Healing
The word healing means to become whole. We arrive into this realm as a pure Essence: calm, joyful, serene, compassionate, sensitive, caring, open, self-respecting, knowing our value and what we need. Due to trauma and conditioning, that Essence wasn’t nurtured properly and its expression becomes stifled and blocked. We develop coping mechanisms, personality traits and mental and physical “illnesses” to keep ourselves buried. We disconnect from the body and develop the ego, the little ‘I’, a very limited perception of who you are. it is concerned with the survival of the individual and perceives itself to be separate from everything else. This limited Consciousness is a state of suffering. Healing is to reconnect with the True Self, the Love, the transcendent awareness that goes deeper than names and labels, forms and thoughts, and to bring that spirit deeply into the physical body so it can engage with the world. The truth may hurt sometimes, but it always sets you free. This project will offer you some amazing ways to heal with the help of Practitioners, Practices, Parties, Places and Projects. We can do this together.
Meaning
There is meaning to be found in every moment. Many people these days feel nihilistic, like there’s no point, we are beyond hope. I have certainly been to those places, wanting to give up in life completely. Once I began to see that everything happens for a reason, that in fact all the turmoil we are going through is a reflection of what is happening within us, and that the course of the world is directly related to how we respond to it and take responsibility for what we can. This gave me great hope and trust in what happens, because now I am able to engage with painful processes and use them to deepen my relationship to myself and others, taking me out of the victim state and into a state of meaningful, empowered service. There are forces moving beyond what we can see, and we can tap into them by getting quiet and still, coming together, sharing our knowledge and reaching ecstatic states of consciousness. The more meaning we see in what’s going on within and without, the more we are able to ride these waves for positive growth.
Purpose
A sense of purpose is fundamental to a fulfilling life. Finding something that you deeply care about, that you want to do well, for the sake of the effect it has on the world. Taking responsibility for the quality of your life and the environment you live in is a medicine in itself. So many people say “do what you love” . What they really mean by this is “do something you enjoy doing”. I think that is important, but I believe it’s more powerful to find something you care about. You want to do it because of the effects it has beyond yourself. Then, when things are difficult and you’re not particularly enjoying the work, you can keep going, because it is helping others. This is purpose. Many many ancient cultures always had a sense of the purpose of individual within the tribe, and it was always about being of service. Our purpose doesn’t necessarily take the form of a career, for example, a clear statement of my purpose is “To awaken to my true nature and help others to do the same. To create community and express as much Love and Joy as possible, becoming a healing force and leaving a positive impact in this world”. We all have gifts and talents that will help us carry out our purpose, as we start to discover more of ourselves through everything we offer here, our purpose becomes more and more clear. On this site and in our events, we offer so many resources that can help you find yourself and your purpose. Check out the “Connect” page.
Community
A support network. A Tribe. Community is something that we seem to be losing to the ego-centric culture we live in. We seem to be losing connection with one another, social media provides us with an overly stimulating fleeting substitute for community, but we need people of all ages in our lives who we can trust, play with, seek advice from, cry to and rely on. Many studies suggest that the tribal, hunter-gatherer model of Community is the safest for children to grow up in without taking on the trauma of their parents. We don’t have to replicate what Indigenous Tribes modelled, but we can integrate a lot of their wisdom that kept people and the planet healthy for ages. Being close to nature, with many generations around, many different elders to support the development of the others, sacred ceremony to connect to the interconnectedness of everything. Mentors and guides, healers and leaders. Ceremony and initiation, celebration and support. We are communal beings! Bridging the Worlds is not a community in and of itself, it is more a portal, a bridge, for you to discover yourself and find a community that you feel at home in. We don’t want anything from you, it’s all for you.
Connection
Feeling connected is part of our true nature. It is to be open and free to express yourself, being able to see others for who they are and to feel the world around you, to know yourself and to be seen by and with Love. We are all connected, all the time; with each other, with the planet, with the stars. We have just lost our sense of connection, even to ourselves. Nothing happens without connection, without it, the circuit stops; if healing is wholeness, then disconnection is illness. So much suffering in this world is created by misguided unconscious attempts to find loving connection. We develop many layers of illusion to keep ourselves from being vulnerable, but that limits the possibility of connection, which is the medicine we all seek. Peter Levine says that in order to feel truly safe, we require connection, it is not just the absence of threat. Because when you are connected to something bigger than yourself, a higher consciousness, the survival mechanisms of the ego are no longer running the show. Here you can find ways to connect with yourself and others. Another way of phrasing “Bridging the Worlds” is “Creating Connection”, it is at the heart of everything we do. Let’s Bridge the Worlds!
Relationship
Compassion is the lifeforce of healing. I have found that through compassionate awareness, I am able to deal with difficult emotions, scenarios, people and energies with grace and strength. Even with setting boundaries I find that compassion gives me more power to say “I hear you, I can see you’re in pain, but NO!”, and to put this boundary in without holding the behaviours against the person. Compassion is empathy, it’s a deep acknowledgement of pain, yours or another’s, without buying into the tragedy of it. It does not see people as victims, it sees us as warriors that are doing great work to heal our trauma, totally capable and whole. A.H. Almaas says “Only when compassion is present, will people allow themselves to see the truth”. We have become so very polarised as a culture, and the extremes on all sides seem to demonise the other. From this dynamic, we will only become more defensive and cling tighter to any illusory beliefs we may hold. When we have an open space of compassion for ourselves and others, we can come together and either find a middle ground, or live without fear of one another. It is taught, and it is my experience, that the best way to deal with intrusive energies is with compassion, it eradicates any fear we may have and suddenly nothing harmful can touch us. Let compassion bloom through you.
Truth
Truth is often subjective to people. But we believe there is a deep, unchanging truth to reality that lies behind, beyond, within and around all illusion, that truth is Love. That truth is Awareness, it is Life. It is something we can’t grasp with our rational minds, it is an experience of an essential reality that we strive to get closer to. “You will know the truth, and the truth will liberate you.” The truth my hurt sometimes, it often does, but it does always set you free. Learning to sense and express what is true for us in any given moment, being in line with our authenticity, is a sign of healing, and it is the most liberating thing we can do.
Freedom
FREEDOM ! What does it mean to be free? Free from illusion, free from tyranny, free from self sabotage, the opinions of others, cultural and social expectations, free from the temptations and tragedies of the material world. For health to thrive in an organism, the energy has to flow freely; it is the blocked, stagnant energy that creates illness. By opening up this flow, there may be a bit of chaos to begin with, if the energy has been stagnant for a while. There is an integration period, where it can feel like we were better off being suppressed; but in the bigger picture it all comes clear and everything we were looking for arrives. Humanity has been participating in its own enslavement for such a long time that it has become normal, as we have technology and governments performing tasks and making decisions instead of us, we are sacrificing a lot of our abilities and autonomy. I believe that freedom, and the responsibility that comes with it, are necessary ingredients for true joy to emerge and life to be lived. It’s not just about freedom from external situations, how free are we from our minds? Our emotional baggage? Our inner tyrants and unconscious patterns? In a sense, healing and freedom have very similar meanings, as with Love. When you truly love somebody, you give them space, space to be themselves. You don’t try to change them or control them, you are present with all of them and respect their freedom, because there is nothing to change. Let’s Love to be Free! Bridging the Worlds honours your freedom, so choice is everything. You can choose to participate or not, you can choose to believe or not, it’s totally up to you.
Integrity
To be integrated is to come together, deeply connected and grounded, sure of what you know and true to who you are, bringing the entirety of your being to the interaction, nothing left in the shadows. Acknowledging and respecting all that needs to be. Integrity is rare in the ‘spiritual’ and ‘healing’ circles. A lot of superficiality, a lot of ego, a lot of misguidance. I am aware of these tendencies within myself too. Our aim is to Bridge you to those that are integral, that are self aware and are committed to doing what is right, that serves the people, rather than just their own desires. As we integrate, we bring more of ourselves in, more of our power, our truth, our wisdom and our authenticity. Integration is synonymous with healing in that respect, it’s processing, reconnection and grounding. We are here to help you integrate your true nature.
Wisdom
Wisdom is silent. Intelligence is loud. Intelligence makes bombs. Wisdom makes hearts open. We have a lot of intelligence, humanity. That intelligence must be guided by wisdom: intuitive, feminine, patient, quiet, silence. A presence like a smooth ripple on a pebbly pond. We all have unique wisdom deep inside us. We just need the space to listen to it.
Service
We are all one. When we have a full cup, when we are fit and ready, being of service to others is part of our nature. To give, to contribute to the good in the world, not out of a need to be liked and seen as a good person, but because you care and you know it to be right. We are encouraged by our culture to be attached to our ego and our individual story, to make a name for ourselves and accrew material wealth and higher status than our fellow humans. That never satisfies anyone truly, and creates an isolated sense of self. I know that I feel most connected to the truth and free of suffering when I am helping others, giving from a resourced place, with healthy boundaries, when I have enough energy, and I’m not desperate to get something in return. You can help the world, there’s a lot you can give. Bridging the Worlds aims to help you find a path where you can discover your truth and be of service to humanity.
Responsibility
The ability to respond. Response-able. To take responsibility for our emotions, the quality of our life, the problems we can help with and our contribution to this world is to free ourselves from being victims. It is growing up and becoming a healthy participant in this dance, to stop pointing fingers, stepping into who we are and being of service. Many of us have taken on responsibilities that are not ours, in our families, in our relationships and in our world. The difference between a reaction and a response? A reaction is automatic, charged and emotional; it is triggered by an unconscious perception, based on our past. A response is a grounded, intuitively and cognitively guided, cohesive decision; being able to see options and able to choose the best one. We all have a responsibility to look after the earth, to open our hearts and be kind to one another, to look after ourselves. By taking this responsibility you take back your power and also your freedom, if you are responsible, external forces have less control over you.
