by Dr Rachel Hall, Holistic Dentist, Kenmore, Brisbane
We live today in the most populated world in history, yet more people than ever feel lonely, detached and separated from society… and even from themselves. How can we, in the midst of all the people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone?
We frequently live in a way where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself. This sense of separation seems to be an essential part of being human, part of our individuality and personal identity. Yet it is our sense of separation that can cause suffering, especially when we view everything around us as ‘things’ that appear unconnected to us.
It is as if we live in our own personal, separate bubbles designed to preserve our individuality and keep the world at bay. When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.
Most of us recognise that we are physically separate from other people and naturally assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate. This gives the illusion that we are our body and that everything beyond that is not a part of us.
But is this really how it is?
If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.
We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.
What changed this for so many of us?
It is as if when growing up the hardships of life, the broken hearts and the disappointments we encounter gradually force us to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness.
These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.
Once we commence to shut down we diminish the capacity to rely on our inner feelings, we stop trusting and with that, lose the ability to connect fully with others.
As we withdraw and shut down, our emotional exchanges – our ability to be in touch with our own feelings – become more and more limited; leading to a catch-22 situation where we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of.
It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.
Through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, many people, myself included, have experienced a deeper sense of connection to themselves and other people. Little by little, I have been able to let go of the ‘protective’ layer of toughness and start trusting my own inner feelings. In this way I share my love more equally and I feel connected to myself, others, Divinity and my essential nature, which I know to be love. I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.
In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.
Words on Serge Benhayon 
Connecting to our essences is a simple truth that we can all understand so thank you Rachel as the power of being at-one with what resides within is super important.
What is 22 catching, when we look at the way Love is catching-less, in more than 22 different ways, as our spirit has set us up to not understand how True Love works, and the simple One-ness that is equally available to everyone, and without any separation, the separating that affects us in more than 22 different ways.
Gregbarnes888 I feel you have captured more than 22 ways our spirit holds us all in separation to our soul, so that it can keep us all in the loveless world it has created that we live in.
Spot on Mary as one simple thing that deepens our relationship with our Soul is sticking to the old adage early to bed etc, and the ensuing wisdom.
Having a soulful life it’s a choice. Like a precious garden, this way of life needs to be held and nurtured. Every moment asks to be more aware, more responsible to receive the love that already is within and to let it out, by simply being. It’s our choice the level of care we bring in our everyday living. When we fully cherish ourselves what we emanate is just gorgeous, deeply tender and very unique. Like a new baby born, the same joy and spark can be beautifully lived no matter our age.
When we truly cherish and love ourselves what we emanate is more encompassing whatever our age.
Stop for a moment and feel the beautiful flow within your body. Same pulse, same beating in our hearts, same essence…no way of feeling alone and separate when we are in union with ourselves.
When we are connected with ourselves, we are connected with far more than most consciously realise.
“ … to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness.” Succinct and so true, it’s fairly universal how we mask our inner essence once we have had a hurtful experience, and we have a range of masks to choose from but it’s at a great loss to society because the essence we hide could be such a rich contributor to family and community. We are a global society living in a mass reduction of our inner beauty and we see that everywhere with the crime, chaos, unrest, and distress. We live cowering to our hurtful experiences when our love is a much greater power. I am yet to find anyone who can successfully turn this around other than Serge Benhayon, the work he offers humanity is truly incredible to heal the hurts and restore the love.
Melinda what you have written is very true
“We live cowering to our hurtful experiences when our love is a much greater power. I am yet to find anyone who can successfully turn this around other than Serge Benhayon, the work he offers humanity is truly incredible to heal the hurts and restore the love.”
Serge Benhayon is the only person who tells humanity what is really going on with our lives and how we are cowed by an energy that doesn’t want us to regain the essence of who we truly are because then the game would be up for it. It feeds off our hurts and pain so it’s not something its going to give up easily. As you say if we heal those hurts and restore harmony then we will discover we are much more than we have been led to believe.
Absolutely Melinda, Serge Benhayon has supported hundreds of people to heal the hurts and restore the love, ‘I am yet to find anyone who can successfully turn this around other than Serge Benhayon, the work he offers humanity is truly incredible to heal the hurts and restore the love.’
Reading this I realised a belief that the lightness and joy we experience as kids doesn’t leave us when we grow up. Nor do we, as we age, separate from it. I know I have experienced this fact that we are not separate but the belief of ‘looking back’ popped up.
Human life doesn’t value love, not the real essence of love that we all equally are, nor our sensitivity or fragility. Based on how human life currently is I can see why people have closed down to their own love to the point of not remembering it exists, and are unwilling or feel unable to let love in or out. As someone working through everything expressed in this blog I can understand the many hurts people hold including their own for separating from the love within, and how hard it seems at times to reconnect, even though the love inside of ourselves is untainted and untouched by life. That to me is why we need the reflections of those who have made their way back and can show how possible it is to be love again, and that it’s still there for everyone of us equally to live the love that we are in a world where so few are doing this.
Melinda Knights I totally agree with you and literally thank heaven for bringing into this life those people who reflect back to humanity heaven on earth and walk our future so that we can feel what it is like to reconnect back to our soul and live in a soul-full way. As you say
‘even though the love inside of ourselves is untainted and untouched by life.’
We have all forgotten how to reconnect back to this ‘love’ which is why the world is in the mess it is in today.
Reflections of people who embrace and embody love are needed in the world, ‘Human life doesn’t value love, not the real essence of love that we all equally are, nor our sensitivity or fragility.’
What I can feel is how these coping strategies ultimately backfire on us, cementing us further in that moment of hurt and its imprint. When we think we are protecting ourselves and/or retaliating against the world, we don’t realise it is ourselves that we are doing that to.
Fumiyo from my own experience I can say what you have written is true
“When we think we are protecting ourselves and/or retaliating against the world, we don’t realise it is ourselves that we are doing that to.”
I have been fighting myself and the world for years, which is a huge waste of time and has got me nowhere except more suffering. I’m discovering we cannot fight against the astral plane. What we can do is surrender within ourselves which allows us to go deep into our bodies to access our soul. When we do this the Astral plane loses its grip over us, because our bodily vibration changes which changes our movements and we become less dense and more spacious. It is a science which we are not taught, the only person I know that does teach this science is Serge Benhayon and he teaches Science, Religion and Philosophy as it was taught eons ago under the great Pyramids it’s called the Ageless wisdom because it is ancient in it’s ancestry.
As we openly discussed the other night at dinner God is our father, True Father and the stars are our mother, True Mother and we can deepen our relationship with both to become a deeply loving Soul on this plan of existence.
What I hadn’t considered gregbarnes888 is that we marvel at the moon and the stars but I never considered the space they are held in. If we stop and consider this, then what is space that it can support the sun and stars, consider how heavy our sun is and yet it is supported by space how is this and what is the space that holds it and the universe together?
Great Question Mary, is it possible that when we understand all about space we will be in a different realm and open to the universal will that God comes from?
I have also found through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine,
a sense of connection to myself and that actually we all matter to each other. There is an energy that binds us together and it is together we will eventually leave this plane of life.
We are all connected energetically, so why do we put up these false barriers that are harming, ‘ We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.’
The illusion of what we see or want to see with our eyes. In truth there is no separation we are all One.
“. . . me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” We love and let love in with our first breath on earth but then we chose to stop to love. It is so good to get a reminder that we can choose in every second of our life to love again!
The grand daddy purpose of life – “me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
Do we keep the world at bay from a sense of being hurt by it? And so we build ourselves a fortress and lock ourselves away and in doing so we detach ourselves from each other and the world. This would seem to imply that there is also lack of trust between us all.
When we lose our connection to our inner knowing then we lose trust in our ability to feel what is true for us, and if we don’t trust ourselves how can we trust others.
Connection to our essence, to who we are, supports us in knowing what is true.
I am sharing my life with a young child and it is absolutely glorious because this child is being brought up firstly to know they are beautiful just as they are. This allows them to remain connected to themselves and the love that is within them. And they share this love openly with all others. If we were to honour all children in this way so that as they grow up they maintain a steady connection with themselves we would be living in a completely different society. It is to our detriment that we crush this love that flows through them so that by the time they reach the age of 9-10 they have switched off this flow of love and joy.
Agreed Mary it is absolutely to our detriment that we do not nurture and cherish all children as they should be confirmed and cherished in their true loveliness of who they are. Something we definitely need to turn around and change and something that we should not have to think about in doing.
If this change was introduced to the way that every child was parented the majority of our problems on earth would be eradicated. We really need books written on how to parent your child to be the love they are, and that also would include supporting the parents to live their own love – and both are completely possible and natural to us if we were to give it a go with support.
Is it possible that this is why children are crushed and belittled so that they perpetuate the same movements as they grow up. If we are all kept in the same emotions then nothing changes. We need to make those changes in ourselves so we can confirm our children which will break the cycle we have been in trapped in for eons.
We learn that we have to harden and toughen up to be in this world, but this is not true. If we all brought our tenderness to everything we do the world would become a very different place.
Being and living love, allowing love in and out, and reflecting this to the world as we live this love supports all in knowing they too are love.
Letting love in is as equally important as letting love out.
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.” and as we grow up we start to see that this is not how the world is, and so we learn coping strategies to get by in life and begin to separate first from ourselves and then from everyone and we no longer feel the connection we once had as a child.
I have been looking at how I go into protection. All I am doing is protecting myself from feeling hurt, however, in this I am shutting myself off from people who are also protecting themselves from being hurt. So we are all walking around with these imaginary (but real) brick fortresses, which all they do is result in more isolation and pain. Taking them down, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and letting people in is the way to remove these walls. This also supports others to do the same.
I agree Rachel that the way we live life currently is so abusive towards each other that we feel we have to toughen up and grow a hide like a Rhino in order to cope with life. So that the tender and precious feelings we had as a baby have no place in life.
It is ridiculous that we can feel lonely in a world that has more than 7 billion of us, but then it is not the quantity that counts, but how we are with our self, and how loving and caring we are that determines the quality we live in, and with, and thus also with each other that brings us truly alive.
How we have been living is clearly not working, ‘It is as if when growing up the hardships of life, the broken hearts and the disappointments we encounter gradually force us to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness.’
Swimming in disconnection has a quality to it we sign up no matter how we choose to dress our choice with words.
I have learnt for myself, with the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, that when we are disconnected from ourselves we are disconnected to all others, and in this disconnection we harm not only ourselves but everyone around us. Imagine what life would look like if we all were taught this basic way of living at primary school or at home with our families.
Disconnecting from ourselves is a non-loving choice, ‘Once we commence to shut down we diminish the capacity to rely on our inner feelings, we stop trusting and with that, lose the ability to connect fully with others.’
I find it odd, but agree that it is true, that there seems to be an essential part of being human which means to separate from divinity. With very little in this world that supports and respects our divinity – not the divinity of an acclaimed person, place or thing – but us, innately, deeply, and most sacredly. For, if we, us humans, are not the ones who are divine, then how could we know that divinity actually exists?
Ultimately our lives are up to us. How much love we choose to let in and let out.
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.” We have much to learn from our relationship with a new born baby.
Why do we lose how we are as a new born baby, babies are naturally full of love, joy and connection, which we all love to observe and feel.
We “assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate.” and yet we can be “on the same wavelength” with another and if there’s an emotional outburst of sorts, if we weren’t connected by anything, couldn’t one person explode and no one would get affected. Thing is we live in a medium whereby we feel another’s explosions/emotions/expressions like we pick up on second-hand smoke. There’s an energetic medium we live within and are all connected to each other by.
So true – we live in a very crowded society yet many are feeling so lonely and unable to connect with others. And in our desperation, we seek to own and control what’s out there. The world remains a lonely place when we stay disconnected from ourselves.
Being disconnected with ourselves creates loneliness, ‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.’
I have a newborn and a 2yr old and it is incredible to see the difference in them. Our newborn is so open and observant – our 2yr old has started to have tantrums and test people. She is gorgeous and very much herself but we can also tell when she behaves in a way that is not her and it is our responsibility to call this out.
The moment that we re-connect with ourselves life opens up again and becomes very joyful, the opposite of the struggle involved when we are disconnected.
Accepting more love in you will automatically connect you more to the All. As it is the fuel of our being which is in everyone innately the same. I do walk recently in allowing more love in my body- it is a beautiful permission you can give yourself.
Choosing protection does the absolute opposite of what is trying to be achieved but when you’re caught in the hurt it seems the best option, to return to the surrendered and loving self is what truly supports.
I have tangibly felt this a few times in my life .. how we are all one and got this again driving to work the other day. It is like we may see, think or feel that we are separate going about our individual way and day but actually we cannot ever escape the truth that there is in truth no separation we just, for whatever reasons (hurts etc) try and make it this way. I am genuinely looking forward to the day when humanity starts to truly realise and embrace this .. the fact that we are all one ✨
The problem I have found with being selective about who to give your love to, that is, choosing those who you decide will not hurt you, is that even those who you have chosen are also learning through life and making mistakes. Which means that they too will, at some point cause harm and hurt. This is then all the more devastating if they have been ‘chosen’ as the one who is safe, the one will not ever hurt or harm. And so ensues the dramatic unfolding of fear-full exchanges, as we try to re-establish a safe ground with each other once again. Whereas, if love is given freely, with out need for return, expectation or condition. When love is a beholding quality of movement, of emanation, of understanding and intent, then everyone is given the space to learn and to grow, and relationships can be enriching – no matter the mistakes that we all make.
I love this Shami you have shed some light on a way of being that I subscribe to of choosing people to love and when they do hurt me it totally reinforces the reasons I hold onto protection! Such a set up!
Reading your blog I know you are speaking from experience, something that you have lived and now on the other side of this have a deeper understanding. You know it inside out and upside down which is pretty cool. Over the last few days my lungs have been telling me that even though I do not feel lonely or consider myself to be separate just how much I have been living not in true connection with what I know within. It feels like a blessing to have this awareness as now I can start to truly heal this and re-connect to a part of me deep within.
It is such a truism, and yet it stands the test of time… We must connect with ourselves first, and this then becomes the foundation for all true relationships
There is nothing truer than truth, its simplicity is what shows it for the truth it is.
Beautifully said Chris James, for we make our own future by our present living.
To me this is just one of the many lies that we as a society have fallen for
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.”
Until I met Serge Benhayon I had no idea just how much I had disengaged with life and just how little I knew about it and what is really going on. I never felt to question or discern the inconsistencies of our society.
It is only through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, that I have experienced a deeper connection to myself I had no idea of the layers of sensitivity that lay under the exterior hardness I put out to the world in self protection. And when I feel connected to myself I feel the connection to others.
It is a massive thanks to Serge Benhayon that I became aware of the massive layers I was using to supposedly protect myself, and gradually let this false protection go as I returned to being sensitive and loving – my true nature, ‘Little by little, I have been able to let go of the ‘protective’ layer of toughness and start trusting my own inner feelings. In this way I share my love more equally and I feel connected to myself, others, Divinity and my essential nature, which I know to be love.’
When we shut ourselves out I feel we automatically shut everyone else out. And we can see this playing out in our society today as most people lead a protected life only looking after themselves, with no care about others or the rest of the world.
It is somewhat ironic that in seemingly trying to protect ourselves we actually withdraw from the one thing that truly protects us, our innate connection with love.
I am just trying to picture with the vast amount of people on earth now: if we were to all step out of our little bubble and open up to ourselves and each other, we would be one big bubble of love. I know it sounds simple and still lots of small bubbles to go, but… it shows the absurdity of how we live now ‘separatively together’.
Our protective guards that we have all erected around ourselves like a fort to prevent us being hurt. But, they also stop the free movement of love in and out…. after all, what could be more hurtful than holding back the love we feel for others or holding out the love they feel for us.
Great point Linda, for the irony of cutting that loving relationship we have with ourselves and others due to the forms of protection we engage in, it culminates in us seeking relationships from the wrong foundation by looking outward and not within.
The moment you cut yourself off in hiding of who you are, no one will ever get the chance to come close to you. You gotta first let yourself out again, so you can let other people be close to you. This will eventually help you to get out of your self created prison.
‘To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.’ Often people think about vulnerabilty as a weakness and judge it as wrong and deny how feeling vulnerable is actually very powerful and is making us aware of our divine origin, the precious and delicate beings we are, men and women equally.
When we are disconnected we in truth are walking around blind. When we re-connect we can see what is going on in the world.
When we are disconnected we in fact seek the outside for any reference to feel secure. When in connection we are held and we don´t look out but receive what is going on.
Everyone knows connection and everyone’s seeking it to some level, just in the wrong place. I know that when I start to seek connection with others there’s a high possibility that I have abandoned my connection to myself, and this needs to be dealt with first.
I realised the more I am connected with myself, the less physical connection I need to others. It is beautiful to be with others as a person, but only if there is a purpose to actually connect in this way. Other than that, I feel the connection between other people – without even speaking.
Yeh that’s a great point, and we have so much more to offer another person if we are not seeking or needing anything from them.
Love must come from ourselves first, developing this relationship by connecting to our inner heart and developing a trust in what our body is offering, then we can have loving connection with others.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.”
This IS what we miss the most, ourselves. Our gorgeous, precious, loving selves. I know I do when I go into protection, and I need to separate to avoid the hurt of missing myself. It is crazy town.
When we deny our love and our connection with each other it is totally devastating, therefore anything that disconnects us needs to be addressed.
We all have access to an unlimited wisdom through our own bodies and we are trained that our minds have the key to everything, so our whole education system is a sham.
It is a joyful thing to re-connect back with ourselves having spent years/lives disconnected from who we truly are.
Absolutely a joyful thing Elizabeth and I love and appreciate the huge support Serge and Universal Medicine and all its students are offering in re-connecting to ourselves and to letting go of the protective layers that keep us in the world of creation.
I recently thought by looking at some old photos: ” I wasted so much time with distraction and disconnection to myself in this life”.
With no regret, as everything has its own timing, but appreciating even more the joy I feel now in my body, with all the steps I took in life and have chosen differently through the reflection of Universal Medicine .
Stefanie Henn- Hecke what you share is very beautiful that everything has its own timing and this is given to us by our soul. I feel Universal Medicine has reflected back to the world a different less complicated way to live so that now humanity has a choice to stay in the distraction and desires of life or walk away knowing that the distraction and the desires are a false way of living, that there is so much more on offer if we listen and are guided by our soul.
So true — ‘In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.’
A truth that needs to be re-discovered by living truth in our life.
The chains of restriction are destroyed, when you start the journey to be seen by others of who you are. It is a constant surrender in your body that is first in you and then possible to another.
‘Once we commence to shut down we diminish the capacity to rely on our inner feelings, we stop trusting and with that, lose the ability to connect fully with others.’ Yes I have experienced this and it’s good to know that it is reversible i.e. that we can let go of the hard shell we have created and let people and love in. Trusting our feelings and the wisdom they bring makes a big difference to all our relationships.
Rachel has provided here a really accurate and concise portrayal of how and why we have so much disconnection, protection, and the illusion of separation in the world today. The truth is though that we can never protect ourselves from feeling all that is going on around us, and the tactics we use to numb ourselves of this in the illusion of protecting us only cause more pain and suffering because it is holding back our love outwards and not allowing it in, which hurts deeply.
I find myself back here unpeeling another layer of what it looks and feels like to live in separation to others. The outer shell can be such a distraction and I wonder if we would do well to put less importance on our sight and more importance on our awareness of what we feel? It seems to me we would get to honesty quicker.
I used to feel anxious being out and about in society and would find relief in returning to my home where I could be alone. I thought it was related to being around others but really it was about me being (or not being) myself around others.
Thanks to Serge Benhayon I have now had moments in my life where I can feel that I am as exquisite and sweet as a newborn baby. These moments are powerful markers that never leave me and they build as I commit to living the love that I am.
Beautiful, you are sharing the profound effect of allowing yourself to be you, lovingly so, and that by letting yourself feel and be you others feel you too, and then you are offered to let them in too, no matter how they choose to behave, protect themselves or resist love.
Protecting our hurts does not protect us, in fact the opposite is true in that when we protect ourselves energetically we harm ourselves therefore there is no protection in protection!
I wonder if there is a whole level of understanding around our hurts that we have yet to acknowledge, therefore uncover. Therefore, I can’t help wondering if we protect ourselves energetically more than we are aware of because we have not quite got to this understanding of ourselves and how deeply the expectations, the ideals and beliefs we have lived with and therefore the hurt from the disappointment have run.
Yes I agree. As we become more present in and with our bodies the trust in ourselves builds as does the love and appreciation.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first” It is so easy to let anything and everything that we do come before our relationships even though the relationships we have with people is what is the most governing how we feel in life.
I think the danger of seeking relationships or connection outside of ourselves first is that we don’t have a marker within ourselves from which to discern what is true or not. Whereas if we’ve first endeavoured to connect with ourselves and build a loving, caring and self-honouring quality within ourselves then we have that marker to go into the world with.
Trusting and acting on our inner feelings is our true responsibility. I say this because recently I chose to ignore a very clear inner feeling. Doing this ultimately brought hurt to myself and another. Our inner feelings are never for us alone, in our interconnected world they are for everyone.
To love from the truth of our heart is the most natural and empowering way to live. Such simple medicine that does not cost a single cent and is forever available yet it is the rarely sought. Perhaps we avoid the power and responsibility this way of being brings?
In my experience, when I began to connect to myself and be present with what I was doing, it naturally led to me being open and connecting to others.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”When l feel disconnected from others, it feels like a strange thing to turn deeper into myself and connect with me, however the times l have done this, really have taken the intensity out of my situation and allowed me to feel more accepting and empowered around others. It takes the pressure off. I find it challenging at times to let the love of others in, which l realise starts with me loving and fully appreciating me.
“And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.” we live in this illusion thinking that this is life, ever searching for love and to be loved, when what we need is a connection to our own love which lies within, and when connected we can learn to then let our love out and and let love in.
When we’re feeling disconnected from ourselves and others, life takes on a grey, joyless quality, and feels very monotonous. Eventually we realise that even when we’ve done everything on our to-do list, nothing feels full or complete unless we’re connecting to how and what we’re feeling, and expressing from there. It took me a while to trust that there was anything within worth connecting to, but through techniques like the gentle breath meditation – basically just focusing on my breathing – I found there was another, deeper layer of me, of gentle stillness, beneath the emotions and ‘stuff’ temporarily in the way. The more I connect to this deeper inner sense of knowing, the more the other stuff melts away, and this deeper level of connection gets easier to access and feels more solid each time I revisit it.
I was pondering yesterday if the way we see the world actually determines our reality, what if we see something as hard it actually creates it to be hard, or if we see something negatively then that actually shapes the way we see the world and also ourselves and other people? Life essentially begins with us and the way we approach it.
Yes.. and what if we then cement these perceptions through the way we hold our bodies and move? Or, equally, is it possible to unravel and let go of these perceptions by moving in a different way?
Thank you deeply. It is so easy to think that it is all about other people when we feel lonely or we have issues with the world, it is so easy to run away or isolate ourself as a way of protecting ourselves from getting hurt. Knowingly or unknowingly I might add. Yet, in my experience this hiding doesn’t help anyone, it actually compounds the hurt and confirms it is unsafe to go out – but it is a prison of our own making.
Hiding away from society does feel like a prison and once we begin to realise that prison is our own making, it’s the start of the downfall.
The start of the downfall for the illusion that says it is a prison we have no choice about being in. I don’t think we always choose to change it but the tension is greater because we cannot deny we have a responsibility for being in a prison of our own making.
When we are removed from our inner most connection we are anyone’s fodder really. And we seek a semblance of connection, something to replace it and bingo – we have it, in consumerist goods, entertainment, and in relationships that simply cannot remain loving and harmonious when they are based on this need and demand as opposed to us coming to these relationships from the wholeness of who we are.
In disconnection we create pain and suffering. For ourselves and for others.
In connection we inspire others and remind others of how possible it is, and how joyful it is to come back home to the real us.
Beautiful Rachel, it is so true : ..choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.
Let’s start with this. I have found that, from observations and starting to apply it myself — it truly works.
The true beauty of being is our connection to who we are and it is from this connection we are not only learning more of what makes us tick but also how we all are interconnected within this world and that then becomes the beauty of us as human being’s. I spent much of my life seeking connection via an identity or recognition for what I do but now see the real joy begin with being a human being and not a human doing. Life is a forever unfoldment back to who we always were.
Connection with others is what sustains and fulfils us. People is what life is about and if we shut off from that – it’s not only lonely, it also goes against everything our bodies are designed for.
I have been aware of my protective layers for a while and I totally agree with you it is the connection with myself that I need to deepen first – otherwise I would only be manufacturing another version of myself that appears to be less protective and that would be a lot of ‘trying’. Knowing, and connecting deeply with myself and trust my feelings unconditionally invites me to just be and that, I am getting used to more and more and loving it more and more.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” This is a loving work in progress, to reconnect to our vulnerability. To feel safe to do that. To connect to it. To express from it.
The answer to the loneliness so many people feel today is in this article – it is in the inward movement of gently peeling back the layers of protection we have taken on in reaction to what all of us have inevitably experienced in the world we have created as a result of us not being simply and all of ourselves. Toughness breeds toughness, a closed heart will close off other hearts, and hence we all interact with each other from the shields we latch on to ourselves, When that point does come when we do decide to delve within and heal those hurts that were never personal, but simply part of the human condition we have all contracted into, it is then that we feel the connectedness we have been seeking – a connectedness to our own love and from there, to the love that is also in all others.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” There is no greater recipe for a true relationship than this – a true relationship with oneself first.
True – it changes the way you experience the whole world.
” It is as if when growing up the hardships of life, the broken hearts and the disappointments we encounter gradually force us to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness. ” This is it in a nut shell for a lot of people , they have been let down by life and the expectations that was the reason for life have not come to pass and so people just give up on life and humanity .
But as you learned Rachel is does not need to be that way .
” Through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, many people, myself included, have experienced a deeper sense of connection to themselves and other people.”
We all seek connection and true relationships, but when you’re shut down it is very difficult to connect with others as there is no connection with yourself. Thus the only relationship to work on first and foremost is the one with ourselves – and heal/clear our stored hurts in the body.
Yes, get some support from someone who has worked on this themselves or it is very difficult to recognise the depth the hurt can go to. What I have found is it is not about being dramatic or reliving the experiences but it is about feeling what I did not want to feel at the time. It is simple and passing if I stay with the fact that these are things I got swamped by as opposed to them defining me. Once I recognise my hurts are not me, I find a freedom to deal with them.
The devastation of feeling alone can be observed by many people in our societies. The way people are trying to cope with this feeling of devastation are becoming more extreme year after year. Excessive food intake in many harming forms for instance, such as sugar, alcohol and the many fast food take away’s available, resulting in a diversity of health issues is just one example of these extremes. And there are many more to name but this would end up into an endless list which actually will not add anything to the urgency of this comment.
Very true Rachel, I also used to live in a very protected way and can relate to feeling alone most of this time. I was always craving connection with others but it seemed that I didn’t know how to bring this to my life in a consistent way. The Way of the Livingness has been life changing for me as it has supported me to let go of my protection and to be open to the love within and around me, what a beautiful experience this has been and the best part being that it continues to expand and grow.
This is my experience too Rachel – being a student of Life and The Ancient Wisdom Teachings has inspired me to let go of the self protection bubble and re-connect with myself, which is far more glorious than I could ever have imagined.
“I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”.
“This sense of separation seems to be an essential part of being human, part of our individuality and personal identity.” This line struck me this morning as it feels so true that in believing that we are only human it becomes our identity and from that we enter into individuality that actually is in conflict with whole our being. What I can feel deep within, and actually for whole of my life from young, that there is more to life than only this three dimensional, individual human life and that this is actually not our normal. It was only after I met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that I could reconnect more deeply and knowingly to that what has been lingering in me all of my life. That what I live in me has become more alive and I can say, now more of my way of living, actually enriching human life with the divine aspect we all come from.
I could feel the man made created borders as I read your blog, the border of the body defined by the contours of the skin and the borders of countries as defined by man-made markers or perhaps by water and land. It all makes for a reduction of what is truly on offer.
I used to go from at times dreading my job to now I totally love it, I often can’t wait to get to work and see those that I work with. My days are full of joy, I have the best job in the world because my focus is now on enjoying those I work with and building connections with them- it has totally transformed how I go about my day.
Becoming aware of how we brace and shut out others is so important, since we are in fact disconnecting from ourselves first. Once we choose to let go of these old patterns and reconnect back to ourselves, then connecting with others is a natural consequence and we realise we are not here to do it all alone, but in collaboration with others.
The moment we feel that life and movements are two separate things, we are set up for dis-orientation.
That Love of a young baby can seem impossible to recreate. It can feel like a one trick deal, something you have, only to lose for good. Whilst it can be nice to talk about, it can seem so far out of reach. Universal Medicine and the Esoteric healing therapies change all that and help you feel that natural connection and innocence in your body once again. When you have a taste of this, like meeting an old friend, you can see recovering how you used to feel is a very real possibility. This rewires everything we know about life – it’s not locked down the way we think it is. Thank you Rachel for this fitting tribute to our journey back to truth.
We seem to have lost our ability to truly trust people , because the more we protect ourselves the more we shut down and less open we become, through Universal Medicine I have learnt how to let go of my protection and be more open with everyone, and it started with trusting myself first.
Trusting your own inner feelings is somethng we need to practice every single day. And with that practice the trust builds and we realise, we already know and feel everything and therefore are connected to ourselves which makes connecting to others a natural by-product.
True relationship starts with self connection , without this there is no foundation.
There is so much truth and wisdom in this blog that I love to read it again. This line is a super reminder of how we can all live and be in life, because this is how we were born: ‘ We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally’.
Rachel knowing that for us we are naturally and innately joy and are designed to be in true connection with each other makes total sense, it shows what we are underneath seeking when we settle for far less than truthful forms of connection. But it also highlights when we say we ‘hate people’ that its not really true – what we don’t like is un-true relationships, and for most of my life that was all the types of relationships I had.
Ha!! I’ve played around with the sentence ‘ I hate people’ A LOT in my life, that is for certain!
It is absolutely true, that what we are reacting to is the lack of love, and harmony in the relationship…because we know there is another way.
Yet it is those that I feel hurt by that can bring an enormous amount of healing if I am willing to see and address the hurt within me and let go of the protection and hardness that I chose to cover and mask the hurt. There is indeed much to appreciate and welcome in those that reflect and give me opportunities to heal and assist my evolution so that I can hold a greater love in my body.
I read recently that ‘social isolation’ is cited as being one of the leading current causes of illness and dis-ease, which I can completely understand from the perspective that I feel it is innate in us to work together, deeply respect one another and live in a way that unites us all and so to not activate these qualities in our life, to isolate ourselves must create an unsettlement or dis-ease in our body… And even though we may be in touch with lots of people, be vocal or ‘sociable’ if we’re not truly expressing ourself – not truly letting others see who we are then that is a kind of isolation…
I didn’t know this Fiona, but it makes complete sense because social isolation goes against our natural inbuilt knowingness that connection with others and working together is how we expand, evolve and support each other.
I know this only too well, in trying to protect myself from getting hurt, I actually hurt myself by cutting myself off from others and not being able to trust myself and then all others – hence life was one long struggle. But I am learning every day to share more of myself which builds on my self-trust and self-love.
Yes we cannot expect/ask of others what we are not prepared to do for ourselves.
Thank you Rachel, connection to ourselves and to all we come from is the foundation for our true connection to everyone else. This line is so true, that the process of life’s hardships can cause us “to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness.” We do so many things to pretend we are not the sensitive, open, tender, and loving beings we naturally are.
It is such a dichotomy isn’t it – we harden to protect ourselves yet hardening is what hurts us most because we shut ourselves away and people out!
It’s easy to look outside of us for connection first, but whatever we find ourselves looking for cannot be sustained without first a connection with ourselves. If we make connection our number one priority then when we go out into the world we already have everything we’ve been looking for.
When we get ourselves out of the way, meaning when we have dealt with and cleared our issues and hurts, it becomes so easy to connect with others and to share with others.
The teachings of the Ageless Wisdom and The Way of The Livingness have inspired me to crack my shell of protection and to reconnect to the love within me and the equal love within all others.
‘it is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love’. This is gold because living in this sense of seperation is the disease of humanity. And clearly highlights how much we hurt ourselves!
It’s so easy to drive through life, focused on ourselves and what we need without noticing the opportunity for connection all around us. It reminds me of driving a car, we think we are alone in this vehicle but if we look out the window and catch someone else’s eye, connection can be made because we are on the same road.
I agree – there are so many amazing moments of connection that we can have with so many different people every day – all it takes is an awareness of who and what is around us, and these moments are pure gold.
The ultimate connection starts with us and when we move, support and express from our inner connection we then begin to see all other relationships around us grow and flourish so without our relationship with self we have no true foundation to start from leaving all other relationships we have feeling less because in truth we are making ourselves less in the process. Choosing love for self then holds all others and what happens from there is pure magic.
As I deepen my connection to love and let go of hurts that get in the way I am learning to observe the hurts that can come up within others and if rejection appears within because of the choices another makes whether in reaction or not it is ok as all I have to do is clock it, see it for what it is and let it go.
Thank you Rachel, a truly inspiring blog. It is true that we need to see all as equal and important in our lives.
‘If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.’ Imagine a world like this where as we grow up we do not lose this connection with ourselves and as adults live with that same radiance… how different the world around us would be.
What I get from this blog is that it is actually crazy.. We are running around with all these hurts, one day or the other we more strongly attend to them as they might be triggered. Constantly basing our lives on hurts, being at times more aware of them or not. How crazy is it to live in a world where most of it is based on hurts : feeling hurt, being hurt, hurting others, pushing away hurts, hiding our hurts, measuring our hurts, comparing our hurts, dismissing our hurts – not letting people in because of hurts or not letting yourself out and be seen – because you don’t want to be hurt again. Interesting enough and so super important it is to realize that we are much more than hurts – and that actually we are not existing to be busy with hurts – but to be love.
The whole world is so disconnected and disrespectful towards each other, but it only takes one person to change that and to make the first move, the ripple effects or the domino effect of really deeply connecting with another person could be huge.
Well said Meg – without a need or investment in receiving a certain response, we can always offer another way, a personal and connected way that embraces each and every person as equal. Living in equality by our very essence can melt away the disrespect and disconnection from each other.
More and more we are observing a level of disconnection in our society and more and more I appreciate just how important it is to choose to stop, feel my body and my breath and to then move from this quality because without us first choosing to move in this way we too are then contributing to the disconnection. The beauty is found in our choices and the simplicity to move in a way that can either connect or disconnect us from the all.
What I have recognised recently is my emotional attachment to the ideal of family, which is a block to truly feeling and sharing love. Because it is easy to get wrapped up in past events and get pulled into responding in a certain way to someone close to me. Far better to stay open to everyone and not hooked into any outcome but appreciate we are all part of something much bigger than our day to day lives.
This surely has to be our marker of how to live – “We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.” Why have we been willing to give this way of being up so easily? No amount of holding on to hurts is worth our divine right to love, trust, be open and connected to the universe and all those in it.
In the search for love, it starts within.
It struck me when you shared that because we are physically separate, we can take on this notion that we are separate in all ways. But the reality is that we are not. Yes physically we may live in separate houses etc…. but energetically we are all one, and we are all connected. When we connect to that, and to ourselves, there cannot be separation.
I can recall carrying this heavy suit of armour, with chips on my shoulders and a black cloud with bolt lightening above my head. Soon as that protection started to fall away, I not only started to connect with myself but others – I deprived people seeing the real me and it is so lovely to be a reflection for others to follow, without perfection.
I’ve only just come to understand that I’m not 100% – or perhaps even 50% – at home with my vulnerability and fragility because I’ve felt frightened by how much I can feel when I let go of my protection. For me that protection has taken the form of many things. Two I’m working with right now are the way I stand (defensively) and how I feel when I let go of weight. That last one is particularly scary as it’s both about less of a physical barrier between me and the world; and, with less food intake, and no intake of foods that dull me, etc., I get to feel things I don’t want to feel, or feel ill-equipped to deal with.
I had made my own kingdom, king in a castle with thick walls, where no one could enter and I would not come out. Lonely but protected, a deep illusion I had created. Now I feel from the connection with my inner heart my love for people and yes sometimes the wall can be build up but this feels horrible and the love I feel will always take away the bricks to break down the walls. We are never separated how hard we try to, never.
Something really key here Rachel – that if we start to favour some over others, we separate. Its not possible to compartmentalise like that, as it creates compartments inside us separating us from ourselves. Ouch – that hurts on a deep, fundamental level and is something we are all struggling to return from.
Yes Rachel that willingness to let love out and therefore in is the secret ingredient to moving from the protection of not trusting love. I love what you share here ‘I share my love more equally and I feel connected to myself, others, Divinity and my essential nature, which I know to be love. I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.’ It is awesome to really feel that we are not separate but part of the whole universe, and beyond
This is such a beautiful and spot on blog Rachel, the more we shut down and protect ourselves from feeling what has hurt us in life the more we are in the illusion that we are separate. We are intimately connected through everything all the time, and this is not just a mantra saying it is a truth if we allow ourselves to engage with life on this level.
“These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” I see this time and time again. I have done it, lived it, got the certificate and it got me no-where other than not spotting the hurt until it hit me square in the face! Coping strategies are just that – they are not dealing with anything and I have found that is more harmful in the long run.
Me too – with the support of Universal Medicine, I have become able to see and start to let go of the layers of protection so thick and stubborn that I thought it was me. The spaciousness opening up as the result of this process is just amazing. I have only scratched the surface I know, but it feels like a totally different life already.
It’s a very true observation Rachel. That by protecting ourselves (so called) we are actually harming ourselves because we are not allowing others in and we are not allowing ourselves to be transparent – for a whole range of reasons that we can very easily justify. But even though we can go down the road of justification until we are blue in the face, it doesn’t change the fact that we are already intimately connected.
‘Most of us recognise that we are physically separate from other people and naturally assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate’ – this is re-enforced by our culture, gender, education and society in general. If we were to live as people deeply connected to each other, deeply connected to who we truly are then the common reflection of love we all bring would be all the evidence we need that we are one brotherhood and the separation dispelled.
I reckon it should be a basic premise of life: connection first. It’s one of the missing keys of life, to the point life doesn’t work without it, we’re always seeking and searching for it if we do not first take the time to connect with who we are – it literally changes the whole world.
Great point Meg, connection is key to experiencing a deeper relationship with ourselves first, making it simple to bring this level of connection to everyone.
One of the greatest things I have learnt from attending Universal Medicine presentations has been to let go of the protective barriers that allowed me to keep people out of my heart and at a distance and learn to let them in. There is so much love and beauty to be discovered and embraced when true connections between people are allowed and cherished rather than ignored or avoided.
I love the word inspiration at the moment and feel that true inspiration for life is deepened in the movement of us first connecting to our bodies and then each step we take thereafter inspires another movement towards a multifaceted approach to living with nature and all others too.
Life is so simple when we break it down and yet the simplicity is not our norm. It’s a great question to ask and one we override constantly so we don’t have to feel the pain of what is there, “How can we, in the midst of all the people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone?” So what’s the feeling, what are we overriding or running from? If we live in a populated world that is possibly more obviously connected then at anytime in the past by the internet how can we feel lonely or lost? It’s not true when we look at technology and so do we wipe what we feel because it can’t be true because it looks like we are connected? Or do we keep asking why until the answer becomes clear, in other words keep building the awareness that something doesn’t make sense until you unlock what feels true. There are many layers to this ‘lonely’ and eventually all roads lead back to you but at first it may lead to a relationship you had, a job, school, growing up, when you were a baby and so on. At least start on the path of unlocking the ‘something isn’t right’ and from there be open to where this question takes you. We have everything we need, it’s just that we have turned so many corners that our view of it is obscured.
When we make life about physicality only it’s easy to feel separate to each other. We live in different houses, drive separate cars, have separate bodies etc. When we make life about energy, it’s simple to feel the oneness and fact that we are all connected due to the fact that we are energetic beings.
Seeking connection and true relationships is indeed our purpose and our responsibility. Reacting from hurts dampens and prevents us for connection, to ourselves and to others.
Thank you Rachel, your blog is a beautiful reminder to continually deepen our connection to self, and thus others.
The need for connection and true relationship is strong in us all. But sometimes we are so fearful of rejection from past hurts that we are unable to trust others and therefore isolating ourselves more. I know I still hold myself back from connecting with people until I remind myself of the consequences of this. Thank you Rachel.
This blog touches on something that feels like a paradox to me. We go about life protecting ourselves but in doing so, do we actually create the need to be in protection? We can all argue that we need to protect ourselves from the ills and woes of life – but is it possible that we are part of the creation of our own need to be protected? I guess it’s ‘chicken and egg’ really. What came first, the feeling that I need to protect myself or the fear of being hurt? Or did they both arise together?
I was very good at shutting people out for most of my life and I now see how my body built a protective hard shell to stop me feeling the truth of the world all around me. Now I am beginning to peel away the many protective layers I placed on myself and see how my willingness and honesty to peel back the old layer of images and or beliefs of how I believed I should be really does free my body to move and express in a way that deeply supports daily life and connects me to so many more people, nature and the world at large.
It’s time to burst the bubbles of separation and reacquaint ourselves with the fact of energy and that we are all connected – whether we like or choose to see it or not – we cannot escape this fact.
When we shut ourselves off, we don’t only separate from others but also and foremost from ourselves. And if truth be told, it doesn’t ever work – we still feel everything and we are still a part of the all, just throwing a tantrum.
I had decided long ago that if I didn’t have a me then I could not get hurt, this definitely cut me out of the picture so to fill the void self sacrifice for the good of others came and buried me more deeply in my separation from self and each other. It is a continuing unfolding coming back to find the true and loving me thereby opening my heart to loving connections with others.
Yes it is extraordinary in this age of the so-called amazing communication that loneliness is now, as psychology today writes, a global epidemic. Humanity hungers for connection, and yet that connection simply must start with the reconnection with oneself… This is always the way.
I am someone who had put up a lot of protection and it is true what you say – that the more guarded you are the more you isolate yourself from others and the more lonely this is.
It sure is a vicious cycle MW – but one that can be broken by reestablishing love within oneself and not looking outside for fulfilment, then there is no opening for someone to hurt us, even if they try out of their own hurt.
I had put layers of protection up to avoid my self from getting hurt, having been left previously hurt. My body had hardened to keep up these layers of protection.
Our hurts can make us retreat into a shell…in this shut down we give up on life and we give up on ourselves. We lose trust, and we isolate ourselves even more. To come back from this takes time and a gradual re-buildng of trust…for me the initial part of re-building back trust came when I first encountered Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. It happened very gradually and very subtly. As the layers of hurt fell away, I allowed myself to feel more and allowed myself to feel more of the beauty and joy of life too. And in some regards this is an ongoing process of letting go of layers and embracing more and more of who I am and my connection to God. This in itself is an amazing blessing in my life.
I cannot but realise after reading you blog Rachel that when we withdraw and try and protect ourselves from some we simultaneously shut everyone out.
This is true Suse – this confirms that every thing we do energetically has an affect on everyone everywhere – keep one person away and we are increasing our own sense of separation and isolation from all others.
My whole body showed protection, the way I walked, talked, my rounded shoulders, my interaction with others. It is crazy how we think we are protecting ourselves when all we are doing is making life more complicated.
Being protected is really not nice to feel. I am currently back in a working environment that I left years ago with a bit of reaction and protection and can now feel how I have to let those old protections go and live the true ‘me’ – show me, what I like, what I feel, what I know is true and how I like to live… This is the only way to truly let go of the protective shield that feels so capping.
It is very true Lieke, asking to see it so we can deal with it. It is so easy to choose not to see what will hurt us but then we are less likely to cope with it! Such a backwards way of approaching it and yet it has been completely normal for me to approach things that way for most of my life!
Such brilliant points raised Rachel through what you have shared. When we shut down and shut out feeling the love we are within we are left with the hurts of our emptiness and need for protection through the lifestyles we choose, creating really only a sense of loneliness. Yet if we are willing to go deeper, we realise that we are so much more that our physicality and we are then free to know that who we truly are is universal, and as such through the quality of our connection to our essence inescapably connected to all.
Recently I have noticed how I play my part in this separation, even though I love humanity and people. It is times like when I go to the supermarket for ‘what I want’ and completely ignore the people around me, I see everyone else in the supermarket doing the same thing … what would happen if all the shelves and food got taken away (magically) and we were left standing in a large space with everyone else. Would we connect with each other then? Also when driving I am aware of times when I do not feel connected with everyone else but in my own little capsule. The truth is even if we think we our in own ‘little capsule’ we never are as we are all interlinked as you say even though it seems physically we are separate, energetically we are not. Lets make it about connection, truth, love, brotherhood and not about how many ‘likes’ we have or what ‘we need to get’. It is not all doom and gloom there is magic within the world that is happening … and we can all play the part of helping the magic to expand.
This is a great call Vicky. As Rachel shares: “We live today in the most populated world in history, yet more people than ever feel lonely, detached and separated from society… and even from themselves.” Yet in pretty much every moment in our everyday lives there is the opportunity to start turning this all around.
‘When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.’ And it allows us to be irresponsible and to not speak up when needed as we will not let love out or in. A lonely existence indeed.
But when we choose to feel the love, the divine we are part of you cannot but see the wholeness.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.” This is often the way we open up to remembering that feeling within ourselves. To know it was once us and is, in fact, still us, simply hidden below a few protective layers. – Time to re-connect with that open-ness and feel the amazing connections that come as a result.
Yes indeed, the connection we want from others must come from us first. We have to see that our ‘bubble’ does not live in isolation to all others but that everything we do say and think affects another.
As I am a not native English speaker I had to check the word ‘aloofness’ and what it means. When the translation did arise I felt a confirmation and sadness. Yes, that is how it feels to be with people when I am not connected: aloof. And no hug, cuddling, sex, good food or wine or any entertainment can conceal the fact. This aloofness is starting from me, my connection to myself and so how much I am willing to take responsibility about my ‘being connected’ I take and live. Yes, I have had it as a baby and I did gave up on it as a child – we could say for understandable reasons. But anyway I am longing for intimacy – firstly with myself but also with others – and it lies in my hands to learn again how to live this. And I thank God for Universal Medicine and all the people who are related to this, which supports me here gracefully.
The beauty of our heart’s connection is that like electricity we can connect or disconnect. The simplicity is in the choice to either lock our hearts away due to past hurts or experiences we hold onto or allow our vulnerability and honesty permeate outwardly and allow ourselves to truly connect with our hearts and then watch that ripple affect flow into other facets of our lives thereafter.
There is a sense in the world that connection is not important. Getting on with getting things done is what matters most, even it is at the expense of our own being. If you look back through history, there are many who have realised this, and their solution has been to leave the world of doing. They retreated to the hills, sometimes literally, in order to seek a life without pressure, with more meaning. They took up yoga, and spiritualism, in a quest to reconnect to something they knew they had lost. And yet, if we look at the end result of that experiment, we find people engaged in a slower paced life, but a life that is in many respects no different, just less engaged. And so, we discover if we look and observe those that have walked before us, that connection is not about disengaging from the doing in life. A year in a cave will do no service, other than to provide temporary respite, the downside of course being that it sparks a withdrawal from society that can be hard to recover from. True healing is in discovering that there is a way to bring connection to yourself, and then learn to bring that level of connection back to the doing. And that is what is called true commitment to life.
True connection has to start with ourselves first, and some years ago, I had no idea about such things. Thank Goodness I found Serge and now know the value of choosing to connect to a deeper part of me that I had long ago left behind.
The fact that the world is the most populated it has ever been in history and many, many, people still feel lonely has to set one’s alarm bells off and beg the question as to why? Rachel what you offer in this blog is answers to this loneliness and separation, and a solution that would heal the masses. An offering that allows one to feel the power of our love and what would happen if we let down our walls of protection and allowed our love out and love in.
‘When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.’ I must say I did not grew up or lived in the perspective of being part of something grand as the universe is and we are made of. It was made a small world to live in, yet I always knew there was more and that there was a bigger picture to adhere to and play my role in.
It’s funny that us humans is the only species that struggle to exist yet we would like to think that we are the most advanced species alive. The plant and animal kingdom must look at us and think that “eventually they will get it…”
haha I never looked at it that way, oh dear, I have to agree, there is great patience at our arrogance and ignorance!
We live in the illusion where we let some people in and think that is true connection when if were to truly connect with ourselves first we would realise that there is so much more love to let out and in than we can fathom.
I used to have feelings of being alone on and off when I was younger, and always felt the emptiness of not holding myself in my own love and appreciation. Of course I only knew this was the reason after I started choosing to make more self loving choices and honour me from who I am in truth, and acknowledge the power of moving from this knowing.
This observation on life you make Rachel is huge by the implication it contains; “When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.” We are an equal part of the universe, our particles are of the universe, and to remember this we know we are all connected.
This is a blog worth connecting to for sure. How you describe the game of separation we choose to protect ourselves ‘thinking’ that is a better way – actually opens us up to more of what we don’t want to feel, compounding the sense of living loveless separation. Connection to self first is foundational for us to know love, as we are this love and embracing this then offers so much more love in unexpected ways.
True connection is like manna from heaven . it nurtures us in such a deep and profound way that is both unique and essential for our evolution.
I notice that when I go into hurt I shut down from others and shut them out. When I am not in hurt I feel much more connected with others.
Hello Rachel and I remember the alone feeling. Even being in a crowded room and not understanding how I could be feeling this feeling inside me. Often what we see outside doesn’t make sense to what we feel inside unless you understand what you feel inside first which then supports you to translate what is happening outside of you. As you are saying it all starts with us and anything that is at play on the outside of us is only happening inside us first. You raise a great question in that how can we be at our most populated and yet have so so many people feeling alone? There has to be and is a deeper answer, we aren’t connected to ourselves and hence everything we look at outside only reflects this back to us. We grow up thinking how we need to be to get through our life and yet more and more of us are saying this isn’t it. Connect back to how we feel and as you so beautifully put it Rachel, “In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
Living a life in a measured and calculated way can be such an ingrained behaviour that it is only when we become aware of it that we can begin to make changes. Although I am becoming and living the true me in my life I can still go into measuring people and situations and respond based on my calculations. It is work in progress but becoming aware of those moments when I have lost connection to myself to usually ‘fit in’ with what is outside of me is supporting me to address what is underneath that is causing me to behave in a way that is not true to me.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” Yes I so agree Rachel this has been the biggest learning for me, and one that is on going on a daily basis. Having chosen to dis-connect from myself I felt the hurt that the world was not as it should be and chose to disconnect from people and from humanity. Looking back I can see that when I disconnected from myself I also disconnected from God and this was my biggest hurt and what I missed more than anything, and this then tainted all my relationships. I learnt to be functional and practical but not loving, this was my coping mechanism that got me through life, before Universal Medicine.
We so often crave connection and intimacy and yet we negate the one real connection that can open up so many more connections, honesty and love thereafter. Re-connecting to the joy and simplicity of our own body’s connection adds a greater awareness of how we are moving in and with the world, that can greatly change the love and care we in turn receive and give for life everyday.
When we view the world as external to us we are setting ourselves up to be hurt and to want to protect ourselves from that hurt. When we connect to our innermost we find that we are not separate and it about opening up and letting the love flow in and out! Beautiful Rachel.
Living in connection in true relationship is our natural way of being together. It seems crazy that we fight so hard against this. Currently what comes first is protecting our hurts and our ideals and beliefs about people and who we think they are. It’s no wonder the world is in a mess. One day we will all begin to wake up and ask can we do this differently?
This is so massive for me and I’m guessing for many. What you have describe Rachel is what I believe to be one of the illnesses of our society. When a door is shut nothing can come in and nothing can come out.
It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves, we shut out the beauty, the majesty of the love that is inside and all around. By developing our individuality we lose our connection.
The disconnection to self you speak of would be why so many people can feel lonely even surrounded by people. We most likely intensely miss ourselves and in that true reconnection back to ourselves, feeling connected to others in a true way.
If one truly connects to the pulse of love, then one knows you can never truly be alone. Having said that, loneliness is but a single moment of disconnection away.
It seems crazy that on the one hand we are craving a deeper connection with one another, and on the other, do our level best to ensure this doesn’t happen. Dealing with past hurts has been a key part of breaking down this seeming conundrum for me, coupled with a willingness to ‘let people in’, to not see them for the things I might find ‘untrustworthy’ or ‘undesirable’ by my own judgements. It’s a work in progress always, but one well worth the effort I have to say.
I’m kind of an expert in withdrawing, and I can say that when you withdraw you withdraw not only from life and the people around you but yourself, and vice-versa. Living a withdrawn life is not worth it, life is about people and despite all our imperfections we can have amazing connections and relationships with each other. I’ve found the key to not withdrawing lies within the relationship I build with myself and in becoming more comfortable with who I am and being able to express that on a daily basis.
It is very true Rachel how we can be more loving with some people and not others but I know within my inner heart that it is impossible to love one person more than another and that it is not love unless we hold and love ourselves, everyone and everything equally so.
Well said and very true Rachel, everyone is craving connection and true relationships, I know the more I build this within myself there is a lovely flow on effect that can be felt by others.
Who would’ve thought, say even 30 years ago, that with the extraordinary advances in communication that have taken place, that people would literally feel more and more separation… It is crucial now that we as a society reconnect deeply within ourselves and then feel that innate connection with each other that is there to be felt, if we simply listen.
In other words ‘stop and smell the roses’. How often do we think we are too busy to do this and deny ourselves a moment to appreciate the beauty before us which connects us to the beauty within us.
So many of us today walk around like tin men and have a hard protective layer that not only locks all our beauty and love within but also leaves all others on the outside.
Letting go of our protective layers is so necessary, thus giving more space and time to connect with our inner essence and innate wisdom, thus connecting us to the love and light that is God.
Thank you Rachel for this beautiful reminder.
“And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.” We do a lot to not feel the separation from ourselves which is the deepest hurt I know of. I found it is better to feel it than try to not feel it through eating, distractions etc. and starting to feel that love, connection and God are always there and allow myself to let that in and out as you expressed so beautifully at the end of your blog.
you say something very true Rachel , by going in our shields (protection) to another person or situation we loose our connection to love. So that shows us too that when we close our heart off for the other , we are actually not open to another. Even if this is a different person. But… we are always able to choose to open our hearts and so open to love – by letting ourselves be fully seen and receiving the other person. What comes from within, and is expressed, goes out to the world and so love continues to grow.
Yes Danna, I am learning too that every thing is connected so if I separate myself from another I not only have separated from myself but from all others too.
‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self’. Yes, I recognise this, in my need to protect myself I distanced myself from others believing I would be safe, but in fact, I disconnected from myself which then resulted in hurting myself, playing small and having no-one that I could relate to.
I have been in such a bad mood, feeling very grumpy recently, and I have also been feeling very tired, in fact, exhausted as well. When we shut the world/people out hoping that would protect ourselves, we hurt ourselves even more – as the separativeness is not in our true nature and going against the love that magnetically pulls us towards each other is such a hard work.
I completely agree, the more connected I am to my true self (essence) the more connected I am to everyone else as we all come from the same source. Funny (not) how we all long for that connection (whether aware of it or not) and yet avoid it too – that is a whole other blog!
So ironic that attempts to protect ourselves actually just cut us off and make us feel disconnected from what we crave most, as we withdraw behind our layers of protection. The separation is never true, because how can it be when we’re all part of the same whole universe, but it can feel very isolating if we’re in this withdrawn state. Once we start to allow ourselves to feel and deal with the hurt, we start to feel more again – including how we are very much a part of life and the whole.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared. We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.”
The beauty in this is that this is not something that is lost or not available to us anymore. It is and always so. It is only a bit covered up and sometimes a bit more, but always just there to reconnect to. And being in the presence of a new born baby is proof to this, as how would we otherwise feel this ‘special’ quality if we didn’t know it.
Thank you Rachel.
Great writing Rachel – this separation is known within the field of sociology as well. That there is a strong tendency in our modern (at least western) society to become more individualised.
Rachel, you are quite right. We deeply affect each other all the time and we can choose to notice that whenever we are ready.
‘If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.
We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.’
To return to this sweet essence we had naturally when we were kids, we have to connect to love and let go of living and expressing from hurt, I am realising how common it is to carry and communicate from a hurt, it never actually gets us anything but more hurt but we have tricked ourselves into thinking that this is the way.
To return to the essence we naturally expressed when we were young feels like hard work sometimes, as we can feel so far away from it – but it’s actually pretty simple. It’s making the choice to allow ourselves to actually feel the hurt, and not run a million miles in the other direction, that starts to let it go, and with that connection to ourselves and what we are feeling, we let others in again.
So true Rachel that we must love, appreciate, connect and confirm ourselves before we can truely do the same for another. Gratefully I am a forever student of The Way of the Livingness who teach this Ageless Wisdom truth for us all to choose and deepen.
The trust and opens that a newborn baby meets everyone with melts the hardest of hearts and clearly demonstrates how we all naturally are thus it is a choice to harden and disconnect from ourselves and others which we can reverse at any time.
Thank you for highlighting that the key to unlocking our heart is to reconnect to our vulnerability. Having lived for so many years behind a thick layer of protection the more I overcome my deep-seated reservations and fear of opening up and reconnect to my vulnerability and tenderness the greater my connection in all my relationships.
It is totally ironic that we all crave being connected but we are disconnected in so many ways down to our own choices. Admitting this is the first step on the road back to connectivness firstly with ourselves and then others.
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.” So true Rachel. In one of my current volunteering jobs I meet new mothers and babies. Their openness, fragility and trust is so evident. And yes, we were all like this once – and can be again.
It is interesting that you include the mothers – this means we can be like that even when we are adults.
When I look around at those close to me, then out into the world, I get such a strong sense of the longing for connection from each and every person, the longing to belong to someone, to something. But then I look again and all I can feel is the illusion we have been fed that we are actually separate beings and encouraged to grow this feeling of separation through religion, nationality, culture, sport, etc, and as the separation grows the longing expands. To come to the understanding that connection to others must come from the connection to us first, is the way to dissolve this destructive illusion that has held us back from knowing the truth of who we are for way too long.
Personal identity and group identities are championed as being healthy things but as you say Rachel they actually foster separation, and go against our innate nature of unity and true connection with everyone equally. I’m not saying we all need to be clones or that different people can’t have different ways of expressing but it feels like in general we have lost our way with this and made it more about competition and differences and with that lost touch with the unity that underpins us all.
No matter how far we dig to wallow or say we are alone, it is a fact we are all connected to each other and nothing we do doesn’t have an effect on something else.
How gorgeous and divine it would be to feel, from ourselves and others, the exquisite love we felt as a baby;
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally”. Thank you Rachel for sharing your experiences, lived knowledge and wisdom.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared”. So how and when do we lose this, we are born with all knowing and feeling, we radiate our beautiful light when we are born, the joy of our birth is felt by everyone. So why do we start disconnecting and shutting down?
A very ironic situation that we protect ourselves by closing ourselves away to not get hurt however this very action creates the bigger hurt of all.
‘…we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of.’ It’s interesting how fearful we are of our own vulnerability.
We have more tools than ever before to be in contact with people all over the world at anytime of the day and yet as humanity we are falling further and further away from each other…the wars are ongoing, the terror attacks are multiplying, the movies we’re producing get more and more violent and the drug and alcohol industry rockets. Contact and connection are two different things, and we are missing the latter. The more we have to distract us the less clearly we are able to see that we don’t need any of it…that we’re all very simple, and that all we need is to love and be love.
Pretty beautiful Rachel. Letting others in, it’s extremely underrated and yet so so important for us as humanity.
A life of protection is a life of misery, even if it is medicated by moments of happiness.
This is how the world is living – in ‘the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.’ it has been through simple, practical tools such as the Gentle Breath Meditation that i have been connecting to myself more. I’m finding the more that I connect to myself, the more that I connect with others, the more that I feel my essence of love and the more I feel a connection to God.
I have noticed that when we let love in and out in a natural flow that true connections to other people are so much more available. When we hold back with our love the protections go up and everything we feel is conditional. This feels controlled and pretty yuk. Thank you, Rachel
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”. Be the change you want to see in the world. I love both of these statements as it is easy to say what needs to be fixed in this world but unless we truly live it, it is just words. It must start with ourselves.
I could only but nod and agree to what you’ve shared here Rachel, it makes a lot of sense. We don’t want to feel the hurt but in order to do so we have to engage in a way of life that is set up to not feel, we can’t pick and choose it’s either feeling or not feeling. Which is where emotions come in as a false sense of ranging experiences to cover up the fact that we can feel when we need to be strong or tender, or feeling when to speak and when to listen and observe. Our bodies can handle and understand what we feel and the source of what is experienced whereas our emotions can only at best (worse) rev up even higher and higher at the body’s expense to drown out the louder feelings being called to take notice of. Everything we experience first comes from a choice we have made coming back around to us and what I am learning is that when connected to the body and my feelings it makes facing those choices much simpler than emotionally avoiding them.
It’s also interesting to note that we talk about a ‘connected world’ through our amazing technological advancements. It is truly amazing that we can literally be meeting with people all over the world, face to face through our tiny devices. But what is still missing from humanity is the understanding that connection starts with self first, and then we can offer our complete selves to everyone we meet, and not just 50% of ourselves because we are reserving the other 50% in case the first lot get’s hurt.
Rachel, I immediately got an image of the old onion and it’s many skins. I have experienced shedding a few layers of protection since attending presentations and workshops by Universal Medicine. Learning that by protecting ourselves through hardness and keeping others at arms length actually does the exact opposite has been a bit of a game changer. There’s more work to be done and letting others in will always be a work in progress, but I’ve certainly benefitted from the shedding I’ve done thus far. It really does give you another perspective on life and it’s purpose.
“Through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, many people, myself included, have experienced a deeper sense of connection to themselves and other people..” Absolutely this is true for me, I definitely experienced a deeper sense of connection with people.
Connection is the key, we first need to connect to ourself and then we can connect to others. It is through connection that we let people into our hearts.
We are not designed to live life on an island devoid of contact. We are designed to be intimate, to be connected, to hold the hand of another. And yet this is not the reality we have chosen. The good news? If something is intrinsically within you, it can never leave, it can only be buried, and so the answer is simply to unearth that which is already within. That is why it is called esoteric, or ‘inner most” way.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.” – Protection really is no protection, more so a prison we build around ourself…
“These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others”.
Indeed Rachel coping strategies come at a devastating cost often adding another layer of hurts. The relationship, love and appreciation we have for ourselves is the key here.
” I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.”
As much as I know this to be the absolute truth, it is taking a dedication of which I have not ever before surrendered to for it to become inexorably the reality of my life. A journey that I am adoring.
We give up on the openness and innate connection we held as babies, don’t we Rachel? ‘Life’, the way people are, events, circumstances, the way the world is… erodes this openness, yet I agree, it is our natural way. What I’ve learnt also from the deep inspiration of Serge Benhayon and the work of Universal Medicine, is that I can learn to trust and open up again, and that I am actually stronger in this openness and indeed vulnerability, than I was in carrying the armour I honed so well, so as to keep me apparently ‘safe’ from the onslaught I felt around me.
We can live with a solid foundation of love in this world, and in this, it’s important to see just how deeply this is needed – that all can come to realise that toughening up, closing down and essentially ‘giving up’ to how beautiful we all truly are, is not the answer. It only perpetuates more pain, and separation from the love of our own being.
Beautifully and poignantly shared Rachel Hall. Thank-you for opening your heart to all in this forum. It is truly inspiring.
Thank you Rachel for sharing your feelings on true relationships. I have been learning much on relating since Serge Benhayons presentations on this subject and like most people I find it so fascinating as we dig deeper and in turn relating more genuinely and using less protection around others.
Recently I realised that what I thought was a good relationship with myself and with others was actually relating mentally from my mind, calculating how eveything should be. This is so different to connections and relationships that are based on truly reading situations and feeling what is true and acting from here – instead of a mental analysis.,
Rachel, I love that final line, ‘I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in’ – we connect to ourselves first with the understanding and willingness that in doing so we are to let our love out and let other’s love in, and you remind me of something very crucial, I cannot connect to me just for me, it does not work and we are all designed to connect to each other always, so any connection to me is not actually cutting off another, quite the contrary, it’s letting another in and being willing to let our love out. Beautiful to be reminded that this is what connection is, thank you.
The hardest thing for me is to let the flow of love in and out equally as I can feel the small blocks in the way which are usually related to a judgment I may have about myself or the other person, a hurt I may be feeling, or an old pattern I am slipping back into. You have given me much to ponder on, Rachel,
‘If you spend time with a new born baby it is hard not to notice the love they radiate, equally shared’. This sentence feels huge for me to reflect on as we all start out life this way and gradually shut down the love we emanate and yet it is simple and perfectly do-able to radiate love equally to all if we so choose. Thank you Rachel a much needed reminder.
Somewhere along the way we get to understand that self love is selfish and that life is all about helping others with no regard for how this feels in our own bodies. Of course we do need to look out for others but this is only true if we hold a true love and connection for ourselves and then what we are bringing to another allows them to feel who they truly are as well. A great sharing Rachel.
Thank you Rachel. In this life connection is everything and our own body is a great place to start for once we are connected to our self we are present enough to connect to others and nature. It is only through this connection that we can truly read what is going on around us.
For me I have found as you’ve shared Rachel that it starts at home in connection to and with our bodies, because how many of us can say they are aware of how their feet feel unless prompted? This is what Esoteric Yoga has been a great support in developing because the moment I am thinking negatively or in future or past tenses (tense being a great word as when I do go into these thoughts the body tenses up!) or even going off into questions about why this and that have happened, in this disturbed state the moment someone asks me how I am there is a hesitation, previously feeling of like having to confess or relating to that person on that disturbed level – this is not connection as we deeply crave it, it’s a lesser substitute whereby we can say ‘I am ok’ but really our tone of voice and our bodies give away the true quality we are in.
When we lose our connection to the All we are like an isolated grain of sand but when we know we are part of the beach we are connected by the rhythm and movement of the ocean to the All that we are.
The connection we have with ourselves first is what holds us all as one. Great blog Rachel Thank you.
Rachel, you make a very valid point when you say that we have a physical body and as a result appear to be separate from others. This is the illusion that all of us have fallen for – the illusion that we are all separate because that is what the eye chooses to be fooled by. But how could this be? When we know that everything we do say or think has an impact on another, that the quality that we hold ourselves in will have an instant effect on those around us…we all essentially are swimming together in one large ocean of energy and hence are all connected on so many levels. Amazing to feel this and crazy to deny this! But clearly, what scares us most of all is the responsibility that we all feel suddenly when we realise the role we play and the impact we have on not just ourselves but all those around us too.
When every movement we make we are either harming or healing another, and when we live in protection guarding ourselves from being hurt, we are living in separation, and when we have the wisdom to let go of those hurts we have the ability to truly open up and connect equally with others.
I love the solidness in which you write.
I agree Sarah – a solidness that comes from Rachel’s absolute commitment to life and to people! What a reflection we get offered – and one that we are so blessed to have! Bring it on, Rachel!
This blog is packed with great truths, the one in particular for me, on this reading and in my life at present is ” to deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others” . This feels like my experience right now. We must get back to a “loving ” focus. Make that the foundation upon which to grow every subsequent situation.
My observation whilst catching public transport this week has been how so much more crowded it is compared to the last time I was using public transport fifteen years ago and how so little connection or interaction that goes on between people, so I can very much relate to this blog Rachel
I love all that this blog and the many wise comments offer. It brought to mind a literal love revolution, where people are choosing to put down their hurts, drop their protective armour, “weapons”, and techniques of keeping the world and humanity out and simply choosing love. Imagine thousands of people gently marching together in city streets, in stillness, with placards saying “I’m letting go of my hurts to be love”, “I choose love”, “I’m letting go of all hurts and offering the world a clean slate”, and “I am love, not the hurts!” etc. How cool would that be? Humanity has lost trust in living from love, the perceived power of hurts has taken over when the power of love lies waiting patiently within ourselves, more powerful than any hurt. The power to fully restore ourselves and understand the world is in our own re-connection back to the love we so naturally are.
The irony is that once we shut down to protect ourselves and our hurts, we become the person that hurts others because of our disconnection, aloofness, hardness etc. We may not realise this or intend this, but this is what happens.
Beautiful how you bring it back to the responsibility of having a connection with ourselves first. It is so common to denounce our own responsibility by blaming the outer but this never gets us anywhere.
That’s true Joshua, when I take responsibility for my own connection no matter what is occurring around me I drastically shorten the time I spend in struggle or misery. Hurts may feel devastating yet the essence of who we are is much more powerful.
This is true power Melinda.
True connection between people nurtures and evolves, everyone always benefits, it is the matrix within which we all grow.
“These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” This to me Rachel is where it all starts, we shut down our hearts and stop connecting to people and start living in a world of protection and mis-trust. I love the way you have expressed this in your blog, it totally makes sense and why we all live such separate, lives protected in our little bubble. I have lived like this and it is so restricting, shutting myself off from humanity. We are designed to be with people and shutting ourselves off only serves to take us further away from what we truly want,…. connection and true relationships.
Alison I can relate to all you have shared here. When we shut ourselves off from people we may also be shutting off the healing others can bring to us to help us trust again. We tend to place everyone in the same category as the ones that hurt us, however there are those that would bring new experiences to us to support our recovery from whatever hurts we have experienced.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared”.
I love what you have exposed here Rachel, indeed where does it all change with life imposing, causing many of us layers of hurts. However, as you point out, these hurts can be healed with a commitment to connecting to self and the love that we truly are.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared”.
I love what you have exposed here Rachel, indeed where does it all change with life imposing, causing many of us layers of hurts. However, as you point out, these hurts can be healed with a commitment to connecting to self and the love that we truly are.
“When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.”…a worthy line to be highlighted today amongst many. When we separate we forget we are part of the whole. Thanks for reminding us that we are all connected and each of us play an important part of the whole.
Rachel you have captured the protective behaviours of human nature and the illusion of the separation this creates, perfectly. It is a blessing to watch this unfold in reverse to feel the connection as we let go of the protection and be all the love we are.
‘Once we commence to shut down we diminish the capacity to rely on our inner feelings, we stop trusting and with that, lose the ability to connect fully with others.’ Rachel this part really made me realise how important it is to continue to build our connection with ourselves and not close down, so we are able to share our connection with others, and stay open to exploring new and true relationships.
It’s in the commencement of the shut down.
lt feels it’s already too late. lt started a momentum long ago. l know when l haven’t really come back to myself. l kid myself that l have because l have tried to fix the issue with my brain. However, l am so harsh and my body feels hard. We need to see a practitioner by that stage to nominate the cause of the rogue energy in our body and to help us clear it. l love the quote” no answers in the head, no questions in the heart”.
I appreciate how you depict the measuring of love we allow in and out, Rachel. It is often turned down as something that happens unconsciously as if behind our backs. But it is a precisely measured choice.
Knowing we are all connected even though we think we may live individual lives is huge once we understand its full implications. It really brings home the responsibility of being aware of all our actions and whether they are gentle and loving or not.
Absolutely agree Linda; when we connect to who we truly are we are able to release the hardness, and from there miracles happen – for all.
Coming back to your amazing blog today Rachel, these words spoke to me very loudly: “To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” For too long I fought the feeling of being vulnerable, thinking it was a weakness and something to be hidden from the world at all costs; and what a cost it was to my body in the form of illness, disease and injury. The first time I was able to own that I was feeling vulnerable was a moment I will never forget, as from it I could feel a huge turnaround in the way I related to my body and in turn to others. Acknowledging the vulnerability actually brought me closer to others, not further apart as I always believed it would, which has been such a huge and very overdue healing.
It’s huge isn’t it? To realise to have the connection we crave, we have to let go of the hurts we justifiably hold onto and let everyone in. It took me ages to come to terms with the idea that we feel everything because we are not energetically separate from everything. It took me ages to let go of the idea of being special and to realise that we are all divine. We have an individual expression and that is where the difference ends. This is so beautiful to feel, to deepen and to connect with.
I can feel this so strongly lately, how the connection to myself is so much more important than anything else, as this is helping me to connect with others in equality.
Humanity literally aches for community, as we know that brotherhood is our true nature, and yet this ache is buried away deeply and we do not even know that the aberrant behaviour we display is a result of this disconnection
It is so bizarre how we continue to be so separate from everyone when it is so obvious that we are all meant to be connected.
“I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.” I feel this too Rachel, everything else is a lie. We are one and when we hurt ourselves we hurt another, when we love ourselves we love another. When I lose my connection, I have made that choice and I can choose again to reconnect. It’s awesome to feel an equal part of the whole.
By our very nature we yearn for brotherhood, it is intrinsic to the core of our being, and yet we must know ourselves deeply so that we don’t end up with an ersatz version that seems to tick the boxes but leaves us emptier.
One thing I have been made aware of lately is how when we have an attachment to something or a need it takes us away from ourselves and separates us. When we bring life back to simply being in our own quality of connection nothing can stand in our way and the power of that is huge.
“As we withdraw and shut down, our emotional exchanges – our ability to be in touch with our own feelings – become more and more limited”. There was a time in my life when I was emotionally dead. I had withdrawn so much, I lived on automatic pilot, surrounding myself only with my immediate family. I see now the terrible waste I created within myself and for all those I kept at bay.
‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self’. I know this too well Rachel, and as I read these words today, one part of me wants to feel it all and another ‘small’ part does not want to feel this deep sense of loss, of losing myself because I cut off from others thinking I was protecting myself. I can feel the deep sadness around this.
Well said Brendan, and once this connection has been seemingly severed, we seek the love in others that we deny within ourselves.
I truly love this blog Rachel, what you have explored, understood and shared with us… How ironic indeed that our protection hurts us more than the ‘hurt’ we shield ourselves from. Our love is measureless and limitless, like a newborn baby it simply cannot be contained by flesh alone, but by its very design is there to emanate out from deep within. To erect a wall and seek to ‘limit the limitless’ and ‘measure the immeasurable’ are all desperate attempts and an ultimate refusal to not live the love that we are. With this wall in place, we create a divide between ourselves and each other and seemingly disconnect from the world in which we live. As you so aptly say Rachel; “When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.” – and that is what it is, a ‘forgetting’, because the Whole never diminishes just because we choose to close our eyes to it. It needs only our connection to it, to be lived in full once more.
Beautiful said Liane, it is a choice to disconnect from the whole we are part of and what we have lived before because we come from that and we are inescapably returning to once more.
Absolutely agree Liane. We get ourselves into quite a mess trying to avoid being/feeling hurt but in reality just go around in circles and become exhausted as the levels we go to to protect ourselves increases over time.
“The Whole never diminishes just because we choose to close our eyes to it. It needs only our connection to it, to be lived in full once more.” That is so true Liane and with this “little choice” to re-connect to it we say good-bye to the exhaustion and draining what comes along with all the hardness and protection. .
Up until this year I have chosen to live an isolated life. Living alone – when you close the front door you’re shutting out the world. I have a small group of friends who mainly all live large distances from me. I could even be in a large loving supportive group of people like at Universal Medicine events and still manage to isolate myself. But this year has changed. I have made some big changes in my life and have worked even harder to connecting to me and trusting myself more. Since the UniMed retreat in Vietnam this year I could really feel the emptiness of isolation and it feels aweful. I now have been living with this great sense that I wish to be apart of a community. To start connecting with people. All this just by bringing more self love to my body and listening to my body.
So true Rachel, once we begin to shut down and harden in protection then it is much harder to feel others truly, but rather through a filter of distrust and own perceptions. The sense of separation, disconnection and isolation only deepens and the world becomes even colder. We know there is a brotherhood on earth between humans, but that truth seems a far distant reality when the world is caught in its spin of hurts and justification.
Beautifully written Annie, you have described where humanity is at and how we view others through our filters of distrust and perceptions. I knew this but I had not stopped to ponder on this until now. Wow.
I have experienced this sense of separation, isolation and feeling all alone as a child and the world was a very cold place, because I closed down my connection to my all knowing, all feeling part, in other words my divinity, and became completely lost as a result. I have made many big shifts in letting go the hurts from my past since attending Universal Medicine courses, and still unfolding, as I build more trust in myself to allow my love out and to allow others in.
‘Yet it is our sense of separation that can cause suffering, especially when we view everything around us as ‘things’ that appear unconnected to us.’- powerful point Rachel. It is almost like we choose to stay dis-connected to the things around us especially each other so as not to accept responsibility for the choices we have made and make. Responsibility for the hurt we feel and responsibility for the way we behave in protection of this hurt. Yet the truth is, that which we are choosing to be separated from that is the key to heal all the hurts we carry with us. As with choosing to re-connect to the Love we are within, we realise more and more that we are all of this same Love and all so absolutely connected by this Love. And the more we connect to this Love the deeper our trust develops and we realise that we can let go of the protection and hurts we carry. As the connection to the Love we are and share is what we all crave, and can live whenever we choose to.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.” So true Rachel. Is is crazy, when I think back, how much energy I had invested in my protection. It felt terrible to be disconnected from others and from myself of course. Slowly I reconnect to myself and to others and it feels amazing. I love more and more to spend time with me and other people.
“I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.” I am really feeling this now too and it is pretty amazing. I stand outside and watch the moon and stars and appreciate the inter- connectedness of us all and that even the way we move can affect another in the universe. I can feel the isolation of having felt that it is all about me as an individual but not any more!
Same here Anne, ‘ I can feel the isolation of having felt that it is all about me as an individual but not any more’!
Reading this blog for the second time, feels so different than to the first time, I seem to have read it more deeply.. which I now realize what it truly brings too: the possibility to us that the way we hold back ourselves, our light, our true nature is something we have learned, but in truth this unprotected unguarded way was there when we where born. SO simple and real. It makes so much more sense, this means that we only have to come back to our natural baby beauty full of openness and joy – the best news: IT IS ALL WITHIN US ALREADY, no need to prove, re-learn, be hard or criticize! We can just be real, and re-connect to that same harmony we felt when we were born. Then we know we save ourselves.
The craving for the connection creates a void or an emptiness which then gets filled with other things like drugs, alcohol, food, over and under exercising anything to not feel that void.
Not only that but an endless seeking of recognition in one way or another to replace the feeling of what we have lost which is our connection to the all.
So true Annie the need for recognition is huge – look at the explosion of reality TV – there are more reality Tv shows than soaps showing at the moment.
The disconnection from ourselves and each other seems to be the rout cause of all of humanity’s issues and deep down everybody is craving that connection.
You can never go past the love and openness of a baby and that is a great marker of how we can be. There is no judgement just a joy, presence and love. We then leave this when we get affected by the world. Then everyone is walking around with protection when we all crave a deeper connection.
It can be hard to imagine that the love we miss the most is our own, and that the person we miss more than anyone is our own self. Once we have this then we can share the joy of this connection with all we meet. Realising it starts with self is huge.
This is so absolutely true Melinda – I’m sure most of us have had the experience of being around the people that love us and yet feeling bereft and unable to let them in because what’s missing is the deep abiding love for ourselves that can feel like an aching chasm that nothing and no one else can fill. The antidote to this is to develop the love and appreciation for ourselves.
I didn’t realise how deep my protective layers ran, until I stopped to take stock of how much I don’t let people in. Thank you Serge Benhayon for bringing such wisdom and awareness to this subject, one that hinders us and holds us back from being connected, and so the power and love that we truly are.
Beautifully expressed Jenny.
I am very appreciative to you and Rachel for exposing and reflecting the protective layers.
Also for highlighting the love that we so naturally are and the sense of connection and brotherhood that we all seek.
‘Through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, many people, myself included, have experienced a deeper sense of connection to themselves and other people.’ Include me as well, since I feel this beautiful connection with myself and at the same time others, joy has come back in my life, I really enjoy every day, every task, every talk, whatever it is when I am connected to myself nothing is too much.
As Henry Thoreau once said ” I am always regretting that I am not as wise as the day I was born.”
Thank you Rachel, what you have presented here is gold – “In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” Our physical bodies may be separate but our love knows no boundaries.
I agree Fiona, bringing more self love to my body and getting to really know me has had to come first to enable me to express true love to everyone I meet.
So true Rachel, what you are expressing – and it’s all about protecting our hurts and as long as we don’t start taking responsibility of our hurts, they control us and it is difficult to be me.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” So so true! We should allow ourselves more to be vulnerable and to share openly how we feel.
Yes Geraldine Grops, sharing how we feel from our vulnerability should be the norm and not something that feels awkward or uncomfortable. After all, within vulnerability, we are only expressing how something feels from the truth of its livingness, and there’s no need for a solution when you share something in that natural way.
How true Julie and Geraldine. I notice in myself and others at times a hard protective layer that locks away all vulnerabilities because they are perceived as weaknesses. From there a mask of strength or perfection comes on. This lack of truth prevents us from all sharing the commonalities of human experience and the deep healing that can come from simply accepting ourselves and others exactly as we each are in every moment. This is a great reminder for me to be in a greater openness.
It is amazing that we can start off as love, get hurt, protect ourselves from more hurt by putting up barriers, feel lonely and separated behind the barriers, only to realise that we are love, and then have to go about re-learning how to be love and let love in again! Thank goodness for Universal Medicine! Re-connecting to the the innate love that we are is simply life changing.
Perfect article for me to re-read this morning – thank you Rachel! I find it interesting how we can feel so connected and then go into a sense of disconnection, loneliness and isolation. In reading this though I suddenly remembered how it is a choice – it is like this game being played that makes us think that we are separate and individual, but this is actually not real unless we choose to play that game. We can at any time just feel the disconnection, the isolation and loneliness and realise that we are being played with, and that we have a choice to not play this game but instead be a part of the real game of life lived in connection to all. With no perfection of course as we can all slip into feeling the separation, but as soon as we realise this, it is about making the choice to re-connect.
‘In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationship, this must come first…’ Beautifully said, Rachel. People are deeply miserable and lost because they don’t know how to connect truly to themselves and others and in some cases have been too hurt by the world to put themselves out there. We have a responsibility to live in a way that shows people how to live themselves in the world and that it is safe and in fact wonderful to connect with people in true relationships.
‘We were once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally. ‘ The good news is we haven’t lost this ability.
True – this can never be taken away from us, however we can bury it deep within and cover it up with all kinds of layers that we accumulate from life! But then we have the choice to dig this out again, to get rid of the layers and connect more deeply. This is the choice we all have. And thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I too can say that I have learned how to do this!
So true Henrietta, we hide ourselves in our many layers of hurts. We all have the ability to choose to not live this way, to allow love to be the main energy in our lives. What Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present is the way to live in the most natural way of our birth right, it’s what we come in with, love.
Spot on Natalie,
It is about first and foremost starting with the fact that we are love, before we are anything else. If we start with this, then we can change the game. We may not always be able to feel that we are from love, and there are times when we will feel like we are apparently so far away from it, but the fact that we are from love first does not change no matter what we do or what we choose. Even the most heinous crime committed is committed by a person who comes from love, only they have forgotten this and instead mistakenly thought themselves to be something else which has then allowed for such a crime to be committed. So it comes down to the choice of living the love that we are, or not – this is simple in essence though not always so easy to do especially in the beginning when we have had the habit of forgetting where we originally come from. But with time and with consistent choices to align to our essence of love, our lives do change and dramatically so at times.
Yes I agree iljakleintjes that is indeed good news – so we can re-connect to this ability and do not need to work hard to learn something what is far away from us or using the excuse I can not do it – I am not able to be like that.
Yes as you both said, it is just a reconnection to what we all already are. Nothing really new, nothing to achieve or to prove.
What a beautiful reminder that we are simply reconnecting to the essence of all we were, just as it was when we were babies. As Geraldine says “Nothing new, nothing to achieve or prove”. It’s so simple.
I was just sitting and watching a couple of toddlers today at work, playing peekaboo together, and the enjoyment on their faces and the laugher that this brought on between them was priceless. Right there was a true connection, with nothing in the way, both parties thoroughly enjoying the moment for what it was. The simply lovely pleasures, of naturally being their love-ly selves with each other and they were, building relationships.
As the world gets more inhabited, and we are connected more and more by visceral means, the separation keeps growing, and will intensify until we understand what this disconnection is doing to us, and we call a halt and re-establish the true and deep connection that is possible in humanity.
I can feel how I have shutdown my love, as a way to not feel the hurt I have experienced, all be it, mostly self inflicted, which in turn creates more hurt as I hurt others and get the same back and so it goes.
So the separateness you point out Rachel, is the illusion under which we can continue to be hurt and hurt others. But it need not be so, understanding we are all divine, we are all the same, we have all been hurt and that we can all return to the love that is innately within us all, equally so.
A beautiful sharing Rachel, I know all about the suit of armour. Now that I know, that true love resides within me, just waiting for me to connect and as I do this, more and more of the armour is being dropped I now have a lovingness to share with myself and with others, letting love in and love out, is such a joyful experience .
Yes indeed Jill it is the most beautiful thing to do.
Ah yes Jill, we walk around in these ‘suits of lead’ forgetting that in any given moment there is the choice we can make to transmute the denseness into light, the lead to love.
I can relate to what you have shared here, that when we have been hurt by life we start to shut off from expressing the love and care we feel in case it is rejected again, however when we all do this we are perpetuating this great ill in society. When depression is a leading illness in our society we really need to look at this.
‘As we withdraw and shut down, our emotional exchanges – our ability to be in touch with our own feelings – become more and more limited; leading to a catch-22 situation where we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of.’
Beautifully said, this describes so aptly how much we go for safety and safety only.
Yes Esther I agree and with all of this safeness we can get trapped and stubborn and so life can get boring and with that we can lose our purpose to life . . . That is really not a good way of living.
When I reflect back on a long term relationship that I had quite some time ago, if you had asked me, I would have said I was in a good loving relationship with my partner, but now 18 years down the track, I can see my level of acceptance of love back then doesn’t even come close to what I will accept now for myself and what I know I deserve, and I know what I accepted was definitely not love but a version of what I was convincing myself was love to not rock the proverbial comfort driven boat I was bumpily sailing in.
As I grow each day in and with love for myself it is sometimes strange to look back at what I previously would have chosen for myself. Until quite recently I would look back and manage to somehow berate myself for such choices, scolding myself further for what I did to myself. Now however as my understanding has grown I see my choices and the great learning received from each and every one of them. It is a joy now to see how far I have come from receiving the crumbs left on the floor to actually putting myself first, knowing all that I deserve and all that I am worthy of.
It is in fostering what could be called ‘a sense of community’ that we have the key to opening up and dropping our protection and armour. When there is a true sense of community, there is very little guard up amongst people and there is an openness – the letting in of people and the letting out of oneself to share with everyone. There is an intimacy in the sense of one’s honesty and openness to share with another how one is feeling. This understanding is quite the opposite of what we get to experience in our world today. There has been a loss of a true sense of community, and we have a tendency to live separate from each other, not only by the physical barriers and walls that we create, but also from the imagined walls of protection that come up as a guard to stop us from truly connecting with others around us, be it family or friends or neighbours etc. There is much for us all to learn in letting go of this protection, of allowing ourselves to be seen and allowing others in, and I feel much of this is key in the rates of illness and disease – especially cardiovascular issues.
So true Henrietta, closing ourselves down to connecting to others has huge detrimental health consequences.
And this too has been proven by science in several studies: how the tight knit and open hearted community feel can reduce heart disease significantly. Now this is a game changer – I mean we know how important food and environmental factors are but what if it was the openness of heart and the allowing of brotherhood that was the real issue to deal with in heart disease.
Every time I read this post I read it deeper, there is so much wisdom in what’s being shared here. Measuring our love, shutting down our natural joy and expression of love that we all had as young children hurts yes more than anything. And yet we do it on automatic pilot thinking that this is just how it is. Little by little I’m learning to open up and offer all of my love to everyone and let their love in as well. It’s not always easy because there are hurts there to feel and let go of, but it’s the most worthwhile journey to go on. It brings us back to ourselves with all the richness you could ever wish for, and similarly with our relationships as well.
“Little by little I’m learning to open up and offer all of my love to everyone and let their love in as well. It’s not always easy because there are hurts there to feel and let go of, but it’s the most worthwhile journey to go on.” I agree Katerina – it’s a very worthwhile journey and I’m learning too, to be lovingly patient and kind with myself with this process.
Beautifully said Katerina. This is a brilliant reminder to me of how important my love is for others and not to use hurts to prolong any disconnection from myself and from the natural expression of my wonderful love. This is a great moment to appreciate how much my love means to others and to choose love over hurts.
“Seeking connection and true relationships” – wouldn’t the world be a different place if these were the core values taught in schools today. That through a connection and true relationship with yourself is ‘the’ most important relationship you will have in your life, so learn to deeply foster, nurture and care for it above and beyond anything else. Life would be very different.
I agree Reagan, staying connected to who we truly are and deeply nurturing the relationship we have with ourselves should be instilled in children at all ages and throughout school. With this level of self-worth, relationships would thrive and so much ill would be eliminated.
Yes I agree Reagan and Jo “staying connected to who we truly are and deeply nurturing the relationship we have with ourselves should be instilled in children at all ages and throughout school.” Life would be very different if that was taught and lived.
If I would not have been met Serge Benhayon, I would be still not be aware of the fact that I was not valuing myself enough. There was no person before showing me by living it for themselves what it means to have a deep relationship with oneself. Therefore I know how important it is that there are living role models that showed this other way otherwise everything would be stay the same and life would not be very different.
It is so insidious how we unlearn from day one to be in true connection and to focus on self and enclose ourselves in our individual needs and build more and more protection. How did we get there to make life about the what is not?
The conditioning of living in this separation is massive and I can feel the burden of it in my body and how holding this protection is absolutely exhausting. Why are we choosing protection over connection?
‘Why are we choosing protection over connection?’ A great question Rachel and one I’m reflecting on right now. With all I know to be true, I’ve still not let go of my protective shield and can feel how much it keeps me from being all that I am.
Yes Rachel, especially when it’s completely unnatural and so it takes a great effort to hold onto our protection.
That’s the key aspect of it Jenny, it is completely unnatural and requires so much effort. I am starting to feel how much energy I waste when protecting myself, often I feel physically exhausted and like having a hangover. There is so much put into building this protective shield to be able to cope with life and toughen up, but the costs are tremendous and we can see it in the high sugar, coffee and alcohol consumption or general eating habits. People are lacking energy and trying to get it from substances that only deplete us more. The true energy drain is coming from the protection we live in and from not letting people in and living our sensitivity and tenderness observing life and not absorbing it.
I agree Jenny and what you express at the end of your comment Rachel pretty much sums it all up;
‘The true energy drain is coming from the protection we live in and from not letting people in and living our sensitivity and tenderness observing life and not absorbing it’. A powerful message for me today, as I melt more of my protective shield I made against the world and allow more of my love out.
It may be that our greatest hurt is shutting ourselves down to the love we have inside ourselves.
Melinda, I can certainly feel this is true. It’s also the cause of our greatest ills and suffering. Would we have wars , conflict and cruelty if we chose to let out our love? It’s from the protection and separation that all disharmony and dis-ease arises.
I think you are onto something here Melinda. I remember in a session with a practitioner once expressing that I miss my loveliness….as I know it to be there but when I harden and go into protection, I can no longer feel it. And then the practitioner said, it is what we miss most of of all – shutting ourselves down to the love we have inside ourselves.
For me as well Sarah, when I protect myself out of fear I can not feel my own loveliness any longer. I feel sad about it cause I miss myself. That is a deep hurt I guess.
Absolutely Melinda. I just had to phone someone back quickly to say thank you for phoning a solicitor. We had been discussing a situation where someone is obviously lying and I had let that and a loaded email get in the way of my staying open and being love. I could feel myself contracting in the conversation but had not come back within the conversation. I could feel the energy change completely as I thanked the person, showing my genuine appreciation and allowing the love to flow again.
Thank you Melinda for expressing this truth so simply.
The separation from ourselves is the greatest pain we hold.
And even greater pain is our separation from God.
Yes Melinda I feel what you share here is so true. We are love already, it is when we turn the tap off so to speak to our own love and acceptance that we shut everyone else off in the process. It’s a mechanism we think stops us from getting hurt but in truth stops us from so much more in the process.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self” – ironic indeed, Rachel. Try self-nurturing or making love in a suit of armour! What we do energetically and psychologically to separate ourselves has the same effect as a protection made with real iron. Ask me, I’m an expert in ‘protection’!
Dianne T I love your beautiful example: “Try self-nurturing or making love in a suit of armour!” It makes it so obvious how ridiculous it is what we do. I have to admit that I am an expert in protection as well even if I know that it is absurdly.
I love this sentence too, ‘Try self-nurturing or making love in a suit of armour!’ It shows how tight we keep ourselves and locked away from others and the actual joy and freedom of life itself.
Beautiful sharing and funny. Thank you!
Great sharings Dianne, Esterltmiks and Esther Andras. It is true, if we would try to do so with iron we would not even be able to walk let alone have a flow of love through our body. This is indeed ironic. But it is real, a real good example.
Imagine if we had to wear a “Truth T-Shirt” everyday that showed clearly where we are at – “I’m in protection shutting out the world and myself from my own love because of a hurt”, “not playing with the world today”, or “acting like I’m not amazing or equal, even though I so know I am” – how this would turn around the the sulky stubbornness we all live in having the truth of where we are at so in our face, and perhaps we could get over the seriousness of it all to just laugh it off and get back to love, fun and the pure joy of connecting!
Love it Melinda – it would be so honest and bring a lot of hurts up to the surface I imagine. Ultimately it would allow a lot of freedom because you would really know where people were at and realise not to take things so personally.
Thank you for spelling it out so clearly and simply Rachel. Separation and loneliness plagues the human race indeed through our will to be identified as an individual. This is how we are raised and continually asked to be, yet it is what leaves us hurt in this disconnection. It is a very clever horrible trick we fall for.
Ha haa I just love it Melinda – your expression is absolute get straight to the point gold!
The Iron-y of your wise words is just brilliant Dianne T.
I am an expert in protection too Dianne, but thankfully I have so much support in my life that assists me to observe when I have chosen to go into my old pattern of protection, in other words keeping others at a distance….not letting others in, which just feels horrible in my body now.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self” absolutely true Dianne I can relate to living like that in the past and still sometimes now too.
“Try self-nurturing or making love in a suit of armour!” That’s a fabulous analogy Dianne. It exposes the utter ridiculousness of it as well which if we can let ourselves see and have a good laugh at ourselves, will go a long way to starting to let go of all these layers of metal we’ve diligently put on.
I would rather be in the arms of my own warmth and love over the coldness of a heavy, damp armoury of protection any day! It is certainly easier to connect with others and far more enjoyable than carrying a suit of armour all day.
I love the simplicity of your message Rachel, we all still are this baby ‘full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally’. When we choose to find our way back to this baby we feel nothing is in the way to let love out and let others in.
Being vulnerable can feel pretty scary to begin with, as you drop your (potentially) several layers of protection. It can feel raw and exposing, as you’re just left with you. Isn’t it amazing that these feelings are so uncomfortable? Why would just being ourselves, feel so weird? This is such an eye opener into how we have chosen to live – so far removed from who we really are, that in a moment presented to us to just be us, we squirm.
Rachel, I love how you have presented very simply, the fact that even though our physical body is a separate aspect from another physical body, the love we feel for each other is all spread out (or not) depending on how much we allow it out. Vulnerability is the key thing in this – I know for myself that when I allow this vulnerability there is a connection with another/others that follows far more easily. And I have also, and still do, experience the guarding that comes from a fear of showing my vulnerability – the guard that actually keeps us separate from the rest of the world.
I love this point you raised:
‘Most of us recognise that we are physically separate from other people and naturally assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate. This gives the illusion that we are our body and that everything beyond that is not a part of us.’
The fact we can be affected by situations and events without being physically touched confirm that there is more to us than our physical body.
Interesting, that in a world of so much social media and portals to connect to someone, we still fill lonely. Indeed it is a question of the quality how you connect to people. And true, seeking connection outside of me before I had made the step to connect to myself – does not lead to true relationships. As much as I am willing to connect to myself in the same way my connections and relationships will unfold.
Beautifully said Rachel. “If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared. We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally”. Learning to share our love with others and return to the open, loving trusting way of a baby is to unwrap all the layers of protection we hide under to save us from hurts when the hiding ourselves away from open connection to others and from God is the greatest hurt.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” I am finding this to be true too, and something I am starting to do, however part of that process has also been to acknowledge the separation I feel and to investigate where, how and why it is there.
Our layers of protection cause us more harm than good, the best defense is to be open to others.
As you have aptly put Rachel that by putting our natural self that is full of love and tenderness locked up behind the walls we have built, repels all that try to enter. By removing the walls we have built to defend us from being hurt, lets our love out to all and lets others in.
Thank you Rachel Hall. I realized more deeply how I have created my life to be a world of separation and measurement. I was only allowed to see little, as I narrowed my sight by the hurts I was attracting and living myself. This, as you describe in your blog, is exactly what I have been doing. I was limiting myself on who I love and who I did not love, in order to not feel my hurts, so I would suit ‘my love’ to numb my pain. Deep down I knew I was not truly expressing love, as love was something equally for everyone. I had to harden up to live this lie of continuing ‘to love people’ while actually I was just covering up my hurts. I always felt so uneasy with that. It was holding me separate from people. One choice – to leave people – I had to fully leave myself.
I have found my way back to love again, by all the support of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon. All those protective behaviors I have used to cover up my hurt and emotions I am striping away. Everyday I am letting go more, and I am starting to unravel the amazing love I have for people – without restrictions – for everyone equally. Not being afraid to get hurt, as I am no longer hurting myself by not loving people!
Rachel- rereading your blog was right on time. I sucked in every word you wrote down in dedication . I could really dive in in what you wanted to send out and it felt really reconnecting to read your words. Thank you!!!
We seek love but don’t let love in, that’s a funny concept. To start letting love in we start with loving ourselves, then we can love others and let them in. Thank you Rachel
Thank you for your awesome blog, Rachel, for sharing so honestly and clearly, how things are.
‘In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.’
The more I am able to let people in, there is such a willingness from others to connect, as you say, it’s something we all yearn for and it’s so natural for us to do so, when we give ourselves permission to allow this to happen.
So many of our struggles and issues in life come from this erroneous sense of separation. And it is saddening to see the extent people around the world disconnect from themselves and from each other, while all the while deep down everyone is seeking love, seeking that reconnection they have chosen to sever. The beauty is that reconnection is always possible and always waiting… it is us reconnecting back to the truth of who we are.
Once upon a time, I prided myself on my individuality, my strength to be a Leader, my ‘strong’ personality, and my ability to push ahead, separating myself from others, despite the ‘warning signs’ that begged me to stop and feel into the situations. All of these traits are being (albeit slowly) discarded to reveal the pride I now place on truly connecting with, and developing true relationships, with others. So, Rachel your expression: “We frequently live in a way where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself. This sense of separation seems to be an essential part of being human, part of our individuality and personal identity” really resonated within my body. I can now recognise that this sense of separation can cause suffering not only to my self but to others. When we view everything around us, as ‘things’ that appear unconnected to us, then living in a bubble is fraught with loneliness and separation. I’ll take the view that connecting with all ‘things’, and in turn building a true relationship with them, as my new ‘pride of being’.
Hi Rachel, I could so recognise what you said here in this blog. I used to feel alone no matter where I was or whom I was with – I could be at work, in a crowded room, on holiday with family on a sunny beach and feel completely alone. I too have reconnected to me and begun to build that relationship with myself first and then others and I no longer feel alone. It is impossible to feel alone when you know and can feel the oneness of life.
I can relate to your words here Judy, as I had the same feeling in the past. Now when I feel the distance, I know straight off, I have stepped away from my own loving light and God’s beholding embrace.
Especially your line “To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” stands out for me. For me it was always difficult to accept my vulnerability – I had an idea, I always wanted to be strong and tough and I denied my vulnerability. Now I start to realize, that my vulnerability is actually a strength of mine – to allow my vulnerability allows me to open up to other people, to let other people in and that is a big part of me.
When reading blogs I always have the experience where part of what is said really stands out, a message for me to ponder on. A reflection. The part that is so clear to me in your blog Rachel is – ‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self’. Very powerful and something I having been ‘clocking’ in my life. The moment I feel ‘Hurt’ , rather than judging the other or holding to a narrow view of whats happened, I now sit with what has been triggered in me as it is never about the other person. This has been so healing and freed me up to be more of who I am in my everyday Livingness. Thanks Rachel
‘It is as if we live in our own personal, separate bubbles designed to preserve our individuality and keep the world at bay. When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life’ I lived in my own bubble, my own castle so to speak, the walls of this castle are coming down because I choose to feel my connection with me and yes the whole at the same time. It seems comfortable to live in your own castle, trust me it is not, the more I choose to step out and connect, less comfortable the castle is, actually it feels very cold and lonely. I prefer to be with all.
It makes so much sense that we can only connect with others to the same degree we can connect with ourselves, just as it is pretty well accepted that can only love others as much as we love ourselves. One of the life-changing things I have learned from Serge Benhayon is the science of reflection. It has enabled me to get very clear feedback from all my interactions with all other people about my relationship with myself and what areas may need some loving attention. Its been brilliant for my personal and relational development.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.”
This is such a powerful statement and 100% reflects my experience of life and what I put in the way of that connection I crave and other love when I allow it with myself first.
That interconnectedness is a feeling I know and have felt… at times when I am singing, or in nature with God or with a loved one. The love that I felt for myself and everyone (deeply and equally) surpasses (by far) just about every other material want, exciting high or romantic notion I have ever had.
We can become confused and wonder why there’s no real depth and connection in our relationships but how can there be if we haven’t got that truly intimate relationship with ourselves first.
I always used to feel very lonely when I was with other people but not so lonely alone. This was because I yearned to connect with others but instead felt the separation you write of. I was looking for something from them. Since meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I found what I was looking for from others in myself. Now I love connecting with people and can’t even remember the last time I felt lonely as I feel totally surrounded by love. Love in fact is an energy that is always there and connecting to myself and love has allowed me to connect to others. There are some great free audios and quotes here about true love here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-love.html
I know what you describe here Nikola, it is easier, more honest and more open to connect with ourselves first and from this, connection with others is something naturally happens.
As we grow up we learn to live a bit like the turtle, that is sheltered in a body that offers what we think is protection from others. Science has still to discover how we adjust internally our bodies to go through life. We are true masters at this.
…”it is our sense of separation that can cause suffering, especially when we view everything around us as ‘things’ that appear unconnected to us.” I feel here lies the answer to so many of our issues.
I see that we are pretty much all living in our little bubbles, creating tiny gaps only for those we know well. It’s like we know no other way. And yet I think there are so many lonely people out there, wishing they had people to talk to, to laugh with, to hug, to enjoy.
Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon present that life doesn’t have to and shouldn’t be lived in a bubble; that there is another way. I’ve embraced this as a distinct possibility and it is fast becoming, if it’s not already, a probability. Life is so much lovelier when I have people to share it with.
So true Brendan, we can become so stuck into thinking that by protecting our hearts that it’s easier. Until we feel the space and freedom that love is, then we can feel how in fact it’s easier to live without protection and with love.
Absolutely Ariana, the more we build our foundation of love, by accepting what love we are, we accept what love we have to offer.
These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? What a great and sometimes painful question to feel into. The cost is enormous, we sell ourselves out to these hurts so much that we forget that we are divine love and not the hurts themselves.
Beautifully said Rachel and I can confirm that the deeper I connect with myself and honour what I feel the more I am able to open up and allow people in without the need to protect myself.
Beautiful Rachel, agree with all you share here. I am loving the natural kick on affect I’ve been noticing with all others I meet, the more I connect and build relationship with me first.
There is much wisdom in this blog Rachel it’s so crazy how we become our own worst enemies with denying ourselves love.
I think this is a great point you are making here Rachel – “These ‘coping strategies’ appears to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” What we think is protecting us is in fact hurting us!
Your final sentence captures it Rachel, being willing to connect to us, and thus we can let our love out and connect to others – that’s how we break the illusion we’re all separate.
I love how you simply put it as the ‘wholeness of life’ Rachel. Surely when we consider the basic facts as you lay them out here, seeing ourselves as separate from others is really the start of any sickness, that we suffer from.
There is so much more than just ‘I’ in this world we are all connected and have the responsibility to live in a way that is not affecting everyone around us.
I would say that lack of connection is in fact our number one disease.
It’s true Ariana, for so long we have been seeking outside of ourselves for the love and connection we crave, all the while not realising that we have been missing the connection with ourselves. Once we have built a strong foundation of love within our own bodies, we are much better equipped for connection and true relationships with others.
My life has changed dramatically since I learned to deeply connect with myself, thanks to the teaching of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. Connection with myself has reawakened my love for people.
I no longer choose to enclose my love but allow it to envelope my heart and that of my fellow brothers of God. Thank you Rachel.
Your words here Rachel, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in, I have recently found to be so true. The latest experience being with one of my children where I was making it quite difficult for myself to have a truly loving relationship with them. But when I let everything go from my head, that was in the way of me just being the love that I am, in one moment, I was able to truly meet them, with all of me, and my own love, bringing a huge turnaround as a result.
Everyday there are moments where I choose for connection, if I feel I want to withdraw or be in my own cocoon. The moments where I withdraw get less and less, because there is no real fullfilment in that.
I have spent years in my cocoon and when I momentarily re- visit I know that the only way to stay out of there for good is to constantly be connected. There is no greater freedom than truly being with me.
Thank you Rachel- this is Absolute Gold. I have been deeply inspired and understood, and reminded of the Illusion.
Me too, Rachel. The Ageless Wisdom has helped me experience life, the world and the people with less guardedness, and embodying the truth that we are all the One is what I am still learning.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” this is true and we can see the result of this on the physical body with the alarming increase of heart disease as people are finding difficult to let love in and love others. It only takes the willingness to let go of our hurts and choose love in our lives.
Francisco, you make it sound so easy, but you are absolutely right. If we are willing to let go of our hurts, our hearts would have space to shine. The self created prison around our hearts would slowly break down, simply by a willingness to choose love.
and who would have thought that what we have always wanted was only a choice away – each loving choice builds an amazing life- free from our past hurts and full of who we truly are.
Beautiful sharing Rachel, love self, be that love first and open to letting others in. Simple really yet we can make it so complicated.
Love the power in that simplicity you expressed ch1956
Beautiful expressed ch1956, with a simplicity that shares with everyone how easy and natural this actually is. It is only difficult when we bring in the complication from our issues we create in life.
Yes it seems so easy doing that, letting my love for myself and others flow and letting others in.
Thanks for the reminder, that I am still learning and practising “connection and true relationships” Rachel….steadily working towards “radiating love, unmeasured and equally to all” just as I did as a newborn baby.
This is one of the reasons I love singing in groups so much. That separation that most people live in and with is let go of and something special happens, and it is not so unusual for people, once they have experienced this , to make the leap to the interconnectedness of all things and the reawakening of a connection with God.
Beautiful Cjames, I have had that experience and it is very special as you do feel the interconnectedness of all.
Agree Chris and once one has experienced singing in a group in the way that you describe it is an experience never forgotten. As you say, it is a simple step from feeling the interconnectedness of a group to feeling the interconnectedness with the All
I love this Chris- so true when I have lost myself in my own little world it is by focusing on the group/ the bigger picture that can being me back. Through other people I connect with God! That’s pretty awesome!
Yes such a lovely reminder to let others in and then I immediately feel the interconnectedness of the all.
Allowing love in and letting love out is often the theme of my day as I realise that although perceived as an “outgoing” person I actually can be quite closed to others around me. Thank you Rachel for sharing-there is much for me to ponder on.
The illusion of being separated from others starts indeed with this separation we created from ourselves. I felt like that for many years to find out I had disconnected myself from my body. Gradually I reconnected to my body again, each part of me, in me got my attention. Now I am far more present in my body. I can feel when I am ‘out of it’. It reflects immediately on how connected I am to others. I have then just one choice: connect to my breath, body or keep it as it is.
Thanks Rachel, your topic for this blog is very relevant to the times we live in and is a discussion that definitely needs to be cracked wide open. As you mention above, we have never been more surrounded by others and new technology to communicate, yet largely as a society we have forgotten to deepen our communication to our body and self. Imagine as a society if this connection was as high a priority to us as updating our status of Facebook…(he-he). The possibilities would be endless….. we might just realise that we are never truly alone as there is relationship everywhere, even with the door you slam or close lovingly.
This realisation comes with great responsibility but that is only one part, I have been slowly opening my eyes to what being connected to everything and everyone really means and it can actually be less overwhelming than being alone, as there is no room for victimising as you can pretty much decide how your day will go depending on the quality you choose…. it can be really fun.
This blog explains so well how we disconnect from our natural essence at a fairly young age and then spend the rest of our lives looking for love outside of ourselves. It is so true what you share – “…seeking connection… this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
So true Rachel, I am learning the power of this. As I embrace the love that I am fully, I am able to then see that in another, and respond to them equally from love.
I love this blog Rachel so very insightful, reading it made me realise the extent to which I have shut down or put up barriers to protect poor little me from the hurts that may or may not even happen. What a crazy thing to do, its like building a fort to keep everyone out including myself. How can we evolve if we don’t truly embrace the fact that everything needs to be done with an open heart?
Shutting down our vulnerability does indeed put a lock on our hearts. We think we are protecting ourselves from outside hurt but are really hurting ourselves far more in the process.
It really was through the presentations of Universal Medicine that I was able to even start to feel the truth of the word love.
Which was ironic as I had been writing and singing songs about love for decades. Being reintroduced to both my Divinity and Love has ended the endless quest driving my life, and has started the true journey home to my true self
Thank you Chris for sharing your personal journey with love. That you can now say that you have “started the true journey home to my true self” is not only a blessing for you but also for the many students you inspire with your dedication and commitment not to mention your amazing voice. Thank you for being you and for choosing to be with us at this time in history.
It seems like when we get a bit lazy adhearing to our knowing that we have a responsibility to radiate then all the problems appear.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared. We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally” This is something I have been so aware of lately, babies do not hold back in fear of rejection, they are connected to themselves and are therefore able to offer the full them in every moment.
I totally agree with you Michelle- newborn babies all radiate love equally; it’s so beautiful to feel and be reminded of the power of love that we essentially are from, when connected to ourselves. And when holding them everyones’ heart opens.
Rachel, such a great blog, opening up in order to connect with another, by building that connection with ourselves first in order to be open with another. Sounds so easy, one step at a time feels right as each step builds that foundation, and then we have more lived connection with ourselves to then openly share who we are with another.
Rachel having been meeting with new potential staff recently I’ve noticed so many of them seeking to work to get a connection and relationship that they feel they are missing. It’s really interesting as I can see all the areas of my life where I did this and the fact that I really do love connecting with people. However as you’ve shared the most important part is building and connecting with yourself first and that was the one thing that I was missing in my life. As I develop that everything opens up in a new way.
Such an important message – the ultimate one. If only we could allow ourselves to feel our vulnerabilities and hurts rather than shut down in protection, the world would be such a different place. By protecting ourselves, we shut down not only to all others but ourselves. Which is the greater pain, disconnection to all on earth or experiencing a bit of discomfort?
The perception that separation exists is the focus we put on protecting ourselves which creates the barrier that enables us to think we are singular instead of connected.
It felt so easy to blame the outside world for our hurts and safer still to keep people out, I never realised just how exhausting it was, until I realised how much I was missing out on by doing that. I am now building a relationship with me that allows me to be more honest with myself and others, and letting people in becomes much easier. Life offers so much when we are open to it.
‘We frequently live in a way where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself.’ I was pondering this very point this morning Rachel, how we spend our lives ‘trying’ to make sense of something that is void of love and truth and that void must be filled first with our return to ourselves and developing our love affair with ourselves! Your expression here supports every person on the planet! It confirms and brings perspective to the questions most of us ask. We are what we seek.
We will always search for something as long as we live in disconnection. The search to fill this emptiness can and does take us on all sorts of journeys, and, we will even move countries because we think its somewhere else than already living just beneath our skin.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others”. Whoever told us that vulnerability is a weakness to be protected when In truth it is actually a strength? To be vulnerable takes more courage, honesty, compassion and inner-strength than to hide it.
Jeannette, I was one of those who used to consider vulnerability to be a weakness. However since attending presentations by Serge Benhayon I now see vulnerability in a completely different light. I now agree that ‘to deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others”. I no longer shy away from feeling vulnerable if it is there to be felt. However when one lives life from love and is open to all, vulnerability does not arise – it is a non-issue.
Connection is so important. With ourselves and with others.
Its something we all crave but at the same time, we are responsible as a society for rejecting connection. One only has to walk down the street to feel how most strangers will avoid each other. We’re not a humanity of people who naturally allow connection anymore. Yesterday I was doing some interviews in the street with strangers, and I was initially terrified to speak to people. I was constantly talking myself out of going ahead with it, and then I thought no – I’m going to see this through. So I did – and when I did speak to people – they were instantly more open and happy to talk – but why does it take me mulling over ;should I or shouldn’t I’ to just say a few words to someone? Wow it really made me realise how backwards society is.
Gorgeous blog, Rachel, thank you for your sharing. So true that by being more connected to ourselves that we are able to connect with others far more easily. It feels that there is no ‘trying’ in the connection with others. There is an acceptance of ourselves and that acceptance flows onto others and truly feels beautiful.
‘There is an acceptance of ourselves and that acceptance flows onto others and truly feels beautiful.’ Beautifully said Janneprice.
This is great Rachel, and your words here: “We frequently live in a way where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself. This sense of separation seems to be an essential part of being human, part of our individuality and personal identity” – sum up how fighting or competing for this separated individuality in fact results in exhaustion and feeling an inner tension that ‘something’s not quite right’. For some of us it’s quite obvious, like walking around with your jumper on back to front, or a bit more subtle like putting one sock on inside out. Both feel quite strange, restrictive or awkward, but when you realise what you’ve done, and switch them back the right way round, the freeness and agility is instantly felt and enjoyed. This is connection, and reconnection.
Beautiful Rachel thank you. I have come to realise that when we live in such a way that we are protecting our hurts we are in truth living in the mire of those hurts all the time. The only way forth is to heal them and return to the wholeness that we are all from, bar none.
We live in a society that is so deeply entrenched in taking care of others – yet the truth is if we come to understand, nurture and accept ourselves, then we can begin to walk with an openness “that lets love out and the love of others in.”
Gorgeous blog Rachel. I love how you have pointed out that when we stop trusting our love we start to look outside of ourselves to redefine who we are. So then in all that we do we are in separation to who we truly are, in which ever form this has taken. And as a result we have de-formed ourselves, from the essence of who we truly are. This leaves us seeking connections, true connections that reflect back to us who we truly are – to our divinity, our connection to God, our essence, Love. Thank you Rachel for being this beautiful reflection.
Living in a city like London it’s far too easy to keep up barriers to protect from the hustle and bustle of city life. It is surprising though when connected to oneself and letting the barriers fall, how receptive and open people can be.
I find this too Kevmchardy. The more open I am with people the more open they are with me. It just shows how much we influence each other just by the way we are being with each other.
I have also begun to appreciate and understand the oneness that you talk about Rachel, and I feel a responsibility as to what I may contribute to it. I have also come to realise that even though I may feel sadness or anger and feel disconnected from the oneness, it is still there and in reality I never stop contributing but the quality of what we contribute changes.
Beautiful article, Rachel, thank you. ‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self’. When I am hurt or feeling under stress my normal response is to go for a walk, on my own, to isolate myself with nature. Now, I’m trying to do the opposite and to talk with people, surround myself with people and I’ve been amazed at how wonderful it’s been to let others in, in these moments, where I would normally isolate myself. I’ve felt so much more spacious in my body and whatever hurt I had, seems to dissipate and is no longer a hurt, but something I’ve given more understanding to.
I can relate to what you’ve said Alison and now find that I too am reaching out to people rather than isolating myself and the more I do this the easier it becomes. It’s lovely to feel the support of others when I’m prepared to be vulnerable and very quickly places things into perspective. It’s been a big change for me from being fiercely independent and not wanting to bother others and feeling that I had to do it all on my own.
True relationships, as I found them with Serge Benhayon and other students of Universal Medicine, help me to rebuild trust in people. To love all equally is something that grows from thereon.
This is so simple felixschumaker8, yet so profound. ‘To love all equally is something that grows’ when one develops a true relationship with one person and then another and another and so on until that love is felt equally with all.
Beautifully put Felix.
So true felixschmaker8, I have also been able to trust in people again after having experienced what true connection is with myself and others.
Very beautifully said Rachel, connecting to ourselves and feeling that beauty is the first step to connecting to others and seeing and feeling their beauty. I am learning to do this more and more and when I don’t connect then I can feel how I keep others out and it feels very cold and unloving to do so.
It’s really crazy…we go into shutdown to seemingly protect ourselves from getting hurt, when opening up and letting people in is actually our greatest protection.
This is so beautiful Rachel. When we’re open to life in this way, we can start to see the beauty all around us. I love how nature is constantly confirming where I’m at – whether it’s seeing a rainbow, finding a feather, a butterfly going by or even a fly or cockroach – it’s nature communicating with me constantly.
Thank you so much for this blog Rachel. It explores beautifully so much of how we live our lives and our relationships with the understanding of what happens as we grow up. Returning to feeling like that warm and tender baby is such an amazing process, and I am so thankful I have been given the opportunity to constantly deepen that by virtue of the people reflecting that way of life around me too.
It’s a great reminder to come by this blog again and feel how much I really want connection, but how deep the patterns are still to hold back. To even be disconnected to self is encouraged in this society, so starting there, connecting to who I truly am is the first step back to connecting to others for me. I’m sure I miss myself even more than the true connection I’m missing with others.
True Melinda, we can only connect with others once we have reconnected with ourselves – for in truth it is the same thing.
On re-reading this blog this sentence stood out for me “Once we commence to shut down we diminish the capacity to rely on our inner feelings”. I can so relate to this and then using the mind to distract me from this disconnection. I have found developing a caring relationship with my body and giving myself permission to express without a need to get it right is a great way to rebuild confidence in what I am feeling.
A solid point Bianca, to bring attention to that desire not to be beaten up by the world, but the one tool we have to support us is the connection to our inner feeling.
You have nailed it to the point here Bianca. Allowing ourselves to feel and express what is there without judgement, but with love and appreciation is what will turn things around and let us return to the love, joy and clarity that we naturally are – and which only needs to be uncovered again.
That is so true Kelly. The world is such a great reflector for us in terms of what we get back from it, which equates to exactly what we give out. Best to choose love, in the giving of and just as importantly, the receiving of.
Rachel such a brilliantly open hearted blog. It is so true that when we are open and connected to our own inner hearts it allows us to let others in and that is how connections flourish. We are all one and the same, it is only when we shut down from others, life around us seems to do the same.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”
That’s lovely Rachel, yes love comes from a true commitment to ourselves, first. I constantly remind myself that the essence inside me as a baby is still there, it’s not gone anywhere, just covered in layers of protection just waiting to be peeled away to reveal the tenderness that is the true me, and all I have to do is just accept and allow it.
There is a period of dipping in and out of connection I’ve experienced whilst building a relationship with myself. The dips-in are very confirming and feel natural, the dips-out were all too frequent and uncomfortable. The dipping in and out has become so profound now, that where before I didn’t know whether I was in our out, now I do and have a stronger ability than ever to be and stay in that natural state – and it’s from here that love can be let in, or I may express it with others. It’s only from this natural state, ever deepening with a strong sense of self love, that enables me to share all of me (in my heart) with others and for others to feel sure they too can share all of them with me.
So many people have given up and lost hope of finding true connection and just make do with a lesser form of relationship, sometimes these relationships are not even with others but with TV shows, computer games, Facebook, even food etc
I love how you have broken this down Rachel and made true relationships (letting people in and yourself out) really simple and attainable for us all. The process of this can feel quite scary at times but it is truly very easy and a very welcome addition to your life. Once you start doing it, you look back and say wow! I wish I had started that earlier.
I agree Rebecca. Its taking those first steps of being open and vulnerable that make a big difference in how you see and interact with the world but they make life so much more joyful.
Agreed Tim – the word joyful came up for me to reading this. They joy of reconnecting to ourselves and thereby others.
Very true observation Rebecca. People do replace true connection with any kind of relationship, people or otherwise. That is why we see people staying in abusive relationships even though it is so incredibly painful and devastating for all involved.
Dealing with our hurts is a must, it gradually disassembles the walls we have built around ourselves and allows ourselves to be seen and shine.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.” This sentence is very important, it exactly describes what happens. And is actually as crazy as it seems to be, we lose our selves by thinking we are the only ones to trust..
A pertinent reminder Rachel that we are all one, especially after a day when I was presented with anything but in the behaviour I was witness to. We are all responsible for the disconnection from that oneness. When one of us is not in harmony, none of us can be. Letting our love out and also letting ourselves receive love equally, supports our awareness that we are made of love and it is what we seek constantly…
So simple and true Bernadette, we are all responsible for the disconnection and our way to change that is to let our love out and also let ourselves love equally, so true.
The more I connect with and understand that we are Love, the more judgements, frustration and expectations fade. As you say Raegan, simple; and it is letting go of our reactions and protection that goes hand in hand that takes practice without perfection!
Yes Rachel so many of us live in a self imposed fortress carefully constructed to hold the world at bay, but meanwhile feeling miserable inside and missing that connection with other human beings. It is ridiculous when we really stop and think about it.
Yes and add to the fact that we have normalised this misery as being okay when it is far from okay as it is not our true state of being.
Absolutely, when did we ever accept misery to be ‘normal’? We wouldn’t accept it as normal if a joyful baby became miserable… and yet, it is exactly what we accept as we were all joyful babies once.
I am really enjoying building connections with the people I know. From the cleaner at work to my parents – it is something that can always deepen everywhere. And I absolutely love it – as do they. With deepening these relationships, we allow each other to be more of ourselves – and not just playing a role. This shows me the absolutely massive opportunity that humanity has to build connection. Imagine how different the world would be if we didn’t hold back our love for people.
Hello Rachel and very well said. I love the link to a new born baby or even young children. There is an innocence they carry with life and while some may say ‘they are naive to the world’ I think they are reminding us of a world we as adults ignore. They remind us not to ‘carry’ things and approach every situation and person with a clean slate. We as adults carry things with us and as you say we carry a hurt that we then gauge the rest of the world with. This is a very old hurt that we wield before us to ‘keep’ the world out so as not to be hurt again. You may think this is far fetched etc but you will then need to explain to yourself why children are so accepting and free and we as adult grow into locked separate individuals that rarely trust. I have seen dramatic, and I mean dramatic, changes in my life around me from just listening to the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom through Universal Medicine. I am not introducing anything new to the world but merely bringing it back to a depth of care and respect that was already there. Truly where have we gone as a society in the last 25 years? or then 50 years. Speak to people that were in there 30’s back then and they will all say the same we have ‘lost’ something. We have removed ourselves from a way of being with each other in relationships. I for one am bringing this back, not to live in the past but live in relationships with people with a genuine deep care and respect. But not just taking this to my family and friends but taking this to everyone, every person I interact with, we all count and we are all worth it. Thanks Rachel.
The most precious thing in my life is my connection to myself. From that the rest of life, connections with others, and immense joy I never thought possible flows. Time to start teaching this to our children – they deserve to grow up knowing who they are simply through their connection to themselves.
An awesome blog Rachel, thank-you for sharing this. And your response Heather, they deserve to grow up knowing who they are simply through their connection to themselves, it’s absolutely paramount if we are to have a world where true connection to ourselves and others, far outweighs knowledge and is the cornerstone of our way forward together as a loving, one unified and equal community.
Definitely time to start teaching children about connections to themselves and to feel and recognise the beauty of their essence.
True Heather it is really that simple.
So true Heather, connection to oneself really is ‘the’ most precious thing. I feel that love and joy emanating from me, it impacts how I relate to others, communicate and express all of who I am. It is so important to teach our children about how to foster that deep connection we are all born with.
Beautiful Heather. Children have this naturally, we need to nurture this in them so they bring it with them into adulthood…this is precious.
I agree Heather Pope, the connection I now have with myself is priceless thanks to the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. I never imagined that life could be so much fun simply through connecting with myself and others. And yes children and adults alike need to know how to live connected with themselves.
So true Heather, it is “time to start teaching this to our children” instead of raising them in such a way as to take them further away from their connection to themselves which they are born with as a natural way to be. As you say ‘the most precious thing in my life is my connection to myself”, so why do we deny our children by raising them in the complete opposite way?
Your description of the new born baby says it all: ‘it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared’ . This is why we are drawn and even healed in the presence of babies and young children. Learning to find that same connection within ourselves is beautiful path to be on. The closer we get to our inner essence, the closer we get to everyone we meet. I’m in a work situation right now and relate on daily basis and closely with a single client. I’m appreciating the beautiful quality in the relationship we have with each other, one based on love, trust, acceptance and playfulness. I know for sure this would not have been possible without the close connection I now have with myself.
I love to remind myself that we never lose that love and joy we had as a baby, it is still there, just covered over by our protection. I so appreciate having my connection to that beauty and joy back again. Yes, we need to love our children enough to let them just be and support them to keep their connection, and accept and appreciate their essence.
Thank you Jeanette, a lovely to reflection that the love and joy we had as a baby is still there.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” This parting couple of sentences says it all…….the world is seeking connection, it so is. Most people are craving that connection to themselves first, learning to then let people in and for each of us to love outwards too. Without the protections and hurts holding us back. This is a continuing work in progress, but one i am deeply committed to.
So true Rachel, underneath all our layers of protection we are all seeking true loving connections and the layers of protection dont really protect us at all.
And they don’t let the love and connection that we crave in – Its quite an ineffective strategy when we think about it Joe Minnici. It’s a lose lose option.
Totally agree jeannettegold. It is counter productive, yet I still find myself battling it out in the game of protection. It can be a really slow process sometimes when you’re so used to being ‘independant’ of others. Letting people in can be quite the challenge. But if the will is there, then with a little time and practice, connections grow.
As you so beautifully summed up Rachel, the key point after connecting to ourselves is the willingness to let love out from our hearts and let others into our hearts. It is what we innately all know and resonate with, and it has been so long for some of us that all we can say is that it feels like coming home. Let’s continue to share the joy of connection with everyone we meet.
It’s true, we long for connection to others, but unless we have it with ourselves there is nothing for others to connect to.
That’s true Joel, so we have much work to do to always be deepening our connection with ourselves. The flow on with others is then able to occur naturally.
Your words always seem to incapsulate everything I feel from a blog Joel. They make perfect sense to me, bring a uncontrollable smile to my face and hold everything and everyone equally in their simplicity.
Thanks Rachel. How awesome is it to start connecting with people on a no-protection basis and you share that raw uncovered part of you that simply loves. It is a joy to be this way in relationships and I find I can connect to strangers really easily now. There is nothing to be worried about when connecting with people we don’t know. but there is always a form of protection because we know that someone might hurt us, so we keep a guard up. But when we let that guard down we realise that people are indeed just like us and indeed crave that deep connection.
I have this feeling “I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.” I have also experienced as you call it, taking the ‘protective layers ‘ away one by one and this is where I have really begun to feel that we are all deeply connected.
Me connecting to me instead of me protecting me from the outside world. I used to protect myself with a huge fortress, until one day after a talk with my psychologist I could physically see and mostly feel the wall. It was soooo thick ánd I had made no doors in it that I realized even though people would love to connect to me or vice versa there was just no possibility, all of a sudden I felt so lonely, a deep sadness. My self-inflicted ‘aloneness’. That was the moment where I made a deliberate choice to bring the wall down. And in the end I found other people to connect to and as final present I found myself again. Now me, myself and I is a lovely open place to be in.
Your words bring the balm of truth for troubled hearts the world over, Rachel. Thank you for sharing how you have found that your connection with self allows you to connect in love with all – as well as healing the layers that block this connection in the first place.
Gorgeous blog Rachel. By connecting to ourselves we are in affect connecting to all. That’s pretty awesome. Connection to self opens up so much more expansion for a life brimming with joy, love and vitality.
Deepening the connection with self lays the foundation for true relationship with others. I wore a protective guard for many years, believing it would stop me from being hurt, only to find that I just hurt myself. By opening the door to myself, people and the world, I’m beginning to form truer relationships.
Never more so than now Rachel, I understand that letting people in is the key. Living protected works only for so long, but does it really even work at all I wonder? Yes people have hurt me, and yes I have hurt others, we all deserve a chance. I know that when I become part of humanity instead of standing to the side in all my protection, that life changes in many ways – I feel part of the group, the team, the community and it feels right in a way that living independently doesn’t. Thanks for the reminder to be open.
Rachel, this blog is medicine for me – Thank you!
The delicateness in which you write is transporting a message to me that I was just open to listen to – it is to love me first. And that this is the opening to truly meet people and connect with them.
Rachel, your description of us as a planet of humans living in our ‘separate bubbles designed to preserve our individuality and keep the world at bay’, bereft of the awareness of the wholeness of life conjured up an image of the cells in our bodies and their function in serving the whole body. If our cells were to function as a population in this way, i.e. not allowing in the nutrients from outside themselves (from food) and then not sharing with the body (letting out) the energy converted from this food, we’d all be dead. Interesting to ponder the enormity of this, and while we insist on living in opposition to the natural rhythms of life and the universe, we limit our ability to truly live and truly love.
Often I have experienced that shutting down brings with it a push to keep shutting down, excuses or justifications as to why we blame, shut down, keep others away etc. To such an extent that when asked to just ‘be love’ the reaction could be likened to being asked to instantly ‘run around the world in five seconds and if not the world will end’ kinda drama ensues – notions of ‘I can’t because..’ all rise up. However that is not the case when actually put into practice. The more I allow myself to be love the more I experience that it is actually normal and healthy to be love. Some excuses, hurts and justifications are still hanging around and I don’t doubt that there are those I am unaware of currently but the fact remains – the more I choose to be love, the more I feel that love, in myself and others. Thank you Rachel.
This is very beautiful Rachel, thank you. Many people can relate to what you wrote. The last paragraph is very powerful and spot on, I agree 100%.
Many may ask ‘But what is it that connects you to yourself again and how does this connect you to others?’ Well as you said Rachel through the teachings of Ancient Wisdom by Universal Medicine I re-learned to listen to my body and my feelings again. And to appreciate what I feel and act and express accordingly. This may by times be a bit tricky because other people may react or I am just not used to be living honest with myself and others. But with the time and a bit of practice, we and others get used to it because it allows a more honest if not truthful basis to talk and be with each other. And this is so empowering and connecting. It brings joy to be met and connected in that way.
I agree with you Sonja, I’ve just experienced how you can be feeling close and connected to someone even though there is no physical contact. And I actually find that as much rewarding as having the physical contact.
“Little by little, I have been able to let go of the ‘protective’ layer of toughness and start trusting my own inner feelings. In this way I share my love more equally and I feel connected to myself, others, Divinity and my essential nature, which I know to be love.” This is a great key to life Rachel thank you for sharing.
Rereading your blog Rachel has brought a deeper understanding to the impact of separation and connection. Like when a baby is being born, there is physical separation from the birthing mother, and this energetically, must be felt by the baby on some level. However a baby still manages to maintain that quality of love and connection to it despite being out of the womb. And this is what we recognize when we interact with a baby – their presence of love. Your blog has brought my attention to the fact that nature all around us, is a reflection of the womb of God we are in. (The world is a sphere that we live in, symbolic of a baby in a womb). So in connecting to nature, there is a quality present that reminds us that we are actually not in isolation, we can reconnect to this quality if we simply stop and take notice. And from this stop, we feel THAT same quality that is within us. There we have reconnection.
letting love in to let love out…and vice versa…it’s a revelation for the ages.
Joel it is as simple as that and sure is a great revelation. When we allow this and experience it, it is so amazing.
I agree Rachel, that protective layer I used to have around myself became my prison isolating me from the people around me, the ones I actually wanted to feel close to but didn’t know how. Through the teachings and presentations by Universal Medicine I’ve come to understand myself more deeply, I now live more openly and lovingly than ever before which has completely turned my life around. Life is now a fun adventure I completely embrace.
I love being connected to divinity and to humanity – we are all one.
Me too Sarah, and when I’m deeply connected with me, there is no magic line where I end and nature, or divinity begins, there is not an empty space or gap in between, but everything bathing in a giant energetic soup. The more connected I am with me, the lovelier the soup.
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.
What changed this for so many of us?”
Rachel yesterday I had a striking experience of the contrast between how we are when we come into the world, and not much later. Lunching with friends at a local cafe, we were steadily beamed at by a baby nearly a year old with eyes full of love, appreciation, acceptance and stillness. Not a trace of fear or reservation, no holding back, no shields. Pure connection. The baby knew love like breathing, no question that s/he is love and so is everyone. To an 8 year-old friend I gave a little book called “I am beauty-full” as a gift. I read aloud and she turned the pages, tense and squirming uncomfortably all the time. At each statement of why she is beauty-full she rushed to turn the page, not in anticipation of the next lovely confirmation, but to escape from facing the truth of her own beauty. She spoke constantly of doing: doing this, or doing that. She reminds me of me at that age. When we got to the end I asked her: “So why are you beauty-full?” (knowing that all the things said in the book are true for her). She screwed up her nose, vigorously shook her head in denial, squirmed, got up and hastily left. Already by the age of 8 she saw herself as not beauty-full, not loving, not worth of respect, not any of the things mentioned in the book about beauty being what we all are instead of what we do. By societal standards she is physically very beautiful, a ‘stunner’. So it’s certainly not a case of being called ugly that has led to this lack of self-worth. There is something deeper going on – something that creeps in from everywhere telling children that they are not beauty-full, they are not love, they are not worthy of love, trust, respect and equality, and they adapt by disconnecting, protecting themselves, and being in constant tension of doing for recognition. This then taints all their relationships, preventing true connection with self and others, and we could say: ‘Welcome to the hell of adult human life”. What a terrible abuse of our children, and thus of all of us.
We can shut down totally but there is always a connection that will never let go, no matter how far we stray. We may argue the point or deny it, but it just sits and waits.
Mathew that is so true that connection will never go, it will be there dormant, until you are ready to reconnect.
It is sadly true that so many people feel isolated and disconnected. Our conversations can feel frivolous, meaningless and without purpose when we all hide behind our shells of protection. Connection with ourselves, each other, nature, God and the universe brings a sense of wonder and delight back to my life. When it is not there it is sorely missed and I either have to eat or distract myself to not feel it or I can take a breath and step back into life and connection with courage and love.
A great reminder Rachel that we are all truly connected. It is a matter of connecting with ourselves to feel the love that resides within us and once we feel that, staying open to others and feel that they too are the same love.
Yes Brooke, it does seem ironic that we harden up to protect, it brings to mind the picture of a balloon inside another balloon. If you deflate the balloon inside the other balloon, there’s a gap between that one and the one outside of it. It feels exactly like that when I do contract, and it feels like the gap then gets filled up with negative unloving doubts. When I feel the love within me and let it out, the inner balloon expands out and the gap is filled with my own love and appreciation. Such a beautiful and complete feeling, like you’re your own superwoman, and there’s no need for protection.
‘When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.’ And then it is never our responsibility. How comfortable we have been with not wanting to see we are all connected to each other.
Fabulous blog Rachel. It’s ironic that we harden up to protect ourselves and shut people out – and that is what causes us the most pain. The more I open up, let myself out and let others in the more joy and love I feel.
I love this blog Rachel. So very True. I wanted to quote you but couldn’t pick one or two because there’s so much wisdom in your words. It is crazy how we lose ourselves into everything but Love. In fact, we’re losing ourselves into everything to FIND love. How crazy and ignorant is that. Our love – how could it be different – lies within. And yes, we’re ourselves responsible for being connected to that love. Obvious, isn’t it?! But with that we’ve got to let go of many, many layers (for most of us) of arrogance and ignorance. But, from experience, it is WORTH it. How couldn’t it, because these choices made me re-connect to myself, to the Beauty that I am – naturally. And this is – I found out – the only way to be able to feel and connect to Divinity, other people and nature. Why wait…
A beautiful reminder Rachel that we are all connected and that it starts with our own connection first – something I know is worth working on every single day.
To imagine that in the bigger picture we are all connected, and will always be, the disconnection lies in us and the choice to not love ourselves. The more I can accept and love myself, the more natural it becomes to feel this interconnectedness.
I found myself seeking for relationships and avoiding or sabotaging them at the same time and I had to realize that I tried to fill my emptiness with relationships. But this does not work at the end and so it is always frustrating. And of course – what can I offer into a relationship if not me?
What stood out for me in your blog today, was how when we withdraw we lose the trust and then select who we will and won’t be guarded with and the sense of separation grows. I can relate to living like this for many years and still have to watch out for the old pattern, but more and more I am beginning to trust again and know that people can not actually hurt me.
I spent years shut down, thinking I was protecting myself. How misguided. Learning to open my heart has been healing the separation I felt from everyone. We are all deeply connected and, as Vicky stated above, if we feel separate there is no responsibility. Learning that I choose and am therefore responsible for everything in my life has been a wake-up call for me in these past few years. How I am will also affect others; even more responsibility……
I just love discovering how deeply connected we all are. The responsibility that this then reveals is a life changer. When we are in the separation from each other, responsibility goes out the window, in fact it is no where in sight.
This is true Vicky, without feeling our connection with each other it is easy to ignore the fact we are affecting each other by our every thought, as well as word and action. This awareness does bring in a loving response-ability we share with each other.
Rachael I had to have a second read today, so much for me to feel into in your blog. Just felt to say thanks, it’s helped me feel how far not trusting myself or others filters out in my life.
Absolutely Rachael, I’m just realizing how not trusting myself and everyone else has created me to feel separate from everyone. It’s a no win situation that for me has only one option, learn to trust myself in order to bring love, connection and true relationships back into my life.
I agree Kim, I too am discovering this, learning to trust myself and the flow of life is bringing love, connection and true relationships back into my life, now i feel this, it seems crazy to have shut it out through protection.
As an individual I stand alone, in connection I am never alone.
Well said Kathy
I love it – so true.
Beautiful Rachel it is ironic that we protect ourselves from the very thing we are all seeking – love.
When put like this Vanessa it so very clearly exposes the irony and the ridiculousness – ‘that we protect ourselves from the very thing we are seeking – love’. Thank you
I can so relate to your blog Rachel. Really good reminder of us being always connected with everyone and by letting go of protective patterns, we are all able to feel this fact.
Absolutely Elizabeth, thanks for sharing this. Responsibility does equal love and it starts with ourselves. Great blog Rachel, every time I read it I love it more.
This blog really reminded me how we are all actually connected – whether we want to be or not. Every movement we make, let alone word that we speak or type has an effect on those around us – and therefore everybody. Serge Benhayon has used the example of being in water and having that ‘ripple’ effect on the water when we move in it, relating it to how we are and affect the energy or feeling of all those around us. This is an important reminder in how responsible we can choose to be in every moment – or not. I love that I can be this responsible now, and choose to make my ripples as loving as possible.
I really like this line Amelia ” I love that I can be this responsible now, and choose to make my ripples as loving as possible”. I used to dread the word responsibility as I had a false idea of what responsibility was but these days, thanks to the teachings of Serge Benhayon I am learning that responsibility = love. The more I take responsibility for all that I say and do the more love I actually show towards myself and others.
“The more I take responsibility for all that I say and do the more love I actually show towards myself and others” Thank you Elizabeth I love what is written here.
Having been endeavouring to do the same myself, I also have a very different understanding of the word responsibility now, and in embracing it, the love that is there for me and for all just keeps expanding. A much more supportive and interesting way to live.
Yes, responsibility is a word that can come laden with must do’s and have to’s. I now have a different relationship and understanding of the word, I think of it as the ability to respond with love as you say Elizabeth. Not heavy at all, actually very connective and joyous.
Beautifully said, I know what you mean, knowing I am responsible for the ripples I put out gives life a whole different meaning and purpose.
Thank you for sharing this Rachel. It is so true that our biggest hurt is the seperation from our true self and that to re- establish this connection with self, and to love ourselves, is the first step in developing our connection with others. If we do not first have this with ourselves then we can’t have it with another.
What you said about withdrawing and shutting down is spot on, Not only does it affect ourselves but it affects others and creates separation. The key is recognising this and then the awareness has a chance to switch on. Because we are not really separate and do feel everything, we feel the separation but can equally feel the love that is also there that will never go away..
Having lived in anxiousness all my life, not trusting people or life itself I had developed coping strategies by hardening, leaving my body, believing that I am protecting myself. Fortunately since meeting Serge Benhayon and attending his workshops I came to feel the truth I what I was doing – keeping people out, not committing to life, not letting people in unless I felt their love first – ouch!
Now, since learning to deeply connect to me with the gentle breathe meditation, and doing esoteric yoga, I am loving feeling all of me and bringing my inner essence to all those I met, without any expectation of them, or judgement from me – truly liberating, empowering and joyous.
I agree Rachel, the key as you say is ‘… me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.’. Simple really.
That’s it in a nutshell Helen – “let my love out and the love of others in” – so true.
Yes. Our spirits have a very convenient way of making us believe that if we shut others out, we won’t get hurt. Thankfully our bodies always tell us how uncomfortable and painful it is to do that.
Totally agree Julie, even thinking about it makes my body tense up – not a good feeling!
Such a vicious cycle…shutting down because we are hurt and then the fact that being shut down hurts us some more.
And when we are in this downward spiral of being hurt and then shutting down we blame everything outside of ourselves and are blind to the fact that our predicament is of our own making.
And then our whole life becomes completely about hurt instead of the glorious love we are.
And how lovely it is to re-connect to our deeper selves and begin to heal the hurts, making way for true connections and relationships with others.
“We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.
What changed this for so many of us?” a great question to ask, I did all the things you so clearly write about Rachel, I shut out the world and shut down my love to protect myself. What I know now, this was the deepest hurt of all, not the outer hurts that I saw and felt from other people but my own hurt of separating from everything I knew to be true.
When we start living g a life of a victim, that’s when we loose sight of life, which can be dangerous as that is usually the start to illness and diseases.
yes I would say that is true, all this effort we put into protecting ourselves just keeps us chained from feeling the love we naturally are and everyone else.
I fully agree that I started to let my love out, then could start to feel the love of others coming back to me. The deeper I connect to myself the deeper I get to feel my connection with others and the oneness that we are all a part of.
Rachel this is so very true “In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” No coincidence to read this and clearly feel and connected to the ‘dream’ I had before waking. Very simply it was a message with myself that I wasn’t getting up this morning until I connected from my heart with Everyone. It was a pretty amazing message to start the day with.
Feeling lonely means to me I have left myself. The moment I come back to me, feeling my breath and feeling the chair I sit on, feeling my fingers on the laptop and feel the sun on my face, everything is there and everything feels connected.
When we lose our feeling of connection within ourselves, it is easy to see everything outside of us as separate – it does after all appear to be physically separate. We can no longer feel that natural sense of oneness that is there when we can feel our connection. We feel small and alone, when in reality we are constantly held and part of a grand love. How we miss out when we lose our connection!
I used to struggle with loneliness but at the same time found it difficult to be with people but slowly over the years since finding Universal Medicine, I am finding that I am becoming more comfortable with people and I don’t feel lonely anymore.
I can relate to what you say here Julie. Opening up more to others has helped me to isolate myself less.
I can say that I am experiencing the same Brendan. The more I am willing to be with people the more I am noticing how staying away from people only supports the hurts to remain. I used to be the master of avoiding people but the more I open up and see that the hurts are not me or what make me, likewise hurtful words and actions are not what make up a person, there is more space for us to see just how related and relatable we are to one another.
I relate well to the loneliness of the separation protection brings, as I release this protection I am becoming more open with people and they with me, it is a lovely feeling, the connection with others.
Rachel, I found myself nodding in agreement as I ready your blog. Separation from myself has caused so much contraction and cut offs in my life. Since becoming involved in Universal Medicine I am discovering more and more how to regain my connection to myself and as you say, this then has a ripple effect out with everyone else I am in contact with.
Well said Rachel. I have noticed in me that when I feel connected, content and committed to me, being with others is very simple and very loving and throughout my day I wouldn’t experience loneliness… Even when I end up on my own.
Yes Rachel, it is interesting how we trap ourselves by disconnecting and then run around desperately searching for what we have lost.
It is odd that we now seek connection through TV and the latest device rather than with our next door neighbour or the person at the checkouts. It’s like we’ve all become lost robots. Where is the love?
You have a beautiful way with words Rachel and I loved your comment, ‘To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.’ Learning to be vulnerable and dropping my defences can still block me from letting my love out and letting others in as you so eloquently shared here. I was ready to hear and to feel this anew. Thank you.
Letting love in and letting love out- when we allow this we are never alone as we are in constant connection. I find it hardest to let love in which tells me that I am protecting my hurts. I can feel the sadness as I write this and know I am missing out on something very gorgeous within me.
Thank you Rachel this is a beautiful blog,just reading it allows me to feel beneath the layers of protection that I still hold around myself, which are still keeping me separate form those around me and from my own true and loving heart.
This is a great question to ask ‘How can we, in the midst of all the people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone?’ As well as how we are constantly seeking relationships or ways to connect to others. What it shows us is the lack of quality we have in the relationship we have with ourselves; as inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine if we first have a consistent and loving relationship with ourselves (that is forever unfolding) then we would not feel alone or constantly seek a connection with others. It is possible we just need to start honouring and loving ourselves first.
Thank you Rachel, your blog is great to read first thing this morning, as it puts so clearly into context the fact that we are all not actually separate from everything, despite it seemingly looking like it is. I love your analogy about the bubble we may choose to individually live in, which does separate and compartmentalise our connection to others and nature, when in truth, we are all living in the same one big sphere of life.
Your first question and statement was very powerful Rachel. Thank you dearly for asking these questions. Very needed. And especially feeling the sadness of how we can choose to protect ourselves by shutting people out….when all we want to do is connect.
If everything is energy, then to propose we are all connected and therefore connected to the all must be true. What this brings up for me is a huge sense of responsibility to how I choose to live, how all my choices are either harming or healing. If they harm me they harm the all. Even thoughts have an energy, so many times in the past I have believed that I could get away with thinking whatever I liked. I now know this to not be true. When we all choose to live with this level of responsibility the world will become the place we all hope and dream it could be.
Beautiful blog Rachel. ‘from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in’. By learning and choosing to connect to myself first I am then naturally able to truly connect with others.
Beautiful blog Rachel, your words, “when we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life” – you set things out so clearly about the inter-connected way of being/living that is the inclusivity we seek – because it’s where we’re from, and not the individualistic exclusive world we’ve made it denoted by having a physical body, or physicality itself to mark us as ‘separate’. We are marked by divine oneness because we are divine. Oneness is everything, and everything is oneness.
Why do people feel so alone? What is going on that hurts so much that people go for small talk rather than expressing what hurts…
Being vulnerable has supported me to open up to feeling life as energy. Having that marker of feeling sensitive, and this deepens the more I clock it, I am confident in feeling life from there the more I honour it. It becomes a great tool to read situations and feel what is really going on. To know what is really going on brings understanding, and along with that is trust. I trust that a situation needs to be like that because of … … I can then stay connected and offer my vulnerability as an expression of Love because I am connected and know what is really going on. Being vulnerable is the only way.
So true Rik and great blog Rachel. We can be surrounded by crowds of people, friends and family, yet still feel so alone. We can talk the house down but at the end of the day still feel empty, like we are in it on our own. Without our connection life actually feels meaningless and without vulnerability we keep the world at bay and people out. Even though it may be a very ‘common’ way to live, it certainly feels quite unnatural. The loving warmth I feel now in opening up and letting people in is so beautiful. And as you say Rachel, this has come from me connecting to the loving warmth within myself first. For what is life really without this?
I agree Rik. To remain vulnerable and open is key. I struggle with this at times but I am learning to call it out. The other day I came across a gentleman that I know and instantly I went into my head. I remember feeling at the time that I couldn’t feel anything in my body and realize this is what happens when I meet him. This is a great starting point for me to feel this hurt more deeply and to keep observing myself.
You are right Rachel, the protection does not protect you at all, it just cuts you off from your own inner feelings, yourself, and others, in fact it cuts you off from everything you want the most.
The re-connection to who I am has been a beautiful experience and a daily one that I keep exploring with. As it feels like it can go deeper and deeper the more I commit to it. I love this sentence Rachel – “I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.”
Rachel, your comment ‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.’ resonated with me. I knew I was searching for greater understanding of myself and connection to others but at the same time I was holding myself aloof and not really trusting myself to be open and to just allow things to be. It is only since attending Universal Medicine presentations etc that I have come to understand that I was moving further away from what I was looking for by compartmentalising myself and others.Thank you for putting this clearly into perspective for me.
Thanks Rachel. As I have also found, that the more we surrender to ourselves and to others instead of holding a guard, the more people will trust more to open also letting their guard down.. It’s still a learning just how much guarding and protection there is, but each layer as it goes, allows me to hold a greater love and connection, and my relationships just get better and better.
Reconnect. Let the love out and let the love in….
So simple and so beautiful Rachel. Thank you.
Isn’t it silly that we are the ones that choose to shut off to the world and separate from the beauty and the love that life has to offer.
Thank you Rachel for showing how we gradually pull up the drawbridge and live in the protection of our own castle walls. This protection shuts us away from others and also keeps us away from ourselves in a very lonely and separated place. Through presentations by Serge Benhayon and listening to the gentle words of wisdom I am learning to let go of my self-imposed defenses and am reconnecting to the love within me and in everyone I meet.
Taking the opportunity to let go of all separation, to truly feel connected with humanity, and to feel that amazing sense of one-ness that comes with that connection is a fast track to a beautiful relationship with God.
Thank you Rachel for reminding me that I am never alone and that I am connected to all.
Thank you Rachel – it is so tender and precious when we can begin to let go of that tough outer coating and begin to re-connect to our inner most. There is nothing quite as beautiful as connecting to our inner heart and to feel once again not only our connection to ourselves but our connection to everyone else and to the world in general. I love to just walk along the street and to feel that sense of oneness and the spring it brings to my step and the awareness that I feel in my body. Life is just wonderful!
I have really being noticing lately how much I am enjoying connecting with people. Which means I wasn’t really connecting or connecting less prior to now. Which is revelation in itself. I can really feel how I have held myself back from people in protection and fear of getting hurt. Reading your blog made me realise the aching loneliness I used to feel, which felt so much worse because I was surrounded by people. I don’t feel like that anymore.
Studying the Ageless Wisdom, my toolkit to develop myself and evolve gets a new thing added every day.
If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.
This says so much about how as we grow we start to only give love when we feel safe. A baby meets all with the same love.
Beautiful….this is a great reminder that we all have experienced this openness to be love and meet all with that same love.
Absolutely Mary-Lou, we can all learn a lot from babies and as you say “A baby meets all with the same love.” Imagine if we never lost the innocence we have as a baby and we continued to radiate love, unmeasured and equal for all as we grew! The world would be a vastly different place!
So true Brendan, well said, protecting ourselves from getting hurt is not possible; it’s an illusion we have fallen for. Being open and allowing our love out inspires others to drop their guards and we all gain from truly connecting with each other.
awesome rachel, it seems that you have a real understanding of what it is to be love and let love in. Truly inspiring.
Indeed Rachel, letting our love out and at the same time really letting love in is what will make the difference. It will allow us to connect with ourselves and everybody from a basis of equality and stillness.
Measuring love seems like madness when you put it like this, Rachel. Such a timely read for me.
You pose here some important questions Rachel. How can it be that we live in a world with so many people and we can still feel lonely and disconnected? Could it indeed be that there is something missing in the way most currently live? What if what we are missing is the connection with ourselves and expressing all of us with Everyone? How would life be if we would connect to ourselves and were loving with everyone? Pretty beautiful I say 🙂
As I have a growing connection to myself, letting my protective layers release, the loneliness disappears as I let people in and me out more. Thank you Universal Medicine.
Spot on Ruth. If we hold ourselves in and keep other people out we do think we are separate which makes us feel lonely and disconnected. The more I open up to others the more connected I feel and more trusting I become.
That puts it in a nutshell Ruth, beautiful. And thank you to Rachel for this great blog, and thank you to Universal Medicine for helping us see and feel the games we chose to play, at our own expense.
I find it interesting how we act as if we are separate from one another. We think we can act in a way that doesn’t affect others but deep down we know it does because we can feel it too.
A lovely reminder Rachel to start my day with openness and love. I will be off on my morning walk soon and as I meet my first contacts for the day (fellow walkers) I will do so with an open heart thanks to you.
This reminds me of an encountering I had the other day with a woman in a flower shop. I felt open and at ease with myself and she was naturally sharing her gorgeous presence which at first surprised me but I could really feel how I had a choice to allow that or I could close off and then she would have felt more distant to me. Life seems to be the science of letting people in and I actually feel that I’m up for investigating this further.
Great point made Matts; it’s about allowing ourselves to become aware of these split moments when we get to make a choice – open up and let the other person in, or close down and hide. I know what I have mostly chosen in the past and it hasn’t done me much good. Now, like you, investigating this further, allowing the choice to open up more is what I choose to do more and more.
Thanks Esther – just talking about it makes me more at ease, especially in my body. It seems there is so much tension created by holding back being loving with people, and the beautiful thing I can still feel the connection with the woman from the flower shop. The feeling hasn’t gone, its awesome.
The world can be such a lonely place if we lack that connection. It has only been in the last few years that I haven’t felt alone and that is because I now choose to connect to the fact that I am a great guy.
My whole life I have been seeking to belong, whether that be with my partner, sports team or a bunch of bikers, I have always wanted to fit in and be accepted. But I was seeking outside of myself, wanting the world to fill the gap that I had created. Since observing Serge Benhayon and many others associated with Universal Medicine I now realise that I chose that lonely path and for it to stop being so lonesome all I need to do is understand that I am worth knowing and many others will too.
“I now realise that I chose that lonely path and for it to stop being so lonesome all I need to do is understand that I am worth knowing and many others will too.” This is beautiful to read and to hear. I for one, of many others I am sure, have previously chosen to hold myself back, but in truth it is only a lose lose situation. The more I chose to express all that I am the more others are able to connect to that in me too.
If we are expressing all that we are it also gives others permission to do so. So many of us hold back in what we have to share through not wanting to ruffle feathers, unsure on how to say it and many other reasons but what is that expression doing for others besides showing them the art of contraction.We are all role models so if we start expressing freely it will give others the freedom to express and the knowing that it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Yes Tony, I agree, we all are worth knowing and without ‘performing’. Then we can truly meet each other.
I can relate to what you say here Tony.
Rachel, I really relate to this blog. Since I met Serge Benhayon and attended his presentations, like many students, I too have ‘been able to let go of the ‘protective’ layer of toughness and start trusting my own inner feelings’ and little by little return to that place where as a baby, we radiated love, unmeasured and equally shared. This is a path that is open to all once they start to choose for themselves to ‘let my love out and the love of others in’.
It is so ridiculous that not only do we ‘create the illusion that we live disconnected from others’ when in fact we are deeply interconnected but we create protective layers that keep others out when we desperately crave the connection. Thank you for such a beautiful article reminding us of the importance in connecting to ourselves, being willing to let go of the layers and to not only let our love out but let others love in. Awesome.
Yes, we walk away from the things we crave for, love and intimacy!
Thanks Rachel for explaining this truth so simply. I remember as a young teenager feeling so desperately alone and cut off from the world, not understanding what happened to the freedom of expression I experienced as a child. But deep down I knew that I shut down as a way of coping with a world I didn’t know how to cope with and also felt that was my only choice. Through the teachings of Universal Medicine I was shown another way, I now feel more connected to myself and the world more than ever before.
I too can relate to you Kate, having felt so alone as a teenager, especially at home. I shut down because I didn’t feel safe in the home and in my body – hence my coping strategy was to leave my body. I remember wanting to be like “Casper the friendly ghost” – be invisible in life so no one could hurt me.
However, since attending teachings from Universal Medicine and having had sessions with esoteric practitioners, I have now come to realise that I was not trusting life, so therefore wanting to keep myself small, and holding back from allowing people in and from me accepting other people’s love in.
I am now returning to the love that I naturally am, and learning that my greatest protection is actually living from all of me, and letting people in.
‘learning that my greatest protection is actually living from all of me, and letting people in’. Great comment, protection to many is coming from fear, and keeping things away, but when we return to the love that we are, it is so powerful it simply transforms all our fears into – more love.
It felt so confirming to re-read your blog this morning Rachel. I treasure this deeper connection that I am building with myself, and as you say, it allows us to let more love in from others and more love out from us. Before Universal Medicine, this connection with myself was something to aspire to, now it is something I live every day. This morning I woke to the sound of kookaburras.
Hi Rachel, the blog reminded me how alone I felt before I encountered Universal Medicine and re-connected to the truth of who I am. I could be in a room full of people or on an exquisite beach and feel the exact same emptiness. Connecting to me and others has allowed a true beauty to begin to shine.
We need to come to a point where we say “The world is not working the way it is”. We’ve been sold an idea about individuality, taking care of the self, and keeping separate, yet it’s not working – we are craving connection. Living in the hurt is more harmful than the perceived protection we think this offers. Very inspiring blog – one to re-read many times, thanks Rachel.
The stand out line for me was “In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” I too have experienced this – for a long time I was trying to connect with others or feel they should be connecting with me, but had not been aware that the missing ingredient is always – in every moment, in every interaction, in every situation – always related to the quality of the connection I have with myself first.
Very simple yet it makes sense – If we choose to feel we can feel what hurts and what doesn’t, we have an awareness of what can hurt and we can choose to avoid it. If we harden to not feel what hurts we end up not feeling what can hurt because we can’t feel it coming. However do we ever stop feeling because if we did would it not be like a lightswitch of feeling/not feeling? or do we always feel but have a pattern running of hardening each and every time we experience a hurt. In my experience as I am choosing to feel more I am noticing that in certain situations I will harden my body because the past experiences were not as pleasant. But in saying that because I am choosing to feel more I have an understanding that I am holding onto a past bad choice. I can let the bad choice repeat or choose differently, something that I am working on but the key I am learning is that feeling is healing, hardness is harming.
I love the way you have described our interconnectedness Rachel; and what happens to that connection when we choose to harden or build layers of protection. The hardening stops us from seeing the fact that we still remain connected as before; it only seems like we are separate.
I am still learning to keep surrendering to the deep love within me, and us all; and to let go of those built up layers that have kept me seemingly separate.
The layers of protection run deep, but as I open up, allow love in and let it out – I glimpse more and more of the true depths and the ever expansiveness of Love.
I can relate to the protection you write of Rachel and how isolated I had become, even though I am married with a family, I still felt alone. And as you have written you start to lose any trust in yourself and others, that anything will ever be any different. But slowly with the help of the Esoteric Practitioners and the presentations by Serge Benhayon and me being more willing to connect back to me, I am finding that I can trust and that I do not have to hold everyone at arms length. Great topic Rachel, thank you.
I am reminded of how holding back all of me does not offer the ‘protection’ I hope for, rather it increases the levels of tension and builds a stress in my body that compounds the initial ‘reaction’ I had to raise a protection against – and so it snowballs…..
Feeling intimate just by reading this–to myself and to everyone and everything around. Thank you Rachel.
“I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”. It is so obvious that it has to start with our own choice first, Rachel, for if we keep hiding away then no-one can reach us through the outer shell of protection, but even a little willingness to allow ourselves to feel our vulnerability and the feelings of hurt we have suppressed, can start to open us up to the wonderful potential of truly loving relationships.The first step is always the hardest, and then after that more steps follow more easily.
Rachel you opened my heart to humanity even more than it was and I see that your comment “It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others, ourselves, . God and our essential nature – Love” has so much wisdom to impart to us all. A beautiful and lovingly presented blog, thank you Rachel.
Exquisite and revolutionary Rachel, I am certain that the majority will appreciate and relate to all you have written. For me it is the seeking that makes me feel lonely as I am looking outside of myself for something to fill an emptiness. That emptiness is only there because I am not living in connection to myself and (as you say Rachel) the ‘wholeness’ of life.
A beautiful reminder Rachel about how the walls of protection only hurt us as our connection to ourselves and each other is our most natural way of being. Nothing on the outside can ever compare to the beauty of our connection.
Thank you Rachel. Your blog speaks to me powerfully. It was said to me recently that I walk as if wary of the world and with a protective cloak around me. I felt it when you said: ‘It is as if when growing up the hardships of life, the broken hearts and the disappointments we encounter gradually force us to enclose our love, tenderness and feelings under a thick layer of toughness, defensiveness and/or aloofness’ It reminded me of my younger self, in my early twenties, experienced disappointment and saying to myself: ‘ I’m never going to trust anyone again.’ It’s profound how this choice made so early in life continued to walk with me until now. Through Universal Medicine and Ancient Wisdom teachings I am learning to open up, let down my guard and trust again.
Spot-on Rachel. I’ve lived in many different cities around the world and it seems as if: the larger the population of people, the deeper sense of loneliness there is – amidst the flurry and scurry of several million people incessantly caught in activity. Population is increasing rapidly in the world, as is the stimulated activity of human life – but when and how will all of us people start to live as you said, in the quality that the baby is born? Much change, starting with connecting to the fullness of ourselves, is to come.
Thank you Rachael, this is a very insightful read. Your write “It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.” It is like we put ourselves into a cage and lock ourselves in to keep the world out, we stay in there so long, we forget it was us that put us in there and that we have the key to let ourselves out, we end up trapped in the illusion that others put us in the cage when in fact we hurt ourselves by withdrawing and not dealing with what affected us.
Rachel the question you asked “What changed this for so many of us?” Is quite a biggy, and a significant one at that. Working with children over the years, from early years through to teenage years I have really been so curious and aware that there does seem to be a point where many begin to step outside of that gorgeous purity we are born with, that light hearted joyful spark that welcomes life and people open heartedly. We all feel the joy in a young child, it is so tangible, equally to when you see a young child sad. I’ve noted we often allow young children the space to share what has saddened them, yet it is like the older we get the more we reduce that space to express everything, offering less than the love and care we would a little baby. Consequently we get used to each other being in that lesser quality as if that emotional state is normal. I guess in this we can understand why many develop a guarded, held back way of interacting as we are hurt by the harshness of not being as supported and connected to like when we were little. Thanks for sharing Rachel your return to the love we all are equally, we were all born this way ☺.
Yes it is so true Rachel the way back from separation and protection to connection and true relationship starts with reconnecting with our self first….”with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
I can just feel how much I love people, all people even strangers in the street, those on the other end of a service call, to those in my immediate family – and yes there are times I harden and protect myself or go into reaction – but underneath this all I still feel absolute love for them
Spot on Rachel, I’m at a point where I feel my protective layers and what it has created in my life, disconnection from others and myself. Now that I’m choosing to let people in I can feel reason as to why I had put those protections in place. The lack of trust in others and myself, feeling of unworthiness and my love being rejected are a few coming up. Building love and acceptance for myself feels strengthening for me. I’m looking forward to the day I can share myself in full without fear, it’s getting closer every day.
Thanks Rachel, this is a great reminder to simply take each situation and choose to be loving in it regardless of who I am interacting with. I have certainly noticed when with someone who has hurt me in the past that I can find myself closed off from them even when in the current interaction they are not harming me at all. Old patterns can run us and keep us closed off if we do not remain constantly aware of how we are choosing to be in all situations.
Thank you Rachel. A lot of people feel the irony in your initial observation that there is more loneliness in a very populated world. I feel this is why so many turn to drugs (including alcohol) in an attempt to break down the barriers between people. Also the trend of ‘getting back to the Earth’ and connecting with Indiginous cultural ways can be an attempt to reconnect with ‘the tribe’ and a sense of ‘brotherhood’. Although these things may bring a sense of connection, it is usually not long before the sense of separation creeps back in. Your final statement that connecting to self is part of the key to connection and letting love in and out really does present the only true way to move on from the loneliness.
A cure for loneliness and particularly in old age is in Rachel’s words “a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”. Is it possible that doing this could be a true medicine to keep alzheimer’s and dementia at bay?
Great point Jo – what impact does locking ourselves away have? When we shut down from others as Rachel beautifully points out we shut down from ourselves, is this be the beginning of dementia? If we are checked out from ourselves, surely we have to be checked out from others and life? If you don’t play your cards you will forget where you left them, if you don’t deal with life the same has to apply.
I love this line: ‘to deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.’ I too am learning and opening my heart bit by bit and it is the most precious thing to feel when we let our life out and let people in. We’re not used to this as a human race as yet, we’re used to being guarded and held back and live in separation from our fellow human beings. Once we connect though to the universal love held in our inner heart, that separatist way of coping through life is misery and not something you’d want to turn back to. Opening up to our own love and letting this come out to be shared with everyone we meet becomes the purpose for living.
This is a great reminder of how we were so naturally connected to ourselves and everyone else as babies and that we can have that again and do not need to suffer the feeling of separation.
when I am with me and love myself deeply I can’t help but feel this love and immense joy for life and all people equally,
I have found that the more I understand myself and accept my weakness and strengths without judgement and fear, the natural consequence is that the more I understand the same in others, and this has reduced so much conflict in my life, and opened the world to me – people are amazing.
I agree people are amazing and I love them so much, even so called complete strangers on the street.
Rachel, this is the most essential and beautiful blog I ever read…. So very fine observed and expressed. This is really something to let in and open up for observing myself in this process.
I sometimes find that paradox in myself, that in the desperation to connect to others I forget that I am disconnected to myself and then I have nothing but desperation to bring to others. And that is all there is, until I stop and feel the joy of being connected to me. Your blog is a great reminder that to have true connections we have to feel it inside first, and with the so many technological devices for connection, it can sometimes seem easier to connect to other people and forget that if we jump into that (me guilty of that) without feeling the fullness and appreciation of me, but from need and emptiness, no matter how many devices we have, the connection will not be there and will leave us more desperate than before.
Awesome insight Julia and so true in this day and age where the word ‘connection’ and social media is what’s trending. It seems we place emphasis on our connections with others more than our own connection with ourselves.
Realising that it is no one but ourselves who creates the feeling of separation and with it so much suffering can be confronting, but also very relieving.
From there on the journey back to ourselves is full of incredible aspects.
What recently has stunned me the most is that every situation or person I meet in my life is a reflection for me to learn from. What seemingly appears to be difficult to see or deal with is always that which I do not want to see in myself and let alone take my responsibility for it.
Good insight, Michael. Sometimes I get upset with people and at first I don’t understand why. Then if I look deeper and willing to be honest with myself I could see this part of me that is asking to pay attention to it, accept, appreciate and move forward. It makes me appreciate others and what they reflect to me more because they are the best teachers and supporters.
I know exactly what you are sharing Rachel, when we shut down and measure the love that we are prepared to give to another depending on how much we think they are going to hurt us. This form of protection is ingrained so deeply that when you start to unlock it and meet everyone equally with the same level of love for all it really is a different way of connecting with people. I love the deeper connections that come from this openness.
This is a beautiful piece to share and one that relates to all of us as many of us have or do know isolation, separation, loneliness even though we share a world with a billion others. The key is connection – connection is what each of us knows yet we don’t all experience this wealth of love within that binds us all together. Living connection brings a whole new quality of love to our lives.
What an incredible explanation of what we are all going through. These words would speak to every person on the planet. Thank you Rachel, your message here to stop protecting our real selves and just let people see and love us, and just see and love themselves is absolute gold.
Awesome blog Rachel with many “aha” moments. It was not until I began my studies with Serge Benhayon about 10 years ago that I became aware of the shell of protection that I had built around me; the shell that I had built from the many life experiences that had “hurt me’. With the wisdom that Serge presented and the knowing that the choice to change was mine, I slowly began to trust again; and as that trust and the love for me has grown I have been able to let the love, that has been patiently waiting, in. As a result I can feel the layers of protection dropping away, leaving my body feeling lighter and lovelier. I know now that the separation I had created from the world began with my separation to me.
I can totally relate to this “Little by little, I have been able to let go of the ‘protective’ layer of toughness and start trusting my own inner feelings.” It does feel like tiny baby steps though, as the moment we fold back one protective layer there’s another one to continue to go deeper.
Each step is a step closer to greater connection, something the world dearly needs by the truck load. I’m with you Danielle, no matter how small the steps, even the baby ones are all part of our inevitable walk back ‘home’.
It’s so lovely to feel people expressing openly and intimately even publicly. Thank you Dean for inspiring this.
It’s interesting how much we protect ourselves by not letting people in. It is a way that we try to protect ourselves but it does leave us feeling lonely, isolated and separated.
Thank you Rachel. I have very much kept people at bay, only letting them in so far ‘we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of’. Yes, I definitely did this. As I peel off those protective layers, that I no longer need, it’s so beautiful to finally let others in. To share myself equally with all.
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I agree Alison, it is amazing to feel the walls we build thinking we are protecting but actually desperately missing ourselves and true connections with others. I know for myself it is a process of letting go and a constant learning that I embrace as I have made such profound shifts and changes within myself and my relationships with others. It is so worth returning to who we naturally are. Thank you Rachel.
Rachael I can feel your commitment to yourself first which then flows onto others, a beautiful read and a great message, thank you.
I feel we will be shaking our heads in disbelief for sometime that we allowed ourselves to be fooled in to disconnecting from our essence, separating from life and the resultant emptiness that that mistake left us in.
Thank you Rachael, its great to be writing about the illusion of separation, as this is one of the fundamental chimeras that keep humanity boiling along in its cauldron of wars, religions, politics and sport, reality TV shows and Eisteddfods. When we feel the interconnected field of awareness within which we live separation can no longer be sustained, and as one humanity will start to return to its true nature.
Through Universal Medicine I found a group of people who embrace all of humanity with a love I had not witnessed before. In reconnecting to my own heart I too am feeling less isolated and more connected to everyone I meet. The connection deepens as I continue to be more loving to myself, and now when I meet someone in a shop or on the street and look deeply into their eyes I see them respond to the connection I bring and the ripple effect continues.
This is lovely Tim, and I can say the same – the more the connection with myself deepens, the more it deepens with others, be it friends or people on the street or in the shop. It’s a ripple effect like you say, thank you.
I agree with what you have said Mary and Tim! To meet and be met by another is a gift we can all give and receive unconditionally. So easy when you know the simplicity of it all and life is no longer lonely but full of love. As you say Mary, the teachings are not just some mumbo jumbo, it is so obviously the way to be, its true and it works!
Tim I can really resonate with what you are saying. I isolated myself by choice, feeling complete within myself and not needing social contact. I rarely felt ‘lonely’. However through Serge Benhayon I have come to realize that every human, as a ‘jigsaw puzzle piece’ must connect with all others to provide a complete picture. Now that I, too, open up to deeply meeting people with all the love that’s in me, I can see the awesome ripple effect of the pieces coming together.
“I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.” I know this to be true and can feel that I am learning to live more from my heart each day. It is wonderfully supportive in the way that I live, to feel we are as one, it feels so different to the ‘separate’ bubble I once lived in, it feels great bursting it and making my way out.
That deep feeling of being connected to each other felt a little overwhelming to start with, when looking out at the world and seeing whats going on I thought how could this be, but when I looked again without feeling I had to protect myself from the world it made absolute sense and its actually ok to allow this feeling of being connected
So amazing to feel and accept that we are all connected and connected to everything around us. We are essentially never alone but the feeling of alone I realised comes from separation and choices we’ve made. Separation with Self and others. When we deepen our relationship with self we naturally feel to do the same with others.
Rachel I used to feel lonely, detached, and separate to society. Caught in an illusion of my own creation, the illusion that I was individual and that I did not matter to the world. I can now see that you are right, so many people live like this, its like a disease of humanity. I tried for years to break into society by being good, altruistic, and benevolent but it never worked, it was still a facade.
Thank you Serge Benhayon for teaching me to love myself first, then love for humanity is naturally there.
‘Caught in an illusion of my own creation, the illusion that I was an individual and that I did not matter to the world’. This is gold thank you Bernie and exposes this falsehood we have created to our detriment.
In the past I thought myself to be a withdrawn loner not easy with people, today I enjoy and love people in a way I never have dreamed of before the love and wisdom presented by Universal medicine inspired me to heal the hurts and activate the true inner-most being come back to life.
I was the same Rachel, but rather than form an outer tough shell I withdrew and formed a hard shell inside me. I could not feel connected to myself, let alone anyone else.
That has changed beyond reckoning. I now feel assured with people, and unafraid. Amazing after years of averting my eyes and being what I used to call shy.
I was never shy, I had just isolated myself from my essence, as so many others have…the reason so many feel so alone.
So very true, Rachel. I too isolated myself from my essence and used to feel quite alone some years back, even though I was married and had 2 young children. The picture of my life looked complete enough, but inside, was an emptiness that life couldn’t fill. It has only been through the presentation, workshops and courses with Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that I learnt the true value and love of and for myself, something that was and will always be, an every growing and unwavering presence within me.
Wow Rachel, this is truly inspiring and expressed in a way that speaks of your lived experience of understanding who you truly are! ‘To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.’ It is easy to see that you have found the key via the Ancient Wisdom to do just this. Thank you
Yes I too can feel Rachel’s lived experience of understanding who she truly is and who we all are. Really inspires me to connect to the love that is within me and everyone and to not hold back from expressing it or letting it in.
Great blog Rachel, yes isn’t it crazy that even though there are more people on this planet than ever before, there is still so much loneliness. I too have lived in protection for a big part of my life and can feel as I let down my guard more and more, the more rewarding and beautiful my relationships have become – with family, friends and people that I meet in my day to day.
Thank you Rachel. It is such an illusion that we are separate from those around us. Feeling separate then allows us to treat others with what is less than love. The sad part is that we feel this separation from our true self first. If we stay connected to our self, have love for our self we can then maintain our connection and love with others.
Love your expansive blog Rachel. Yes-true re-connection starts with us, feeling that love within ourselves, appreciating the fact we are that love naturally. It is beautiful to feel the reflection of our love in babies, fresh and unencumbered.
It is true Rachel, when we protect ourselves we do cut ourselves off from the love and divinity of ourselves and others, and the support that is there for us all.
This is really yummy Rachel and I feel all loved up from just reading it! I love what you share here – “I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart.”
Such awesome sharing Rachel – “When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.” I also feel this happens within families, viewing other families as external to what we have in our immediate families… and be told ‘what happens in the family stays in the family’ – I found this very limiting as a child and I feel looking back now, how this could also create not sharing and keeping things to ourselves.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” This is the key Rachel – it all starts with our relationship with our self.
Rachel thank you. I know I’ve had periods in my life where I felt very lonely and the absurdity was that I had lots and lots of people around me that loved and cared about me, but because back then, I wasn’t feeling my own love and connection within myself, I couldn’t let it in. It is absurd. We look outside ourselves for love, when all along it is with us every moment of every day and when we feel it, there is no loneliness.
Thank you Rachel for stepping out of your bubble. You make some great points in this blog and highlight how can we feel so separate in a world that is so populated. I love how you included a new born baby and how unencumbered they are. It is almost like a fresh start for us, another chance to express with everyone and everything the love that we so naturally are. Each time we step out of the bubbles we place ourselves in, it is like being born again, a fresh start to unlock some more of who we truly are. What if that was the meaning of life, to unlock and return to the love we truly are? That would be well worth living for.
We create our own ills from how we live and Rachel you have described how this has come to be. So that should tell us we need to live another way for us not to have those ills, the Way of the Livingness.
Thank you Rachel for your blog. I find that when I am stuck in my hurts it is so easy to forget that we are all interrelated and connected with one another. It is so easy in our hurts to feel the separation and then act accordingly to that separation. When I heal my hurts, I feel the connection and the love flow and then there is the recognition that we are all that love equally.
I agree Rachel, connection must comes first! I also am very inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine to learn more about connection and to let go of protection. This is so life-changing.
Wonderful article Rachel, I so connect to what you have expressed and especially love your last sentence – “In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” – I can say that this is my learning too, and although I have made progress, there is still more to connect to within me and therefor more to let others in as well. Thank you.
This has been a whole new learning for me to let my love out and the love of others in, thanks to the love and work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Yes Rachel, it is so amazing what connecting to yourself and loving yourself will change and how suddenly life is not heavy or difficult anymore, but an amazing field of learning full of great offerings and reflections in each and every minute.
I love that we are talking about this kinda stuff. Makes me want to do a little dance 🙂 thank you everyone.
What a gem your blog is. So true and sad in a way that by protecting ourselves we create a separation not only from others, but mainly from ourselves. I have learnt the same ‘hard’ way. I had created high walls to protect myself from getting hurt. I remember at one point when I was late 20s I could feel, even see the walls I built with no doors in it. I felt so lonely. Since then I have brick by brick brought down the walls to find the connection with me again and all the lovely people around me.
What an absolutely awesome, inspirational blog, Rachel, – I’m nodding all the way through reading it. The catch-22 situation is so ridiculously absurd, but so sadly true. It’s all about, like you say; “choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” It starts with me.
This is a great piece Rachel it really shows how we can be our own worst enemies and how there is an awesome alternative
Beautiful Rachel. The more I feel I am part of everything, the more connected I feel, the more lovely I feel.
When we get hurt and withdraw from the world, as if to spite everyone, the more disconnected we become. It really hurts us more than anyone else. A true revenge, so to speak, a true remedy to the hurts, would to become more deeply connected with self and therefore more deeply connected with all and truly find true love. To live like this, to really live well, is surely ancient wisdom
It’s so interesting that we feel alone and distant when everyone is the same and we can find similarities that we share with everyone
Yes indeed Rachel, I have had the same experience by first connecting to my self, (which was firstly helped by the gentle breath meditation), and developing self -love I was able to deepen my relationships and connection with family, friends, colleagues and strangers. Actually being able to love more because of my love for myself, that does not individuate.
The less I need others, the more I can love them and let love in. If there is no investment in how it should be or that I want something back, it is in fact much easier to feel the love. Like a baby just is, the love can just be…..
Good point there – you expand the meaning of what love really is.
Thank you Rachel for this blog. What speaks to me is “If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared. We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.” There comes the big WHY have I stopped this? It feels so beautiful when I read this.
Pure gold Rachel : `In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in’.
Oh so true – and a very soul searching statement indeed.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” This is so true Rachel. To feel our vulnerability as adults can be challenging but is ultimately what is needed to open fully to ourselves and others.
I find it surprising that in such a populated world there are so many who live their lives miserable or depressed, closed off to the world. What a difference it would make to be open to others and see them for who they truly are.
Rachel I feel you have captured something that we all can relate to. I too am now learning to let people in and my love out thanks to the support of the teachings of Universal Medicine.
It was a revelation for me to understand with the help of Serge Benhayon that the cause of loneliness has nothing to do with what surrounds me, but rather depends on how I connect to myself, to my body. This is crucial to me.
I yearned for this connection all my life, this lead me down a path of drugs and alcohol thinking that when I was out of it I was deeply connected….. one might say I was in a lot of delusion!!!
Then of course looking for it from men always thinking the next man would give me the love and connection I so yearned for, of course this never happened. I kept searching in all the wrong places until I attended the first Livingness 1 Workshop run by Universal Medicine. Here I re-connected back to me and have been re-building and deepening this connection ever since. I so deeply appreciate Serge Benhayon for offering this reflection.
That’s true Mary-Louise, we look for connection in relationships, to the point where we need the relationship because we know the connection is integral, putting undue pressure on relationships and making them about something they are not. Reconnecting to ourselves and sharing what is there. Living and sharing the joy that is there, that is the way.
It is indeed ironic that the more we protect ourselves the more separate we feel, as I have experienced this in my own life, and yet we all crave that connection with each other. I too have found the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom to be be very supportive in learning to rebuild my trust in myself and as a flow on effect, my trust in others.
Allowing all of ourselves to be in every action, every exchange, every conversation is such a lovely way to live – by allowing this we bring back to us the intimacy we so desperately crave. thanks Rachel for this blog.
What a beautiful summary of the illusory sense of separation we live in, that creates more of the same, and the simple answer of the love we are and can connect to, thus connecting us to all.
Hi Rachel your blog is so simple and true, its all about connection and not holding back who we are from our self and others and allow our self to feel and become aware of , that we are all love and we have all been hurt.
From shutting down, toughening up, becoming defensive and aloof I steadily lost all connection to my own worth and trust in what I felt inside – about everything! I resorted to daily card readings, muscle testing and even pendulum swinging to give me some ‘insight’ into the way I felt and about my direction…when all along everything I needed to know was deep within, my own connection to me. Since becoming aware of the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom through Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I have slowly, gently and steadily rebuilt that connection – a connection I know I will never separate from again. This is without perfection, for there are times of change that can bring up many things for me to deal with, things that are not so comfortable for me and of how I’ve ‘lost the plot’ so many times….yet this connection remains always there, forever true for me to return to, no matter what. For this I am deeply grateful. Thank you Rachel, for expressing so simply and beautifully the oneness I now feel, too.
Yes Peta, I to have enjoyed Rachel’s simply beautiful expression.
Yes me too. It was a very beautiful experience to read this blog.
Thank you Rachel, I love when you say ‘We were all once like this baby; full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally.’ As you say, then ‘life happens’ and we start calibrating to protect ourselves, however, we are actually just brining about even more separation. Time to evolve back to the ‘baby’ stage.
Rachel, I loved your blog. So very true and beautifully expressed. When we get caught up in life and the choices we make, who we naturally are within just can’t be felt and we start to doubt what we know deep down to be true as we can get weighed down by the emotions and ideals and beliefs we have taken on around the situation. How awesome is it that we can then also choose to come to back to what we naturally know, that no matter what happens, who we are is still pulsing away inside us, waiting for us to stop, breathe, and say, hello you.
Thank you Rachel for your sharing. As you say Deborah ‘we have been duped’ may those walls come tumbling down and our most natural way of being in connection with each other come to the fore.
This is a beautiful blog, I like what you say about how the separation to others actually creates the biggest separation with self. And as I can feel more and more in my daily life, there is no need for hiding from other people.
An amazing and well said sharing Rachel. You have hit so many nails on the head here.
‘When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.’ This is a great sentence for us to understand why and how the separation to self and life has eventuated.
And then your beautiful sharing at the end about love and connection . . . ‘I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.
I seriously could quote this whole blog as it is filled with so much truth. Thank you
Rachel you have summed up beautifully life on the planet for most people. Even those who do open their hearts to some usually limit it to a chosen few. We are returning to a time when we will come to remember that we are all the one body of God. We shall know in our hearts that there is nothing that has ever existed that has not come from the one unifying energetic source known as God . When we do then all thoughts of separation will naturally fall away and I say ‘Hallelujah’ to that x
How ironic that we believe we are protecting ourselves from being hurt by putting up walls or living in the bubble you describe yet the walls and bubble is what hurts us and keeps us removed from others, prevents True connection and the Love that we naturally are from being shared with the world. We have been duped. The greatest joy in the world is letting those walls come tumbling down, allowing Love in and connecting with others.
This is all so true and the more we live in a way where we connect to all equally and from love, that separation begins to dissolve. I am personally enjoying feeling how this is unfolding in my own life and to feel where and how I measure the way I am with others. The more I connect from my heart and less from my head, the truer the connections and that feeling of separation diminishes.
Thank you Rachel, your description brings a beautiful simplicity to the apparently “catch-22-situation” the most people live in, as I did too. Really, to live in the personal bubble means everything I send out comes immediately back in (of course) the same energy and confirms the fear it came from – a vicious circle to stay protected and keep the world at bay. I know all the feelings of hopelessness and being overwhelmed, this way of living brings. The fear was constantly feeding itself. When I was able to start having a look “outside the bubble” and letting people in, as well as starting to relate to myself in a more loving way, everything changes. Serge Benhayon and his family as well as all the fellow students are a constant inspiration and support for me to do so and to go further on in this process of cracking my protection and connect to myself and others.
It is the adventure of losing fear and finding out about true connections and a loving way of living.
It’s such a shame we have to shut down at such an early age in an attempt to protect ourselves when staying open to love is the only true way forward
So true, its is a such a shame we have had to shut down at a very young age to protect ourselves, but as adults now we have the choice to heal this early shut down and move forward with openness and allow the love in.
Rachel, this is beautiful. I love how you expose the ‘catch-22 situation where we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of.’ This is so true. But sadly, when we love from this point of protection, it is not true ‘open arms and smiles of a baby’ love that we are able to offer. I had a realization the other day that was: LOVE HAS NO MEASURE, THE MEASURE IS LOVE – and it made me smile. Your wisdom has too, thank you
‘Love has no measure, the measure is love’, that’s awesomely true Liane.
I feel that it is in the connection to self, love, equality that we save ourselves from the hurts that otherwise keep us prisoners for life.
Our little personal bubbles are a very lonely place indeed, even if surrounded by others it can feel like we are on a desert island. Through the teachings of Universal Medicine I too have found that I can choose to remain in my bubble and feel lonely, or be open to myself which in turn allows me to feel that I am not alone, in myself or with others. The bubble has many layers but I appreciate allowing myself to feel that I can strip them away and there is always help from others to support me in this removal process.
i love how you so simply describe the trouble of people relating with each other. I have found that protection runs so much deeper then what would we think when we first become aware of it. There are many layers to peel of but it all starts with letting just one person in..all the way and then from that another and another..un till we find that really there is no need to protect as the love that we are is all that we need and then there is nothing greater outside of us to seek..or to lose.
Letting Love in has been the theme of my day Rachel. It really is as you say, a step by step reclamation towards the natural love we expressed as babies and today my realisation was that one of the ways I keep people out is by deflecting their positive acknowledgements and praise of me onto someone or something else. I think we have many different very tricky protection mechanisms? Which I am also, most gratefully, able to realise and arrest through the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Hey Jeannette, me too! Becoming aware of the ways in which I keep love out has been pretty, well, almost embarrassing. If someone praised me for something, I’d “deflect their positive acknowledgments” often by changing the topic entirely, if not moving the praise to someone else in a way that I now see belittled myself. Perhaps this comes from some old Christian indoctrination about sinfulness and ‘being humble’ which in the day meant ‘not accepting yourself’. Now I know that you can be truly humble and still amazing! It doesn’t have to be evil pride to accept that I’m doing a good job and people appreciate it and me by showing me their love!
Thank you Rachel for this great blog on how we actually seem to have existed in the not so distant past in our own personal bubble. I particularly noticed your lines “This gives the illusion that we are our body and that everything beyond that is not a part of us”. Perhaps it could be time for some aspect of education within the school curriculum to explain and expand on this through the blossoming awareness that everything is energy hence everything is because of energy – totally dissolving the belief in the personal illusionary bubble of separate-ness. How awesome that would be.
Indeed Roberta, great idea! There is nothing there to ‘teach’ as such but much to remember and in this way confirm what the children already know. In this way our natural wisdom need never get ‘lost’ again and our ‘personal bubbles’ would be well and truly (and joyously) popped!
Hi Rachel, I love your analogy of living in our “personal, separate bubbles”. Time to pop my own bubble.
So simple and true. Every tiny step I make to reconnect with me has a massive impact on my feeling of connection to those around me.
Lovely words Rachel. I find that having a deeper connection to myself, and my own feelings, and accepting my own fragility has allowed me to have a deeper and more open connection to others. It is true, self love first, then we can start to build on that love. I love the phrase
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared”.
I remember looking at my daughters when they were born, and seeing the wonder and wisdom in their eyes, very deep.
This was a full session for me Rachel, it brought up a lot of awareness. As you say also – “the true hurt comes from withdrawing from people and holding your love back”.
Great blog thank you.
Such a wonderful summary of how we lose that connection to ourselves from a baby and why. Then the process of reconnecting. Really beautiful Rachel, thank you.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” So true Rachel, thank you.
It is so true that when we look back at life, there are in truth very few instances where we were truly hurt by somebody. But those small handful of experiences seem to tarnish the way we interact with the rest of the world very much so. We hold back from expressing how loving we can be as an eternal protection mechanism based on very few real experiences – which goes to show if nothing else that in truth all of us are precious, delicate and very sensitive.
I know too ‘I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart’ and it’s gorgeous! Thank you Rachel. This is lovely.
For me learning to be vulnerable and allowing others to see my fragility and tenderness has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life. It’s so beautiful to experience another simply melt in your presence because they feel so safe and unthreatened by the love that you express. Well worth the perceived risk that letting another see you for who you are may open you up to being hurt again. But the true hurt comes from withdrawing from people and holding your love back not from allowing others to love and be loved by you.
I can relate to this Rachel. Learning to let go of the hardness, protections and the ideals of what I should look like and simply allow others to see the fragility, tenderness and delicateness has been very worth while. It offers me the possibility to connect to myself in full and be all that love that I am and feel and share this with another. And yes holding on to old hurts and using that as a form of ‘excuse’ to not be open with everyone has been the true hurt and caused separation.
Such a great blog, Rachel, thank you. “It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.” So very true.
We live in a crazy world don’t we? It is meticulously designed in every way to keep us separated from ourselves and from truly loving and being able to truly be loved. What an absolute pleasure to be shown that there is another way another way.
“Letting love in and letting love out”- sounds so easy but so hard for us to do. It is so hard to do this without conditions on it. Thank you Rachel – this is a very timely reminder for me.
Serge Benhayon is one man that consistently brings connection and true relationship to everyone equally, no matter what gender you are, how old you are, what you look like, what your background is, what job you have or where you live. It’s the same love and connection with everyone and when I observe him do this I realise he doesn’t try, instead this is naturally the way he is with himself so therefore is the same love, care and respect.
A lovely reminder Rachel – “If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.” – a reminder that that is how we came into this world.
Amazing blog Rachel and shared so open heartedly. It is impossible to not feel the love you have written it in. Your blog can help people so much to not give up on love. Especially what you wrote about the protection:
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.”
This is a powerful realization and so helpful – Thank you for this.
Thank you Rachel for bringing another moment where that true connection and understanding is felt – a beautiful warmth starting from my body and emanating outward. Before connecting to me and starting to acknowledge, deal with hurts and opening up to others – a risk I never though I would take, as this was not part of the world I had been living in. A world structured and controlled by others and outside situations. Today I know the love that I am, and everyday I appreciate the presentations of the Ancient Wisdom Teachings and Universal Medicine.
Thank you Rachel. What you have so beautifully presented in this blog is immensely healing. Deep down we know we are connected to all things and yet we grow up in a world that does not live this truth. I can feel how this would create a confusion in us, because as children we see all those around us living in this disconnected way and yet we feel such a deep connection within. It does not match up.
For me, I have spent the last 8 years clearing that confusion and feeling once again the enormous connectedness I felt as a child, because I now know that just because others around me choose to live in a disconnected way doesn’t mean that I have too as well. I can honour the feeling of connectedness I have inside and live this instead. This has been an incredibly healing process so far and I can feel there is a deeper level of connection that is available each step of the way. And the more deeply I connect, the more connected I feel to all things and all those around me.
Rachel I was touched by what you have shared and live. I too with the support of Universal Medicine have begun to let go of my hurts and protections which has allowed me to feel the love firstly for myself and naturally from this, for others. I actually now feel awful when I choose to be protected which allows me to ask myself what is the the way of me being open and loving with everyone.
As a midwife working with babies I am forever being blessed and reminded by their reflection of a never ending love that they emanate- no boundaries. Just glorious!
To have that connection to everything and feel that oneness to life, leaves no space to feel separate and alone.
Thanks for writing this blog. I always thought that keeping myself inside my own little bubble would keep me safe and protected but it is actually the keeping of myself separate, that has hurt me the most. It has taken a while, to slowly but surely burst my bubble, and let myself be seen and let others love me and for me to let my love out. It is still a work in progress, but so worth the effort.
Thank you Rachel for this awesome blog. We are all connected, but first we have to re-learn to connect with ourselves before we can connect with others. I too have to learn to let my guards down, let my love out and accept love back.
Rachel to feel our own love we need to share it with others, the truth is we’d not separate, not truly in energy and we all feel this. It so is about letting our love out and letting another in.
It felt light and lovely to read your words Rachel, and to be reminded that we are all connected, and to let everyone in, and let our love out is a great way to start my day. Thank you.
Thank you Rachel, the analogy of a baby simply emanating love and being open to love is what I will be carrying with me as a simple and true reminder today and everyday.
A beautiful blog Rachel. I agree that its beautiful to feel the unconditional love that radiates from a baby. We can recapture that joyful expression of love by first re establishing a love of self and then allowing others in to feel that love.
Thanks for allowing me to get a deeper understanding and clarity about how I felt growing up and how you can either stay a victim of circumstance or choose love. – I definitely choose love!
RacheL I love how you mention babies. Before I came across Universal Medicine I was very defensive but even then I couldn’t ignore how babies do indeed radiate love unconditionally. Back then I wondered how, being so helpless, they could do this. It really puzzled me.
It’s only recently, thanks to the support of Universal Medicine, that I feel the possibility of living without protective barriers. Before this I saw life from the point of view of a victim and missed recognising it as offering reflections for me to learn and grow from. In being open to love I am starting to appreciate the awareness this gives me of why things happen and how being protected just stops me from accessing this understanding. I am starting to really appreciate how much we are all loved and feel, as I trust more and more, there is less and less reason to be defensive and protect myself in a cocoon.
How can we trust anyone else if we don’t trust ourselves first? And how can we truly connect to another if we are not first connected to ourselves?
A great article, thank you Rachel
This blog is pure tenderness, reminding us so sweetly of the love we all are, that we were as little babies before ‘life’ started to hurt us in all sorts of ways that it tends to do. It’s very sad to consider that the term ‘toughen up’ is used for children to get by these days, sometimes by their own parents. It seems so many us have forgotten this true place within us that is so tender and full of love.
I too have been extremely fortunate to have come across the teachings of Universal Medicine and steadily shed off the armour and protection I had taken on to shield myself from a world I thought was ‘tough’. This is the greatest of joys; to feel my own love, and let this come out and be shared with everyone that I meet, by me simply being me.
Beautiful expressed! It is great how you uncover how we “function” when we act from the hurt. It is the most important thing in life for me, to truly allow the sadness behind the protection & to then let go of the hurt and to rebuild trust in love. That is the best “protection” you can have. Being open for love in you and as a result for others.
I love the very simple and clear way you explain what has happened to me and just about everyone else I’ve ever known!
Beautifully and simply said Rachel. I doubt there’s a person in this world who could not relate to this. I used to feel I wore myself inside-out, where I would live openly- I had the right idea, however I too learnt from the teachings of Universal Medicine a greater understanding that I was still measuring the way I lived to protect myself from getting hurt. It’s an ongoing process to reconnect to myself and step out into the world from my essence, however it feels so much better and so more truthful to do so. When I have days when I feel truly open, it feels so beautiful and it is so well received by everyone, even strangers in the street. Imagine a time when people are truly connecting like this in public- it’s happening amongst the Universal Medicine student body throughout the world and spreading. We may yet experience this loving way to live on a larger, and hopefully a worldly scale. What I do know is that every time someone connects with someone from their essence, it allows the other person to drop some of their barriers and let some of their light out to share too 🙂
Thats so great what you wrote, Rachel. I came to this conclusion in the last years and i can say, that the often heard sentence ‘what you do to another you do to yourself’ is really true and it works.
Thank you Rachel for your insight. I totally agree with what you have written.
“To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.” I have found that allowing myself to feel vulnerable and sharing this with others is incredibly healing and yet was something I avoided for most of my life, and to be honest is still a work in progress. It’s very telling as to how much I had hardened and kept others out and then lived life feeling lonely and alone. As a mother I sometimes observe my son (9 years old) holding back from expressing what he feels so it does indeed start when we are young. I am so grateful to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for offering the true understanding that all I need do is connect to the love I already am and take that to every interaction with others. These days my life is full – of my love for me and others.
Beautiful blog, Rachel I can relate so much to this letting go of hardness and connecting deeper to myself and from there building connection with others. I was always a very easy socializing person, but never felt the depth I have today in my relationships.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.” So true Rachel, and they Do nothing, just BEing their glorious selves. Learning to appreciate my beingness has been fundamental for me on my journey back to who I truly am.
So simply said Rachel. You bring sense to how something so natural and innate can seem so out of reach in our world. It’s beautiful to be connected to you and everyone else in this world.
I agree Danielle I have wanted to connect to my husband, family friends, & work colleagues, more deeply, but falling for the trap of ‘needing to do something’ to get their love, approval, instead of BE-ING first- developing a deeper connection with myself and working through the hurts that get in the way of truly connecting to others from true love not emotional love.
So true, Rachel, instead of building “walls” to protect our hurts we rather open our hearts to let love flow from our hearts. Thanks Universal Medicine for presenting techniques which help us with it and all the practitioners who support this.
Yes Rachel, I didn’t realise it at the time but I shutdown and disconnected and then wondered why I always felt this loneliness in my life. After attending a presentation by Universal Medicine my understanding and awareness of what had happened changed. I am now opening up more to others and my world is expanding lovingly. The feeling of loneliness is disappearing and the joy of being connected again with me is amazing.
Yes I agree, the shutting down creates a huge empty feeling of deep loneliness and Universal Medicine presentations were the first presentations which ever gave me a true understanding. I am learning to be more open day by day.
Great point Danielle, how can we deepen our intimacy and trust in relationship with others when we have not reconnected and redeveloped that intimacy with self. As Rachel so beautifully outlined, the original breach of trust is letting go of connection with the world through our feelings.
This is lovely to read as I am currently working on connecting to me and building a foundation where I can let my love out and others love in.
I always thought that I truly wanted to connect with people and to be in intimate and true relationships, especially in my family life, with a husband and extended family. It seems that everyone wants love and a loving family, but as this article shares we must be willing to go deeply intimate with ourselves first. If we try for the relationship, without the self intimacy, or the desire to go deeply deeply intimate then there tends to be complications, and the relationship will never feel quite right, no matter how ‘good’.
You sum up the situation of alienation in our world so well. I love how you are able to articulate the way we measure out our love according to how we arrange our hurts and trust of others. Starting with ourselves has to be the place where we all start to let go and let love in. Thanks so much Rachel.
Absolutely Jennifer, starting with ourselves has to be the place where we all start if we are to break the illusion that we are disconnected from others, our self and God. Yet most in today’s society work hard to keep themselves busy and distracted so they do not have to look at what they are truly feeling, thus burying their hurts even deeper. Until we stop, re-connect to ourselves and let love out we perpetuate the separateness.
Thanks Rachel, it’s a sad reality that so many chose to live this way. I know it very well. Living protected the way that I used to stopped me from connecting with my family and friends, I had no connection with myself and felt very lost in the world. Through the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I was able to see the bigger picture. Starting with connecting to myself I was able to express and receive love again. It’s something I need to appreciate more. Thank you for sharing
Yes, awesome Blog Rachel, and I too can relate to what you share here Bek. Hiding myself away from the world and living protected got me nowhere and stopped me from having truly loving and meaningful relationships with others and myself, something that was so missing from my life, something that now I couldn’t imagine living without. After all, it is our most natural loving way.
I know living in that protected way so well. I cannot say I am living completely open yet but am well on my way. Through the incredible support of Universal Medicine Practitioners and Serge Benhayon I am much more open than I used to be. I could not be in social settings before without wanting to withdraw or hide behind eating food. Now I am much more engaging and outgoing and am able to hold conversations without wanting to run away.
In the past I have tried to change those really close to me to be more how I needed for them not to hurt me. What I was really doing was shutting out those parts of their behaviour that exposed my own hurts, rather than take the responsibility to deal with those hurts myself. Since I came to Universal Medicine, I can see that the more I deal with my own hurts, the less I can be hurt, and the more I can allow others to be themselves. Then relationships can be more open and honest and truly loving. Everyone wins.
Awesome reflection of how we as individuals are with ourselves first and then with all others.
A great reflection on self and relationships Rachel.
There is nothing that money can buy, no place on earth you can visit and no experience that you can have that can even come close to the joy of truly connecting with another.
Thank you Serge Benhayon for reminding us all of this fact and offering some amazing wisdom that has allowed so many of us to begin dealing with our hurts and, to return to a more connected and loving way of living.
You are so right Rob, there is nothing, nothing in this world that comes close to the joy of true connection with another. And that to get that connection we have first to deal with our own hurts.
There is no experience that comes close to when we are truly connected to ourselves… it is at once entirely unique to each and every person on the planet, and yet it is the only common denominator across the whole of humanity and beyond. Money, success, power all pale in comparison.
We are all hurt, one of the things we all have in common.
It is something that we forget, especially when we are feeling hurt. When faced with a hurt person, who is not their true loving self, that we are being hurt by their behaviour and we react from our hurt; it all gets messy very fast.
If we can stay with our hurt, before we get to the anger/reaction, then understanding is possible.
Much practise is required, he thought to himself.
Such clarity and truth in what you write Rachel, thank you. The letting go of the hurts and letting yourself love all equally including yourself is an extremely healing place for us all to connect to. Imagine a world where this was happening – everyone choosing to deeply connect with self and others – Divine. Realising that we are all connected. Powerful.
when i grew up i had this strong feeling that each and everyone of us was just a little piece of a big puzzle. Today i know this to be true as we are all interconnected and together form a greater whole that again is a piece of yet a greater whole. I am loving the way science is discovering this and how quantum physics has brought us all back to particles moving in space without borders or boundaries.
I had invested a lot of energy into creating a protective shell for myself to keep people out and until very recently I had fooled almost everyone, including myself, into thinking that this version of me was the real me. With a lot of courage and commitment to healing I have recently cracked this shell and as a result, I can see with more clarity how it has held me back from what I desire most and that is to be connected to myself and others. It has not been easy but I can now feel that I am closer to the real me than ever before and this makes me closer to everyone around me. Strained relationships have begun to heal, my depression and anxiety are beginning to shift and I now have a chance to build true love with someone I care for deeply. All of this because I made a decision that now is the time to stop living a lie and let the real me out which of course meant outing the old me. The was something I have known had to happen for a long time but I was too frightened to do anything about. But so far it is totally worth it to have a connection back with myself that I foster each day and also to feel that I have a connection to the world and a chance to build a new truer me.
“It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.” I know that when I was young cutting myself off from others felt like the only choice I had to protect myself little knowing that I was also cutting myself off to self. I too am one of those people who “Through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine…..have experienced a deeper sense of connection to themselves and other people.” Thank you for your beautiful blog, Rachel.
We have indeed created a being in which we are very much disconnected from ourselves and in turn others. We try all kind of things like the continued contact via smartphones and social media, but I enjoy the true connection so much more!
Thank you for writing about this Rachel. In the world today it seems like we are separate from each other but in truth we are all very connected. This connection is what we all innately want and as you say about the baby, we all love to be with a baby… imagine if we would all stay as open as a baby, how beautiful would our world and our connections be?
Very confirming to read this again Rachel. True connection I am learning is the best gift to live with myself and with others to the best of my ability all of the time. Its richness can never be undervalued.
For me, letting love in and letting love out has been very hard to do and I have felt myself holding back in protection a lot of the time. As I have become more loving with myself and more aware it has been much easier to allow others around me to feel me.
It seems we live in a world where we are all connecting, but I feel the internet has given us an illusive way of connecting. True connection with people comes from connecting with ourselves first. From there we connect to others, whether at home, in a shop or at work. If there is no true connection with self, there can’t be any connection with others. We just share from an emptiness.
Through Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom I have also learnt and felt for myself that true connection happens first within and to myself and from there, it can radiate out. And putting that into practice has changed my life enormously, and again, from the inside out and not the other way around.
I lived with the dark cloud of separateness hanging over my head and storms raging inside me for so many years, I couldn’t see or feel others for the thick fog that was around me. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine has brought the sun into my life and offered me the opportunity to bask in it equally with all others. I predict fine weather ahead!
It is so ironic, that we are from Love, we search for Love and when Love comes to us – as for example through Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon – we find ourselves fighting it. Wow!
Thank you, Rachel, you made your way through the veils, very inspiring!
It is a paradox we face, in protecting ourselves against hurt AND allowing others in to see our vulnerability, in doing so, separating from love flowing both ways.
It does take an act of trust and a clear choice to accept love from and express love to everyone we meet.
It’s very sad to think that there is a sea of humanity full of loneliness and separation, especially since we are born so full of love, vulnerability and connection. It doesn’t take long to lose trust, withdraw and live a life protecting ourselves against hurts. I rejoice to read Rachel and all the comments on this blog where there is so much heart-felt reconnection.
You describe the journey of how we disconnect from ourselves very well indeed Rachel. I know it all too well.
Through the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have re-connected back to myself and this has literally changed my life. I no longer feel that people are against me or even worst that I am against myself. I am free once more to just be myself and that is very freeing.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”… so true and thank you for your lovely blog Rachel, I loved reading it and could feel the gentleness of your words. I spent years dabbling in the “spiritual” stuff hearing the words “there is no separation” and not really understanding what that meant at the time. It wasn’t until I started to listen to the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom as presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that I truly then understood. It is indeed all about connecting to the Love inside me first and then radiating it out for all to feel because it is inside everyone, it’s like you say, there IS no separation.
p.s. I had a dream a while ago that the space I perceived to be empty outside of me, was in fact filled with a shimmering gold net, therefore connecting everyone and everything, some would call it a sea of energy or a field, lovely.
The biggest pain is that process you explain so well, of feeling hurt and shutting down, separating from everyone and ultimately from oneself. And the biggest joy is when one starts to feel again connected and gentle enough to feel that in everyone.
Yes Rachel I wholeheartedly agree. We all must let our own love out to let the love of others in. Beautifully said.
I realize I have been living in my own personal, separate bubble and only a few people were allowed to come in, I was looking at the world, looking at other people from my own kingdom, is that not what our bubble is? I decided who could come in and who couldn’t. Since I feel my essence and know that everything I need is connecting to my own love inside I let it out and let others in, no need anymore for distance or fear, but aware of the wholeness of life.
The process of reconnecting with my essence has been long and bumpy. I have been very cautious about who I let in, but basically only ever letting people see snippets of me: Loneliness is inherent. But as you say, as I am feeling more and more how the love that I am just ‘is’ in my body and when I connect to me unreservedly I can enjoy the yumminess of me. Letting my love out is then natural and sharing me and connecting with the world joyfull. Never too late. Thanks Rachel.
Rachel – you have stated with graceful simplicity here many great truths. It is so clear when we consider a baby that true love holds all equally.
Yes how very true Rachel. It all really is about letting all our love out and letting the love in…The illusion of ‘protecting’ ourselves from being hurt by keeping others at arms length – really is a grand illusion. Thank you for this blog….
We all seek connection and true relationships with others but some how in the journey of life we lose connection and intimacy with others because we lose connection with ourselves which causes all the separation, lonelieness, misery and struggle…. What you have shared Rachel describes the human process exactly and would make a super little hand book to carry around in one’s pocket as a reminder of how we started life’s journey as a baby, ‘full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally’. With the last page providing the way back to this love: ‘ having a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.
I love this line.. “When we view the world as external to us, it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.” Thank you for a very inspiring and profound blog.
Wow what a beautiful blog Rachel, and your final words resonating: “from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”, is the key for true relationships – letting ALL people in from allowing the expressing of our love to be seen, felt, heard, tasted and scented.
Not only that, but we start to resent the company of others when we make ourselves separate. I have had a lot of people talk about how they do not want to talk to people and would rather get served at the grocery store by the people who don’t connect than those who do. It is definitely our lack of connection that causes our loneliness.
Awesome article I love how you explain so simply how we reduce ourselves and separate from the whole by living in this absolute self centered individualism and how we are missing out on true relationships and connection. I experienced how we grow when we let love in and stop protecting ourselves and that’s when I truly started living.
WOW thanks Rachel – you have delivered so beautifully a huge offering in such a small package. It is so easy to think we are individuals and I have seen time and time again in relationships how this simply doesn’t flow or allow that love I am to naturally emanate. I am learning to be more considerate of others around me no matter what my relationship to them is. I can see my own protection and measuring – a highly advanced skill that I too am un-learning. The vulnerability in this process is something I can relate to very much. Thank you.
It is innately felt, that indeed we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us in the way of reverse. This gives a eye opening to what it means to be a person in this world and the responsibility each person holds. Which in turn gives one a whole new view on life and how to approach every day activities if…. indeed, EveryThing was connected.
Rachel I love this blog. I am beginning to appreciate how letting people in makes my day and often I feel their day too. I so get how my wanting to stand out from the crowd and get the recognition I think i crave only brings suffering – not just for myself but for others as my behaviour encourages those around me to stay in a dog eat dog world of competition and fear of not surviving.
When life is about connection and feeling what I bring and what others bring is all equally amazing, life is divine. Life flows. It is in connection to myself that I feel no need to protect myself because I feel in the presence of divinity and I am open to whatever lessons I’m presented.
I know the it’s all about my way of living and how unpleasant that can be. I am working on living the different way, which isn’t currently as familiar, but I know is worth it a billion %
Thank you Rachel. I too have found that the more I develop a loving relationship with myself the more open I am with people. Through the support of the Esoteric Healing modalities as taught by Universal Medicine, I have been healing my past hurts and letting go of the layers of protection that have kept people at bay. I am now more open to expressing the love that I naturally am and to share this love with others. Healing these layers of protection means I am also more open to feeling love from others. This has been life changing and means that my relationships are more real and satisfying.
Beautifully put Rachel. I love your point about how we give our love to those we feel won’t hurt us – this is so true. When I reflect on my relationships I can see that this is what I have done my whole life. Recently and from the inspiration from the teachings of Universal Medicine I have been exploring letting all in, even those people that appear to hurt me (where really they aren’t doing anything to me, it is my own hurt that I am feeling). It has been tough at times, as there is part of me that wants to play it safe, just in case I feel the hurt again. However, what I have found is that as I allow the walls of protection to crumble and as I let others in and choose love over the hurt there is an expansion in feeling the connection with myself first of all and then with others.
This is beautiful Rachel. I spent much of my life giving ‘favour’ to some more than others. In other words giving my love more to some that others. Since meeting Serge Benhayon and and with support of Universal Medicine and several practitioners, I have come to learn that we cannot give love more to one person that another. That to truly be open to others and have true and meaningful connections, I first must be open to that love in myself and then let others see and feel that part of me, and to allow myself to see that love equally others and be open to them. To be tender and open with others was at first scary, but the more I do so the more I feel connected to everyone and everything around me.
Awesome article, until recent years I also felt that sense of being alone and separate from people even whilst in a relationship.
It also been my experience that I’ve had to connect to myself, and my love for me to slowly start to open up and trust others. With the help of practitioners from Universal Medicine.
A beautiful breakdown of how we can all slowly lose that open connection we all had as a baby, and also so equally return back to it. This was a timely read for me, as just this morning I had a situation where I felt myself shutting down in a way for protection and now have a greater perspective to allow myself to stay open without reacting to events around me in a negative way.
How sad and ironic is that, Rachel, that by trying to protect ourselves and hide inside, we lose connection with our feelings and knowing who we are, and so everything else as well. Then we carry that sadness within us and walk around with it like a cloak, and it colours our view of the world and others. One way I am learning to re-connect with my love and beauty and essence is by watching and engaging with every baby I meet, they are a great reflection for me that shows me my own love and wonder, and I FEEL it as I meet their gazing eyes. I recommend everyone to take time to do that.
Its so true Joan, babies are a great reflection for me too… I find myself meeting the eyes of a baby for instance in the super market, and for that short moment or meeting, so much has passed between us, so much has been said, moments like these are for me, moments of grace and magic…
Moments of magic, yes they are Jacqui! Babies seem to look at you with awe and wonder, and with a deep openness. I often wonder whether they can see (and/or feel) things we can’t.
“If you spend time with a newborn baby it’s hard not to notice the love they radiate, unmeasured and equally shared.”
A great point Rachel showing it is our natural way of being to radiate love to all equally so. A great article thank you for raising the questions and sharing your experience.
Yes this is a truly amazing article revealing how we all live wanting and looking for love when we have to learn love for ourselves first by connection to ourselves inside. This seems to have been forgotten as we grow up in a world where everything is revered outside of us and in what we do. Simply knowing we are love and loving ourselves first is what we need to be reminded of as a result .This was never taught to us until Serge Benhayon came along and presented us himself – pure love and nothing less, the inspiration and reflection for humanity .
Wow, Rachel! This is an amazing article, beautifully describing how life and relationships are from most people (including me). Also, the testimony of your growth and changes is utterly inspiring. Thank you.
Rachel, what a great question you post here: how can we in the midst of all people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone? Yes we have shut down our love because we were not met for who we truly are and we did this at the cost of becoming hard, disconnected from ourselves and unable to open up for people we meet, all this finally resulting in feeling ourselves alone in a crowd of people. However, have we ever realised that by becoming hard and disconnected from our inner most, we are repeating what has been done to us and we continue to keep up this ill behaviour that causes that many problems for ourselves and society?
So true that when a baby connects with us, it feels such a gift as it is in total honesty. The reflection of a wise teacher who only has to smile to light up our day!
The reflection of a wise teacher who only has to smile to light up our day! I love this line Lorraine, it is so profound yet so true.
Rachel, beautiful piece, it is indeed ironic that in shutting off from the world, we shut off from ourselves, and create the misery of our own isolation, and blame the world and all in it for that. And yet it doesn’t need to be so, we can connect to us, and in doing so we can then connect to others and the world, and indeed bring that quality of love to the world.
It seems like the digital world has taken us away from the importance of face to face connection. No longer do we have to engage with the world in person, we can do it through our devices. Whats so lovely to read here is the undeniable connection everyone still has to a baby. Even in this world of people hiding from each other, when a baby is in sight – there is a draw to it – and an openness from those around. It is beautiful to watch and feel. A reminder that true connection is important, it is not forgotten – it just needs to be re-ignited once in a while.
This is so true hvmorden, People do seem to be drawn to babies. Even people like me who have never had one!
There is a kind of recognition at work here and a sort of wonder as to our provenance.
Very true Hannah. The presence of a baby can ignite and unite a whole room! This is the potential we have as human beings.
I also love your reference to a new baby, Rachel, and how trusting, open and connected they are. As a new grandmother, it is beautiful to see how a baby is a magnet for connection, not just to the baby, but to the mother, to the stranger, to everyone in fact. No boundaries.
Yes, and as so well pointed out in the baby analogy, love is our natural state of being: a baby has no conception of self or self-identity: he/she is just a bundle of love – a concentration of energy – that feels everything ‘out there’ in exactly the same way it feels everything inside. But the development of the self gets in the way of this – separating what is outside of the body from the body itself – and creating the illusion that the self is therefore isolated and in some way separate from life outside our body. But we are not. We are everywhere and we feel everything!
Beautifully said Conor and it is so true the development of self really does get in the way and makes us so much less than who we really are. I love your conversation too Mary, I would love to have been on the plane with you and the physicist as you pinged all over the Universe. We are so much more than we are led to believe, so much grander than we think we are. Thank you both for sharing and to Rachel for opening up the conversation.
Absolutely it’s allowing others to see who you truly are no matter what, as we start to grow up though we learn that instead of just being the wonder-fullness that we are we need to start ‘doing’ things, like at school, to get recognition or attention. So we need to change and break this old conciousness that doesn’t let us be who we naturally are the whole time.
Yes a very deep consciousness that really does need to be broken.. you are constantly feeling you are not enough and what you do is what makes you who you are. The complete opposite of just being the divine natural beings that we are which is extraordinarily beautiful.
Fantastic expansion Conor on what Rachel has shared. That self that we identify ourselves is a comfortable way of living. Living with everyone equally and allowing that Love is key.
What a great plane companion Mary! We think we are solid because our bodies can feel heavy, but feeling that we are made up of particles tells us we are all one in a sea of divine energy.
A beautiful point you make Rachel about letting people in.
we are all seeking connection and love and it is such a natural state for us to be in. How we complicate things!
aahh yes simple as let people in and share myself with others, simple as the gentle breath in and out.
The idea of us living in our personal bubbles is so true, it is like technology and our advances have made it so much easier to remove ourselves from the connections that we are so naturally able to develop. When we put people first that is when the true joy can be let in as life is not about individuality as I have slowly come to learn.
It is amazing how that tough layer of protection around us keeps out what we all want more than anything – to feel love. How the world would change if we all let down our guard, felt our vulnerability and began to fully connect back to ourselves and others.
So true Jane,that protection keeps love in, too. And the world needs us to let it flow out.
Yes Jane, we are all looking for love and it is very humbling because we are all equal.
Jane, yes we are all looking for love to receive and let it out. We have to start with letting it out first for it to be reflected back to us. If we work on that the guards come down.
At a time where people are becoming more insular and shut down due to technology such as staring at smart phones instead of connecting with people and replacing intimacy with the internet this is a much needed blog. Thanks Rachel
Through reading your article Rachel I am reminded of the guard I have worn all my life, that subtle but obvious wall that I put between me and others, and how painful it is to be separated from me and others, it is the hardest feeling to maintain in life, though so common. On the other hand, the joy I experience as a consequence of letting others in is immense, just by being me amongst everybody and enjoying the warmth that I feel in the presence of others.
I include myself in “people seeking connection and true relationships Moments of connection to the oneness for me are golden.
Let us allow others to feel that connection, to know it is possible for all to choose, passing it on and on………………
I smiled when I read your comment Rebecca as just yesterday I was in a busy supermarket and as I was leaving saw a young Mother trying to pacify a screaming baby putting on a pretty impressive tantrum in her arms, whilst her little girl of about two sat quietly in the trolley. As it reminded me of my daughter doing much the same many years ago, I stopped and smiled at the baby, who came to an abrupt stop and gave me the most gorgeous smile! I then stood rattling my keys for a few moments which seems to amuse him and finally walked away smiling as this baby watched me go. We had simply met each other and it felt very loving and a joyful exchange.
I can definitely relate to everything you have written here, and have always felt bereft at not having that true connection with another, even within my own family. It never occurred to me that the connection to myself was key to me having that it with another.
The more connected I am to myself the less lonely I feel. When I do feel lonely I can ask myself why, look at it, see it for what it is and reconnect back.
This is so true we all are seeking connection with others and true relationships and it is the cause of a lot of sadness and misery and thus poor health when we do not have this in our lives. However bringing light to the fact that we miss ourselves and connection with ourselves first is a great revelation and something we can all choose to do with this awareness. Thank you and also to Serge Benhayon for bringing focus and light to this much needed subject of connection to us all and the way to live with ourselves lovingly.
I was always so desperate to have a connection with others and when it wasn’t forthcoming it lead me to feel awful. Until Universal Medicine I hadn’t realised that what I was desperately seeking was a connection with myself first. From this place the NEED to connect with others isn’t there and when a connection is made it comes without a whole heap of baggage.
With support from Universal Medicine, i have understood that my “walls” that i have put up to protect me have not worked. By developing my connection to myself i have slowly re-developed my trust in myself, which has allowed me to trust other people.
Ken, this is my experience too and something I continue to work with. Thanks to Universal Medicine I have made this change.
Beautifully said.
I can certainly feel the protection I’ve built up, and the start of me breaking that down.
Certainly that protection has made me shy away from my inner feelings and trusting them. And in turn, it has hindered my connection with others.
As I become more aware of this and take responsibility for how closed up I had become – it allows me to let love in – for myself, and for others.
Universal Medicine and the Ancient Wisdom Teachings have allowed me to stop playing tough when I know I have so much tenderness to live from.
Great blog Rachel on a subject that needs to be opened right up. Starting first with ourselves then others, nature and the divine then neighbours, people on the street etc then moving on. Living in a big city like London people tend to shut down to strangers but sometimes they can really open up if given the opportunity.
We have created a world where we will not express our love unless it is first expressed by another. In a situation like this how can love grow? Who will cast the first stone? In my daily rhythms, whether it is talking with the delivery drivers at work or the cashier at the shops, I make the choice to be love and express love by being tender and open. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This is the only way forward, and as you say there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self. And thus we create for ourselves the illusion that we live disconnected from others, our self, God and our essential nature – Love.’ This is so true, and something I’ve done all my life – talking to ‘connect’ when I know now that by being still and feeling, a deeper connection is available to us all and we are never alone.
This is a deeply insightful blog worthy of rereads and much contemplation.
I am someone who has ” kept the world at bay ” for many years, hiding my inner suffering. Since reading and hearing the words of Serge Benhayon I have found that deeper sense of connection you speak of Rachel, as I open up I feel the love flowing from and to me.
“As we withdraw and shut down, our emotional exchanges – our ability to be in touch with our own feelings – become more and more limited; leading to a catch-22 situation where we measure our love, giving more love to those we feel won’t hurt us and less to those we aren’t as comfortable with or as certain of.”
This is such a great point, and even plays out within close units, like the family too, not just people we don’t really know. It is much easier to be open and express to those that do not challenge you, question you, or that you know will react in some shape or form. But by doing this we are measuring and calculating another and not only holding back ourselves but them too.
Rachel this is beautifully put and so great exposing the separation and isolation many of us live in when true connection with ourself and others is part of our very being. I love how you take it back to being a new born baby and our emanation of love unconditionally with everyone and ourselves. A great reflection of who we truly are.
I know that in the past some of the sadness I carried with me in life was feeling that somehow we are all connected but looking around I could see no one was living like this in the world. Since attending Universal Medicine courses my confidence in myself and my choices has grown hugely. I can now honour this feeling that I have always had and not rely on others to say it is true, because it feels true for me. I express this connection in my day and it feels great to meet the world and others in this way.
I feel so much truth in your words Rachel, this is an immense piece of writing, it is so true that in shutting down to the world we shut off our feelings and make everything seem distant and detached from us. This is certainly my experience, giving measured parts of me and shutting the door to the opportunity for connection.
Absolutely the more we allow and let go of the protection the richer our lives are with all our connections to people and nature. I am so thankful I came across the teachings of Universal Medicine.
This year I ‘popped’ my bubble and ventured out of my 14 year isolation.
With a growing awareness of how I had not let people in and never expressed the true me, with some trepidation, I began meeting men.
A revelation: how I had kept myself ‘guarded’ from being hurt, (as in the past) this protection never let anyone in to know the real me.
These new friendships are proving to be challenging, fun and most of all, giving me an opportunity to express me, my truth, and be love.
Beautiful Blog Rachel. I know I have isolated myself for years. Even within relationships I felt lonely, always expecting the other person to fill the void. But it is impossible to let other people in if we are still holding a protection up because we have been hurt in the past. No-one can get past it. I know I still go into protection sometimes, but I am learning to be honest about the hurts that caused it, and therefore more able to be open.
Rachel the line “How can we, in the midst of all the people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone?” really sticks with me. It’s something that is quite ironic as we do meet or come into contact with so many people each day – yet at times it can feel like we are so alone. For me if I’m not feeling great in myself then no matter how many people I meet – I do feel lonely. Yet when I am feeling more of me even if I only meet a few or no people during the day I don’t feel that loneliness. It’s showing me that its first about being with myself before its about meeting another.
So well said David. I often wonder how is it that we all live in such close proximity to each other and travel on crowded public transport where we are as close as sardines in a tin and yet may not even look another person in the eye all day. I can relate to feeling more connected to others when I am feeling good in myself. When I don’t feel so great, that connection is not there. It makes sense that its about my relationship with myself first before connecting to others.
Can you imagine if we were taught when we are little that it’s about our relationship to ourselves first. What a profound change to our adult lives it would make with our relationships to all others.
Great blog. Very clear and communicates so well an experience I have felt of getting to know myself and shedding the tough layers of defense and aloofness that I had. Slowly this gentle, powerful, loving and confident woman is unfurling and it feels fantastic. It is never to late to take a step towards understanding ourselves and others better. There is always another moment waiting to happen. Thank you for sharing.
I used to shut most people out, including myself. I felt alone and in separation. Connection is so important and with the inspiration of Universal Medicine I have learned the importance of connecting with myself first. Staying with me when the world around feels at odds is still challenging, as Vanessa has mentioned. However I know it’s just a choice, mine to choose. Thanks for a great article Rachel.
I too am learning to let the love I am naturally out, even when the outside is not warm and loving, that is my greatest challenge, to remain steadfast in being love when the outside is hostile and aggressive. Through the presentations of Universal Medicine I am learning to do this and it is a great thing to just be.
This is a great blog Rachel, I’ve always had a feeling that life is about people and connecting to them, but before I met Serge Benhayon had not placed the importance on my connection to myself first – this I’ve found to be one of the keys to my relationships with others and stopping that feeling of separation.
Meg, I also have always felt that life is about connecting to & loving people but nothing I was doing worked…I was SO lonely and every where I looked so was every one else!
Now, every time I take a moment to get more in my body I know that connecting to self is the first key and the BIG factor!
Good point Meg, until I met Serge Benhayon I never realised the importance of connecting to myself first. What I know now is that when connecting to myself first I am more open and trusting of people.
Rachel I really agree with what you said about the oneness that is everywhere in this life. That, no matter what, we are all connected with Love as our unity. I grew up shutting down that Love and kept everyone at a distance, toughening up to get on with life – it is a very lonely, hard way to live. Since becoming a student of the Livingness inspired by Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon my life has been about re connecting to the Love that I had left behind. With Love as my true way of being then I naturally want to share that with others because I know they are exactly the same as me. It doesn’t matter what skin colour, culture or sports club they follow we all have that Love within us and connecting with people from that place only confirms the Oneness that resides.
In my heart I can feel the connectedness of everything. My daily lessons and opportunities are in the living of this fact: in the way I see and talk to people; in the way I honour and appreciate my body and it’s rhythms; and in my respect for the cycles and wonders of nature. I notice more quickly now when I slip back to viewing me as an individual and it is here that I feel the desolation and loneliness that so many of us live with and try to cover up in numerous ways.
“Most of us recognise that we are physically separate from other people and naturally assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate. This gives the illusion that we are our body and that everything beyond that is not a part of us.”
This is key to our evolution together, equally so. Until we realize that all of our choices and behaviours affect everyone around us we will continue to lead separate lives and separate further from each other emotionally and geographically, which makes it harder to live truly together.
“I have learnt that this (building a relationship) must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.” This so true Rachel and like you, through the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom by Universal Medicine, I have begun to learn to do this and with doing so my life has profoundly changed and my relationships have deepened and blossomed.
I am feeling more and more the barrier’s I put in place to “protect” myself from being hurt. Equally I am also learning the more I build a relationship with myself the more love I have for myself and therefore the more love I can express to others. This protects me from being hurt by others because I have a greater understanding of what is happening in any given moment…my barriers start to come down.
Rachel, when you talk about the irony of cutting off from others first to protect ourselves, which leads to separating from ourselves, I realise I had never looked at it that way. I always thought I cut off from myself first and therefore from others. But reading what you have expressed I start to feel how I create a barrier to protect the self that feels vulnerable to keep people out, and because we are all part of one living organism, connected energetically, it is impossible to do that. So where is there for me to go except into separation so I cannot feel. Amazing!
A beautiful blog, how important it is to connect to the self first, which supports a new unfoldment in the self love. It allows us to be open to others and let people into our lives, so we can share this depth of love we have connected to. As I worked on my own self love and connection, I became more open in letting others into my life.
Yes awesome Amita, as we open up and drop our guards and our boundaries and share this depth of love with all we meet it allows others to also relax and be true to themselves, a win win situation!
This is so beautiful to read and really feel the level of deep connection and intimacy missing from the world and our separation despite being what we are all craving for.
Thank you for this sharing and bringing light to this very important fundamental way of living and to Serge Benhayon with his inspirational way of presenting this to us all to open up and feel this and in letting people in bringing us back to love as who we are.
Rachel I love your honesty with this blog.. it is incredible what you say, that the deep connection with others ultimately comes with our deep connection with self first and then shared with others. I have over time let go of and dropped the protection that was so deeply ingrained in my relationships. Still to this day I can put my finger on why sometimes my relationships are not open and loving is when I lose that connection with myself by choosing to let an energy in that takes me away from myself. There are hundreds of forms of distraction but the crunch of it is – I choose to leave myself which has a massive ripple effect with everyone around and even those that are not around me; as we are ALL connected through a oneness that our Soul is infinitely connected to.
” When we view the world as external to us it is all too easy to forget the wholeness of life.” Sometimes I know that I make decisions about what or who is out there and yet I am not truly connected to what or who is out there and that’s only because I am not connected to me in the first place. Connection creates true relationships…… connection is everything. Thanks Rachel for opening this topic.
I watched myself the other day in two scenarios. One when I wasn’t connected to myself and I was in a bit of a stress at work. The quality of my interactions with others was not good! The second in the same afternoon when I was connected to myself my interactions were a million times more loving and thank goodness I was able to redeem myself from the morning. I apologised and how lovely to feel the other people melting and dropping their guard, not only did tension dissolve but also the connection between me and the others deepened. So often we can blame other people when tension or conflict arrises, but when we accept responsibility for our part it is amazing how hurts can be cut through and dissolve on all sides.
That’s great Rachel, you took responsibility for your part and restored harmony with the knock on effect of them taking that harmony into their interactions with others. Very inspiring, thank you.
I had measured the love and to whom for many years. Since coming to Universal Medicine and the presentations of Serge Benhayon I have been building a loving relationship with myself which has and still is changing my relationships with others to being more open and loving.
This is exactly the same for me Ruth, the more I build a loving relationship with myself, the more relationships around me change and become more love. Simple and Magical : )
Remembering that we were all once babies “full of love – trusting, open and connected to everyone we met equally”, is a great reminder that exposes the falseness of “the illusion that we are our body and that everything beyond that is not a part of us.” For as your article clearly elucidates we are all connected.
Feeling that we are all connected is so beautiful and we have a beautiful responsibility for all our actions, thoughts and intentions to be harmless and 100% love.
Rachel, your blog expresses so clearly and simply that Universal Medicine is enabling me to learn. Having cut myself off all my life, from myself and others, I am now learning to open my heart to both and expand my life, and feel I am connected to the whole of humanity, and the loneliness is dissipating. This gift is priceless, the gift of pure Love that emanates from Serge Benhayon. Thank you Serge and Universal Medicine.
“In a world where so many are seeking connection and true relationships, I have learnt that this must come first, from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in.”
This paragraph is an ongoing inspiration Rachel, a great article, thank you.
This is a massive subject you have brought to the fore, I definitely agree with what you are saying, that we have lost the ability to connect with ourselves and what feels true for us and instead of giving this time constantly seek outside for the connection that in truth is there within us all along.
Absolutely, I have found that it is completely necessary to connect with myself before I was able to truly connect with those around me. For years, although having, family, boyfriends and friends close by, I had times when I felt deeply separate and lonely. I have found that I am building a deep sense of connection and contentment within myself through feeling and getting to know myself first. I can connect to a deep stillness and well of love that I feel reflects a part of God within. Thank you for sharing.
Such a beautiful blog to read about Universal Medicine and the actual truth about it
You articulated this well, Andrew.
A brilliant point you share. I have felt that feeling heals the issues in my life much quicker than holding onto them, just covered up by ignoring them. But rather than feel everything the moment it comes up I have trained myself to cover them up, such as I write, that it sounds crazy but that was the only way I knew how to cope. Like you shared, little by little, I am re-learning to trust in my feelings and every time I do, little by little, it confirms that ignoring and not feeling is not truly supportive to me.
Great point made in this blog that we are all craving connection and intimacy, but at the same time we all hold back and don’t let others in. It is a bit like everyone is standing around waiting for someone else to make the first move. Well someone has to make the first move and let people in! Through the inspiration of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I am learning to be one of those people who is making the first move and dropping the hard guard and letting people in so that they feel connected to, and met as an equal human being. The funny thing is when I do this, I feel less emotional pain, less hurt, more secure and much less alone.
Beautifully and inspiringly expressed, Andrew, this has too been my experience. Thank you!
I agree Andrew. My endeavour is to let people in and, if I find this tricky, it offers another opportunity for me to explore why I am holding back and shutting off the emanation of the love I know myself to be. The beauty is that when I let people in and express lovingly, they also drop their guard and and our relationship opens up to another level. This is not just with people I know but could be with a stranger in the street who I connect with. Awesome.
I love what you have expressed here Andrew, I have noticed the same ‘dilemma’ in myself – a desperate craving for connection, but almost an unwillingness to make the first move. Ie – I’ll love you if you love me. So much simpler just to drop those guards, let people in and love now.
Well said Andrew and Meg – I have had the same experience as well. It has been inspirational seeing Serge Benhayon and others he has inspired not holding back and welcoming people in with love, not waiting for others to be love rather simply saying I am prepared to show all of me no matter what – it has given me the space and reflection to show more and more of me and let people in.
I agree Andrew, pre Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I was definitely the one who was waiting for others to make the first move but now that I have begun to meet and understand myself it has given me the confidence to be the one who makes the first move.
How beautifully phrased Andrew and so true: we all crave love and want another to give it to us. The teachings of Universal Medicine make such a difference. It allowed me to let go of a lot of hardness and protection (although still work in progress) and to start loving myself and others.
Rachel I love how you said: ‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others’, something I have done most of my life, we cut off from those that can help support us and by doing so we cut off from ourselves – yes it is very ironic and shows how easily our minds can be fooled into thinking something.
So true James, it does show how easily our minds can be fooled into thinking something. In effect it is like putting up blockades in our home, blocking all doors and windows to protect ourselves from possible danger and our mind claims ” I think I’ve cut down the danger so I am happy”, but in fact with the blockade we have cut ourself off from more than we bargained for, no one is able to go in or out, even our friends and family and even ourselves!
So very true Golnaz – after cutting off from everyone we then wonder why we feel so lonely! Kids know, I am starting to re-know more and more, that being fully open, heart wide open, is the best form of protection as it enables me to see more clearly what is going on, and in turn have a deeper understanding about what is going on around me and with others, and so do not take things as personally as I did before.
Thats so true James, I am also noticing, to my chagrin, that I am inclined to cut off from those around me who have a very different expression, and knowing that I cannot give practical advice (it has been refused), forget that by being connected and loving to myself, I then give them space to find themselves at their own pace. Another example of the foolish mind!
I agree Catherine – the foolish mind can make us think we need to be doing something for others, almost forcefully so, instead of simply being ourselves and presenting a loving space for people to come back to themselves.
Great reminder to allow others to find themselves, thank you Catherine.
Yes, James, I too was so cut off from myself and had truly no idea where to go for support. I definitely kept people at arm’s length and had very little trust of myself or others. I am happy to say this is no longer the case and the support is there in abundance if I need it now!
This is very powerful Rachel. And you hit the nail on the head. We need connection with ourselves first before we can connect with anyone else. In our intense world, there is so little connection that most people resort to some sort of self-medication, be it alcohol, drugs, food, entertainment, sex – basically anything to get our minds off the devastating pain of not being connected with ourselves and each other. There are entire industries that cater for this ill. And it is an illness and only self-love can truly heal it.
Great point Jinya, how we self-medicate to deal with the fact that we are not truly connected to ourselves and live every day in this way, resulting in relationships that are not really connecting with each other. The only way we can cope, as you say, is resorting to whatever our vice is to distract us from this fact. It took me a while to break free from this dis harmonious way of living – but once freeing myself from it and starting to deal with the pain of not choosing to truly to connect with myself and others then I got to feel the amazing quality we are innately supposed to be – all of the time. We are super amazing when this is our foundation.
Yes definitely. Without this foundation we’re just ‘doing’ through life from birth to death.
Thanks Jinya and Natalie. Very inspiring to feel we have a grandness we can be all of the time which renders self-medication unnecessary. Like you say jinya, without this connection we are ‘just ‘doing’ through life from birth to death.’
Well said Jinya and Natalie, it is so easy to ‘self-medicate’ as a coping mechanism. With the support of Universal Medicine and the tools it has given me and countless others I have been able to connect deeper with myself and see more about what is really going on and why I am really doing something or feeling a certain way, I can then get underneath the cycle of ‘self-medication’ and break free from it as it is no longer necessary.
The word ‘foundation’ sprang out for me, Natalie. How can we set out to make connections to others without a strong base to come back to and hold us firm. Without this we float about helplessly, never knowing quite where, or who, we are
I agree Jinya, without connection to ourselves we can and do become completely lost and then seek refuge in some form of distraction. Seeing everyone as equal is a good start to reconnecting back to ourselves. By seeing everyone as equal there can be no separation and therefore no dis-connection.
Tim exactly, seeing everyone as equal gets rid of comparison and dis-connect, it opens up a beautiful way to be love and in connection with everyone. This is what I have noticed as I work on connecting to myself which is a process that is on going as I deepen with it.
So true Tim and also beautifully expressed Jinya. Wouldn’t it be lovely if this was taught in schools. How different life would be if children knew there was no need for comparison or distraction and as you say Tim, by seeing everyone as equal there can be no separation and therefore no dis-connection.
Great comment Tim, well said.
Your comment is so true Jinya, and it nails the fact that there are huge industries devoted to keeping us distracted from connecting to our true worth
That says it all Jinya, the connection to self and self love is a true healing.
So true Jinya, I have learnt from my own experience that resorting to alcohol, food, entertainment etc is definitely not the answer, connecting to my body and making self loving choices is a way to start to truly heal.
Rachel, this is such a beautiful blog. Perfectly formed and portraying the essence of the teachings of Universal Medicine in simple language.
Thank for sharing this Rachel, such a beautiful article
It is an interesting question Rachel, how can we be living in such a highly populated world yet find so many people feeling alone or lonely? I agree that we often live in a way where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself. We do not often grow up with this connection. How we are raised, very rarely teaches us or allows us to hold onto the knowing we had as children; that we can feel how another is feeling, that it is very possible to feel this connection and know that we are connected.
A beautiful article Rachel – your first question blew me away: “We live today in the most populated world in history… How can we, in the midst of all the people we meet every day, sometimes feel so alone?” – incredibly powerful, and something I can relate to
It is such a paradox that the shield we build to protect ourselves from hurt in fact prevents us from feeling, and letting in, the thing we want above all and believe we are protecting: that is love.
Yes Jonathan. I was about to write something similar and saw your comment. I have successfully spent most of my life “protecting ” myself, when all it was doing was keeping out people and the love that could have been flowing between us. Great blog, thank you Rachel.
Great point jstewart51 – we deny ourselves the one thing we all really want deep down.. which doesn’t make sense.
Thank you Rachel, I can relate to putting up guards and living life keeping people out. These days I am more willing to drop the guard and be open to others and question the times when I am not.
Rachel, thank you for the reminder on the importance of choosing to connect with ourselves first, and from there have a willingness to let our love out and the love of others in. Rachel your love is palpable throughout your blog.
I have come to realise that living alone, closing my heart to people and avoiding close relationships to avoid hurt has been an illusion. The disconnection and not letting others in is just as painful.
With the support and sharing from fellow students I have discovered the love I have deep within for myself. I begin from that place.
I have now burst my “separate bubble” (as you put it Rachel,) look out world !
Rachel it is so true what you share about the coping strategies we use to protect our hurts we are feeling. I know I have denied my vulnerability, locked my heart and shut out my love and love of others for very long time. I did not realise how hard my chest had become and how closed I had become until I started to have Esoteric Healing and Esoteric Breast Massage. I then was able to reflect on these areas and start to work on healing them.
I hadn’t noticed until a couple of years ago that I was very selective with who I would let into my life and who I would keep out. I am working on connecting to myself more consistently and letting everyone in with every encounter whether it’s on a bus or train or my family. Even if I can feel a resistance from the other person, that’s their issue to sort out. I just need to keep being Love, and not react, because this feels the way forwards for humanity.
Thank you for sharing Gill, I’ll observe that in myself today as I know there are people or situations where I do the same..
Hi Rachel, loving reading your blog again. I have been so used to living in a way, ‘where we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature and from Divinity itself,’ that it’s beautiful to read and feel how not true this is.
Thank you Rachel. I could feel such tenderness in your words whilst reading your blog and it has reminded me how much I can still harden at time and go into the doing thus missing opportunities to connect more deeply to myself and others. Reading this has set a new marker for my day.
Thank you Rachel, it struck a cord with me that with a world (including me) who is seeking connection, how much time and effort is spent seeking this from the outside rather than connecting to it within.
So true, David once we connect within, the outside is taken care of -it never happens the other way around!
Having re-read this blog and with a lot of opportunity coming up recently to learn to let people in, in the real sense, I can confirm the amazing difference this is having on my relationships. We talk about Global family, this term seems to get banded around in society especially with the advent of such consistent inter-connectivity through devices and apps and yet do we truly appreciate what that is? I ask as before now I thought I knew what it meant to accept and appreciate everyone I share the word humanity with, however after exploring what a true connection and a true relationship is I can honestly admit I was still far from my true understanding. Every person I meet today I am aware of how I am meeting, and when I hold myself and truly express to the person I am meeting there is no shadow of doubt that there is a distinct family feeling…it’s amazing it feels like I am coming home again and again. Just by taking a simple moment to really “feel” the way I approach, make eye contact or start talking with someone makes so much difference. A difference I am enjoying making permanent.
Wow, that is beautiful to read and to feel Phil. As you say as a society we think we are living in a global network but it’s through airwaves, the internet, plane flights, easier accessibility, etc but it’s not a true connectedness to family. That is something completely different. To feel the support and love that comes with it is something very different to the now mere ease in which we can do things globally. They are not the same thing.
A very open and inspiring blog
I, too, love your comment about beautiful new born babies., thank you Rachel. I have always loved new born babies but never previously knew why. My feeling now is that I get a reflection of how they feel so connected to themselves so I can strengthen that connection within myself. That’s huge for me.
This is a really beautiful article Rachel. Thank you for reminding us of the love we all naturally are and of the true relationship and connection to ourselves I feel we all seek, and that can be found within.
Thank you Rachel, this is beautiful. Most people can relate to the love of a newborn baby shining out and I love how you raise the question of what changes for most people in this being the case throughout the rest of our lives.
Wow Rachel you approach such a real subject, that brings up feelings of vulnerability for me. It’s amazing to think we get so consumed with not letting people in when all that any of us really want is to be loved. I love having become more aware of this and keeping that at the forefront of my mind as I enjoy expressing purely from my heart.
Beautiful Phill, it is sad how much time most of us have spent behind a big self created wall for protection, when it was never needed in the first place. The sheer joy of being open and letting people in.
Rachel, you offer, here, a simple and profoundly true answer to the human plague of loneliness. I have spent my life wanting to know the cause and cure of this pain…
The loving examples lived by Serge and others has helped me go from acute & chronic loneliness to feeling connected to everyone by the love that I now feel & know we all are.
The difference lived is night and day.
Thank you for this Blog Rachel. “It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others”. I have done this for most of my life and am now learning to open my heart, to myself and to others. Connection, not separation is the way forward.
What an amazing blog Rachel. Your description of people and the hard outer shell gave me an image of my morning commute on the train, its like being in a tin of M&Ms all shiny and bright with their hard outer shell. With Universal Medicine I have also melted that hard outer shell and truly love being me.
Hi Rachel. Thank you so much for your blog. I myself am beginning to re-connect with myself and feeling how we are all connected. It is so joy-full that that is inspiration enough to let go of old hurts and be more open, less protective. I am so appreciative of those around me letting their guard down and being more playful with me. I do find this slightly uncomfortable at times but I stay present and feel how wonder-full these moments are. They are a real blessing. They confirm I am ok and that we can connect and be loving and intimate with each other.
Hi Rachel. Thank you for another great blog. I know that I have spent so much energy trying to keep people out. It is my past experiences of being hurt that helped me to create the wall. As I allow myself to become more open with others and let people in it feels like such a relief and is not so scary after all! It is a natural way of being to allow that connection with others. There is no need for the loneliness and separation that you talk about.
Rachel. Wonderful blog. I to spent years putting up blocks so no one could see the real me, after being hurt in the past. It took a wonderful wife and Universal Medicine to show me it was not hard to drop those barriers, and let the real me shine through. Boy do I feel great now, and a great weight gone from my body.
Gorgeous Mike…and you certainly do ‘shine through’!
Rachel this is a beautiful blog, I don’t like writing the word ‘blog’, it doesn’t have the grace and love in it that your writing deserves to be called. Let’s try that again, Rachel this is a beautiful piece of writing and expressing what it is to return to our origins, our birth right before we protected ourselves from that which we naturally are. LOVE. Awesome simplicity that it is us that needs to make the change, not everyone else which is what we feel like when we are in protection mode — if only everyone were kinder, lovelier THEN I would come out to play. Time to ditch the protection game and play the love game, I wanna play, it’s so much more fun than the other way!
You’ve explained how we can relate to each other from love or from protection so beautifully Rachel. Those protective layers can feel so physical as well, it’s not surprising that we imagine ourselves to be separate from each other rather than all connected by love.
It’s amazing how the feelings we hold soon become like armours we wear, and worse still we do take them to battle! Yet when we are open to expressing, the feelings pass and the body is allowed to continue as it was.
I agree Amina. Thank you Rachel for another amazing blog. Deeply inspiring.
Thank you for sharing Rachel – beautiful blog. I have used coping strategies in order to feel “safe” but all they have done is to keep people out, thus closing my heart and not protecting myself at all. I am now learning to appreciate all that I am and to express more with others honestly. Then true connection follows.
Rachel thank you for writing this blog, you have simply and with great tenderness shown what happens to us when we close ourselves off to the world and start to measure who we will share our love with. There is so much in your blog to ponder on, but this sentence stood out for me, “These ‘coping strategies’ appear to protect the hurt we are feeling – however, at what cost? To deny our vulnerability locks our heart, shutting out our love and the love of others.”
This beautiful article has reminded us all to be open to true love, both for ourselves and for others. When everyone feels the deep loving connection to themselves and everyone around them there will be no more conflicts or wars. Something worth loving for.
Love it Mary and definitely something worth loving for.
I am just re-reading this blog and feeling the Truth is Rachel’s words. We can only feel the Love of others or share our Love equally once we have connected to ourselves, Then Love comes from the inside Out, Thank you again Rachel.
Feeling separate from others, nature and divinity itself is the worst pain in the world for me and learning true love and connection to all is everything for me . Thank you for sharing
Thank you Rachel for all you have written and shared, it is very touching and I can really relate to it all. It is the separation of ourselves in this world that is an illusion we all buy into and causes so much suffering individually as we do not have a relationship with ourselves first, and hence truly with others .
I am learning to love myself and from this comes an enormous love of others.
I love the closing paragraph in this blog. We so naturally want to connect with others which we see in how young children relate. It’s good to know, even though we may have felt many of life’s disappointments, that any wounds don’t have to be permanent and that we can heal to know and feel Love again.
I really love the way you express Rachel. Great revelations shared.
Dear Rachel, I love this blog because it is so true. To let the love in our hearts out and to let others in is so natural. I understand the hurts and why we protect ourselves as you have described. I also, through the support of Universal Medicine and other loving people in my life am starting to let go of the walls of protection and it feels so good.
“It is as if we live in our own personal, separate bubbles designed to preserve our individuality and keep the world at bay.” I think this is such a clear observation of how people are living today and is very obvious in a big bustling city where I live. I too have lived like this, barricades up, fed up with the hurt, just finding a way to get through life. Now, by being willing, I am pulling the barricades down and finding my life so much lighter and I am far less tired than previously.
I really enjoyed reading this article, thank you Rachel.
Thank you Rachel for this lovely article. I was really touched reading this. You explain so clearly how we separate ourselves, resulting in loneliness, in an attempt to protect ourselves and our hurts when we are actually creating more isolation and harm for ourselves and others.
Beautifully said Ruth and thank you Rachel for this amazingly insightful blog.
I feel you have the answer here to psychosis. One thing I have witnessed with this diagnosis is acute withdrawal and isolation. Dealing with our hurts seems to be the way.
Rachel a beautiful reminder that the simple choice to Let your Love out can have such a impact in our lives, that we are naturally designed to be like that, all of us all of the time. Yet we live in the complete opposite from not dealing with our undealt with hurts and creating a barrier of protection around us.
We are naturally designed to be letting love out, opening ourselves to everyone we meet and in so doing we live beyond all the hurts and angst that we fuel our false barricades with. Thank you, Natalie and Rachel.
What a beautiful blog, just shows how we play the game to not allow our love out or the love of others in. How simple it is if we just let it all be and truly share the love.
I always felt myself in life as lonely in a crowded room. The shock and joy of realising this was of my own making has been remarkable. To understand that by opening up and allowing true connection with myself and others there is no ‘alone’, has been nothing short of life changing and miraculous; every moment presenting another opportunity to express and feel the love that we all are.
This is beautiful Mathilda. I can completely relate to this ‘lonely in a crowded room’ feeling, and I know many others can too. How awesome to have felt and described the reasons why, and even more impressive to know that you have the power to change this for ever.
Rachel thank you for taking us back to the example of a baby, whose love radiates, “unmeasured and equally shared”, so that we can recognise in a very tangible way what this looks and feels like.
Yes I agree Rosanna, it’s amazing how we can be so inspired by a baby’s Love – “unmeasured and equally shared” is a wonderful observation.
Rosanna so true that reflection of a baby’s love that radiates is so powerful and confirming.
Thank you Rachel. A great reminder that we have to constantly open up to others and return to a child-like joy of living.
The words, ‘Most of us recognise that we are physically separate from other people and naturally assume we are also spiritually, psychologically and energetically separate,’ so hit the nail on the head. People are currently worrying about the effects of the energy emitted from various things e.g. mobile phones and electricity towers, as they know there is an energy field around them. Yet most are consciously ignorant of the fact that, because we are all made of energy, we too must be emitting some form of energy as well, so there is no way that we can be energetically separate from anyone in our vicinity. If you take this further, everything in existence has to be emitting some form of energy, so being in and with all this energy is the only way life on earth can be. This energy field is inescapable. Add the other invisibles, including our thoughts, psychological state of being and where we are spiritually and they too would also be affecting the energy field we have around us and, as a flow on, the energy that is around the world, because no one and nothing is separate from this energy field. That then poses the question ‘What is the quality of the overall energy each person is adding to the mix?’ I get the feeling that this is what people are shying away from realising, as it so raises the bar on personal responsibility for each and every one of us.
Thanks for this insight Judith. I realise how particular I am about personal hygiene, the extra attention I pay if I know I am going somewhere that will be hot. Some brands of deodorant make much of the embarrassment of signs of sweat. If only the sights and odour of the effect of our energy were so conspicuous maybe we would behave differently; yet as you point out at some level they are, we do feel it, as do others!
Very true Kathie.
Very true Judith, if we did stop to take note of the quality of our own energy we would recognise that more often than not, we do more harm due to the polluted quality of our energy than microwave ovens do to our food!
This is a great awareness of what you have shared here
Judith.
I agree, this is great awareness shared.
Judith this is a great sharing on how the energy we choose to live in has an impact on everyone and thing around us – even if they are on the other side of the world literally!
‘What is the quality of the overall energy each person is adding to the mix?’ Wow Judith, thats a question to remind me, every second of every day, of my responsibility not to harm. But somehow it doesn’t feel heavy and dark, I can be light and playful and let the real me shine.
It is so true that the choices we make impact our ability to be consciously present and thus more open, or dulled and less able to commit to our relationships (with all). Committing and appreciating oneself first is a great place to start. Thank you Rachel for your sharing.
I agree Stephen, truly loving and appreciating oneself allows us to truly love and appreciate others. And then we get it back from them too. Simple. Wonderful. How life is meant to be.
I am always inspired Rachel by the openness and willingness with which you express yourself. Thank You.
I totally agree with everything you have written because it is true that our connection with others is important, but it can only come from connecting to you first. Great blog.
A great article showing the protective layers we bury ourselves in so that we are no longer able to feel our own inner love and prevent others from feeling our love as well. Learning to gently unravel the suffocating layers is like letting the sun in again and allowing the reflection of the sun to shine out. Awesome.
So true Mary! It is like putting on the layers for cold weather and then the sun comes out and we unravel to enjoy the warmth. Great article and comments.
That’s lovely Mary and Lorraine and a timely reminder for me.
That’s so beautiful Mary. We have hidden ourselves away and as Simon says above, it is so sad to truly feel how strongly we have shut people out. True healing is that process of gently winding the bandages and allowing us to feel the true warmth of our Love again and let that shine out to others, to remind them of their loveliness and warmth within.
This is very true Rowena and very important also, reconnecting back to ourselves is so very important and then sharing this with others is equally important.
I agree Mary, so true that when we build these ‘protective’ walls we block out the light and warmth of our own loving nature, which needs to flow out from us. This was a beautiful article, it really moved me.
This is so beautiful Mary 🙂 let that love out
This a beautiful comment, Mary, and those that have been inspired by it. The irony and pain is that we believe we are doing something ‘good’ for ourselves when we are protecting ourselves but in truth we are harming ourselves. And the question I ask,’ in how many other ways am I harming myself, and others, when I believe I am doing good?’ The presentations of Universal Medicine and the inspiration of Serge Benhayon have been so profound in bringing about change by shining a Light on this insidious behaviour.
I completely agree Mary, there are just so many layers that we have used to protect ourselves. It perhaps explains why relationships can be hard at times because there is a returning to love that we need to do, as it was us who seperated from love and from expressing it.
I love the way you say there is a returning to love that we need to do Rhiannon – so simple and so true.
Beautiful Mary. So true!
Beautifully expressed Mary!
I was really touched by this blog, and practically reduced to tears by the fact that I have been so effective at keeping people out. It can seem like the hardest thing in the world at times, when the love can be accessed so simply by a “willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”. Thank you Rachel.
Thank you Simon you have summed up how I felt.
This is something I can relate to as I realised recently that the thing that was most painful about feeling a lack of love is that I had stopped letting my Love out. I’d stopped being openly loving with myself and others from my heart. I could feel how all of the effort to hold this back was actually what was hurting me the most. This is why this blog is so important as it reminds us that to openly Love and Be Loved is the only way to have that connection we’re seeking.
Shevon very well said and I totally agree…
We feel this connection again, first with ourselves then others, nature and the divine. You are so right, once we are able let go of the protection that guards our hearts we can live lovingly connected to all again.
A beautifully expressed blog, Rachel. I share the understanding of your words… when I feel connected to myself I can be connected to Divinity and my essential nature, which I know to be love. I know there is a oneness to life and that I am not actually separate at all as I can feel my connection to everything in my heart… gorgeous. I also know that if we shut one person out of our hearts then we shut everyone out of our hearts. We can’t pick and choose to love one and not the other even though we might try to.
I love your article. Well said, it is natural for us to want to connect to each other and unnatural to hold onto hurts that are not who we are.
Thank you Rachel for sharing this I had to reread it again as its message is so simply put it’s just lovely. The loneliness in the world and in ourselves which I can relate to so much in the past with having everything but nothing as I was missing connection to myself, and hence true connection to everyone else – and separation and isolation then is devastating and a world plague to be healed. But so amazing now to relive this connection every single day in every moment with everyone and look at why, if not, and to work on this with joy and love. Thanks to Universal Medicine, Serge Benhayon, his family and the student body.
So true Trisha. Loneliness is a world plague. And the world is desperately trying to find relief in a myriad of distractions and quick fix’s. A constant quest to look outside to not feel the misery… And yet the answer is really so simple. To connect within feel the stillness and love that is there ready and waiting.
Thank you Rachel. So true what you share. I remember feeling a deep loneliness even though I had lots of friends around me. With the support of Universal Medicine presentations I found I was missing connecting with me and therefore missing a connection with others. Great to feel whole again and realise it was there all the time.
What a lovely way to remind us of what it means to check-in with ourselves. Through the tiniest of adjustments to our lives we truly feel how connected we are to everything around us. Great article Rachael.
Just read this blog again as it is so good and says it all. Thank you, Rachel.
Great blog Rachel expressed with your warm heart I can feel. We can all relate to this without a doubt – I too am in the process of defrosting my heart and becoming more open – a scary process to begin with but becoming more beautiful the more I warm and open it up.
Rachel, as ever your own livingness shines through your words. Protection is such a biggie for us all, and if we did not react or hold ourself in this way then many, if not all, of our interactions would be very different. Universal Medicine has shown us all that there is another way to live without this hardness and hurt should we chose to try.
Beautiful Rachel, very insightful and true – so many of us hide and protect our real beauty for fear of being hurt, and so we isolate ourselves. We live protected, isolated and lonely. Slowly and gently by attending Universal Medicine workshops and engaging with Serge Benhayon and his beautiful family and colleagues, I too have been able to relinquish the armour and let my beautiful heart shine again, and as you say, just like so many others have too. Thank you.
Thank you Rachel, I can relate to everything you have written. Great reminder to be open.
Yes – very ironic! This should be published more widely so that the rest of humanity can start to consider this and ask themselves the same question. If they did, perhaps the frequency of depression diagnosis would decrease?
Yes how quickly and easily we can shut down and cut ourselves off from our essential nature – love and then everyone misses out. Rachel this writing brings so much to our notice and so simply put. Thank you.
Beauty-Full, Beauty-Full.
I too have struggled to trust my own inner feelings, developing a ‘protective’ layer that kept people out.
I am so encouraged by your words, thank you Rachel.
Thank you Rachel, so beautifully and simply said.
Lovely blog Rachel how true. It is ironic that when life hurts us, we hurt ourselves even more my shutting down to the very thing that heals us – love.
This is so simple and accessibly expressed. The journey we take from being open and in full relationship with the world as babies to fortress building and isolation as we ‘grow up’. The work of Universal Medicine shows us we can unlearn those patterns and habits that keep us locked away from our true selves and return to life in full, starting with allowing the connection to ourselves to develop. Thank you, Rachel.
Rachel your blog is great and I sat reading it today feeling how absolutely true it is. What a conundrum we create for ourselves, we cut off from others, protect ourselves and in doing that cut off from ourselves too, and everyone loses – and as you note the one thing we have infinitum is love, all we need to do is connect to it and share it, let people in. So today you reminded me and I was me around people and just allowed them to be, and it was lovely, so thank you.
Rachael I whole heartily agree that there is a oneness with all and through our connection to self we are open to this.
I’m just re-reading this article. Over the last few days I have felt myself more open to people, communicating much more and not so petrified about what I am going to say. I even made a spontaneous shopping date with a friend. I’M ENJOYING opening up more and I think others are ENJOYING me this way too.
Thank you for sharing your love, Rachel.
Thank you for reminding us of the simplicity and importance of connecting and being connected to us before anything else. I would often seek that connection with another over and above choosing that for myself. A lovely article to read and be inspired about.
From day one we are up against it, everything it appears is designed for us to shut down and put up a wall to protect the hurts. There is great truth in your blog Rachel and I love the way you write.
Yes, yes yes to every sentence. It was a joy to read something that is on one hand profound and yet is so simply explained. It is also lovely to read such wisdom presented with absolutely no arrogance.
‘It is ironic that by trying to protect ourselves we cut off from others and that this choice ultimately produces our deepest sense of separation, the separation to self.’ Wow this is so true Rachel. I have really started to notice how much I avoid love! Yes it sounds crazy to me too but I am understanding that I push love away due to my own fears when all I really need to do is let go and let love in. There is an opportunity to let love in every moment and it for us to consciously choose it.
I always feel more myself, more expanded and joyful when I let others in, it is a great reminder how much we all share, thank you Rachel.
Awesome Rachel. By reading your beautiful blog it exposes how unlovingly I live, but what you share confirms to me that I can start again by choosing to open my heart. Thank you.
Thank you Rachel very clear and beautifully expressed.
It was not until I encountered Serge Benhayon and the Teachings of the Ageless Wisdom had I realised how closed down I was and in the illusion of being open and loving. Through the presentations of Universal Medicine I have been able to let go of so much and discover far more of the true me. Thank you Rachel for expressing so beautifully the falseness of our defence strategies and how that leads to separation and pain.
I agree Jonathan, I always felt I was an open and friendly and loving person until I started to find was is really the truth, which is that most of it was created in self defense, hoping I would not be hurt. With the help and support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have come to literally realise how much more lives inside me — a great well of love to be drawn on and to express which connects me to all of humanity. Thank you Rachel for a beautifully and simply and lovingly expressed blog. A true expression of how you live your life and inspiration for us all.
Thank you Rachel for your blog. I work with over 600 staff in a bus garage and every day I find it easier to be open to everyone without holding back. It’s definitely a work in progress.
I love your blog Rachel and you really are a great writer. What you have to say makes so much sense to me.
This beautifully written blog by Rachel captures the human predicament with such simplicity and clarity. Connecting to what is deep within us is the only thing that can heal the illusion of separation that has been hurting us all for way too long.
Thank you Rachel for such a beautiful sharing, so true and all I feel also.
Wow – a deeply profound and deeply touching piece of writing – thank you. 🙂
Thank you Rachel. What you share is so true. By trying to protect ourselves we shut ourselves down to the beauty and love that is all around us and by choosing this we are robbing ourselves of the thing we crave the most – connection. I am learning that the vital first step is as you say, vulnerability. To first connect to what is you and then to others. Thank you for this inspiring blog.
Rachel what a Gorgeous piece of writing. It is so simple and clear in expressing how far away we are from where we should really be.
Beautiful, very inspiring to read.
So true Rachel – It is interesting how I have observed that I have felt my loneliest whilst I have been in a city/cities amongst hundreds of thousands of other people. What it shows me is how painful it is to be disconnected to those around me. And as you say it is about letting people in then the connection is naturally there, and the loneliness is gone!
Beautiful reflection James. Helps me realise that those feelings that are uncomfortable and I wish would go away, are in fact showing me how painful it is to live in a way that is not of my true essence. They are a point of learning.
I love the simplicity of your writing here about something so true.
Thank you Rachel. I really connected to what you shared; a reminder that it’s ok to be vulnerable.
So true A.T. and thank you Rachel for a great article.
Ahh that mismatch – of what we all do know deep inside (after all we all have been a newborn baby trusting, open, radiating immense love to all) – vs how we actually end up living as adults. This existence is so painful – many look to holidays, retirement, entertainment, power or possessions hoping that it will feel better – but it never does!
I struggled with this most of my life, until through the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom I too started to connect to a deeper part of me and understand the mismatch for what it was. Now I understand nothing outside of me can ever make any difference. And your blog beautifully expresses everything starts “from me choosing to connect to me with a willingness to let my love out and the love of others in”.
Yes Golnaz, so many do spend their adult lives looking for anything to distract themselves with, the next holiday, gadget, etc etc. In the loveliness we all have as babies nothing is needed except the honouring and expression of that, which babies naturally know how to do, and many adults spend their whole lives looking for a substitute when they forget they have this within them.
Great Golnaz and Rachel to be reminded that ‘nothing outside of me can make a difference’. It’s all my choice. Though it may come from the Ancient, it is truly a Wisdom for today and everyday.
I agree Golnaz, some of us do too much, want too much, escape too much, needing to fill that void of unexpressed love. And then, when we respond to the teachings of Ancient Wisdom and let that love out, discover that the one thing we can’t ever do – is love too much.
Well said Golnaz – you capture the mismatch so well and like you I struggled with this until meeting Universal Medicine.
Rachel I love how you link the desire for individuality to the feeling of lack of connection to others and society, the fear of being hurt and the further removal of ourselves from humanity through a hope to create self protection. It is so important to recognise these steps we have taken so we can unarm ourselves and once again feel our innate connection to our fellow brothers and sisters.
Thanks for another good post Rachel.
This beautiful article speaks to me on so many levels. From my (once) illusion of separation – established as an adolescent, and the toughness required to maintain that – through to my tender reconnection to my awesome true and inner self which reveals an unending love for humanity!
Thank you for reminding us that the true brotherhood of humankind lies within us…
Thank you Rachel. Beautifully expressed.