Naming anything can be difficult, whether it’s a child new into the world, a home, a book or in this case a podcast. You want to get it right. It has to suit the creation and it has to feel resonant to you also, the creator.
I’ve named my new podcast Inner Awakening and took great care with this title. My intention is that it becomes a place for thoughts and discussion on the vast topic of the inner awakening experience. I’ve felt drawn to create this space following a personal shift from an external focus on events to more of an internal focus.
I’ve spent the last few years consuming mountains of information about how the world really works, some of the good (natural law/ nature of reality), but mostly the bad and the ugly (systems of manipulation and corruption) if I’m honest. So now, I want to work on my response to it from place of deep innerstanding.
This shift is not about ignoring or bypassing reality. It’s more a case of grounding that reality through my body and then finding ways of transmuting it to continue growing, expanding my consciousness, and operating at a frequency I believe is helping, not hindering humanity.
We are constantly evolving
Like many others, I spent 2020 to the end of 2022 fixated on local, national, and global events that flipped our world upside down. Perhaps a more accurate description is that we were all born into a world already flipped upside down and some of us simply came out of the handstand and saw things the way they really are for the first time.
These years were some of the most intense and shocking I’ve been through. And I’ve already had situations in my life previously that forced me to question things on a grand scale. This time, though it wasn’t just personal. I saw that many of us were going through this initiation
at the same time. I had the distinct feeling that this was BIG, and life would never be the same.
Looking back, I have never in my life, done so much research. The number of hours of watching, listening and reading was uncountable and there was an urgency to it that felt right at the time, but I found has been unsustainable in the longer term.
It has also been a time of unlearning. Pulling apart former-held beliefs and theories and allowing them to fall to the floor before knowing what was going to replace them. I still have major gaps in certain areas of how the world works, yet to be filled by a new system or theory that feels adequate. Being okay with uncertainty has been a major lesson.
The difference now, is that I no longer believe someone or something just because I’ve been told or taught that it’s correct. I now trust my body as an internal arbiter of truth. Knowing my human design, I also feel into things over time to reach a point of clarity. There is no need to rush or make decisions instantly when I know this doesn’t work for me. We are all different and learning to honour what works for us is empowering.
Learning to navigate change
One of the things that really changed for me in 2023 was the year beginning with a series of sudden events that hit close to home and were out of my personal control. The only thing I had a say in was my individual response.
It began in January with the death of my mother. I knew she was going to die from her cancer. The treatment had bought her a little more time but ultimately wouldn’t help an already weak body. Mum and I had a very complicated relationship. We were in loving contact until the end, but there had also been a lot of hurt. I was fortunate to have spent years already unpacking it and making peace but of course it was still a rough ride emotionally.
Soon after this, my town was hit by a cyclone that caused major damage and within weeks, two more major storms that resulted in flooding, more damage, and a very anxious and stressed-out community. A few months later, we lost a dear friend in our friendship circle out of the blue. 2023 continued in that style really and as I write to you now in November, it’s amazing to just take a deep breath and realise what a rollercoaster it’s been.
I’ve also realised that the energy has shifted and something within is asking me to slow down again. To pull back from the alarmist mindset and the need to be constantly tapped into ‘news’ and drama. I’m focused on doing the healing work on my nervous system and mindset, as well as my lifestyle habits so I can settle into a way of Being that serves me through this next phase.
Awakening defined
‘Awakening’ for me is a process, not a destination. It’s not something we strive for and then reach but a life-long unfolding that begins anew every day. Being ‘awake’ on the other hand is a state of Being that is more static and binary. It’s a word that doesn’t capture the evolution of consciousness in my opinion and is also subjective depending on who you’re talking to.
The hermetic principles of correspondence state “as above so below, as below, so above”.
And Carl Jung in 1929 added
“everything without is within, everything above is below.
Between all things, reigns correspondence.”
So while it is clear we cannot entirely separate the external and outer awakening experience I guess I’m interested in how that has shaped the inner experience and then in turn how that growth in self-awareness informs the outer world, or one’s perception of it. It’s a dance essentially, between these two worlds that is endlessly fascinating to me.
In my work as a coach and mentor, the inner work is a huge focus because every change or leap in consciousness at the individual level begins within. And not to put too much pressure on the point but, who we choose to Be from deep within ourselves has a major effect on the world that we perceive around us and the collective as a whole. If people only knew what a gift and a miracle it is to be here now, how precious they are as an individual and how powerful their influence really is, I believe we’d have a different world in a second.
A huge thank you to those who have been following already on my private email list.
Together, we’ve been ‘walking each other home’ (as the late Ram Dass would say), through the chaos of the last few years. And a very warm welcome to new readers and listeners who are ready to come on this forward journey with me, one where we explore together how to be grounded spiritual beings in human form and enjoy the ride.
