We just returned from the LA Conscious Life Expo and I’m exhausted. Since returning, one conversation has been stuck in my mind. A few of our neighboring exhibitors were talking about a teenager who was looking for advice on how to navigate all these different modalities and practitioners. He was interested in this area but had been feeling overwhelmed. While I didn’t speak directly to this young man, it got me thinking about my journey and what advice I would give had I been asked. I had a similar concern when I started my journey. Here is the advice I would provide to anyone interested in diving into their soul journey.
Start with your Why
Have a sense of why you are looking into the areas of complimentary/alternative medicine, the mystical arts, and/or metaphysical teachings. The why is an important component to deciphering who will support your healing and evolution. The why can range from emotional (e.g., fear, lack, shame, depression, etc) to medical (e.g., supplement medical treatment) to the woo-woo (e.g., spiritual connection, channeling, mediumship). This will help narrow the field of options. It’s like knowing which doctor to go to for a particular ailment. It’s the same idea but it’s not as clear as it is for medicine.
Deciphering
Now that you know the why, use that to create a series of questions for a deciphering tool. This tool can then be used to decide if a workshop, class, or practitioner would support your soul journey. Here are some possible questions can create a series of questions around your why:
Does this modality specifically address your why?
What success has there been with people with your why?
What can I expect from this modality in addressing my situation or desire?
Part of deciphering is also doing your homework. There are a lot of internet options to learn about the modality, teacher and/or practitioner. Gain an understanding of their training in and motivation for their chosen modality(ies).
Learn to Trust – Follow the Gut
This is tricky because it not like finding a dentist where you can look at his degree and make assumptions about the quality of his training. Some of the modalities do have regulation and training requirements such as in acupuncture and holistic medicine. For others, you are left to trust your heart, and follow your gut. It is important to listen and honor yourself if something doesn’t feel right. You will not get this right all the time. We have all made mistakes in this area, and we have all used it as an opportunity to improve our deciphering skills. I haven’t always picked the right dentist for me either by the way.
Belief
Understanding your level of belief and how open are you to receiving the benefit of the treatment, teaching or training is important to the soul journey. Being somewhat skeptical is healthy, but if you are a total disbeliever, then I would recommend holding off. I would suggest an examination as to why you don’t believe and are closed to possibilities. For example, is there a fear of the unknown? It is a fear of being made a fool? Is it something else? It is important to sit with this because it suggests a block and may limit you and potential benefits.
Mission of Souljym
We are creating souljym to build this growing industry by making it expansive and accessible to everyone. I would have loved the help in knowing who could have been helpful to me at the different stages of my journey. There were some teachers I wished I had earlier in my journey and there were some I would have benefited more from had I waited. So that is one of my motivations for the membership, to help you navigate your journey. It is my intention to find quality practitioners who have depth in their area of practice. We feel it is important to you, because it is important to us, to know that when you ask for soul help you have it in hands we can trust.
Until Souljym opens, you can always reach out to me personally. I am always happy to direct people to modalities or people who might be able to help them if I know of someone. No need to suffer if there is something or someone who may be able to help you. My email is lbennett@souljym.com.