Ascension Flu • 6 Ways to Survive a Spiritual Flu

In the last 2-3 weeks, several of my clients, friends and I have had a spiritual flu.

For me, an oppressive force pressed my chest face down, against my bed for days. It shoved a giant needle and sucked any drop of hope I had left. Then it dragged my inner naive Pollyanna out by the hair and murdered her.

Yeah, it was violent. Our minds can be very violent... especially to ourselves.

I spoke to soulsister K about all of it. I couldn't put it into words... until seconds before we hung up. I said, "It's like I just had a spiritual flu or something." I hung up the phone and googled in.

Indeed, I was NOT crazy! It's a real, legitimate thing. It's called ascension flu.

The Mind Bowing to the Soul

The mind NEEDS a problem to fix in order to exist. If you're all fulfilled and enlightened, then the mind would be out of a job and die. No way in hell will the mind let that happen!! So when it runs out of problems, it generates problems just so that it has something to solve, so that it can "live."

The good news is: at the end of every war, there is a victor. And for every human being, on the path of illumination, the victor is the Soul.

You know you've won the war, when the ego-mind gracefully bows to the Soul. Until then, every battle will be hard AF.

Spiritual Flu Survival Skills

no. 1 • What do I know for Certain?

I gotta tell you, I was terrified for days, not knowing what was happening. At least, I knew for certain, that there was less than zero point consulting a Western doctor. I knew for certain that what I was experiencing was faaaaaar beyond the scope of Western medicine or even the physical realm.

So when in a tumble of confusion, pain and paralyzing inability to sit up and move to eat (no less move our dreams for humanity forward), make a list of "What I know for certain is...". Even if that list contains only one single item, hold on to that item like a life raft. It will drift you to safe shore eventually.

no. 2 • Talk to a Bestie

Soul sister K and I met at a year-long leadership retreat 5 years ago. Being with her is like watching myself through a mirror go through the world. And together, we've co-created this incredibly safe, loving and genuine space to share our real selves, like the as-is section of IKEA.

We laugh about the hypocrisy of the world and of ourselves. And that laughter pressed the stop button of that spiritual washing machine I was tumbling in.

no. 3 • Cultivate Community

I can sense your thoughts (trust me, I wish I couldn't, I wish that there was a cape I could put on and not feel aaaaaall your feelings and thoughts), so I know some of you don't have a soul sister K. I didn't either, at the beginning.

That leadership training cost $15,000. I'm not saying that you have to spend that kind of money to buy an intimate. You can't buy people's love and respect. What I am saying is that *I* needed to upgrade myself to the kind of person who can discern who my people are and who my people are NOT; the kind of person who can let love in; and the kind of person who can ask for love when she needs it.

I've cried months even years in an abyss of loneliness. And I know for certain it was 100.00% my responsibility to cultivate the community I needed/wanted. Sometimes intimates came to me like rain drops in a drought. But most of the time, I did the work to sift, discern, plant and cultivate intimate relationships.

I have a lot of acquaintances. I don't have many intimates. But the ones I do have are my lift raft.

no. 5 • Laughter is Carbonated Holiness

Laugh. Laughter = light heartedness. This is my latest favorite YouTube song: I'm so spiritual by soul sister Charlotte. Worth every single second of your time, I guarantee it!

no. 6 • Remember 15 Years Ago

And here's my favorite survival skill, which came to me when I was doing my monthly Google Photo backups. Google Photos shows me a slideshow of this a photo I took 1 year ago, 2 years ago, ... up to 15 years ago. To conscious pull that up and bask in how far you've come, how much you've grown and changed, it's so nourishing for the soul.

Remember, the mind can be vicious and violent against ourselves. The art of defense against that darkness is friendship, connection, and championing.