In today’s video, Brice gave people the opportunity to “be her guest” on Solutions by Aquarious Rising Africa. This gave some of the participants of the Challenge to share their experience with others.

No, I’m not one of the participants who shared. I’m still working a j.o.b. so I couldn’t take the time off on short notice, to share. I feel like I’ve been doing that here, all month. I hope you all found value in the sharing. Maybe it brought you to join the challenge.

As we get closer to the end of the month we are continuing to challenge ourselves. Now, as we get closer to day thirty, we find our biggest challenge yet, comes to the surface. It’s time to create our challenge for December. December’s challenge will be created by each individual participant. We are on our own for the month.

I will continue to exercise. My plan is to do an hour of Ashtanga Yoga at “dark thirty” (really early in the am), then 30 minutes of core exercises. I’m thinking I will add the Barre on Sundays, in addition to yoga. I will continue with the meditation after my practice. Yes, the cold shower stays. I will read one book a week, to expand my knowledge. I’m hoping to share what I learn on this platform. Going to bed before ten pm has served me well, so I will keep that too. I’m also doing the Yoga intensive with Brice so I’m reading the Yoga Sutras. I think that pretty much fills up my time for the month of December.

I’m another day closer to day thirty which I will end with my 28th journal entry. Then lights out. I end this day, thankful for all I’ve learned, and thankful for all the people I’ve met.

This is our final Sunday fun-day for this Challenge.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been working this Challenge for almost 30 days. I’ve learned many things about myself. We’ve addressed both emotion and friction while incorporating them into our workout. Actually, they are a result of the workout.

I was raised during a time when we were taught that we needed to control our emotions. We needed to keep them hidden. We were weak if we showed our emotion. And no one wanted to see you cry. “Suck it up buttercup”, “brush it off and keep going”, were words we heard when we heard when we got hurt.

I don’t blame my parents for this though. They were only parenting the way they were parented. Part of our shadow work is to heal these wounds and change the perception of how we grow and learn.

For many years of my life, until recently, in fact, I hid my emotions. I never cried in front of my children. Certain people said I had a cold heart, because I didn’t show emotion. While that hurt, I never let it show. But it did affect me. For a while, I believed it. Yet, somehow in my “cold heartedness”, I still took excellent care of my children, volunteered and gave to charities. I was always there to help anyone who asked. Now that I look at the big picture, I can tell you I do have a heart.

The emotions didn’t break lose until I started doing the work. I’ve been focusing on my shadow work for years now. But to be honest, those tears didn’t flow freely, until I started this challenge.

I believe the friction created by the workout options is what forced the emotion to the surface. The friction creates pain in the body. We are learning the the pain we experience isn’t just a physical reaction to the body working muscles that haven’t been worked in years. The pain is also an emotional response to the energy that has been stored in those muscles. The “work” forces and releases that energy which is what prompts the emotion, causing the tears to release that energy.

I don’t claim to be an expert when it comes to shadow work. I’m a “newbie”. I will tell you I’ve learned a lot. I’ve become more acquainted with my true self. I’ve learned to trust myself. And I’ve learned that with time and patience, I can heal.

I’ve also learned that those working the Shadow Work Challenge have been a great support to each other. It is a new experience for me. I’m thankful for all the gifts that this Challenge has afforded me.

If you’re looking to grow and heal from past trauma of any sort, you should consider joining the Challenge in January 2023.

Today we looked at the Yoga Sutras. Specifically the Yamas and the Niyamas. They teach us “right living”. They show us how to live morally. The first Yama, Ahisma, teaches non violence. It teaches us to heal ourselves first.

There is a big lesson in the first Yama, Ahisma. Most of us grew up knowing we shouldn’t harm others. I think we often forget we are part of that equation. Sometimes I think we beat up ourselves more than we would ever target anyone else. The negative talk we project on ourselves puts us in a space where we go from good, to bad, to worse. We talk ourselves into believing we aren’t enough. We should consider that as harming our “self”. During this Challenge, we are learning to heal those wounds.

The Niyamas, are constructive tools that teach us self confidence and how to be happy in the moment. Santasha, the second Niyama, means contentment or joy. Here we study, to learn that we can be content with any situation. We can we find peace in the turmoil.

No matter where we are in our life we can learn to find joy in the little things.

In the video above, Brice asks us to sit quietly outside. She asks us to observe the temperature. It’s cold where I live. Or is it? The mind tells us it’s cold outside because it is protecting our bodies, keeping us from freezing to death. But if we step back and observe the feeling without prejudice, we can
notice the sensation in our body without judgment. As I sit in the cold frosty air, observing my breath as the condensation escapes from my lips, I still say it’s cold. Without prejudice, of course.

This reminds me of our shadow work. We are working through pain during our workout. we are observing the pain, objectively. Asking our bodies to tell us where the pain is coming from. What lesson do we have to learn through the pain? It still hurts, but if we look at the pain objectively, we discern healing in working through it.

While this Shadow Work Challenge is almost at it’ end, the work will continue. It will be a life-long process that only ends with death or moving to a new reality (or dimension). The lessons are unending. So, as my day closes, I record these things in my journal, and turn out the lights.

When I sat back and thought about it, I realized the truth in the statement.

Our minds are not our soul. Our minds are part of our bodies. Our bodies are the expression of the soul. Not the soul. The soul is real, the body isn’t.

That doesn’t sound so crazy, once you realize the concept of energy. The Hathor’s tell us they see our bodies as egg shaped balls of energy. Millions of tiny points of light. They see our energy bodies. They see our bodies from their dimensional reality, not from the third dimension where we reside. We as humans have descended into this dimension to experience the polarity of this reality. In this dimension our bodies vibrate at a frequency that is low enough that we appear solid. So back to the statement, “you are more than your opinion”.

When we listen to the vibration of the thoughts in the mind, we think we are solidifying a fact. When in reality, we are not. We are making an assumption, or creating a situation based on something that is probably manifested by our ego. That trickster, again. So, while the thought isn’t real, we must be careful what we think. Because our bodies don’t know the thought is a manifestation of the ego that will trick us into believing it real, thence causing it to become real in our life. The vibration of the thought, presents itself as a solid 3D manifestation.

In today’s video, Brice talks about the challenge many face when it comes to food. I can’t say I have an addiction to food, but there have been times in my life when I would use food to soothe a stressful situation. Or I would use it to replace or create a feeling of joy that I lacked in my life. The best example of this is chocolate. I really like dark chocolate. I always kept a chocolate bar in my cupboard or desk in case. When I felt down or was a target for someone to blame or make fun of, or when stress became to much, I would take out the chocolate. Now that I recognize this, I try not to use it as a vice. I try to turn the situation around. I own the feeling and work to let it go.

I don’t have a food addiction, but there are people close to me that do. It is painful to watch them struggle with weight, and with the mental anguish of fighting the food frustration that keeps them stuck. It’s hard to watch, knowing, I can’t help. I know they have to work through that pain on their own. I do try to be supportive, knowing I can never really understand their pain.

I hope anyone reading this, that suffers with food addiction, will be able to find the strength to work through the injured energy that causes the suffering. I hope you can find the courage to see your beauty and know that you are perfect. You are everything good in the world. When you are released from your dark night, you will shine. The world will know you for the being you are. And you will know joy and peace. Until then, know, anything is possible. You only need to believe and remember, your opinions are not you.

I’ve learned many things about myself. I have always been a hard worker. But I have also neglected myself. I put others needs before my own. Because of this I never exercised, and I’ve not been concerned with what I eat. I eat well. Meaning I don’t eat junk food. When I was diagnosed with Hashimotos I addressed that. Now I eat mostly raw foods because I can’t be bothered to take the time to cook. On occasion I take a couple hours on a Sunday to prepare a root vegetable soup (my take on minestrone without beef broth), but outside of that I don’t plan meals.

Learning about the Doshas has helped me focus a little more on meal planning. I have a clearer understanding of how food effects the body and the emotions. It’s amazing how, when we stop to look at the big picture, everything falls into place. Food is energy, we are energy. It makes sense that we want the food we put in our bodies to match the vibration of our body. After all is is the expression of the soul.

I want that expression to match my soul purpose. So in addition to what I put in my body, I’m becoming more conscientious of moving my body. Each of the exercises Brice introduced through this challenge have been a wonderful way to observe how my body reacts and responds to pain. They have given me the opportunity to use these modalities to get to know my true self. Not the self that wants to run and hide when the pain comes up. I’ve learned that self is the ego, trying to trick me, to get me to quit. My true self is the me that pushes through the pain and keeps going. It’s the self that is learning to be honest about the pain. To sit with tit and learn the lessons that are present so I can heal those old wounds.

I can’t believe we’ve been working this challenge for 21 days. The time is passing quickly. I’ve learned a lot, but I know I still have many things to learn. I guess I’ll see what the next eight days bring.

I know we’re almost there, but it’s still not to late to join the challenge. You’ll finish later, but you will learn so much. I hope you will consider joining us. It’s never too late to begin to heal.

Brice chose Richard Simmons “Sweatin to the Oldies” as the Sunday exercise so we could have a little fun with the exercise portion of the challenge. She also selected this modality to bring to our attention the struggles we all have, and the excuses we make to avoid addressing our pain.

Richard Simmons was born with a foot deformities. At one point in his life he was also overweight. He could have very easily used these obstacles as excuses to live in his pain. But instead, he chose to overcome his deformities, and to address the weight by creating what became a successful exercise platform.

We are two thirds of the way through the challenge. We are working through many obstacles, whether it be emotional, physical, or in come cases environmental or social. I find the social aspect to be a great challenge.

We all have a lot going on in our lives. Some have families with young children, others may be taking care of their senior parents. We have careers and many of us volunteer our time to charities. All in addition to our daily chores and “honey-do-lists”. These are all perfect reasons to set aside the self and focus on others, right?

No, wrong. At least not if we want to heal old wounds. All of these obstacles are part of “our work”. We could use the obstacles as an excuse to quit or we can overcome them and use them as a conduit to our healing.

No more excuses. I continue moving forward. As do those who are taking on the Shadow Work Challenge. We rise early in the morning, tackle the ego and set it straight. We work through whatever modality of exercise we choose each day. We meditate, take cold showers and work through our regular daily schedules.

We end our day with our journal and lights out at 10pm.

We have so much to learn in this life. Lessons we need to learn so we can move onward and upward. We have all been given a great opportunity to educate ourselves through this challenge. I hope more people will see the value in this lesson and join us in the 30 Day Shadow Work Challenge.

First of all, part of our Saturday self study, is dedicated to learning about Reiki. Reiki is a form of energy healing. Remember in prior posts we discussed energy, and how it can neither be created or destroyed? It can only be transformed. Reiki is the healing modality that assists in that transformation of energy to heal. The video below provides a good overview of what Reiki is.

Please notice the Bible verse at the beginning of the video.

I have experienced the healing offered through Reiki. I have experienced healing of migraine and low back pain through this modality. It can be an amazing experience. It has been far too long since my last treatment. I look forward to working with Emmie.

Continuing on. In the video Brice posted today, she talks with Steph and Emmie about the healing practice of Reiki. They also discuss the brainwashing that has taken place over the centuries. Specifically the mind control perpetrated by the Church. I’m going to let you view the video below to hear the conversation. Please don’t be too quick to discount what they say. There is a lot of truth in their conversation.

There are many things going on in the world today, evil things, that are a result of the Churches. In the months to come, much could be revealed. Things that may shock the world. So, please don’t judge your neighbor for their view point. Reserve your opinion, do your research and open your mind to the truth.

We are all on a journey to know our selves. We are all trying to figure out how to make the world a better place. We can’t do that if we’re casting stones at each other. Let us open our minds and our hearts. So that we can all discern the truth. Let’s share information and dedicate ourselves to raising the vibration of the earth, knowing that we are one people.

Divided we fall. We’ve tried that. It’s time to come together and rid the world of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

We react to situations based on a past events that don’t exist. If we can learn to catch these reactions before they happen, we can “live in the moment”, so to speak.

Over the last few days, we addressed a few intense topics. Today we looked at one of those situations. Betrayal.

We’ve all probably been betrayed at one time or another. This is another tough topic. It’s my opinion that betrayal is an emotional form of abuse. Some may think this an extreme view, but if the betrayal cause a deep enough wound, it can be traumatizing. And it can take years to get over. And that could only happen if healing took place. Some people never get past the trauma of betrayal. I went through such traumatic betrayal a couple years ago. Betrayal Trauma is very real.

I’ve had five years to work through such trauma. Forgiveness isn’t easy but it’s necessary. Not for the betrayer, but for those who were betrayed. When we forgive others, we open up our heart to a form of love that isn’t limited by betrayal, anger or any other negative emotion. Forgiveness offers us peace and new beginnings. It allows us to cut the ties that anchored us in our grief. And allows us to experience joy again.

Forgiveness doesn’t often come easy. We must go through a period of mourning, sit with our pain, and process the betrayal before we can let go. But let go we must. So we can live again. It is my experience that forgiveness allows our hearts to expand, so we can love more deeply. So we can see the world through a new set of eyes and enjoy the world for what it could be.

Again, today we were given the gift of learning and healing through this Shadow Work Challenge. I am thankful for those who share this journey with me. And am loving the healing I see.

We’ve been working this challenge long enough now to know what is meant by spiritual vibration. I equate it to the energy pulsing through the body as we become more familiar with our inner knowing. Or Gnosis. Where have we seen that word before? Yes, the Gnostic texts, that’s right. The spiritual texts of not only the early Christians, but further back in history to the ancient mystery schools.

We can focus on our spiritual vibration by studying those texts, by exercising, and by meditating and spending time asking ourselves the tough questions.

Many of these questions come from from so deep we weren’t aware they existed. Until we started this work.

We keep coming back to exercise. That’s because the body is the expression of the soul. The soul is meant to ascend. The soul can’t ascend until the body can handle the spiritual vibration that causes that shift. The way to make the body strong, is to exercise.

Our bodies must be able to hold that high frequency vibration in order to ascend. Think of the body as the casing on an electric wire. The casing of wire holds in the electric current that passes along the wire. If the casing isn’t thick enough or strong enough it could burn. The electricity will get too hot, and the casing melts, releasing the current into the air. Our bodies resemble that casing. It holds in the energy that we manifest. Whether it be positive or negative, the body holds that energy. The higher the vibration of that energy the stronger the body must be. We must work to make our bodies capable of holding that high vibration which will allow us to ascend.

There is so much to learn about our bodies. Much has been kept from us on purpose. It is now time for us to play catch up. We have a lot to learn in a short time.

I’m thankful for this challenge and all those who who facilitate and participate. Everyone is contributing to this journey. As Brice says, we are all walking each other home.

We’re in good company.

I haven’t been looking forward to this particular day in the challenge. It makes sense that Brice waited until after the halfway mark to address this topic. Some participants may already have dealt with some of this energy as it has shifted in the body. While others are still waiting for the bomb to drop. There are those of us who have been working through this trauma for many years. Even we are struggling to move past some things that are just not ready to leave the body.

There are people who might be surprised to learn they suffered any form of childhood trauma. Mostly because the trauma remained from another lifetime. Yes, I’m talking about reincarnation. It’s okay if you’re not on this band wagon. When the dust settles and the truth is revealed, you will probably change your mind.

We are all healing the little things. While others are dealing with major shifts in energy to heal the body and the mind. These individual shifts, these ah ha moments we have, may seem small in comparison to what is going on on the world stage. But as we are learning, the micro affects the macro. For every little shift we cause, its causing a greater shift in the world.

So, as we continue to heal ourselves, we are contributing to the greater good of the cosmos. No change is too small. No effort made is to little. Because when we all come together, those little shifts will cause great waves. We are the tsunami. We are the wind that will clear out the storm and bring light back into the world.

I end my day again, with my journal and a good book. I reflect on all I’ve accomplished in the last 16 days and I turn out the light.

Thankful for this Shadow Work Challenge.