On the true meaning of Self-Empowerment & Healthy Self
Does the caterpillar know it really is a butterfly?
Ever since I was a small child, I was full of questions.
At 3 years old, I asked if the great masters who changed the course of history knew who they were when they were in their mothers’ wombs.
I quickly found out I was not able to get all the answers I was seeking.
At 11 years old, I started reading different kinds of books on consciousness, the afterlife, and the human potential. While world religions fascinated me, I searched for the shared commonalities that spoke of our shared human experience… I searched for the thread tracing to the truth of who we really are, where we come from, and where we are heading.
Who are we, really? Are we helpless beings going through life in search of atonement for our sins or a proof that we mean something in this universe? Are we just the extension of mom and dad and those before them? Are we what we have learned from our family, friends, and society? Are we all those things that were planted in our minds? Are we those things we do when nobody is watching? Are we our thoughts, our emotions, feelings, words, and actions? Are we our body?
I searched for answers in books, in belief systems, and in the teachings of people both alive and departed. I searched in places of power, in temples, in mosques, in churches, in crowds, and in caves; I searched in my thoughts, in my emotions, and in my behavior; I searched in the chaos of the world and in the silence of nature... in deserts and in forests... I searched in prayers, mantras, meditations, and in every form of human expression. I searched everywhere for truths, answers, and meaning.
Often, much pain is involved in our moments of transformation, because we have been put into a mold of limited beliefs and we have been wearing it, like a cast, since we came into this life. So, when our soul starts to push against that cast, because it wants to grow and expand…and the cast no longer fits…we feel the pulling and the tearing at our soul. If we allowed ourselves to break free from the cast, it would be an opportunity for celebration.... Instead, we feel like we are dying, because we have identified so deeply with that cast of limited beliefs about ourselves and life that we often go right back into it again…which only prolongs the suffering. We think it is who we are. But that is the illusion that is passed on from one generation to the next, and that only contributes to sustaining the illusion of separation. What hurts is not life…what hurts is the cast made of all of the limited definitions, the limited thoughts and ideas we have formed about ourselves, others, and life. The reason we ache is because our Spirit knows that the limitation we are wearing does not fit us.
Who, or what, is found in that pause between the in-breath and the out-breath? Try it... close your eyes, relax, take a deep breath. Then take another breath in... and hold it for a moment. Then exhale... and now pause before you take the next in-breath. What happens in that moment of pause and suspension? Was your mind on a pause too? Was there a moment of peace and stillness in that moment? What do the breath and the mind have to do with peace and stillness?
A lot.
What does it take to break free and learn about who we really are—while easing ourselves from helpless pain and suffering? I would love to help you find out. Without even intending it consciously, throughout my life, I delved deeply into what I later realized was my passion: self-healing and self-empowerment to become more and more aligned with the true self.
In my quest for “enlightenment”, I realized that our rituals and prayers are the way through which we attempt to reconnect with our own Spirit and inherent Divinity—a tool for transcendence from the illusion of limitedness and separation.
"Know thy self" is a motto that stands the test of time as the key to stepping into one’s own truth and power. I believe that self-knowledge is the first step in the journey leading to freedom, self-realization, and living an empowered life as the sovereign beings that we are. There is great beauty in the creative moments of self-“REAL-I”zation—the journey of aligning with the real “I”, the real self.
While in Nepal, I found myself at the end of a life cycle. I felt the insuppressible and inexplicable urge to shave my head and retreat in a forest, alone. It wasn’t because I wanted to join any cult, religion, or group. I just felt compelled to retreat and be alone in the nurturing womb of nature. It turned out to be a time of great insights and revelations for me. While on my retreat, I went through a process of transcendence which was the start of a new cycle of "death and rebirth", and growth. The silence and contemplative practices I was guided to use during that time were simply the tools through which I could quiet the mind and go deep enough within myself to get in touch with the knowing and wisdom that had always been there, inside of me. Later on, I learned that hair holds memory. So, I understood--in hindsight--that the urge to shave my head was my soul’s calling to clear the slate, press the “reset” button on my life, in order to find my way back to the true self, and live in line with my own conscious choices and definitions rather than as a result of external imprints and conditioning.
All healing is self-healing. Within ourselves rest all the resources we need to bring ourselves back to a state of health and wholeness. Life is self-supporting. We have a clear example of this in the natural world if we look at how animals, when they are injured, find the healing they need in rest and nature. Of course, there are ideal conditions and helpful approaches that offer us the opportunity to facilitate and expedite self-healing. My passion and interest throughout life has been to find those natural conditions which are easily accessible to all of us and which help us bring ourselves back into a state of balance, health, and wholesomeness. In these times where we have become unsustainably dependent on externalities of all types, our sickly modern society needs to find its way to self-responsibility and take health into its own hands, through self-inquiry, mindfulness, investigation, and most of all, through the discovery of our own inner potential and power.
Nothing is more heart-wrenching than observing human beings go through life immersed in the limited consciousness of unworthiness and powerlessness. Each of us has the ability and power to heal self and to step into one's own Divine power. A state of health is a state of wholeness, and to achieve that we need to recognize what needs to be discarded and what needs to be integrated into our beings and lives. We need to come back to our senses, literally and figuratively, so that we can feel, see, and know what is causing us to lose energy--in order to change that. Only then, through this self-awareness, we will be able to recognize what we need to bring into our lives to support our healing and self-empowerment.
"Healthy Self" can be written as "Heal Thy Self" (i.e.: "Heal Yourself")... For me, this means that before we can truly help others heal, we must have learned how to allow healing to take place within ourselves... because, how can we help others around us if we don't know how to help ourselves?
I would be honored to share with you what I have learned in my journey to self-healing and self-empowerment.
Please click here for more information and/or to book a consultation.
Ever since I was a small child, I was full of questions.
At 3 years old, I asked if the great masters who changed the course of history knew who they were when they were in their mothers’ wombs.
I quickly found out I was not able to get all the answers I was seeking.
At 11 years old, I started reading different kinds of books on consciousness, the afterlife, and the human potential. While world religions fascinated me, I searched for the shared commonalities that spoke of our shared human experience… I searched for the thread tracing to the truth of who we really are, where we come from, and where we are heading.
Who are we, really? Are we helpless beings going through life in search of atonement for our sins or a proof that we mean something in this universe? Are we just the extension of mom and dad and those before them? Are we what we have learned from our family, friends, and society? Are we all those things that were planted in our minds? Are we those things we do when nobody is watching? Are we our thoughts, our emotions, feelings, words, and actions? Are we our body?
I searched for answers in books, in belief systems, and in the teachings of people both alive and departed. I searched in places of power, in temples, in mosques, in churches, in crowds, and in caves; I searched in my thoughts, in my emotions, and in my behavior; I searched in the chaos of the world and in the silence of nature... in deserts and in forests... I searched in prayers, mantras, meditations, and in every form of human expression. I searched everywhere for truths, answers, and meaning.
Often, much pain is involved in our moments of transformation, because we have been put into a mold of limited beliefs and we have been wearing it, like a cast, since we came into this life. So, when our soul starts to push against that cast, because it wants to grow and expand…and the cast no longer fits…we feel the pulling and the tearing at our soul. If we allowed ourselves to break free from the cast, it would be an opportunity for celebration.... Instead, we feel like we are dying, because we have identified so deeply with that cast of limited beliefs about ourselves and life that we often go right back into it again…which only prolongs the suffering. We think it is who we are. But that is the illusion that is passed on from one generation to the next, and that only contributes to sustaining the illusion of separation. What hurts is not life…what hurts is the cast made of all of the limited definitions, the limited thoughts and ideas we have formed about ourselves, others, and life. The reason we ache is because our Spirit knows that the limitation we are wearing does not fit us.
Who, or what, is found in that pause between the in-breath and the out-breath? Try it... close your eyes, relax, take a deep breath. Then take another breath in... and hold it for a moment. Then exhale... and now pause before you take the next in-breath. What happens in that moment of pause and suspension? Was your mind on a pause too? Was there a moment of peace and stillness in that moment? What do the breath and the mind have to do with peace and stillness?
A lot.
What does it take to break free and learn about who we really are—while easing ourselves from helpless pain and suffering? I would love to help you find out. Without even intending it consciously, throughout my life, I delved deeply into what I later realized was my passion: self-healing and self-empowerment to become more and more aligned with the true self.
In my quest for “enlightenment”, I realized that our rituals and prayers are the way through which we attempt to reconnect with our own Spirit and inherent Divinity—a tool for transcendence from the illusion of limitedness and separation.
"Know thy self" is a motto that stands the test of time as the key to stepping into one’s own truth and power. I believe that self-knowledge is the first step in the journey leading to freedom, self-realization, and living an empowered life as the sovereign beings that we are. There is great beauty in the creative moments of self-“REAL-I”zation—the journey of aligning with the real “I”, the real self.
While in Nepal, I found myself at the end of a life cycle. I felt the insuppressible and inexplicable urge to shave my head and retreat in a forest, alone. It wasn’t because I wanted to join any cult, religion, or group. I just felt compelled to retreat and be alone in the nurturing womb of nature. It turned out to be a time of great insights and revelations for me. While on my retreat, I went through a process of transcendence which was the start of a new cycle of "death and rebirth", and growth. The silence and contemplative practices I was guided to use during that time were simply the tools through which I could quiet the mind and go deep enough within myself to get in touch with the knowing and wisdom that had always been there, inside of me. Later on, I learned that hair holds memory. So, I understood--in hindsight--that the urge to shave my head was my soul’s calling to clear the slate, press the “reset” button on my life, in order to find my way back to the true self, and live in line with my own conscious choices and definitions rather than as a result of external imprints and conditioning.
All healing is self-healing. Within ourselves rest all the resources we need to bring ourselves back to a state of health and wholeness. Life is self-supporting. We have a clear example of this in the natural world if we look at how animals, when they are injured, find the healing they need in rest and nature. Of course, there are ideal conditions and helpful approaches that offer us the opportunity to facilitate and expedite self-healing. My passion and interest throughout life has been to find those natural conditions which are easily accessible to all of us and which help us bring ourselves back into a state of balance, health, and wholesomeness. In these times where we have become unsustainably dependent on externalities of all types, our sickly modern society needs to find its way to self-responsibility and take health into its own hands, through self-inquiry, mindfulness, investigation, and most of all, through the discovery of our own inner potential and power.
Nothing is more heart-wrenching than observing human beings go through life immersed in the limited consciousness of unworthiness and powerlessness. Each of us has the ability and power to heal self and to step into one's own Divine power. A state of health is a state of wholeness, and to achieve that we need to recognize what needs to be discarded and what needs to be integrated into our beings and lives. We need to come back to our senses, literally and figuratively, so that we can feel, see, and know what is causing us to lose energy--in order to change that. Only then, through this self-awareness, we will be able to recognize what we need to bring into our lives to support our healing and self-empowerment.
"Healthy Self" can be written as "Heal Thy Self" (i.e.: "Heal Yourself")... For me, this means that before we can truly help others heal, we must have learned how to allow healing to take place within ourselves... because, how can we help others around us if we don't know how to help ourselves?
I would be honored to share with you what I have learned in my journey to self-healing and self-empowerment.
Please click here for more information and/or to book a consultation.