God nose

Spirituality is like your nose. It’s always there; you’ve just trained yourself not to see it.

This may seem like an odd reference, so let me explain. First, you can always see your nose (go ahead, try it – I know you will). Your eyes have simply learned to ignore it consciously so it doesn’t interfere with your line of sight. The same can be said for your relationship with the divine.

That connection to All That Is never leaves you. You are the living, breathing manifestation of the universe in a beautiful physical package. But when life demands a lot from our conscious selves, we often start to feel empty and spiritually vacuous and we go in search of God to feel better. We use mysticism as a way of looking to reestablish that connection we have forgotten.

A lot of religious and spiritual teachings talk about mysticism—using thought or contemplation to feel enlightenment and grounding or to feel connected to something larger than ourselves. Meditation and prayer are two excellent ways to remind us of our true selves. But do we really need to spend so much time looking for something that’s already there? No.

You don’t need to go looking for God. All That Is already exists inside of you—you are made from its source. In fact, the harder you search for what is already there, the more you are likely to miss it. It’s there, plain as day.

To see the nose on your face or the God in your soul, you simply have to readjust your focus. You have to re-train your inner vision to hone in on the one thing that’s already there: you. Remind yourself of whom you are, where you came from and that you are a conduit for the divine. Oftentimes this gentle reminder will give you a glimpse of your God-ness (or Goddess-ness if you prefer) and soothe your aching soul.

This reminder won’t solve all your problems but it will help remind you that you are never alone. It will help you feel your connection to the rest of creation and beyond. It will help you see that you are something special—someone special—because you are a descendent of All That Is. And that is as plain as the nose on your face.

You can see it if you try.

 

 

Put your heart in it

Things that sound silly

Many new age and spiritual concepts sound a little strange at times. For that matter, ice cream probably sounded strange when it was first served. But it’s that strangeness that keeps people from trying spiritual techniques and stumbling upon ideas that honor the spirit.

When I first heard the concept of “sending love to somebody,” I, too, thought the idea sounded a little crazy. I read about the technique in Cheryl Richardson and Louise Hay’s book, You Can Create An Exceptional Life. The idea is to send love to someone—anyone—in situations where a little extra love and energy are needed.

I’m not sure why the concept sounded silly to me. I’ve practiced Reiki for almost 10 years and regularly use it to send energy to love ones and others who need a little help. Using prayer is an accepted technique that millions around the world use everyday and it’s also a form of “sending love.” While the concepts certainly weren’t new to me, I realized why the contextual concept sounded strange.

When I deliberately send love or energy to someone, I’m usually at home, sitting on my meditation stool. If I see someone having a bad day, I may think about them later driving home and try to mentally give them a little boost. Or I’ll keep them in my thoughts as I drift off to sleep. It dawned on me that I had never used the technique in the immediate moment with the other person in the room. As if by magic, the universe delivered an opportunity for me to try it out last week.

Testing the concept

My boss came into my office about 4:45 p.m. on Friday to respond in person to an email I had sent earlier. One look at her face and I knew she was angry. She leaned over my desk and immediately began justifying her take on a particular issue. She was not only angry, but she was an angry at me. As I tried to gently respond to her without getting sucked into her energy stream, she began to reference another coworker and some other issues our department was facing.

On cue, the coworker appeared at my door and knew she was being drawn into the conversation. Her face flushed and I could feel her defensiveness radiating from several feet away. As my boss and coworker barbed, I realized that the email was just the tip of the iceberg. They were using the email as a starting point to release pent up energy on a variety of topics. At a quarter-to-five on Friday afternoon, there was much to be released.

Suddenly, I realized two things. First, I was no longer the object of hostility by my boss or the coworker. Second, this might be one of those times where sending energy may be a good idea. Once again the thought flashed through my head that this may be silly to even try but the pain and frustration of these two women moved me to do anything to help sooth the energy in the room.

Give it a “go”

Instead of closing my eyes, I enhanced my focus on each of the women. I placed my awareness on my chest and heart and visualized it opening up and exploding light outward from my body. As I did this, they both looked at me which temporarily shocked me into thinking the idea was silly. Still, I persisted and even meet both of their gazes as they continued to talk.

I felt and visualized light and energy flowing from my heart and surrounding each of them. Intuitively, I could feel my boss was requiring more of the energy so I allowed it to flow naturally to her. I alternated between feeling the energy and allowing my consciousness to return to each of them and meet their eyes back and forth. Since I was not being asked any questions, I was able to remain silent and really concentrate on the energy exchange.

But does it work?

After a few minutes I could sense a change. Each woman’s posture relaxed and I could tell they were allowing their defenses to fall away. I kept at my visualization for a few moments until the energy of the room—and the women—each felt different. I felt lighter yet perfectly grounded in my chair. I wasn’t even aware of the conversation between the two but could tell that some common ground had been reached. We agreed to meet on Monday and talk about the issue after we had more information.

To the casual observer, it may have looked as if the women simply talked things through. But knowing each of them well, I know that under normal circumstances, the conversation and the energy would have tipped the scales and exploded into a more serious event. I truly believed sending love and energy to them helped quell their anxiousness and negativity.

For my own benefit, I realized I wasn’t drawn into the negative energy vortex in the slightest. I became a detached observer even though I was technically part of the conversation. Since it was almost quitting time, I certainly didn’t want to start the weekend on a sour note.

Try it; you might like it

It takes courage to try new spiritual concepts especially if you have an audience while you’re doing it. That was the hardest part for me: overcoming my own resistance to look foolish during an act of kindness to someone else. Yet I’m glad I took the chance and was able to help ease a tense situation.

Silly or no, when the desire to help someone who’s hurting is strong enough, you’ll find a way to act. I’m glad I could overcome the strangeness of “sending love to someone” and now look forward to using the technique again. And hopefully I’ll be more open to other such strange suggestions in the future. But first, ice cream awaits.