“STOP ACTING SO SMALL. YOU ARE THE UNIVERSE IN ECSTATIC MOTION”
~RUMI

We are in a new time. A dramatically new time. Have you felt it? Over the past few months specifically, the world, the earth, the cosmos, everything has quite literally shifted. Life as we once knew it will never be the same again. And it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Old structures are falling away. We are literally being guided to do things differently, to experience each other and the world differently. For some it explains the turmoil we are witnessing in the world, for others the beauty of the world is literally coming into fuller focus – the greens of the trees are brighter, the flowers are more breathtaking, the clouds are literally painting us paintings in the skies (and there’s no alcohol or drugs involved)!

Want to know one of the most telling and important features of this new time? The notion of hierarchies is eroding and nowhere more clearly than in the arena of the Spiritual. Have you noticed it in your own life?

Leaders and people we considered mentors and role models, are consciously or subconsciously jumping off their pedestals; and we are being asked, deeply asked, to realize one of the greatest truths that many of us have been avoiding for years – that the true Guru lives inside ourselves.

Us? Little old us, really? Don’t we need the counsel of others who know more than us? Who are more “connected” than us? Who have gone through years and decades and lifetimes of training? To some extent yes, but not the extent that so many of us have historically given our powers away to those who “know” more.

In tangible terms what does this mean? For myself, I spent decades with every self-help book imaginable, at every yoga, tai chi, shamanic ritual and retreat, with a rolodex of healers, physical, spiritual, emotional and otherwise to run to. And any time I had a question, a really important question, or even a not so important question, off I would toddle. “Fix me. Save me. Heal me. Tell me who I am” I would essentially be saying. And bless their hearts, they tried. But ultimately it’s not their work to do, it’s not their discovery. It’s our own.

There’s a guide and a Guru that knows more than all the healers in the world, and this guide sits right in the center of your own Heart. And when you can get quiet and still and truly tap in, and listen, there will be gold waiting there that is more powerful, more beautiful and more resonant than anything anyone else can ever give you.

Because after all, what are we truly looking for? It’s my experience and my personal knowing that in all our attempts to connect, to heal, to feel “good” we are really trying to remember and taste our own connection to the Divinity that already lives in our Souls. And when we tap into it, we feel aligned, we feel delicious, we feel whole again. The greatest irony of all is that it has always been there. We just need to look.

Like Rumi says, “Stop Acting So Small, You Are The Universe In Ecstatic Motion”. When we finally accept it, and ultimately at some point we all will, our lives will blossom and bloom in ways that our hearts only ever dreamed of, and it will all start with accepting the Divinity that is already inside our own Souls.

In reality, beginning this process can be deeply terrifying. There is something relieving about giving our power to leaders and gurus – the way we often do with doctors and religious leaders. We feel as though there are people out there that know more than us, can save us, can heal us, and in a way it takes the responsibility of our own shoulders or own hearts. It allows us to play small and to stay small and it allows us to live in the bubble of being taken care of by another. But it also leads us to a place of trepidation, because any time our existence or our happiness or our Sense of Self is dependent on the actions or even the existence of another person, we are in a vulnerable position. And not the good kind of vulnerable.

The good kind of vulnerable comes when we realize that we ourselves, have a connection to something bigger and that if we truly surrender to this connection, we will discover what we need to discover, we will hear what we need to hear and we will be guided to which next steps to take in our lives.

The realm of the Spirit is one of the heart, not the Brain, which is why so many of us have such troubles “letting go”. We’ve all seen the quotes on Instagram: “Just let go” “Let it all go”. But what does it really mean? To me, it means letting go of the notion that anyone else can save you.

In fact, we don’t need to be saved at all. We are connected to the Source of Existence. Who needs to be saved when they have that kind of access in their back pockets? It’s like having a gift certificate to Nobu and banging down the door of McDonalds asking to be fed.

But here’s the rub: the connection, the majesty, the miracles, the true yumminess of this creative and benevolent wellspring of Cosmic Magic can only truly come when you are willing to stand in your own power. When you are willing to allow the hierarchies that you have built in your own mind to crumble. When you are willing, really willing, to accept and celebrate the vibrancy and the beauty and wisdom and the wonder of your own Soul.

How do you begin? Take a piece of paper, grab a journal, and ask yourself:

• What do I know about my own Inner Guru? What is S/he trying to tell me? Where are the best places for me to go to access this wisdom and this deep connection? And what would it mean to me if I allowed this truth into the very fiber of my own Being?
• Then, take a deep breath and let it out. And then another and another. And as scary as it may be, and as liberating as it truly is, let the truth of this in:
  You are your own Inner Guru. Right here. Right now. Not wiser. Not smarter. Not with another’s spiritual experience under your belt. You. Right. Now. Welcome to Your Greatness. This time and this world was created for you to share your beauty and your light and your wisdom.

• Take a moment right now, go to the bathroom mirror, looking into your eyes and then say out loud, “I am willing to see the Beauty of my own Divinity”.

• Say it a few times and then looking deep into your own eyes and allow whatever comes up to come up (it might be skepticism, mean words, judgement, icky resistance or just the notion that this is all some woo-woo crock of baloney).
  Don’t worry whether it’s true or not true.

• Let it all come up and be witnessed, while knowing that there is a part of you deep inside your Heart that 100% knows the truth, that you are a Divine Being having a human experience.

• Give yourself permission to see yourself with those eyes right now. Say hello, and allow the remembering of the true vibrancy and the Beauty of your Being to shine bright.

As you walk through the world today, set the intention that you are going to look for and see the Divinity in everyone who crosses your path today. Literally say the words out loud or allow them to percolate in your mind’s eye: “It is my intention to see the Divinity in everyone that I come into contact with today”. And then see what unfolds. I predict small magical miracles of the most profound kind.

xo,
Nicola

Photo by Daniel Lee