JESSICA LEE

During this time, I was abused by my partner as well as being oppressed by a toxic workplace. I was a high school language teacher, and after twelve years, I quit, feeling disconnected and disrespected in many ways.

This was an emotional and spiritual death. I had to let go of my entire identity and profession, physical and mental bruises, and the life I thought I was going to be able to live. The transformation and rebirth that followed is something I am still trying to comprehend. Once I started taking care of my body, mind, and soul, everything shifted.

The Great Shift

So, how can we begin to shift when we don’t know where to start? This answer will be different for everyone, but there are a few core principles that apply across the board.

First, make room. Eliminate things from your life that are no longer aligned with the person you want to be. Energy sucking friend or partner? Cut them off. Toxic job? Make a plan to quit safely. Limiting beliefs? Work on reducing those as much as possible. These things take time, so be patient and love yourself.

Spiritual ascension also requires deep self care and ritualistic practices. There are so many things to choose from that the possibilities are endless. Journaling, yoga, breath work, tarot or oracle cards, meditation, cleansings…the list goes on. Find what resonates with you and aim to insert these practices in your daily or weekly life.

Jess is a Spiritual Travel Mentor working with clients to heal using travel, spirituality, and mental health practices. Thewanderword.com @thewanderword

Finally, establish how you want to FEEL every day. Big goals are important, but if you can’t pinpoint how you want your days to feel, it is easy to get caught up in the chase. Pick a few emotions, actions, and moods that you want to be able to experience on the daily and journal about how you can achieve these.

Rebirth And Spiritual Travel

As soon as I protected my energy and severed toxic ties, I was sent into a death and resurrection cycle that continues to repeat. I was led on a spiritual travel journey in Italy that pulled me to visit Italy with my mother. We drove up and down the Tyrrhenian coast, following our intuition and attracting immaculate vibes along the way. Our journey brought us to Minori, a small town on the Amalfi Coast with craggy rocked mountains, blue warm waters, exquisite food, and a deep sense of connection to the place and people.

We walked the unfamiliar streets feeling as though we had been there before and it was as if we belonged there. It was a bizarre and magical emotion, not just feeling, but KNOWING, that we were so in sync with the vibrations of this tiny coastal town that many tourists overlooked in favor of Amalfi proper and Positano.

We later discovered that our family, particularly my great-great grandparents, immigrated to the United States from Minori. Trofimena, my greatgreat grandmother, named after the patron Saint of Minori, grew up and lived on the very streets that we unknowingly wandered.

This was no coincidence. This was spirit. Travel has the profound capacity to balance chakras and shift energy through new environments and energies. The more you travel, the more open you become, and the easier it is to expand your authenticity and raise your vibrations. I believe I was divinely summoned by Trofimena who initiated a series of spiritual ascension that led me to choose my ancestral hometown without even knowing it.

It’s not the first time spirit has allowed me to be reborn through travel, but it is absolutely the most powerful resurrection and connection to self origin that I was able to experience. This is possible for all travelers who are seeking shifting, healing, and spirituality through travel.