Likely most of us have experienced a moment when our veil of reality was broken open for a moment, or the veil was lifted and we saw, felt, or experienced something that took us beyond our ordinary perception. It may have been the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a crisis or dark night of the soul, a sunset or sunrise, communion with nature or a mystical experience.

These moments are often experienced as touching the soul, our own soul, the soul of life, the soul of another, or having an experience of a mystery in which we are living and having our being. We can never comprehend the mystery in its fullness, yet in those moments in which we glimpse further, new worlds are revealed.

The move towards a more secular world never had to be anti-soul and yet it has become so. The predominant worldviews that have been gaining traction over the last century – capitalistic, reductive and technocratic have been turned towards their negative polarity and have therefore sucked the soul out of the secular.

As we relate to each other through machines, the kind of connections we experience, with ourselves and others are dimmed. We experience something like a simulation of what we may have experienced before we gave so much power to the devices we now see the world through, and in doing so – to those controlling how they are used.

And yet, as corporatised as much of our world has become, we are still, or at least still have the possibility, to be human. To forge a real connection, to put ourselves on the line for what we believe in and to have the courage to disrupt our own status quo in pursuit of something more beautiful and soulful.

During my 15-year experiment working in mostly large, complex organisations, I shared the table with a wide variety of humans. As conversations opened, I found that most had a soulful story to share. I heard C-suite executives share stories of being touched by angels at difficult moments in their lives, I heard of near-death experiences, creative epiphanies, hearing guiding voices within, mystical awakenings, following intuition, and life-changing, mind and heart-altering love affairs.

Mostly, when one person shared a soulful story, it opened a space for others to share what was meaningful to them.

I met leaders who far from practising commodified mindfulness, approached a meditation practice with sacred respect – and let the energy and insight from their meditative practice permeate their decisions, conversations, and actions. I also met those who were almost ashamed of sharing this private sacred moment, who kept it on a shelf, for fear it would disrupt their carefully crafted pragmatic image and their identity and financial stability.

Perhaps the most positive action we can take in a world moving rapidly towards technocracy with systems that are crumbling, is to make room for the soul. To use soulful experiences to inform the rest of our lives, the way we think, relate and act, rather than shelve them in a corner of our consciousness.

I remember my first time consciously practising meditation. I was around 13 years of age, and I made my way into the back garden of my childhood home, instruction manual in hand. I’d been reading a book that mainly focussed on visualisation, channelling the body’s life force energy and the breath. I spent about 10-15 minutes practising with the guidance of the book. I remember the sun’s rays on my face, my eyes closed. I remember an experience of a heaviness lifting away from me, uplifting, clear energy flowing through my body and mind. A moment of stillness and blissful silence. A moment that changed the fabric of my mental, emotional, and physical being. A moment of being completely aligned with my soul, and with the soul of the world.

The lifting of a veil, to see or experience a reality larger than that which our mind has been narrowed to perceive can be healing, life-changing, and world-transforming.

I am convinced more than ever that we are at or even beyond a crossroads. As individuals, we chose whether to preserve our soul, build on the soulful experiences of our lives, or be co-opted by a worldview and forces which seek to commodify everything – including the human being.

At The Academy, we invite those who are committed to living as their true selves to let go of internalised limitations and blossom into more of their potential. It has been designed as a refuge, a sacred space, a space of ongoing support and growth – a place that blends ageless wisdom and leading-edge methodologies in personal and systemic transformation and invites and supports you in your unique experimentation and application of these. I would love to see you there.

And if you have a soulful story you would like to share – I’d love to listen in a private message.

Much love,

Alison