An Increase in Joy

We all go through dark periods in our lives, times where our emotions overcome us and we sink into a seemingly bottomless pit of pain and apathy and darkness. In times like this, we think joy is just a fad for those who live fortunate lives, or deny the pain in their lives and live in ignorance. But, deep down, I think we all know that joy is something innate and compassionate; sometimes it feels safer to dwell in the soft darkness of pain.

Some people I know personally are aware that I've been struggled through a lot of things that have come up from my past, which has triggered large amounts of pain. I've also been suffering a chronic pain condition, frustration at my medical care and how I'm not getting responses from my doctor, and severe fatigue that has been disabling.

I'm so grateful for my dedication to both my spiritual journey and my health, since this allowed me to design a routine incorporating what I really needed to do to keep myself together. I was depressed, in pain (physical and emotional) and dealing with some severe past trauma. I had been trying to work through it in the few and far between free moments last semester, but the time was tight and I was never able to be dedicated to it as much as I really needed.

This summer, I began to implement a routine of a hot bath, where I would read a book (since one of the things I had been craving was to enhance my knowledge on spiritual subjects and pick up the books I hadn't touched since buying them). Then, I'd do a short chakra meditation as the water drained, followed by 15-30 minutes of yoga, and 20 minutes of a Reiki self-treatment. I needed this to manage the pain. I trusted my inner guide when designing this routine.

The hot bath, yoga, and Reiki made the physical pain palatable...probably dropping it on a pain scale from an average of 7 to an average of 4. Yet, with chronic pain, it was still difficult to handle all of my emotions, frustrations, and fears from my past that would constantly arise.

I stayed with this routine, each day making time for 2 hours of healing. Sometimes I was reluctant, sometimes I wasn't all that focused, but I kept going. I knew I needed it, and I knew it would cause me so much pain to neglect the healing routine. I also knew this routine was healing me in a way deeper than just talking about my emotions or other forms of physical pain management; it was healing me from the inside out. I had been working for months to heal myself, but I needed a daily routine, and I could feel that. Some constant to build a foundation upon.

It's been right around three weeks of this routine. Over 40 hours of healing. And the effects are amazing. It started with, in the first week, glimpses of stillness and peace, maybe a little happiness. Now the passion for life I have is incredible. I have opened, I have grown in the most subtle and powerful ways.

There is now this spring of joy and compassion. A complete awareness and empathy to the earth and all the people I interact with. A love for walking outside, a craving to get out in nature. A sensitivity to energy that goes beyond what I even thought was possible. A totally free springing well of emotions, accepting each as it arises with as much compassion as I have in me.

Just yesterday, I was researching a newfound passion of aromatherapy and essential oils, trying to figure out which brand would work the best for myself and others. I did a lot of searching, and when I stumbled upon Native American Nutritionals' website, I got goosebumps. I teared up. I could vividly sense the purity in the energy of the oils, without even holding one in my hand. It was shocking and amazing, to feel such a sensitivity to something I was only interacting with through my computer. This alignment and sensitivity I think would be impossible for me if I hadn't been working so hard to keep with a daily routine that was slowly and deeply healing (and awakening) me.

It's been a journey, and it's taken dedication, but I just want to say to everyone that it is possible to heal. You don't have to spend 2 hours each day like me, you might be able to spend 10 minutes and have joyous results in 2 weeks. It's all about the routine and the understanding that you can dedicate time towards your healing. Time purely meant for you. Time meant for healing and evolution.

The space for healing is so important. It's this space, I believe, which begins to open an all consuming spring of joy.

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Book Review: "Vibrational Healing" by Jaya Jaya Myra

With a new habit I've formed of reading in the bath, daily, I've been making my way through books about spirituality and really enhancing my repertoire of knowledge. I'm hoping that, in sharing my opinions about the books I read, you'll have a better understanding of which books to select for your own spiritual reference library.

Review of "Vibrational Healing:"

Vibrational Healing is definitely a book meant for those serious for pursuing a path in energy healing, specifically when working with the subtle body energy. Despite being best for those serious about this form of energy work, it's incredibly easy to read and very insightful for those with even a small interest in subtle body energy work. I have been doing energy healing for around 4 years, and I still learned a lot from this book, but I also feel that a "beginner" in a spiritual healing practice could glean much as well.

This book is primarily about its title: vibrational healing. All matter, including the body, and all spiritual energy, like the subtle body, vibrate at specific frequencies. Myra explains that illness, disease, and stress often arise from imbalances in the vibrational frequencies of our bodies and spirits. Although this sounds very esoteric in summary, Myra goes in-depth in explaining just what she means and how it applies in both a spiritual and basic scientific sense. She also talks about how Western and Eastern medicinal techniques are best used in conjunction, and explains in a very logical manner why her belief is such. Her passion for mantra and sound-based healing (which has incredible vibrational healing properties: sound is vibration, after all) is obvious in this book, so for someone with a passion as such, I'd highly recommend it.

She talks about three basic subtle energy ideas: the chakras, gunas/temperaments, and the elements; and how to use these to heal and align yourself with your dharma (or life's purpose). There are small "quizzes" to help you digest the concepts into a practical application towards yourself, which you later use to understand what you are naturally inclined to react like, interpret like, and exist like, based on your temperamental and elemental inclinations. When doing this for myself, I found it to be incredibly insightful! I learned much about how I think, in a way that isn't just like a Meyer-Briggs personality test, but went deeper into my spiritual core. Through the self-reflection, I was able to realize new techniques of how to heal myself and others (as well as learning over 10 meditation techniques in the last chapter of the book).

Myra drills in many important ideas throughout this book. When talking about doing crystal work, specifically when placing a crystal in water to charge it with a certain vibration, she is conscious of the risks of not researching which stones can safely be placed in water to later be consumed. She urges all those to research before just picking a stone and intuitively placing it into water. Myra also discusses the less severe risks behind mantras and affirmations, like how affirmations can make you feel worse if you speak to something that you were unable to accomplish and that mantras--depending on the spiritual vibration of the chant--can overwhelm your subtle body and heal you in a jolting, less effective, way. She does a wonderful job instructing how to go about using these techniques in a safe and enriching way.

Throughout Vibrational Healing, Myra talks about many techniques for spiritual evolution, like visualization, meditation techniques, mantras, affirmations, color, chakras, sound, light (solar and lunar healing), aromatherapy, crystal healing, water healing, herbal healing, and self-actualization. Although the book does not go into depth on any of the concepts, it explains enough to help us understand which we feel the most drawn towards, or which will benefit us the most based on our temperamental or elemental affinity.

The structure makes it insightful and easy to digest, and Myra also has a beautiful personal story at the beginning. Her humility is apparent (which is something I haven't always found in spiritual authors), so it sets the book off in a wonderful tone. There is also a discussion in the end about becoming a spiritual healer of others, and the content of the book helps you to realize other's elemental affinities to grow your understanding of how to heal them, spiritually or just as a friend giving advice. I felt incredibly more evolved and aware after reading this book, and it's on my list of the top spiritual books I've read.

Cost: $15.99 US/$18.50 CAN
Number of Pages: 227
Publisher: Llewellyn Books