When you look into a mirror, what do you see? The way your hair sits, the color of your eyes or the texture of your skin? Whether you like what you see in the mirror or not, it is who you are, but embracing it can be the most difficult. In the same way we see ourselves reflecting back in a mirror, the depths of our relationships can act as a guide to where our inner work lies.
“Access to your true essence will give you insight into the mirror of a relationship, because all relationships are a reflection of your relationship with yourself,” Deepak Chopra wrote in his book, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.”
Jasmine Grace, the spiritual director of Shizen Sanctuary, a spiritual center located on West 16th Avenue in West Eugene, led a spiritual workshop that teaches transformational meditation and energy management tools, bringing lessons from Reverend Lewis Bostwick. Grace opened up her own spiritual center last July and has been leading spiritual workshops, yoga classes and more since.
“Once you love yourself, the whole world opens up to you,” Grace said. “But it’s a real journey to get there … like climbing Mount Everest at times.” In Grace’s spiritual workshop, you gain three basic tools to master your mind, body and in turn, the world.
The spiritual workshop begins with a grounding exercise as you sit up in your chair, close your eyes and locate the end of your tailbone, at the end of your lower back. This is where your first chakra is — associated with security and survival –– in other words, being grounded.
“Being grounded means I’m firmly connected with Mother Earth. I’m feeling stable and secure and protected,” Grace said. “Being grounded means I’m being able to center within myself and not be subject to all the energies outside of my own bubble, my own auric field.”
As you breathe deeply, feel your muscles relax – this is where the creative process begins. Imagine you are sitting on a cylinder-shaped object. It could be a tree stump, a vase or maybe even a flimsy finger trap. Whatever your mind conjures, let it. Next, imagine there is a string attached to your first chakra, and this string travels down through the earth and firmly connects to the earth’s core.
This process materializes the notion that “we are each a unique expression of spirit,” Grace said. Visualizing yourself connecting with the Earth’s core reiterates that we are connected to something greater than ourselves.
Meditation is a way to know ourselves more deeply and to break free from the illusion of separation. “The more we buy into the illusion of separation, the more we are lost as a soul,” Grace said.
The next exercise in the workshop focused on being at the center of your head.
“This exercise taught me that I could slow down my mind,” Isabella Razura, an attendee at the workshop, said. “If I am really stressed out about something, it is possible that I can relax and I don’t need all these things just to relax myself. I could do it very simply.”
In a deep meditative state, place your fingers on either side of your temples while imagining a line going through your head from one finger to the other. Then place one finger in the middle of your forehead and one on the back of your head, imagining lines connecting. That center point is your focus and a metaphor of being “in the driver’s seat of your body,” and gaining clarity when navigating life’s uncertainty.
The workshop ended with a technique called the Golden Sun. “When we are born, we have a lot more of our soul’s essence within our body,” Grace said. “But as we grow older, we begin to become naturally influenced, swayed and shaped by our environment, expectations,and values put upon us through TV or education systems,”Grace said.
As you keep your eyes closed, bringing your arms high above your head, imagine pulling in the beautiful energy around you and allowing yourself to be absorbed by it. Guiding your hands down each part of your body,you breathe deeper and deeper with every movement.
“Bringing more of one’s soul’s essence into the body is about soul retrieval, bringing back those parts of ourselves that we might have left somewhere,” Grace said. “This kind of work is about opening up the doors for communication with ourselves and with that divinity, we can find a lot within our heartspace.”
Regardless of your religion and beliefs, Shizen Sanctuary is a place for everyone to discover their own unique path back to themselves. Grace’s last 2 hour session will be this Sunday, April 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. You can RSVP by texting (541) 944-6418.
