The Deeper Story of Ageing - Can We Regenerate Our Bodies?

Ageing is a controversial topic that we both love and hate. The concepts of mortality versus immortality have fascinated cultures for millennia, with stories of quests to find the elixir of youth and the key to eternal life in a physical body. The media paints a picture of a standard of eternal youth we should strive towards whilst spiritually oriented philosophies may tell us that we need to be at peace with our bodies however they appear. Yes peace and acceptance are necessary and good. They are the first steps to our lives becoming more fulfilled and to moving forward in unprecedented ways we've never dreamed of, yet when it comes to ageing many of us have a hard time accepting it. Yes there are many beautiful lessons in the ageing process, such as surrender, looking for deeper meaning in life, developing soul qualities such as empathy and understanding and letting go of ego and vanity. 

But perhaps there are other reasons why we struggle so much with the reality of ageing? Perhaps many of us, including those not drawn to spirituality in any form, know instinctively we are eternal, spiritual beings and may have unconscious  memories of what our minds may be truly capable of, such as regenerating our cells at will? Perhaps we also realise at a deeper level that if we are showing signs of ageing quickly, then there are elements of our bodies that are out of balance and that if left longer term, this lack of energetic harmony within may have health implications further down the line. We may also retain ancient memories of other existences in more pristine places where the ageing process did not happen so rapidly, if at all. I have often felt that we should be able to heal anything and regenerate our bodies at will. After all, if we are the Creator's children, we should have that same power of creation inside of us. On the other hand we may also understand that this world has been created with cycles of both creation and dissolution or destruction as part of a higher plan, providing a place to experience all aspects of physicality, growth and learning lessons for us all. 

I understand that the concept of regeneration may not resonate for everyone. Some of us may want to pass through this life and move on as soon as we feel we've done what we came here to do or experience. Whilst others of us may want to pioneer consciousness in new ways on this earth and look for innovative ways to use our minds and co-create better lives. The way I see it is all paths and purposes may be valid. But what I think may be the issue is that we most likely have been taught that we do not have a choice when it comes to ageing, regarding either how we view ageing or to how quickly we age, and I think that is why many of us may feel disempowered and perhaps undergo midlife crises. 

Once we realise we have a choice, we can feel empowered and unlock new potential within ourselves. Teal Swan has said that if we have a desire, then it is possible to fulfil that desire. And even with something which on the surface may seem trivial to some, such as looking more youthful naturally, then there is most likely a higher reason why we desire it. Perhaps it may be about learning more healthful ways to live, which can be passed on to others as well, thus helping others to feel more uplifted. With this choice there is no right or wrong. Taking the examples of great saints and masters as inspiration, there may be some like Mother Theresa whose whole emphasis and life purpose was concerned with other things rather than preserving her physical form, whilst there may be others such as Babaji and higher masters who choose to remain ever youthful, at least within this current epoch in the many eons of the cosmos.

Recently I read something written by Kaitlyn Keyt, owner of VibesUp, an American company that produces high energy products to improve health and wellbeing. She said something along the lines that essentially a wrinkle or blemish is where we have lower vibration energy stored in us, which causes the cells to deteriorate more rapidly. Lower vibrations may be caused by toxicity on any level - physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. This idea immediately made sense to me and because I am an energy healing practitioner, I was fascinated to see whether I could actually heal things like my wrinkles and cellulite through clearing the lower vibration energy stored in those cells and that area of the body and lifting it back up to a higher vibration. I knew that this was unlikely to be a quick process, because from my experience doing healing work on myself and others, there are often many accumulated layers of emotional pain and entities (thought forms), that are stuck in an area of the being which is out of balance energetically - this is how I experience the healing process personally, others may experience it differently. Strangely enough, although I have done much energy healing work I have never thought to concentrate on something more 'cosmetic' such as a wrinkle, or cellulite. I usually work more deeply with the body, working on organs, glands, and sometimes things such as the nerves and lymph system. I also do a lot of work on the chakras and the energy field in general as well as higher levels of being - mental emotional and spiritual levels.  

I mentioned this idea of healing things such as wrinkles by altering the vibration of that part of the body, to a friend and he said that often it is remarked that meditation retreats are considered to create a 'spiritual facelift' because the participants have raised their vibration and often released a lot of pain and lower vibration energies. I have noticed this myself with how yoga and meditation create a more radiant youthful look to a person. Shortly after that I came across a blog post that Doreen Virtue had just written about why she's stopped dying her hair and using most make-up and cosmetics as well as giving up surgical procedures. She mentioned how most products, including the supposedly natural products in the US contain toxic and harmful ingredients. Hair colourants in particular are detrimental to health, so much so that she discovered her blood was laced with heavy metal contaminants, which can have serious health implications. 

She removed these contaminants through a process known as EDTA chelation. I do not know a great deal about that process, but I've heard that it is not without risk. There are other ways to detox from such contamination as well though. My former husband who was a pilot also had heavy metal and organophosphate poisoning through breathing in toxic air in one of the aircraft that he flew and he managed to heal himself and get rid of much of the toxicity in his cells through fasting, enemas, a raw food diet and through sweating in far infrared saunas, as well as some oxygen therapy sessions. The doctors at the time said there was no way to reduce the contaminants stored in his fat cells, but through this natural healing approach he disproved what they said. So detoxing from contamination is possible, but it can be an expensive and time and energy-consuming process. 

I'm sure most of us would agree it is far better to avoid contamination in the first place.  However, this is easier said than done. Beauty products and procedures make up a massive profit-generating industry and many people spend a fortune on products. Even if we choose products labelled as 'natural', can we really be sure they are good for us or worth the expense? Additionally, we are surrounded by unnatural toxic products in our homes and places where we work and most food contains unnatural additives. Plastics and synthetic materials in buildings off-gas harmful emissions. It is said that all new born children in 'Westernised' societies are born with a whole cocktail of chemicals inside them. Stress, as well, can have major adverse affects on our health and appearance, due to stress hormones making the body more acidic and out of balance. So what do we do to clean up ourselves physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally?  What if there is a more natural simple way to regain health, radiance and youthful looks? 

I'm still experimenting on myself at the moment, but I was surprised to find that even for seemingly innocuous things such as some blocked pores on my nose, there were layer after layer of entities emerging and pain in my hands as the disturbed energy came up. Other healers and spiritual teachers have had similar experiences. Doreen Virtue has spoken before of the clearing session she needed at one point to release lots of spiritual entities. In my case, taking the blocked pores on my nose as an example, there is likely to be stored emotional pain from teenage years when I had acne and felt ashamed of my skin, but in my experience most trauma originally goes back to early childhood experiences. So getting to the bottom of a long-term energetic imbalance may take time. On the other hand if we are aware of our original emotional traumas we can start to work with the root cause(s) immediately. 

I have a theory that when we develop an original mental or emotional wound about a part of ourselves not being whole or not being 'good enough', this then attracts negative thought forms (what I see as living entities and energies), that latch on to the lower vibrational energy we have stored in a certain part of ourselves, rather like flies being attracted to an open wound, which then triggers more emotional  trauma and 'negative' thoughts which then attract more of the same in a vicious circle or spiral. This matches what I find as layer after layer of old emotional pain and entities emerge. Yet interestingly, sometimes with new clients their energy feels fairly balanced  and 'normal' to begin with even though they have obvious things that are not 'right' and which they want addressed. It is as if they have put an energetic veneer over the original wounds in order to cope or that their energy body is not used to deeper work and resists at first. Sometimes I notice this in people I meet in daily life as well, being quite sensitive energetically myself. 

Sometimes people will outwardly appear bouncy and positive, yet I'll get a strong feeling of pain in my heart when I talk to them. It is like a feeling of denial or ambivalence. With clients whose energy at first does not show the deeper issues, I find that after one or two sessions, their energy opens up and deeper trauma starts to  emerge for clearing. Often the client will experience old emotions coming up as I clear the energy and it can sometimes be a challenging but nevertheless important process for them an in order for release and real healing and to occur.  I have currently been working on various different areas of my body and, as I had thought, it is not a quick process. So far I have not got to the bottom of any one issue or area that I've been working on, but I have cleared a lot and I do feel and look a lot lighter and brighter, and I shall continue to experiment with this work. Some of the layers may also be ancestral and collective inherited conditioning and patterns. There is literally a lot more to a few wrinkles than meets the eye! 

In the books about Anastasia by Vladimir Megre, Anastasia says that true health and advancement spiritually come from connecting to the land you live on, communicating with nature and the plants that grow on your plot of land and growing your own food. One of the things she recommends is putting seeds in your mouth before planting so that the seeds gather information about your state of health from your saliva and then know which micro-nutrients and cosmic energies to take in whilst they are growing, especially with ongoing contact with their owner, in order to provide the best nutritional medicine for that individual's health needs. She says that the ancient Vedic people who instinctively practised the methods she outlines in the Ringing Cedars series had amazing physical health and beauty, were spiritually connected to the cosmos and highly accomplished in all areas of life. Furthermore, their plots of land were such high vibration, that they energetically protected the people from any negative energies or intruding thought forms. 

There is evidence in certain ethnic societies where similar, natural vegan and vegetarian ways of living are followed that matches some of the claims made by Anastasia. For example the Hunza people who live in a remote valley of Northern Pakistan are famous for their longevity, vitality, stamina and strength. Their diet is rich in vegetables and fruit, particularly apricots, which they dry and eat throughout the winter months. Also there is a famous village in Japan, Yuzurihara, known as the 'village of long life', where the villagers have smooth skin, good eyesight and good health even in very old age. They have a diet rich in vegetables and soya with some fish now and then. One researcher has linked their youthful looks to the amount of hyaluronic acid their bodies can produce due to their diets being rich in things like sweet potatoes, vegetables and soy products. Hyaluronic acid is a water-gelling molecule important for cushioning joints, nerves and filling space in between cells, including in skin tissue. It is also present in high amounts in the eyes, which would most likely explain the villagers' good eyesight. For those of us not yet living this lifestyle, it is available as a supplement including in a vegan form from health food shops and websites. 

Leonid Sharashkin, who has edited some of the English translations of the books about Anastasia has put into practice much of what she has advised, along with many other Russian families who have created their own homesteads and eco-villages in Russia and Eastern Europe. He has found that his consciousness, way of life and health has improved dramatically. He notes that many of us have no connection with the place we live because our bodies are made up of food from many different places, such as a banana from the Caribbean, figs from Turkey, rice from the Far East, chocolate from South America and so on. We are not made up physically of the particles and energy of the land upon which we live. Based on this information ultimately, in order to return to a way of life that is truly sustaining and nourishing in which we may experience better health, spiritual connection and harmony, which are the prerequisites for natural radiance and youthful looks, rather than unnatural youthful looks created by surgery or substances such as toxic Botox, we need to return to a much more natural way of living. 

In the meantime for anyone wanting to rejuvenate themselves and follow a similar process to what I have been practising on myself, then if you are not already an energy healing practitioner, I recommend that you do an energy healing training program of some sort by a reputed training provider, so that you can learn to work on your own energy. There is also the necessity to work with old stored emotions, process the feelings and find new empowered ways of looking at the past and healing the inner child. I've found the work of Brandon Bays and Teal Swan very helpful for providing processes to do this. Then there is the mental good habit we can create of changing our thoughts patterns so that they become higher vibration. There are also the recommended healthy lifestyle choices, such as daily exercise, healthy natural food choices, eating in moderation, meditation and spirituality, connecting with nature in whatever way we can and doing things that uplift us and create purpose and meaning to our lives and the lives of others. With all these things in combination and with a return to a more natural way of living, we might just have the perfect recipe for slowing down the ageing process, if not reversing it, as well as for truly living and enjoying life in a way that does not deplete our energy systems. 

Authenticity, Initiation & Truth on The Spiritual Path

[This is an expanded version of a previous post I wrote]

Whilst spiritual experiences are important, feel wonderful and are necessary for our growth and healing, it is essential that we stay grounded and do not let our spiritual life separate us from truly relating to others at a human level; that we do not let our spiritual connection breed narcissism. Some of the things which may separate us from others are aloofness, secrecy, claiming it's necessary to have initiations via certain teachers or to belong to a specific spiritual group or mystery school. In my experience spirit provides the real initiations, if we are truly ready to embark on the journey of deep inner work that such transformation requires, necessitating healing and authenticity: an embrace of all aspects of ourselves; emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. We have to integrate all parts to feel whole, and this may involve a period of putting ourselves, metaphorically speaking, through the alchemist's fire to reach the pure gold of our true spiritual nature. 

If we are meant to have a specific teacher or teachers on the physical level, then we will be guided to the right person at the right time. This may well involve not one fixed teacher, as spiritual initiations can come in many different forms through every day experiences as well as through activities that shift our consciousness whilst we receive energy, such as through healing sessions. Many times healers channel higher energy similar to what one might experience in a Shaktipat initiation or shamanic ceremony and those doing this sort of healing work should keep themselves clear and aligned so that the highest energy can come through.

Diana Cooper has spoken in her writings of the varied initiations that she and others have gone through. For instance, a type of higher initiation she calls 'the crucifix' meant that one lady had all parts of her life suddenly fall apart, including her husband leaving and receiving a diagnosis of terminal illness. It was a real death of her life and identity as she had known it. Similarly, Rudolf Steiner in his classic book 'How to Know Higher Worlds' talks of an initiation from the soul, in which an individual is suddenly alienated from all forms of support that have previously been available to them. The individual has to take action to get his or herself out of a difficult situation on their own. 

In the novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, the protagonist Siddhartha after having displayed amazing spiritual abilities earlier in his life, then had to go through many earthly challenges and experiences before he could truly embody genuine compassion and humanity, which finally enabled him to find the deep inner peace of enlightenment.  This provides us with a metaphor for the spiritual journey as represented by the symbolism of the the Merkaba or 'Star of David' - a merging of earthly and spiritual experiences. It seems that for many of us, this manifests in the form of; first we go up, towards the light, and then we come down, bringing the light down into daily life. The sorts of tests and forms of higher learning manifesting in our lives that facilitate this great spiritual journey are as good a reason as any why we should never judge another if they are going through difficult times. 

Often the real reason behind life's events is obscure to us and sometimes even if we ask, we are not meant to know at that time. A person seen to be suffering is most likely doing very important soul work on themselves or possibly sacrificing themselves to help another, as has been described in various near-death accounts. That is not to say we do not step forward to help them, as helping might be part of our lesson, but rather that we do not judge. We can never fully know another person's path and in the Tibetan teachings there have been many times when everyday folk leading simple lives have surprised their families by becoming enlightened as they die.

In the beautiful hope-filled books 'The Ringing Cedars' series by Vladimir Megre, about the spiritual Siberian recluse, Anastasia, we see that despite her advanced abilities and otherworldly life, Anastasia constantly tries to explain the mechanisms behind everything she does and to show that these abilities are intrinsic to everyone. She tells us we just need to purify our thoughts, which I equate to aligning with our higher selves or souls, so that we can remember the knowledge of our forebears who were our wise ancient selves. Vladimir Megre states that unlike many spiritual teachers he has known, Anastasia does not veil herself in an air of mystery. She wants to prove the true capabilities of what she calls 'Man' (a human standing in their divine power), which are inherent to us all. 

In the famous spiritual Classic 'Autobiography of a Yogi', Paramhansa Yogananda recounts that the first kriya yoga master to teach to the public, Lahiri Mahasaya, pleaded with his guru Babaji that the secret knowledge of kriya yoga be made available to all who came to see him and not just a select few 'evolved' souls. Babaji saw the purity of Lahiri Mahasaya's intentions and granted this request and we are told that many were greatly helped through receiving these teachings. 

Furthermore, despite his amazing spiritual prowess, Lahiri Mahasaya never liked anyone bowing down to him because he recognised the oneness of all souls. Many times if a new student offered pranams to him he would then return the gesture, demonstrating that we are all the same and that it is important to be 'down-to-earth'.

For spiritual teachers and any of us wanting to represent a spiritual way of life, there are the everyday practicalities to think of too! My healing teacher used to say to us, "do not put me on a pedestal because I'll fall off". I have seen this play out in real life on various occasions. One girl I know of who was working publically and quite prominently as a healer and spiritual teacher stated that she did not want children because it would interfere with her important life mission. As often happens in life when we think we are certain about something yet have no experience of that thing, the very thing that had been denounced then occurred; this young woman then fell pregnant and had a beautiful baby. She later acknowledged how what she had said before was deluded, using her own growth and example to guide others towards a more balanced view of spiritual life. 

The great Hindu teacher Vivekananda has stated that the purest souls have no desire for self promotion or teaching and being in the limelight. They have lost the bonds of attachment and their Sattvic (pure) nature shrinks from the very thought of pushing themselves forward, as their whole self is dissolved within the Absolute. They are so at-one with God and so satiated by communion with the Divine that they have lost the sense of their own identity and no 'worldly' task or reward has any meaning or appeal to them. So, along that note, any of us wanting to promote ourselves still have some ego to deal with - and this is good! Because without the ego we would not have motivation to take action and do the spiritual work of dharma. Souls working for the highest good are needed in all areas of life and to not follow our inner prompting and true heart-based desires in this way is likely to lead to a lack of inner fulfilment. The ego part of ourselves is only a problem when we do not have an awareness of our inner motivations. Then there is the risk that our unconscious mind may become our master. 

It is necessary to be down-to-earth and stay humble and to be able to acknowledge and even laugh at our own weaknesses and faults - we all have shadows! Otherwise we are presenting a false 'airbrushed' image much like those of models in the media. This can be very disheartening to anyone wanting help and not seeing the full picture as they wonder what they have done wrong and why their lives are not perfect like the images they are seeing. Our acceptance and acknowledgement of all parts of ourselves helps others to also accept and love those parts of themselves they find less desirable, and therefore find their way back to wholeness. 

True spiritual teachers do not resent being questioned. They know how a good question is valuable to prompt new trains of thought and provide new insights; such has been the tradition of debating and questioning in Eastern cultures for centuries, aimed at penetrating deep truth. One practice in the ancient Russian Vedic culture presented in the books about Anastasia, was that the elders would ask questions of the children to test whether their own thinking was pure enough compared to young minds considered to be closer to divine thought. In 'Autobiography of a Yogi' we are told that Yogananda's guru Swami Sri Yukteswar would sometimes get criticised by members of the community. His response was always to listen to any criticism with respect and humility and then thoroughly examine himself to see whether there were any grains of truth in what was being said, and whether he therefore needed to amend anything in his behaviour. 

We all know the potential dangers when leaders 'possess' a lack of self-awareness and go unquestioned: from the many stories of cult members committing suicide to the horrors perpetrated in World War II. Although a true spiritual teacher would never contemplate directing anyone along those lines and most likely not direct anyone to do anything anyway - recognising the importance of an individual's free will - a genuine teacher knows that questioning is still necessary, regardless of their pure motives. Yogananda apparently had a fierce critic who was a journalist. One day the critic died and a disciple brought the news to Yogananda assuming he would be relieved. However, Yogananda was apparently sad, saying that his best friend the critic had died and lamenting that this man was the only one who would ever question him and point out his faults! He saw the immense value in this critic's contribution to his life in keeping him balanced in his personality. 

Obviously criticism can be hurtful and waste time and energy too, but when voiced rationally with balanced and valid view points, such alternative views can aid our growth and we should not be afraid to explore the real messages behind any such challenges. Others' feedback can be important to our self-development. In the poem 'Becoming Human', the  C14th Sufi poet and mystic, Hafiz  advises a man that his visions of God are likely true if they make him "more human" and "more kind to every creature and plant" that he knows. Whilst Hafiz's guidance implies that genuine experience of God brings depth of compassion and humanity, the bible declares "By their fruits you will know them", again, pointing to a grounded and practical application of spirituality. 

All these statements and examples by spiritual teachers who have gone before us can help us see where the truth lies in ourselves and in what we perceive in the world. In the absence of specific teachers or the wise men and women of yore, we have to rely on our inner teacher. Embodying that wise man or woman archetype for ourselves, we enquire within again and again, checking in with our internal compass so that we can navigate the illusions and the, at times, rocky terrain presented to us by life. 

Having grounded examples from genuine spiritual teachers helps us remember both what's true and what's truly important in life: a surrendering to the soul and its teachings, however they may present. It is therefore good during the calm moments to practise enquiry with our souls so that we may more easily recognise our inner promptings during less peaceful times. However, the challenge may be how to discern what is our souls' guidance. 

Many years back I had a vision of an other-worldly being who called himself 'Ishtar' or 'Ashtar'. I had not heard of the being called Commander Ashtar at that time, so I had no reference point as to who this being might be. Whilst the vision might have been genuine, I soon realised I was hearing what I wanted to hear, words from my own mind that satisfied the ego. Since then I have learned that my true guidance comes from my feelings and my heart and not from my head or my mind. 

The only risk with listening to our feelings though, is that some feelings can be conditioned responses, such as fear preventing us from moving forward, based on what's happened to us in the past. In such cases we have to feel into the fear and ask where it comes from in order to gain more insight. I have been blessed with many other spiritual experiences, but overall the greatest blessings are the hard won lessons where life itself has taught me through challenges, as these are the things which actually enable me to live as truthfully and compassionately as possible. The ethereal experiences give me the vision, but the worldly experiences give me the practical knowledge of how to apply the higher spiritual teachings. 

As in my experience years ago, our personalities when not aligned to soul often speak in extremes: either inflated, self-aggrandising ways, or punitive, self-denigrating terms as the ego part of us struggles to keep us bound to what it knows from earlier experiences in life. Our souls, however, speak in practical, grounded terms, guiding us to practise authenticity. We can see that the ego veers to one end or the other of the spectrum, similar to the parent/child exchanges found in transactional analysis "I'm ok, you're not ok" or "I'm not ok, you're ok" whereas the soul takes the middle (adult) path of balance and inclusion of both self and others "I'm ok, you're ok". 

Our souls at the highest level know only oneness and therefore offer guidance that may ultimately restore us to that true state of unity consciousness, where each person has a place and can shine as a radiant individual star, yet at the same time plays a part harmonising in the beautiful divine orchestra of the larger cosmos; the material embodiment of the divine plan. This is the truth which we are all heading towards on our spiritual paths. Simple in and of itself, yet often we need the life lessons to know how to fully put this truth into practise in our lives and no longer continue to react from our mis-aligned personalities as we have done in the past.