What is self work and why is it important? (6 min. read)
“Why though? Why is self work important and what do you mean by ’inner transformation’ exactly?”
Someone asked me this recently and it opened up a beautiful dialog, much like the one recorded by Jess Marie Larrain for The Sacred Space podcast (listen below). Maybe you’re new to this concept or perhaps you know it through your own life’s message. Maybe you think it sounds woo-woo, but hey, ancient healing modalities and even carrying crystals around in your pocket is on the rise again according to Vox & Refinery29 so why not indulge your curiosity!
Self work: it’s growing your awareness. It’s getting to know and showing up as your authentic self. It’s transforming the daily struggles we experience (because human) and seeing through the illusion that we are separate from one another. It’s connection to something bigger than who you think you are. It’s the experience of belonging. It’s consciousness— it’s all that has been, all that ever will be, all that is and all that isn’t. How mysterious!
Self work is inner transformation because it’s learning to quiet your mind chatter in order to know the person who is listening to it. Think about the peace that is available to experience, knowing that you’re not actually the one who is thinking all of the thoughts, but rather the one who is able to be present to LISTENING. Notice that the thoughts are so prevalent in your daily experience that you may not even have a handle on their affect over your experience. The cause of them goes waaaaaaaay back: if you can believe it, they evolved in your psyche to protect you, actually. Problem is, ego can’t distinguish between actual threat and perceived threat. In other words, our bodies might respond with flight/fight/freeze during an uncomfortable conversation the same as it would if you ran a red light and almost caused an accident. You know this is real because you have some personal set of physical symptoms that accompany the inner dialogue. It might be a tightening in your chest or throat area. It could be a fluttering, upset stomach. What about that repeated headache you experience at the base of your skull? Ever notice that our bodies communicate with us through our senses in this way? If you are new to self work, you may find that there are layers and layers of external situations that have stacked on top of one another to form re-occurring, uncomfortable patterns for you.
According to psychology, the ego mind has a few parts and the main purpose of them is to keep you alive: the physical you and the psychological you. What about the you that is pure awareness, though? The you that can hear the ego chatter and can observe the outer world through your senses? The one who understands the intangible: the energy of living that is experienced through vibration. Love is energy, is it not? We all show and experience it differently, yet we understand it as a human experience.
How earth shattering has this past year been with all the changes that we have had as a human race? Wouldn’t self work support us in getting ‘unstuck’ together? I’m happy to share a bit about how it affected me personally and why I want to give by being in service to people by holding space for inner work.
The global interruption we have been moving through this past fourteen months brought on so much external change and in some ways, we may never have the same sense of “normal” again. Trust me when I say that I practice what I preach regarding self work.
Using the tools I have gained through this work in the last two decades, I have not only survived thus far without contracting the virus myself, moved through the grief of losing a few friends who did have it and conquered my first pregnancy and childbirth in the time of a pandemic. Being able to feel peace and balance has been priceless during the experience of relocating cross country again after closing another six-figure business.
At first I did what I thought I ‘should’ do and returned to working in a salon as an employee. At first I was relatively excited about it: I mean I found a company whose founder vibrates with a similar energy as me. He highly values education and is driven to offer the best service in the area, has named his salon Alchemy and we have the same birthday, for crying out loud! I believed and still do that the law of attraction lead me to that experience. Simultaneously, the turn of the new year resurfaced my drive to guide people in their journey of inner transformation and I realized my unfinished business was popping up and begging for my attention.
Recently, the mutual decision to press pause on taking hair appointments in salon was made. Since then, I offered three live workshops via Zoom and had a great turnout. So far, 27 participants joined my sessions, tuning in from six different states in the USA. Pretty cool to see the invisible threads that connect all of us and lead us to be together in those conversations.
As an experiential learner myself, I believe in customizing my 1:1 sessions and group workshops to suit the needs of the individuals who come together. The general format is pre-decided, but I remain open to changing how the information is delivered based on what comes up in the moment. In April’s workshops, the lesson was based on transforming the human experience of Judgment and how to shed light on and reveal the light side of that which we defined as Acceptance. I used the moon as somewhat of a metaphor and a time marker; we met on the New Moon and the Full Moon, with a bonus session in between (gotta give that waxing moon some love, right!?).
During the new moon it seemed, by what everyone shared, that we were all experiencing a lot of judgment in life. It was happening to us and from us. How typical is it that we are too hard on ourselves or others? Do we not lose sight of the bigger picture and sweat the small stuff all too often? Through music, meditation, journaling and vocalizing some of the things that were coming up for all of us, we found we are all so connected. Every single person shared with me afterwards, some seed of awareness that had grown into wisdom in the coming weeks. The night of April’s full pink super moon workshop, there was emphasis on how important language is and how valuable harnessing and omitting good vibrations is in the pursuit of the life we want to live. All in all, everyone left with more awareness of themselves and perhaps touched the potential of Acceptance. After all, much like the moon is still actually there during a ‘new moon’ sky, acceptance is always available to us, we just have to illuminate it through our thoughts, feelings and actions.
Next up is May: Mental Health Awareness Month. Did you know? Let’s break the stigma that makes mental health seem like it’s ‘us versus them’ when really it’s a spectrum. If you’re human and have a functioning brain, you experience yourself somewhere on the the spectrum of mental health/well-being and mental disorder/disease. It’s very normal to go through imbalance in this area and my goal is to have you be a little less stuck, gain clarity and feel more alive!
Next sessions are focused on the human experiences of Grief and Love. We will be meeting on the New Moon: May 11 8:30-10pm ET and the Full Moon: May 26th 8:30-10pm ET. Reserve your spot now by clicking below to send your payment of $33 and the Zoom link will be sent in return. Looking forward to moving through Grief and experiencing LOVE. Come vibe with me during a Group HART session and experience your greatest potential!
