'better than' (my brother, my sister, my friends) because only then would I be good enough; only then would I be seen; only then would I be loved.
Today, I simply meditate out of selflove, because it eliminates feelings of anxiety. Furthermore, the state of higher vibtations brings me to a coherent state, which means I begin the day with more harmony, clarity and wisdom. In other words, elevating the vibrations and energy within myself, makes me feel good (about myself, my life and the world around me). I also believe that when I raise my vibrations on a daily basis, the lower and negative vibrations within me must simply make way. It seems like a law of Nature. The more I live my life in higher vibrations, the more I will be in a higher state of consciousness. This causes a coherent state in the body (which means healing of disease and pain) and of the mind (which means clairity of mind, ie. clairvoyance, clairaudiance and claircognizance).
There are many meditations by Joe Dispenza which have helped me a lot in raising my vibrations. My favoriate metidation of Joe Dispenza is 'Blessings of the Energy Centers III'. It activates my chakra's from root to crown and together with the beautiful music of Barry Goldstein, it increases the energy within my body untill I reach a state of unconditional love and infinite possibilities. It awakens within me a feeling of love for myself and for the world as a whole. Is there a better way to start the day than by experiencing feelings of love, joy and happiness in your heart (for yourself and everyone around you)?
Meditations is very valuable to do by yourself, but I also find it extremely healing to surround myself with a community of like-minded people, who remind me of who I want to be in this world. I used to belong to such a community, but while my heart to others wants to be open and being of service is in my nature, I could no longer align with its direction. I would therefore caution you to beware of human (spiritual) egos and subconscious personal motivations. Always continue to check in with your heart and inner wisdom: "Do I still align with this community's direction and vibration and is this still in my highest good." We know of guru's who reached remarkable states of awakening and lost their clarity and wisdom when they allowed the reverence they received from their followers to feed their ego.
Since leaving this community I have known that, although changing the world begins with oneself and is done one person at the time, there is power in numbers. If I want to raise the vibration on this planet and help heal the world and shift its direction, I must align myself with others who are committed to do the same. Think of it as the difference between a flashlight and a floodlight.
In 2019 I finally found what I have always been looking for. I found an online coherence healing community, led by Cornelius Christopher, who, in february of 2019, had an awakening of an unprecedented nature, leaving him with no inner voice (ego) and the ability to connect directly with consciousness. Cornelius describes coherence healing as a "heart-based interactive online wellness centre, specialising in raising your body to a coherent vibration, removing emotional trapped negative energy stored in the body." This community gathers almost daily to engage in activation meditations, which raise your level of consciousness and vibrational state of being. When your consciousness expands, your heart will open and you will experience higher vibrations, such as love, joy and gratitude. In other words, you will experience your true natural state of being. Suddenly you realize you are more than just this physical body and the dawning of this realization is the beginning of an awakeningprocess into who you really are, which is pure consciousness.
If you feel inspired to become part of an online coherence healing community, raise your vibrations, become an ambassador for change and to make kindness the new norm, visit www.coherencehealing.love.