Transform! Module Six Self-Study

Transform! Week Six Self-Study This week’s practices are focused on exploring self-love, unconditional love, and divine love while beginning to clear all of the barriers we have constructed that prohibit love from flowing freely through us and in our lives. A heartbased mode of living is rooted in the belief that love is the only thing that is real—everything else is illusion.

Vocabulary/Concepts: Contrast Master Teachers Soul Contracts Mirroring Shadow Self Resentment Understanding the Heart: If the Mind is the central “control” system of the Ego, the Heart is the central control system of the Soul. When we stay in the heart we strengthen our relationship to ourselves and to the Divine.

As we do so we find ourselves spending less time in fear and scarcity and more time in love and abundance.

Sacred Heart Cave Practice: This week spend some time dropping into your Heart Cave. As you are here work on visualizing your Sacred Heart Cave. This cave is a safe meditative space that allows you to connect with your true authentic self. It is a safe haven within yourself that allows you to get still and quiet and meet yourself with love. As we strengthen the vibration of the heart, we begin to shift from an ego, mind-driven approach to life to a spiritual, soul-based approach.

Vocabulary/Concepts Contrast, Master Teachers, and Soul Contracts: As we begin to come home to ourselves and live in the heart, we are in a better position to evaluate what soul lessons we have been learning along the way and begin to more deeply cultivate self-love and compassion.

Each of us has a particular spiritual path, complete with life experiences that allow us to learn the soul lessons that we have asked to work on in this life time and soul expression.

To gather these life lessons we have agreed to certain soul meetups, or soul contracts, before this earthly lifetime. We can think about these soul contracts as playing dress up—we perform different roles for each other’s souls so that we may learn the lessons we have called to us. These relationships, situations, and scenarios provide us with contrast between

the situation and what we know to be true in our hearts to help us come back to ourselves. In other words, they show us what we don’t want. The people and relationships around us are our mirrors, and those whom bring contrast into our lives are our master teachers who show us where our work is. Our master teachers can take on any form— older or younger, friends or strangers, parents or colleagues, partners, siblings, peers, teachers. Our master teachers are anyone whom we have “stuff” with.

As we make our way on the spiritual path, these personality conflicts become transformed into soul lessons and learning opportunities for self-growth instead of “problems” and obstacles to be overcome.

They also provide us with opportunities to examine our shadow self. Our shadow self consists of all of the qualities about ourselves that we have disowned and banished because we judge and perceive these qualities to be “bad.”

Often when a master teacher shows up, they provide us with a mirror for understanding aspects of our shadow self that are up to heal. The truth is, we all have everything within us—we are infinite and we are all connected. Therefore our traits are not “good” or “bad,” they just are. When a master teacher brings out aspects of our shadow self we deem as “bad,” we can begin to investigate our relationship to that trait and heal our connection with it.

For instance, because I was so invested in being “good” as a child, I was afraid of my fire—an element that just “is” for someone with a pitta dosha. So I banished it. I labeled it as bad. Because I denied this fundamental aspect of myself, it started to only show up in dysfunctional ways. Instead of allowing it to show up in a healthy way—like a campfire—it showed up more like a raging forest fire. Yikes.

When I started allowing my fire—honoring it, befriending it— I was able to recognize that my fire is also what makes me, me: passionate, a change agent, a leader; my unique soul qualities in this life expression. My so-called “shadow” quality only needed the proper home, context, and care— and to be channeled through the heart—in order to thrive and become one of my great assets, instead of a liability.

Shadow Self Work: Our Heart qualities are our “positive” traits, soul qualities, spiritual gifts, true essence, and strengths. Our Ego qualities are our shadow qualities— what we have deemed to be “negative” destructive traits, expressions of our pain bodies, weaknesses. Our heart qualities are our conscious qualities. Our shadow qualities are our unconscious qualities. Similar to neutral mind, part of coming into true self-love is releasing ourselves from “good” and “bad” and being radically honest with ourselves with all of who we are.

For this exercise, make two columns in your journal. On the left side list your heart qualities—those unique gifts and qualities that allow you to stay connected to source and love.

On the right side list your shadow qualities—those aspects of yourself that are operating in fear and separation. Be radically honest with yourself—no one needs to see this list except you.

• What do you notice about this list? Do any of these qualities map onto your doshas? Blocked chakras?

Limiting belief systems? Pain bodies? Contrasts?

• Do you struggle in acknowledging/accepting any of your shadow qualities? Are there particular qualities you are more willing to admit than others?

• Are you able to fully embrace and honor your soul qualities? What does it feel like to recognize and honor your gifts?

• Begin to look across both columns and see if you there is any crossover in the two columns—is it possible that there are any shadow qualities that are also soul qualities when differently directed? Are there any soul qualities that tip into ego when misdirected?

Master Teachers: Take some time to reflect on your past and present master teachers. These are the people who challenge us, and those qualities in our master teachers that we label as “bad” or particularly irritating are usually

projections of personality traits we have banished in ourselves that comprise the shadow self.

• Who have been your master teachers?

• What qualities do they possess that challenge you?

• Which of your shadow qualities must you face with them as your projection mirror?

• How have you made the issue about them when it’s really about you?

• What key lessons were learned, or what qualities were built within you due to learning with them?

• What qualities are you developing in yourself as a result of your experiences?

Role Models: Take some time to reflect on people in your life whom you admire, past and present.

• What do you admire about them?

• What qualities do they possess?

• Have these role models changed over time? If so, how?

Often those people we most admire in our lives exhibit our soul qualities—our own unique gifts and strengths. Take some time to recognize these qualities within yourself, maybe recognizing how you have allowed these qualities to remain dormant out of fear and limiting belief systems.

Forgiveness Mantras: There is a Buddhist quote that states “holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting

the other person to die.” Forgiveness in the spiritual sense is not for the other person. It is about releasing the karma and energetic chord between you in order to free up your prana for more of what you want in your life. Forgiveness does not excuse the other person’s behavior. It does not make their actions “okay.” What it does is clear the energetic entanglement between you by releasing resentment in order to bring you back into love. The following forgiveness mantras can be used and applied to various scenarios.

Ho’oponopono Mantra: This is a traditional indigenous Hawaiian forgiveness prayer that literally translates as “to make right.” It works to release karma and can be flexibly applied. The mantra is powerful yet simple. Repeat each line as feels right before moving onto the next. You can move through the mantra as many times as you would like: I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you . . .

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. . .

Please forgive me, please forgive me, please forgive me. . .

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you . . .

1. Self-Forgiveness: Forgive yourself for anything that you may still hold against yourself. It can be helpful to have your ego self sit across from your soul self, apologizing for forgetting your infinite nature, and having your soul self receive the mantra to release and clear your earthly mistakes.

2. Forgive Others: Think about all the people in your life that helped create the contrast for you to get your life lessons. They lowered their vibration and put on the dark cloak in order to serve you in this lifetime so you could grow and transform and transcend any karma or negative experience. Imagine sitting across from your Master Teachers and repeating different rounds where you state the mantra to them and then allow yourself to receive them saying it to you.

3. Clearing Lineage: Imagine your maternal and paternal lineages lined up in front of you. Repeat the mantra to clear karma for your ancestry and for the generations that were not able to come to a place of healing.

4. Collective Karma Clearing: Imagine different social issues and/or groups that are in need of release and healing.

Witness them. Try on the dynamics. Offer your mantra for collective healing.

Family Lineage Mantra: “Divine, for me and my entire lineage throughout all time, past, present, and future: please help us all forgive all people, help all people forgive us, and help us all forgive ourselves. Please Divine. Thank you, Divine. And so it is.” (Provided by Mirabai Devi)

Self-Forgiveness Mantra: “Divine, release me from every mistake I’ve ever made, and replace those mistakes by such Ascended Master Sacred Fire Blessing and Perfection and Happiness to the rest of life that I never think of them again.

They can never be existing anywhere in the Universe and no one else can be touched by them!” (St. Germain Lineage)