RickyFitts

Fantastic, happy to hear it I can relate to the feeling of stuckness you're talking about, and not knowing what your purpose in life is - I know it probably sounds trite, but I really do believe that the answers can be found within. So the only advice I can think to give right now is to listen to your inner knowing, bring your attention inwards and listen for what the spiritual teacher Adyashanti refers to as 'the still, small voice'. And have the courage to act on what it's telling you. Best of luck with it, I know it's not easy but you'll figure it out

what's the situation with the childhood trauma you mentioned, did you manage to resolve it or is it an ongoing issue?

Aye, no arguments there!

Maybe you need to examine your motivations for beginning the spiritual search in the first place. Without attempting to justify or defend yourself, because justifications and defences aren't the truth.

'Being awareness means there is no one who is being aware. There's no separation between what is and the awareness of it. Ego's version of awareness is "me" experiencing "what I'm aware of". That's not what I mean by awareness.' - Jon Bernie 'If you find yourself looking, or seeking, or avoiding; grasping at your experience or pushing it away; or experiencing confusion, which is its own sort of struggle with what's present; if you find yourself struggling in any of these ways, stop and tune into your body. Feel the pressure, or the tension, or the anxiety. Feel the emotions that are present - maybe longing, or maybe grief or sadness. Be aware of what's happening in your body, and in your mind.' - Bernie

They might be right about you being ungrounded, that's an issue with a lot of people (I've had issues with this too) because we tend to be so lost in our thinking, and it might be especially problematic if you have a lot of energy moving around in your body. You might benefit from doing a grounding exercise like the one below, it'll help you to connect to your body and release any tension that might be hindering the flow of energy:

Yeah, I reckon you might be right. Her behaviour might still trigger certain feelings in you, which would be understandable, and that's fine too - these sorts of situations can help us become aware of issues within us that might have remained unconscious otherwise.

Never experienced it myself (well, not that I can remember at least), but from what I understand, it's an intentional out-of-body experience - we have what's known as an astral body, apparently, and in astral projection that leaves the physical body. You can visit other dimensions and the far reaches of the universe apparently, it does sound very cool to be fair.

Having kids is definitely a culture-shock, it turns your whole life upside down (not that I've actually got kids myself, I should say, but it's the impression I get). Still, though, you'd hope she'd still remember your birthday, if you were such close friends. Was it an equal relationship, would you say, was there equal love and respect between the two of you? I experienced a similar sort of thing with my best friend, though that really wasn't an equal relationship and I was happy to be free of him, quite frankly.

Ain't that the truth!

Exactly. Also an excellent point.

Once bitten, twice shy!

I'll be honest, when I opened the thread I didn't see the discussion going in the direction of fruit-based sodomy. Which, on reflection, was clearly a major oversight on my part.

Nature, eh? Flippin' 'eck Beautiful, Esilda, thanks again for sharing

@Flowerfaeiry Love this, thanks for sharing

Been noticing quite a lot of soreness at the front of my chest the past couple of days, which is an interesting development - I've experienced quite a few aches and pains in various parts of my body the last few years, as I'm working through different issues. Two-three years back, for example, I began to feel sharp pain in my intercostal muscles (they're the muscles between your ribs) which I remember feeling when I was a child of maybe 6-7 (never really concerned me back then, even though it was very painful - just seemed to be something I'd always had, so I didn't give it a second thought); I think there's going to be this physical aspect to spiritual liberation for most people, because we tend to store up so much trauma and emotional upset in our bodies, and I don't think you can ever really be truly free whilst these issues remain unresolved within the very cells of your body. Boy, though, can these energetic blockages feel hella stubborn, Christ alive The phrase that came to mind before was that one about the irresistible force (in this case, kundalini energy) meeting the immovable object (the blockage), which is pretty much how it feels in my body right now Deary me, the blockages can feel bloody impenetrable a lot of the time... but they are gradually breaking down. It's testing my bloody patience though, and I was never especially blessed in that department

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that, Vzdoh, you deserve so much better

So what's the fear, exactly? Is it a fear of disappointing or upsetting the people in question?

The video below came up in my Youtube recommendations just now and I thought it was very good, so just wanted to share for anyone else who's having issues with stuck energy The lady prefaces the video by explaining how energies get stuck in the body and how we can learn from animals in this regard, and the guided meditation itself starts at 3:02:

Yep, that's about the size of it!

That's a relief, glad we got that straightened out! I like being able to see stuff!

Well that's just where I think you're wrong, the dude is clearly giving me the 'come hither' eyes! (Just kidding, P - no need to claw my eyes out, he's all yours :D)

Has quite the intense gaze, does old Werner, I feel like he's trying to hypnotise me (and y'know what, a part of me really doesn't mind).

You go, girlfriend! (I can't really pull that off, can I? My heart was in the right place, at least!)

@TheAlchemist Beautiful