Revealing the Hidden Obstacles to Your Spiritual Journey”

Or: what may be blocking your connection to the Universal Energy of All There Is

I am often asked: “How do I grow my intuition or increase my spiritual connection to the universe?” Followed by: “What can I do to immediately solve all of my life’s problems? And how I can I do it with minimal effort? By the way, can you do it for me?”

OK, no one actually says those latter parts. But you do think them. Admit it, don’t be shy. I think them, often.

This intuition question is the spiritual version of “how can I loose weight without altering my diet, exercise, stress levels, sleep patterns and lifestyle? And how can I get immediate results?”

Google weight loss, you will find thousands of books, programs and articles, many claiming to have found that one simple, magic formula. Actually, don’t google for weight loss advice, you may break the internet with so many hits.

I want the magic formula too, but alas, the only formula that works is: desire + hard work + consistency + honesty = results.

I am a big fan of Ayurveda – one of the world’s oldest holistic, body, mind and spirit approaches to healing. A fundamental principle in Ayurveda is: “opposites create balance.”

What is the opposite of spiritual growth? Blocks! Blocks to spiritual growth are direct opposites to the growth itself.

What do we do about those blocks? Clear them, of course. Chuck, ditch, exterminate, eliminate, dump, expel.

But that’s later. First we must recognize them. Give them a name. Call a spade a spade. Take them out of the obscurity of our subconscious. Then work through them. Systematically and with love.

As Mr. Ed said to Wilbur: “You should never have told me horses sleep standing up, it gave me a mental block.” (Pop culture note: Mr. Ed was a US TV show about a talking horse).

Let’s dive inside our subconscious mind

Think of our conscious mind as the ship’s captain and the subconscious mind as the crew. The captain calls out orders, the crew usually complies and so the ship moves in the direction set by the captain. Except that sometimes the crew starts a mutiny. Disregarding their captain’s orders they take the ship in a different direction.

The same often happens to us. Consciously we decide to make a change, to heal, and to grow. We embark on this process and then suddenly find ourselves reverting back to our old ways. This is because subconsciously we have beliefs and fears that are incongruent with our conscious wants.
Just like the crew who rebelled against their captain, taking the ship in another direction, our subconscious blocks us from achieving that which we had set out to do.

Identifying those subconscious blocks is the first step to healing. After all, if we do not know what is blocking us, how can we unblock it? I love the quote from the GI Joe cartoon: “Knowledge is half the battle.” It truly is. And sometimes all it takes to release a block is to acknowledge it.

Let’s call call a fig a fig, a trough a trough, al pan pan, al vino vino

Fear. This is a biggie. Do you ever wonder: “What if I spend all this time and money on meditation, yoga, Reiki and then nothing happens?” Or “what if I do not have what it takes to grow spiritually?”

Fear is an even bigger factor when it comes to success. Do you find yourself thinking: “What if I learn how to use my intuition but then have no control over what I do with this knowledge? Perhaps I am not ready for the responsibility? What if I learn how to see the truth about myself and others but do not like what I see? Who am I to embark on such a journey?”
These are all valid concerns that must be addressed at some time during your growth. However, in the beginning, just acknowledging your fears will make a big impact.

Religion and upbringing. If you were brought up in a strict religious setting or have a strong connection to your social group, then embarking on your own personal journey can seem lonely and outright heretic. Be honest with yourself, what will leaving your tribe do to you? Are you willing to accept the consequences?

Clinging to a word – semantics. Societies use language to reflect their cultural and religion values. Words create associations and those associations can keep us from moving forward.

For example, the word “angel” is often associated with Christianity. For those who are non-religious or belong to other religions, the phrase “connecting with angels” may seem off putting.

Similarly, many of us associate”god” and “prayer” with group religion. If we are in disagreement with a particular religion or with the concept of religion in general, then these words can trigger negative feelings.
The way I got over the “angel”,”god” and “prayer” triggers is by realizing that no one religion or group has a monopoly on those words. I told myself that it is OK for me to use those words to reflect my beliefs and my understanding of the world. The fact that someone else uses them to mean a slightly different concept does not take anything away from my belief system.

Words carry meaning that we assign them. Don’t get hung up on semantics. If you are bothered by the word angel, god, prayer or alter, get over yourself. Or substitute angel with unseen friend, god with universal energy of all there is, prayer with affirmation and altar with sacred space.

Make life easier for yourself, don’t let words paralyze you, let go of word triggers or find another way to express your beliefs.

Social conditioning. If you hear something enough times, chances are you will begin to believe it. “In our family we do not communicate with spirits.”  “All people who communicate with the deceased are charlatans or wackos.” Or, “Meditation is an Eastern Religion.” Ask yourself: “If I embark on my spiritual path, will I be ostracized or made fun of by my friends, relatives, and family? And if so, how much will that bother me? An I willing to handle this? What resources to I have to help me?” Be honest with your answers.

Beliefs about yourself. What do you tell yourself about your self? Do you say: “I am a disorganized person or a procrastinator. I am not intuitive, I do not have the talent for that type of thing. I’m too logical. I am not worthy of happiness. I don’t trust my intuition.”

Henry Ford, said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” If you believe that you will never start things or you believe that you will never finish things, then you are correct. To quote Mr. Ford again, “The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right. Which one are you?”

Whenever you catch yourself sabotaging yourself with a negative belief, stop. Ask yourself if this is the truth. If it is the truth, then work through it until you begin to believe in yourself. If it is not the truth then ask yourself why you are believing such lies.

Returning to a comfortable habit.  Ego is the knowledge of what makes you – you. Without an ego, we would not be able to tell ourselves apart from each other. Ego is what makes us individual human beings.

The Ego’s biggest job is to protect us. It will use any means necessary to do what it deems effective in keeping us safe. Ego does not like change, as change represents the unknown. As far as Ego is concerned, unknowns will harm us. Therefore as soon as Ego senses change, it will do its best to revert us back to the old ways.

I had a client came to me for smoking cessation. We were making excellent progress. He went from a pack a day to just a few cigarettes without the feeling of withdrawal. He was very pleased. As he was healing his smoking habit, his life began to change. This created a conflict. The man wanted to stop smoking, yet his Ego wanted to keep everything the same. In the end, he stopped coming and returned to his old, comfortable habit.

Ego going postal. Ego is not a bad thing and in its highest form it can be healthy and useful.

Ego, in its negative or dark form, however, will put you in the state of fear, anger, or shame. When operating from an angry or fearful space, our upper intuitive centers become shutdown and all we can focus on is basic survival. When wanting to quit the path of your spiritual growth, ask yourself, who is speaking? Is it the Ego speaking the language fear or is it Spirit speaking the language love?

Chaos is fun. Let’s be honest. Do you enjoy chaos? Do you like the adrenaline that comes from stress? Often, we put ourselves in stressful situations because they make us feel important, needed and they take our mind away from what’s really bothering us.

Overthinking.  As I wrote above, ego hates change, even if it’s a good change. Ego is very good at creating mind chatter, allowing no space between thoughts, preventing us from relaxing, and making meditation nearly impossible.

Complacency, as in: “so far I’ve been making my life work. I may not be the happiest person in the world but I am OK.” This goes along the same “change is scary” line. When we become complacent, we do not see any reason to grow. Complacency can be outright dangerous. I remember Steve Irvine, The Crocodile Hunter, said something to the fact that any time he got bitten by a crocodile it was because he became complacent and stopped paying attention.

Fear of discomfort. Looking into your own stuff can be uncomfortable to the point where you may wish to close your eyes and never open them again. This is a tricky one to overcome by yourself. I suggest seeking out help from a professional or a close friend.

I shall quote Mr. Ed again:

Wilbur Post: I’ve been meaning to ask you, Ed. Just how do horses sleep standing up?

Mister Ed: (Shocked) We Do?

Wilbur Post: Didn’t you know?

Mister Ed: How can I? When I’m asleep my eyes are closed!

Trauma in this life or in a past life. Have you been made fun of because of your abilities? Have you had to shut off your intuition because you got scared when you saw things? Do you feel like you had been punished for your “gifts” in a previous life?

The energy of events that took place long ago, often lingers to this day and must be addressed. This one is also hard to overcome on your won. Work with a trusted teacher.   Past life regression and working with your inner child are great tools to heal such traumas. *******************

Impatience. Your life will change, that I promise you. But it may not happen as quickly as you want or in the way you desire. Just remember, everything happens in perfect time. You will get to where you need to go. Be patient and enjoy the ride.

Not putting in the time to practice. Think back to how you became successful at something, either school, a sport, hobby or a career. Chances are that you did not wake up one morning and miraculously become a champion.  I bet you devoted time and effort to your success. Same goes for your spiritual growth.  Do not expect your life to change with minimal involvement on your part. Wanting it is not enough. You must put in time and energy. Daily.

Expectation. How do you expect to connect to your unseen friend or guide? Do you expect thunder and lightning followed by a booming Morgan Freeman voice telling you to “take the side street instead of the highways when going to work next Thursday?”

If you expect things to happen in the way that you imagine they should happen, you will be disappointed. All I look for in my journey is whether I know more today than I did yesterday.

Set your intention, work as hard as you can, then let go of expectations.

Let’s move forward

Being on a spiritual path requires you to look into yourself deeply, asking the hard questions, acknowledging your personal truths, and accepting the answer, no matter how uncomfortable.  Growth may not be easy, especially at first, but the benefit is well worth the effort.

Remember, no Olympic champion ever received a medal simply by sitting on the couch and wishing for one.

Here are some things you can start doing today.

Maintain a continuous practice of meditation. Meditation can be easy and fun. Find a class you enjoy or get a recorded meditation and listen to it nightly.

Surround yourself with those who support you. Have clear and clean partnerships, friendships, relationships that expand your soul.

Own your energy system. Do not allow others to pull you into their drama. At the same time, do not judge other people for they are responsible for their own path.

Follow your intuition and guidance. How can you tell if your intuition is clear? Easy, if it feels fearful, judgmental, angry, shameful, etc… then it is your ego talking. Ask Ego to step aside and invite in your Spirit. Remember, Ego constrains and Spirit expands. When truly connected with Spirit you will feel love, expansion and freedom.

Get help. Find a teacher or a friend who will help you. None of us lives in a vacuum. We are all here to learn.

Keep going. Life happens, distractions, setbacks, disappointments will happen. Do not let them distract you from your path.

 Take the next step on your journey of self-discovery, healing, and living your soul’s true purpose. Schedule your one-on-one energy reading or energy healing session.