At the very beginning of 2023, a client (now very dear friend) told me a story about her friend that had gone all in with the brilliant work of Dr Joe Dispenza. I was full of inspiration listening to the story, and in that moment, I thought to myself "What if I went all in?" So I started. I just started without any expectation of outcome. That night back in the beginning of January I started researching information and now as this year is coming to a close, I am reflecting on the incredibly beautiful experience that has come with it.
As Dr Joe says, "Knowledge is for the brain, experience is for the body." Knowledge is also the precursor to experience. The more you are prepared for something through learning, well, the more prepared you'll be, the more you'll know, the more present you'll be in the experience.
My husband is known as a master at his craft. Guess what he's always doing every morning... looking things up! He's researching, learning, studying and then he goes and applies it through experience and tweaks it again and again until he gets it right. What feeling does that leave him with? Satisfaction? Happiness? Contentment? If he doesn't know how to do something, he finds out how to do it. He doesn't let his emotions run the show, he simply takes the steps to find out more.
I didn't know about Dr Joe but I was inspired about the story I'd heard so what did I do? I looked him up. I checked out a book from the library, I watched some videos, I listened to some podcasts. I learned the science behind the brain and meditation. I learned the mechanism behind the scenes of the conscious brain and subconscious brain. I learned why the trend for not doing something is usually due to unconscious habits, beliefs, patterns and survival emotions. I studied and I learned.
His work comes with heaps of meditations so I began to do them. Why? So I could have a new experience. I went to his website, saw the beginner's collection, and picked the morning and evening volume 1. I told myself just to start. Instead of getting lost in the details, letting myself get overwhelmed and then do nothing, just start somewhere and trust the next right thing will come.
Luckily, they were guided meditations. All I had to do was show up and plug in. My anchor to keep going was that very first story, that feeling that lit up in me that came from "What if I did that? What might happen?"
It can be whatever interests you most.
2 years ago I wanted to learn how to make sourdough bread, it took me a year to master it. I made all the mistakes- it came out flat, I forgot the lid, it over-proofed, I burned it, I used the starter too early, too late, not enough of it, too much of it. And then I got better. I had a greater understanding through those experiences and I took that information and applied it. I've done it so many times, I've mastered it and now I know how to make it by heart. It was a process of information that lead to understanding through experience that lead to mastery.
What do you want to know? What do you want to experience? Are you going to let your emotions talk you out of it? If you do, you'll stop at information and never let your body be conditioned through a new experience.
If you show up to do something totally new and unknown with a genuine curiosity, you're showing up because you believe in possibility. And that's all you need. Curiosity and a belief in possibility. That's the adventure.
And if you don't master it in 2 weeks, you're just not that good yet. Keep going. Keep relaxing into it. For bonus points add in some humor and some self love for your efforts as you go.
When I started the meditations I noticed where my body tried to talk me out of it. "I'm too tired. It's not working. I can do this myself, I don't need anyone. I've got other things I should do." And on and on and on. Insert: familiar sigh, eye roll, and feeling of defeat.
I became aware of my restlessness, my discomfort, my overactive mind.
However, since I listened to his lectures, I understood that my body, that's running on a subconscious program, will always try to talk me out of possibility if I do something new. The fight or flight nervous system doesn't like new and unknown that's why we do the same 'ol same 'ol - to stay "safe". It's a primal part of our nervous system that says "Stop, or you might die!" Let's load up some fear and anxiety to go along with some sweating and increased heart rate - that will definitely make sure she doesn't do anything new and unknown!
But we have great big brains with intelligence and consciousness. We know better. We can choose better.
What if it's not safe to stay "safe" anymore? Is our perception of safety true? Does it need updated? What if we're walking around as the living dead by not venturing into the unknown instead of living our lives to the fullest IN the unknown?
Where do you find the unknown? Right now. And now. And every new moment thereafter. Science proves that every second our body is making 3.8 million new cells. You're born anew in every moment.
You're not going to physically die if you switch up your routine and have a new experience but a part of you is changing and transforming. It might be uncomfortable, to be sure, but evolution, change and growth is about as natural and innate as it gets. Our resistance to it is our own self-inflicted suffering.
When you have a new experience, that experience enriches the brain. New information leads to new experiences which allows for new insights, new feedback and new feelings. Those insights and that feedback wouldn't have come without the experience.
You are going to need to be bigger than your body, greater than your emotional addictions and you'll need energy to do that.
I encourage you to start with something small enough to feel safe but big enough to feel stretched out of your comfort zone and mentally rehearse the act so you prime the brain for the experience. This helps you relax into it and actually enjoy it instead of being a ball of nerves and fear.
I just returned from a Live 7 day Advanced Retreat in Cancun with Dr Joe Dispenza. 35 hours of meditation & 20 hours of lecture with 2,100+ people from 68 countries. It was transformative to say the least. I had mystical experience after mystical experience and now I understand why. Because mystical moments exists in the present moment.
The only time the Divine intersects linear time is in the Now. And the Now is always unknown unless you're thinking in your past or worried about your future.
How often are you truly in the here and now?
Being present is a skill to be practiced, a gift to give yourself and others. Incredible things happen when you're truly present, paying attention with awareness and an open focus.
I didn't go wanting or needing anything. I was just curious about what might happen if I ended my year of Dispenza with a live retreat in a beautiful place, taking everything I'd learned and applied it. How present could I stay in the traveling, in the unknown on my own, amongst strangers? How connected could I stay to the present? How much could I master my emotions and relax into each new moment more and more?
By the time I got there I was so proud of myself for overcoming myself that I didn't care what happened... and that's when the magic happened. I was rewarded with mystical experiences and wonderful synchronicities.
International travel isn't the challenge. Navigating people isn't the challenge. Learning a new skill isn't the challenge. Staying present, impeccably present, is the most challenging thing you can do. But people at the retreat show up to practice. Big people, little people, old people, young people were all working on mastering their emotions and overcoming the habits of themselves, open to having some new experience.
They carved time out of their known life and showed up in the unknown. That was enough. Just showing up with curiosity and a belief in possibility.
We don't change unless we're challenged in some way, stretched, uncomfortable. The pearl isn't formed without the irritation from the piece of sand. But if we're prepared with the knowledge and understanding of the mechanism behind it, it'll make it easier. We'll understand that that's simply part of it.
And guess what? Everyone is stronger for it. I get to carry my experience back into my home life, my work life and everyone benefits. That's a great service. I'm more than a mom, a wife, a practitioner, or whatever identity I've taken on in this lifetime and my body, mind and soul reflect that understanding through a knowing that could only come by getting beyond my identity.
To heal your body you have to get beyond your body.
The world needs heart, courage, curiosity, compassion, resilience, awareness, presence. There's so much information out there that ignorance is a choice. Anything you want to know is at your fingertips. You just have to have a curiousity and a belief in possibility that's greater than any fear.
You're not going to die if you study something new, do something new, get out of your routine - you're going to live. You're going to come alive because information leads to transformation. Some aspect of yourself will be changed. You'll sprout wings.
Once you know, you can't not know.
If you want to heal your sickness, learn how to do something, start a new habit - find someone who's doing that or has done that, gather information by asking and then begin to make your own way. Get curious, inquire, explore.
Just start.
We've got a couple beautiful weeks left to enjoy the holidays and get really clear about what we're ready to let go of and what we'd like to step into in the coming year. I encourage you to give yourself the gift of your time and attention, allowing yourself to explore the peaks and valleys of your heart's desires, exploring what would make you come alive. What would it take for you to fall in love with this glorious mystery called life? And how would that make you feel?
From my heart to yours -
💗 Sarah
