Last week I spent six days in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with six other women inviting abundance into my life.  We gathered there for a retreat focused on deeply personal and spiritual development work using the Bhakti Yoga Process.  After such an event, I always spend time reflecting on my greatest learning and takeaways.  Today I’m sharing my three most significant insights with you.   My personal and business work all revolves around growing myself and others to the greatest of their potential.  I’m stretched continously to new levels of inner significance and influence through Intense learning experiences. It’s a key part of the 7 Levels of Growth and personal development! First of all, let me explain what Bhakti Yoga is – and isn’t.  The practice is an ancient devotional practice with origins in India and influenced by Hinduism.  However, it isn’t a religion but goes to the root of spirituality beyond all religions – direct and personal connection (one-ness) with the Divine.  Bhakti Yoga isn’t a practice of physical yoga movements like you might experience at your local yoga studio.  It is a practice that combines learning and doing in very practical ways.  The overall mission of Bhakti Yoga is to create a space for you to deepen your connection with your personal divine and cultivate a state of unconditional love for life. The Process involves 21 points of contemplation.  Golden Phoenix Healing founder and owner Leah Marie guided those gathered for the retreat through these 21 contemplations. I’m sharing the three most meaningful contemplations with my takeaways in the remainder of this article!

1. Inviting Abundance through The Divine Hand in Life

Let’s start with my absolute favorite!  The Divine Hand in Life is simply the belief that the divine is taking care of us at all times.  This contemplation teaches that we are each traveling our own unique path for our own highest good.  Tosha Silver refers to this as Prarabdha Karma in her book “It’s not my money.”   Studying this contemplation reminded me that I’ve wrestled with limiting beliefs around scarcity and lack most of my life.  My intention going into this retreat was to find a permanent connection to the abundant flow of life.  After the group lesson,  I was intuitively guided on my own individual contemplation.  I drove to a place that overlooked part of the beautiful Grand Lake deep in the Colorado Rockies.  As I observed this beautiful lake, I asked my own personal divine to give me a meaningful insight to cement in this learning that I’m always taken care of. The answer arrived quickly!  The vast quantity of water in this lake is equivalent to all the abundance available to each of us.  Sometimes, I get in a space of fear and lack when there is a “forest fire” in my life.  I hesitate to use the resources I have because I want to conserve them for the future.  But here’s the illusion that I saw that day.  The water in the lake is always going to be replenished no matter how much is taken out.  It’s inviting abundance as a permanent flow.  The rain, next year’s snowmelt, the dew ….  They are all replenishing the lake of abundance in a never-ending flow.  

In the future, I choose to view all my resources from this lense.  Along with embracing this abundance insight, I’m using the mantra “Shower me with all forms of abundance and let me know I’m taken care of at all times in all ways.”

2. Seva

The contemplation on  Seva was also extremely meaningful to me.  Seva represents the idea of investing in helping or giving to others as a selfless act of service.  I used to be a huge over-giver so this one was interesting to relax into. Throughout my life, I’ve gone from unhealthy levels of giving to others (sometimes called co-dependence!) to intentionally choosing to give only from an attitude of joy.  However, as I feel deep into my soul, I can feel I hold back with acts of service for fear of falling into old over-giving patterns.  It goes back to that fear of lack and scarcity that I mentioned above – if I give to others will I have “enough” for me?  Whether that “enough” represents time, energy, money, or clients.   It’s like the analogy of pouring water out of a pitcher that I use often with clients.  If you are just pouring from a full pitcher there is a finite amount of water you can pour out.  However, if you have a source of water constantly filling the pitcher you can pour out an unending flow and never “run dry.”  We are inviting abundance into our lives through selflessly serving others knowing that what we give out we will receive back in many ways. So the key learning for me here is to always be mindful of connecting to the abundant flow and being willing to receive that nurturing flow so that I can always serve from a place of abundance instead of a place of lack.

3. Praising the Abundant Divine

The third key life-changing insight I’m taking away from this inspiring week-long retreat is on Praising the Divine.  The teaching that stood out for me is this: 

“When we consciously give praise and love to the divine, we create a circuit of love and praise that connects back to us.  It allows us to come into a state of fullness where we are able to feel the unconditional love the divine has for us in every moment.”  Golden Phoenix Healing; Bhakti Yoga Process

The idea is that when you show gratitude and praise that appreciation is reflected back to you in tangible ways.  You are literally inviting abundance into your life through gratitude and praise.  Yet, the appreciation must be given without expectation of receiving anything in return – from a place of non attachment.   During this contemplation, retreat guide Leah Marie encouraged us to feel into an area of life that we would like to shift and then begin giving gratitude for the divine providing this for us.  So I chose to thank the divine as my complete nurturer and provider.  Leah then challenged us to watch for specific ways this praise was showered back on us. In the next 48 hours, I experienced three tangible ways that my divine chose to nurture and provide for me!   1) I received an email offering me a slot into an orientation class in August.  This is an orientation I have been patiently waiting for…and kept being delayed! 2) My next confirmation came when a fellow retreat participant gifted me her brand new yoga mat! Before I left on the trip, I had made a mental note to buy a new mat before my fall travels.  Yet – now it was provided without me doing anything!   Thank you my friend for allowing the divine to flow through you! 3)  Finally, the third validation came on my drive home. I’m laughing and smiling still as I share it with you!  I chose to head over the mountain pass Trail Ridge Road on my way home from the retreat.  As I neared the summit I felt the urge to pull off at a little lake and take a quick hike around.  Odd, because I was focused on getting home and previously decided to not do any additional hiking. I’m learning to always follow that inner guidance even when it doesn’t make sense!  On my short hike around the lake nature’s calling became quite strong and I sped up to see if there were restroom facilities in the parking area.  I arrived to see yes there were facilities but they were being cleaned.  I chose to patiently wait.  After less than 60 seconds the maintenance person came out, held the door open for me and said, “It’s all cleaned and ready for you!”  Now instead of racing to the summit stop for the facilities, I enjoyed my drive there.  When I entered the parking lot at the summit I quickly observed a line of about 60 people. Curiously I searched to see what they were all waiting for.  Then I realized it was the line for the facilities!   CLICK!  At that moment, I understood the nurturing guiding hand of life had whispered to me to stop at the lake.  It already prepared a clean restroom for me before I even knew I needed it!

Wrap-up!

I love the retreat experience because it provides such an opportunity for intense learning and growth in a short amount of time.  It also gives me a marker from time to time to help measure my own personal growth.  Studies show that 80+% of what we learn we lose within 24 hours if it’s not implemented.  So, I decided to write this reflection to help cement these insights as new practices in my life.  I also hope they inspire you – if they have I’d love to hear about it! I’ve been home a few days and already I’ve let go of some typical worries. I’m inviting more abundance into my life by reminding myself I’m constantly in the flow, nurtured, and provided for.  Life is so much more enjoyable from this perspective! Well, those are just three of the many insights and lessons I am taking away from my week-long retreat in the Rockies.   Let me ask you – what have you done recently to invest in your own personal development?  If you are committed to growing yourself to your greatest potential like I am I encourage you to join me on the journey!   Follow Vicki’s Journey through The Becoming Unsilenced Podcast and find tools, encouragement, and community to help you discover your greatest potential through Transcending Limits LLC.  When you fear less, you become limitless. 

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