Journey to the Heart

By Myra Hodgson, Reiki Master/Teacher & Holistic Therapist

For many there has been a shift in perception - a raising of values and move towards a more natural way of living in response to the “me” culture of the eighties with individuals becoming more community spirited and more caring and compassionate as a result. Since the turn of the century the popularity of organic food, eco friendly products and holistic healing methods have accelerated considerably with an increasing number of people taking greater responsibility not only for their own health and wellbeing but for the health and wellbeing of the community at large. This is all very positive and indeed by working on ourselves as individuals, we promote a ripple effect to restore the balance and harmony required to heal our planet.

Nevertheless, this spiritual revolution has given birth to a counter-culture and we must ensure we don’t fall prey to packaging all these positive aspects of natural living and marketing them to an elite group of people so that they become just another facet of the ego. We need to ask ourselves just what is spirituality? It is easy to follow the path of illusion and assume a new persona, a new ego, a new dress code and to reinvent ourselves with a more spiritual sounding name. However, it is not just the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the company we keep or the causes we support that make us spiritual and although our motives are genuine we still have further to travel on our journey to the heart.

The enlightened tell us that we must drop the ego to discover who we are at soul level and this can be achieved by meditating. It is this going within that will reveal our inner core. The ultimate question seems to be “who am I” and it is only by stripping away the layers that we have wrapped around ourselves that we will find our answer. Therefore we need to remind ourselves that what is truly significant will be found within rather than without and it is only by releasing the ego that we will promote the ripple effect and create the healing transformation that we so desire.