The Need for Spiritual Tools

How do we do work on a spiritual level? How do we make that work fun and effortless?

There are many ways to work on a spiritual level, but just like most work, it's easier done with the right tools. Meditation, when done with the right set of tools, can make creating faster, more fun, and less difficult. Understanding a few concepts about how spiritual bodies work will also aid in the process.

When we work in the garden, we use a hand trowel, or a gloves, or a hoe, or other tools that help us get our work done in an efficient and productive manner. There are concepts we use to understand gardening, like "growing season," and "harvest," or "shade tolerant," and "sun-loving." We use tools and concepts in nearly every facet of our life -- why should spiritual work be any different? 

I've heard so many people complain over the years about how difficult meditation and spiritual work is. "I just couldn't clear my mind, so I stopped," or "I just wasn't doing right." Some dismiss meditation altogether, saying "It's just not for me." By the way, I used to say the exact same things! But similarly, if you showed up to do work in your garden, but didn't have the seeds, the tools, or understand the concepts, you might quit gardening right away too, because it would feel very difficult. We need the right tools for the right work!

Perhaps some of you might be thinking, "Okay, but don't I just, like, focus on my breath or stare at a candle for a while or something, and then peace comes?" Sure! You can do that, too! Mindfulness practices like that are great for reducing stress and tension in the body and mind, and allowing us to focus better at work and school. If I continue my analogy with gardening, I would compare mindfulness practices to sun, water and seeds -- just like sun, water and seeds are the building blocks to growing anything, mindfulness practices are the foundation to building a really great meditation practice.

Good gardeners know that in order to create a really amazing garden, you have to have an understanding of the type of soil. you're using, if the plants you're growing are sun and shade tolerant, which plants like to grow together, on which moon cycle planting or harvesting should take place, and which tools work best for making changes in the garden. These tools can help you create a really amazing garden that brings you a luscious harvest!

Similarly, having more meditation tools and concepts under your belt can allow you to create the bountiful spiritual life you've been looking for. I want to share with you some of the concepts and tools I use to create a beautiful spiritual garden of my own. With these tools, you can:

• Learn how to feel safe in your own body and protect yourself from others
• Learn what grounding really means and how to do it
• Learn how to have more connection with your body and your spirit
• Learn how to create what you want from a space that feels effortless
• Gain more energy and vitality for yourself
• Develop better relationships with others by learning how to have healthy boundaries
• Learn how to validate and love yourself
• Learn how to stop giving your energy away to others 
• Learn how to find amusement with the spiritual process so that the process can move forward
• Gather more understanding about who you are and how amazing you are!

Each of the tools I will share take up quite a bit of space and explanation, so I'll write separate blog posts for each. I want to leave you today with a couple of spiritual concepts about how creating in the spiritual realm is different from creating on the physical realm, and how wonderful that is for us! What we set up on the spiritual level is often what appears on the physical level, so the more we are able to understand spiritual tools and concepts to move forward on the spiritual level, the more likely it is that our body and mind will follow suit. Two concepts to think about today are this:

1. The spirit works in a realm where time and space do not exist. In contrast, our bodies and minds experience time very linearly. But time and space don't exist in the energy realm. This is why I am able to conduct readings and spiritual counseling sessions with people over the phone. Energy does not have to follow the boundaries and limitations of the physical world, so you can create unhindered! 
2. Because of #1, the spirit can create and change instantly. The body and mind take a while to catch up. We call this period between spiritual growth and physical growth a "growth period." Sometimes our growth periods are a bit uncomfortable as the body moves its way through physical time to catch up with the spirit. Sometimes there is work we need to do on the physical level to help the body and mind catch up with the spirit. Understanding this growth period can be comforting as we work to move forward.
3. Because of #1, when we work to create what we want as a spirit, the meditation for the mind is to imagine that we already have it. The spirit creates instantly. The mind and body believe in time. If the mind believes something is in the future, it will always keep us just out of reach of having it. If we can practice, in meditation, already having exactly what we want to create, the mind and body can get on board more quickly.

Try it. What is it that you've been struggling so hard to create? Meditate instead on knowing that, as a spirit, you already have it. Imagine, in meditation, what it feels, sounds, smells, and tastes like to have your creation. Allow yourself to have it. See what happens.