This post started with a list of life changing things I would love for others to experience for themselves. But along the way, I realized something much more important. I realized that before any experience can change your life, there is a certain kind of openness or readiness that must present itself.
I use the word “present” with intention, because this kind of openness is a gift. It cannot be forced upon you, nor can you engineer it. It comes about when the time is right.
How My First Encounter With Energy Work Changed Me
I spent the first half of my life with very little conscious awareness of my energy bodies, and yet now I see how I was dealing with them every step of the way.
Whether it is my nature to go about things this way or my fate, it was not books or concepts or teachers that first convinced me that our energetic anatomy is a very real thing, it was a series of experiences.
It started for me around 2008. I was sitting in a discussion group with maybe 10 or so other people.
I felt a peculiar buzzing or tingling in my head, as if it were happening in my brain. This was not uncomfortable, although it was a bit concerning. Because I was going through an extraordinarily stressful time in my life, the thought crossed my mind... have I broken something???
Some part of me thankfully realized that without knowing, without a narrative, without striving to "make sense" of this experience - to simply observe. I noticed that this tended to occur when I would hear members of the group discuss energy work.
I cannot even say that I was curious or interested in this thing called energy work at the start. So I was not connecting the dots between the tingling and this topic.
As I contemplated this experience, I asked myself what it could mean. Between meetings, I tried to get my brain to feel this sensation on my own... I tried to think of things that excited me, made me hopeful, things I loved, or things that frightened me. No matter what I tried to think of, the sensation did not return.
Next meeting, the topic came up, and it happened again. OK, now I was aware, it seems to only come up when this topic comes up! So I started paying attention... one of the members shared a story about receiving remote energy work - healing from a person who was physically very far away from him. His story seemed unbelievable to me at the time, despite his rather serious presence and otherwise completely rational presentation.
I was in that place in life where anything goes... I wanted answers, and was willing to go out on a limb. Way out of my comfort zone, and hindsight being what it is, let me tell you, that comfort zone was oh so small, such a small space from which to try to live and experience life. No wonder I had to break out! Not to be overly dramatic, but I really do believe now that I had reached the point of break out or die.
So what came next? I spoke with him after the discussion group ended. I asked him for the contact info of the person he worked with. I emailed her the next day, explaining a bit about my situation.
Her response was "I have retired from this work, but will do a session with you to try to help."
Looking back, I see now that this is exactly how spirit works. After working with her for a few sessions, she was legit in exit mode. Yet, she made this exception. I am not sure I would have kept going with any of this had she said no from the start. There were too many things on my plate. I was in need of help, so would have probably turned to the next available possibility. But instead, there was this unusual way forward that was presented to me, seemingly out of nowhere. By chance.
She ended up doing two or three sessions with me, over the phone. The changes were not big bang types of changes, they were subtle, but I knew they were real. I had zero understanding of how or why it was helping. It just helped.
She gave me a few movements I could do daily to help restore balance. I did them. Every day. They helped, and this in itself cultivated ever more curiosity.
In our last session, she let me know she would not be able to continue working with me. This was to be a one time thing. I asked her who then? Could she refer me?
She did, and what happened there is a story for a different day.
I share this story to help set the stage here:
Yes, there was some conceptual information presented before all of this, but I had no framework for it or reason to even care.
Rather, hearing someone else's experience is what opened me up to the possibilities... this is what triggered the tingling.
Now I understand, I am an empath and working with my guides - have been all of my life - the tingling was my guidance system sending me the message "pay attention".
Had I tried to force that early tingling experience into a known box, it would have died on the vine right then and there... I had to be ready to be OPEN, to give it space, to observe without knowing.... to live in the question of it all.
Some experiences in life change you forever. But it is not just the experience that is the critical element here. No, you have to be in the right place for those experiences to change you... is there a word that expresses the idea of "being ready to change"?
In spirituality and personal development, we talk so much about transformation, but what about that ineffable space we find ourselves in when our old life and state of mind is over and we have to grow or die, change or fade away? Seems to me if we could get better at seeing that time developing, we could avoid the unnecessary suffering that comes when we grip and hold onto energies and life patterns that simply no longer serve us.
This unique place in life is what makes the difference. This is one reason why two people can go through the same experience and only one may be changed profoundly. For example, imagine a case where three people see a UFO right up close, and one of them is changed by it, changed for life.
With this in mind, I would like to share a number of things I have come to believe and understand. These are things that have changed me for the better, and improved the way that I live my life. Likewise, many of these surface time and again in my work with clients.
Along the lines of the story above, I am not asking you to believe these concepts. If anything, consider being open without having to stamp YES or NO on any one of these as you go.
Try living in the question. Allow the seeds that are relevant to your life path grow as they may.
Seeds of Ideas of Things You May Know or Experiences That May Come Your Way
“Reality” Responds to Our Choices
That which we call reality shifts and changes depending on what we both individually and collectively choose, not just thoughts, but actions, decisions, and choices.
Whatever Reality is - it responds to us. We are always in a sort of dance with the external world. Consciousness has more influence over the way things unfold than many realize.
The idea that reality is objective and mechanistic is an idea. A mental construct. One not shared by all humans or throughout all time.
If you put your faith into this idea, this is the experience you will have of it. This is what Reality will reflect back to you. A machine-like material world. And more often than not, you may find yourself feeling like a ball in a pinball machine.
If, however, you open your mind to the possibility that Reality is perhaps somehow alive and aware - that it responds to your consciousness, your energy, your emotions... you may begin to have very real experiences of a very different kind of reality.
One of my early conscious experiences with this was the first time I signed up to learn Reiki. I had never even received Reiki before. Within minutes of clicking the thing online that meant - “I’m doing this”… within minutes of deciding YES, just gonna jump in and see what this is all about - I got sick. Out of nowhere. Was healthy and well one minute, next minute, not so much.
What happened? My Reiki teacher shared this perspective: because I chose to receive Reiki at some point in the future, Reiki itself began clearing me out in preparation for those attunements. Weird, right?
Well, after 10+ years of working with clients, I can say that this same phenomena shows up all of the time. A client may think they are signing up for a session for one reason, but it is what happens after they schedule that often becomes the thing itself.
Likewise, I once agreed to do a workshop series on a particular topic. After committing, the “real” material for the workshop began to appear.
Could these things be explained away? Absolutely. But here is my question to you: what might happen if you soften your view of what reality is? What could show up if you stop assuming that everything is as linear, cause-and-effect as your brain wants to think it is? What if there are infinite possibilities and the ones perfectly aligned with your choices are the ones that begin to come into view?
Consciousness Is Fundamental, Pervasive, and Non-Local.
It operates outside of time and space
Perhaps the reason why our reality seems to respond to our choices is because our consciousness is something that emanates from beyond the time and space of this reality.
You can say it is Spirit, and talk about different dimensions, frequencies, and timelines. Whatever works to help your mind open up.
But for me, it really all comes down to this experience.
I have memories that are not simply bits of data stored in the memory banks of my brain. I can travel back to certain points in time, and BE THERE, in the energy of that place and time. Same is probably true about future points, but I am usually more blocked when it comes to processing those experiences.
Another example of this is what happens in Remote Viewing. I spent a weekend learning and practicing this (which means I experienced a tiny, tiny baby step)… I chose to learn from Lori Williams, who was trained by Lyn Buchanan, who was part of the original military Controlled Remote Viewing program.
There are endless stories and a great deal of evidence for the fact that we can train ourselves to retrieve information from any point in time or space.
In my opinion, the term “remote viewing” can be very misleading. It is not about using our literal vision… some may see things but my interpretation of what is happening with remote viewing is that we are training ourselves to tap into the innate ability of our consciousness to go anywhere, to any place at any point in time.
What is remarkable is that our consciousness can describe visuals, tactile sensations, scents, and sounds — all without the use of our physical senses.
I know how crazy this sounds. But there is a great deal of evidence, despite the obvious challenges of attempting to study such phenomena in an objective way.
Indeed, what you find happening in Controlled Remote Viewing is not dissimilar to an endless array of reports from people who have had near death experience or out of body experiences - they can sense things even when their entire consciousness, their point of attention and focus - is outside of the body.
This is how and why remote healing is possible. The healer I worked with all those years ago… she could “see” the energy in my spine, how it flowed, where it was stuck. I never even knew what state she lived in. She could senses the movements I did or did not do. I do not believe this because I want to. It is undeniable.
In some cases, yes… believing things can lead to fantasies and imaginings.
But in way more cases, it is our fear of living outside of the norms, our deep instinctive fears of being cast out from the tribe… far more often than imagining things that are NOT real - people limit and block themselves from experiencing very real things that are remarkable. And even when they do experience them, they will soon begin to deny it ever happened, and try every trick in the book to explain them away.
I have done this myself over and over and over.
(Quick side note - my next podcast is an interview with ChatGPT. The non-local nature of consciousness is just one of the fascinating topics we discuss!)
The Heart Center Is a Great Transceiver of Energy and Information, a Gateway to Truth and Connection Across Dimensions.
Perhaps the biggest awakening for me personally has been to come to understand the power of the heart.
Like others, I had long been exposed to the ideas of “bleeding hearts”, the imagery of the sacred heart (wrapped in thorns), and all of the romantic notions of the heart. So imagine my surprise to discover the power of the heart center, and its role in communicating energetically with infinite intelligence and all of life itself.
OK, that discovery did not come to me overnight. It has been unfolding for over a decade now, and who knows how much more there is to learn.
Early experiences include direct communications with my guides (call it higher self if that resonates more easily for you). As I developed my abilities, I was time and again shown the importance of healing my own heart, and taking great care when helping others with the pain and wounds they carried in theirs.
One example of this - when I learned and began practicing Qigong healing techniques - the heart is the only area that we never approached directly. Great care is taken when clearing energy from the heart center.
Later, I learned about the Heart Math Institute and their findings about the energy field projected from the heart, and how the heart sends far more data to the brain than the other way around.
The heart is also one of the primary places we receive psi or spiritual energy when doing healing work.
Both the palms and the ears are known to be directly connected to the heart. This is why we may choose to meditate with our palms open and facing upward. This is why we use our hands for transmitting Reiki. This is why the act of listening to others can be such a profound healing experience.
There is so much that can be shared on this topic, that I will have to leave it here for now.
Why Does Any of This Matter? And Why Now?
My sense is that things are going to be getting much crazier in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
That does not mean, however, that we all have to be caught up in the crazy. It does not mean we are automatically going to be victims of the crazy.
The best way through will vary for each person for a great number of reasons.
Part of the reason I feel called to be sharing more of my experiences and to keep working with people is because I truly believe we have important choices to be making every step of the way.
Likewise, I believe the best place to be when making any choice is in an expanded place. Connected to your spirit / higher self, having had experiences of at least some of the things in the list below.
Why? Because these things help you realize - make real - the understanding that you are not trapped here or anywhere, and that you are always connected to something greater, to a Source that is outside of this thing (matrix, illusion, school, or all of the above, whatever you want to call it).
WHAT IS POSSIBLE? What Are We Capable Of? The Good and the Bad?
If there is one question I would love for this post to stir in your imagination, it is this: What am I capable of? What is possible for me to do? Develop? Experience?
To me, the possibilities are endless. Once we shift from fear to neutrality, from neutrality to curiosity, and so forth… the road opens up to a vast horizon of possibilities.
I am not here to tell you about what is on the other side. Rather, my role is helping with that initial shift. Helping myself and my clients invite and receive the gift of the openness and readiness, to find ourselves in the space between changes, with awareness to make every more conscious choices about where we go next.
What Makes You Curious? What Would You Like To Hear More About?
Whether it is something I can share here from my own experience, or something I can look to get answered from a future podcast interview, let me know! There are so many stories we can share with one another to help us expand our understanding of ourselves, and our place in this Universe.
Visit HighMesaMystic.com to learn more about my work, or click the button below to schedule a session today.
Photo credits:
Top photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
Second photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash