NicolePresents: Wellness

Life moves at a frenetic pace living in a big city and often we forget to check in beyond the task list to the deeper level of ourselves. Even if we take care of our health and well-being, sometimes these too become another check on the massively growing list.  One thing that I have learned is that we will never get it all done. So in knowing that we are joyously incomplete, it’s important to get out of our habitual routine and shake it up a bit. So we need to ask ourselves, “Who is beneath the mound of paperwork and what do we want?”. We need to remember that it’s healthy to shed things that aren’t working and create space for change, movement and growth.

Last month in attending the Yoga Journal conference, I was blessed to have created an opening in my life through an amazing meditation course I attended.  I was really flying high on my connection with Source and my needs and desires were resonating at a high frequency.  My main thoughts were, “How am I going to get what I want?” and “What does this next phase look like?”.   So it’s no coincidence that I met the amazing Dr. Gino Dante Borges at the bottom of the staircase ready to guide me through these deep bubbling questions I had set in motion.

Our eyes met in that lovely way that people’s do when you know your energies are supposed to match up for some creation. We exchanged a few words and he told me that he takes “Seekers” on outdoor quests to discover their “Wild-Self” by reconnecting to nature.  It didn’t take me more than 1 second to hand him my card, ask for his information, check out his website and set up an appointment to go on my own “Wild-Self” Quest.

I love Nature. I love the outdoors. I had forgotten at some level that taking walks and hikes and strolls outside were what I used to do to clear my head and connect and bond with myself, nature and spirit.  Although I am a practicing Yogi and teacher, I still at some level was beginning to make my practice a routine, a job and a daily task list.  Forgetting sometimes why I began this practice in the first place.

The answer to the primal question “What is our purpose?” lies within us, but we need to be open to see and hear it. Being in nature allows you to see the expansiveness of life and the collective Consciousness.  You realize that each of us is a very small element in a huge pulsing energetic life force, but that every living being from worm to human plays a very integral role.

Dr. Gino is brilliant at providing a platform by which we can connect to Nature rather quickly through the use of our senses of touch, smell and sound to become fully present in the Now.  No talking allowed! It’s about clearing the mind and moving in meditation and connecting with your heart center.  After you become present, you connect with Dr. Gino through insightful  questioning, symbolic expression and language reprogramming.

Dr. Gino enabled me to identify societal pressures, my fears and what was real and unreal.  He allowed me the space to hear my intuition more clearly and connect with my Wild-Self. I became aware of what really mattered to me Now and what was holding me back.  As depicted above, when asked to symbolically translate what transition looked like for me, I grabbed a bunch of jagged leaves. It’s no wonder why I hadn’t transitioned when it looked like barbed-wire to me.

I was able to identify my next steps and take a huge lunge beyond my comfort zone to make some really big decisions in my life that had been circling my head for over 2 years.  That was just it!  They were circling in my head.

I think for me, it was important to realize that there are guides placed on this planet like Dr. Gino all around us to help us through transition.  We just need to be open to the possibility and to realize that sometimes we need help in unearthing what lies within.

I realized also that it was healthy for me to go outside of my friend and family circle for help. We all know that those closest to us always want the best for us, but they may have their own biased opinions and those opinions may keep you where you are because they are afraid of losing you or fear change as well.

I found that my Ego has been in the driver’s seat and my desires have become buried beneath task lists, fears, finances and societal pressures.  I realized that true Freedom is about listening to other realms inform us about who we are, why were are here and what we are supposed to do in this life. It’s about creating your life, moving with its ebbs and flows, maintaining ease, and being present for what comes up so we can live powerfully in the Now.

I am forever grateful to have had the experience of the Wild-Self quests with Dr. Gino and hope to spread the love of his work to many more people on this planet.

Dr. Gino Dante’s blog about my Wild Self Quest

The Wild Self Website

The Wild Self Fan Page