By Julie Day

​Awakening is only half of the process that the Earth ride affords.

There are brilliant awakened ones out there. To me, they feel like outer space and draw you up, up, up into your upper chakras. Blissy. Tingly. 

Embodiment is the longer, rougher road....

The embodied ones have earth in their bellies and wisdom in their smiles. They feel like safe harbors and you want to share a meal with them.

Then there are those who have walked both roads. Those that are Awakened AND Embodied beings. 

Those are the rare birds. Those are the PRACTICAL MYSTICS.

They have traveled well that cosmic space, they have touched divinity, they have remembered their true nature.... and you will find that they transmit it through simply (and fully) being present with you.

They freely share about the dirt on their own feet... the anger, the sadness they have known, and let you in on their own unique recipe of working with it.

They get that the human-ness is holy...

Having spent so long thinking otherwise. Having felt the pain of trying to get "beyond it, over it, out of it." Having traveled so high and far in consciousness, only to come home... to right here.

The righteousness of anger.

The sacredness of sadness.

They are the bringers of the new earth... Heaven right here in each and every earthy step we take.
God AS the human-ness.

I see that there is a new spirituality birthing itself, one that seeks to express and experience both. No longer content with one or the other. Ready for this next step.

It's so exciting to see this. And... it's not for the faint of heart.

It has taken all this time for us to be ready for such an endeavor. All paths have brought us here... each exquisite teacher has prepared us for such a pursuit.

And, here we are.

I feel, truly, like I was born for these times ;) <3

You, too?

Let's do this.

#practicalmystics #practicalmysticism #areyouapracticalmystic

By Julie Day
​
The Alignment Process

Most of you reading this newsletter are in the alignment process.

What is that? How is that different from the awakening process? I want to flush that out here, according to my perspective, as it might help you better understand where you find yourself and why :) 

The awakening process is usually a condensed life chapter. We have an epiphany, an a-ha moment, where we get that we are more than this human suit, there is something greater than us that is as us. Suddenly, the whole egoic driver to go, to produce, to get, all based on what the outer world tells us will create success or happiness, that falls to the wayside, and we begin to co-create from the inside out.

The alignment process, as I've come to understand it, is the journey that takes place after the awakening process. The alignment process takes us from being primarily aligned with our ego body, to being primarily aligned with our Higher Self. This is no small feat! Most of us have had a whopping 20+ years of limiting patterns and false beliefs ingrained deeply into our being. 

This is where those uphill climbs come from, after we've awakened, after we've devoted ourselves to a spiritual practice. They seem to be so contradictory! Why is this happening now? I'm doing the work, I'm showing up, I'm meditating, etc, etc.... Why am I still calling in crappy relationships? How is it that I still am struggling to pay the bills? It can feel like a cosmic joke. Why am I doing all this work if this is the result? 

However, we are not being punished. It's quite the opposite! We have entered into a very sacred process that is taking us from a 3D form of egoic alignment, into something way higher (and more joyful!), and with the capacity to be of greater service to our world. 

Our Higher Self will bring us curriculum after curriculum to show us where we are aligned with and creating from our woundings, our limiting patterns, our false beliefs, and offers us countless opportunities to unwind, heal, and re-align with our authentic, Higher Self. 

This is how I can so confidently tell people, you're not failing!! You're not behind!! You're in the alignment process. This pain you are feeling is based in something that is not in alignment with your higher self, AND, this pain is showing you the misalignment in order for you to know something greater, truer and more authentically YOU!

My alignment process was rife with "learning opportunities" disguised as shitty relationships ;-) But, sure enough, that's how I learned! I wanted love and conscious partnership so deeply, that I would always show up for "class." My Higher Self knew exactly the ways to get me to learn, to unwind the old, and to step into the new. And thankfully, my human kept choosing to show up and do the work. 

And so, I say to you...whatever challenge you are facing, whatever hill you are climbing, is so utterly perfect for your alignment process. You are not failing! You have shown up for class.

Now, let's start asking those bigger questions: what's here FOR you? What is this moment showing you? How is this moment custom-designed to show you what's no longer true for you, and instead, what is the truest version of you? And, how can you support yourself in this process? 

There are two "best practices" that I find to be essential in the alignment process. 

1.) Find your tribe. Seriously. 

Your tribe, your conscious community will hold you in your darker moments, and accelerate your learnings. They will amplify your authentic self, helping you to see it, and supporting you in BEing it. I find, time and time again, that there is exponential power in being seen and held by another. When that number goes from one person, to ten ... cowabunga! If you are ready to feel supported while simultaneously accelerating your process, go find your TRIBE! 

2.) Identify your Authentic Voice.

Take on any spiritual practice that helps you discern between the egoic voice, and your more authentic voice. Meditation is brilliant for this, as is time in nature, following your highest resonance, or physical practices like chi-gong or tai kwon do. If the alignment process is all about moving from ego to authentic self, the more you are able to discern, and be guided from that authentic place, the more graceful will be your process. 

My whole practice is built around supporting people with this alignment process. If you vibe with me, I have a Spiritual Community for you to check out and join, as well as either classes or private sessions to help you hear and be guided by that authentic voice. I'll give you those links in a moment. 

I want to emphasize how important those two "best practices" are on the path. They are ESSENTIAL. If you are in significant pain or challenge right now, or if you feel that your process is dragging on and on in endless cycles, I am curious if one of those ingredients is missing, and if so, I urge you to establish those practices in your life asap. You will not believe how rapidly the shifts you are looking for will come, and how much more supported you will feel. 

The Spiritual Community I cruise director, Practical Mystics' Playground, is waiting for YOU to join us! We have a whole team of teachers and we post daily, conscious content. We want you there! Click here to find us. 

If you are ready for deeper support, please reach out for some 1-on-1 time with me. 

To your alignment!
Julie 

​

By Julie Day 
​
1.) Wake up. 2.) Align. 3.) Fly.  

I want to have a conversation with you today about the Process of Alignment.

If you have said YES to living your life on the edge of consciousness, you will, undoubtedly, move through a SIGNIFICANT period of alignment. It is different than the awakening process, and deserves to be talked about.

What does the Process of Alignment look/feel like? 

It looks like being awake and aware... doing your practice, choosing to be a good soul in this world, contributing in good ways to others... and still not being able to "take flight" in some way, shape, or form. The degree of wakefulness you are experiencing does not seem to make sense on the ground. Why am I not flying? I have these giant, beautiful wings?!?!?

It will feel, at times, almost tortuous: 

Why am I still struggling with money?  
Why can't I call in meaningful partnership? 
Why can't I gain traction in my career? 
Why am I still struggling with this health crisis? 

And then sometimes it will feel devastating: 

I am doing everything as I am guided!! How could I call in someone betraying me like this, again?? 
I'm doing such good in this world! How am I unable to pay my rent... again? 
I want to give in such big ways!! Why did I get knocked down by this health crisis... again?!?

This particular set-up can induce deep rage, or deep shame... depending on which way your ego likes to go. 

This is the Process of Alignment. It is not here to torture you. Yes, others who have chosen the less awakened path do not seem to struggle with this. Yes, it might seem incredibly unfair, or confusing, or even cruel.

But it is not. It is none of those things. It is FOR YOU, not against you. It is FOR your highest, most blissful, authentic YOU life expression. 

The Process of Alignment is here to roto-rooter your wounded ego-body until you are cleared out enough for take off at maximum velocity. The Process of Alignment is to burn away every false and limiting belief, every old paradigm box, every thing that is not fit for your most expansive journey, your highest path. The Process of Alignment is to bring you to the absolute core of your most authentic self... not 98% or 99%, but 100% authenticity. The Process of Alignment is to teach you to turn, again and again, to your Higher Self/God-Self, and to learn how to act from this very high space at faster and faster increments. 

And because you are on the edge of consciousness, you have said YES to this process. Why? Because who you are in an aligned state will heal our world, will shift our planet, will rock the cosmos in ways that your not-yet-aligned self can only dream of. And your Higher Self knows it is worth the wait, and worth the journey. You wouldn't have it any. other. way. 

So, my love... fall to your knees. Rage against God (God can take it). Cry your heart out. Question EVERYTHING. 

Be in your Process of Alignment. Trust the process (or don't). Let the river of Life carry you. 

And with each burned away layer, you will feel freer, and freer, and lighter and lighter... until lift-off happens. And the flight of your fully aligned self will feel like exactly what you've always known it would feel like~ peaceful, homey, true, miraculous, FULL, sparkling, expansive, gleeful, YES~ all of that, and more.  

I'm not saying this is an end point to your journey. Once you are in flight, you will have the weather to deal with :) But you will be aligned, and you will be flying in the way you KNOW you are here to do. 

Hang in there. It's worth it. (You already know this).

Light to wherever you are in your process, 
Julie 

By Julie Day
​
Desires: Hold them, softly. 

A year and a half ago, my partner and I were trapped in a trigger cycle that left us both feeling that our potent partnership had turned into a minefield. We couldn't seem to get unstuck, and we were both exhausted. 

I loved this man so much, I loved our partnership so much... it was everything I had desired in relationship and more. And so I took this precious thing, and I held it tighter and tighter in my hands. I fought for counseling sessions, I fought for battling our way through... and although I honored the part of me that was willing to work hard, another part had gotten a hold of it, and it was my fear of losing him. 

Clutching it so tightly only suffocated it, and eventually we agreed to take a break. I was devastated. Life had wrenched from my hand the very thing I held so sacred. But that wasn't true. Life was FOR my most treasured desire being truly and deeply realized... and it had finally gotten me to let go, to surrender, to follow the highest path.

And that path, although filled with grief and doubt, also became filled with so much light. Unbeknownst to me, it was actually the fastest path to our reunion, it was the fastest path to our healing and the real experience of this manifested desire known as spiritual partnership. 

We circled back three months later, and quickly saw that time and space had healed those inner places that mental gymnastics never could. We were better versions of ourselves, and we were infinitely better as a partnership.... and it has only gotten better and deeper since then. Through this experience, I saw so intimately how Life is always holding us and loving us, if only we allow it. 

Nothing on this Earth can thrive if tightly clutched. Not you, not a tree, and not your desires. 

Your desires are children of the Universe. They are ideas of the Divine that seek expression through and as your life. They are not yours to have and own, they are yours to experience and express. And whether that desire is for a relationship, a job, or a million dollars, the birth of your desire into manifested form is a divine appointment. Can you allow that to unfold in perfect timing? Can you trust that Life will bring you each step you need to take, when you need to take it?  

This desire you hold so dear is not a mistake, nor is it frivolous thinking... true soul desires originate in the One Mind of the Divine... the all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present Divine Source Energy. They are holy, sacred impulses of creation, and they are part of how the Divine Itself wishes to experience Life through YOU.

So, it's ok to hold it softly, in fact, that's optimal! Trust each wave that washes over you... from the wave that says take a break, to the wave that says dive back in.  Let the Divine dance through you, allow Life to bring your manifested desire to your doorstep. You don't have to control it, you don't have to "get it right." This is a perfect process. You are safe to trust. You are safe to let go. 

To your softly held and divinely appointed desires, 
Julie 

By Julie Day
​
Let your Human-ness be Holy.

I just returned from an incredibly dense and layered experience, and I would love to share a bit of that with you today. 

My Father has been diagnosed with a progressive disease. My Brother and I have had to make quick decisions to enact the level of care for him that is currently required, as well as anticipating and preparing for what's to come. That alone is a big enough task to move through.

However, this past week, I traveled all the way out to the Olympic Peninsula to organize and pack my Dad's home, sending it off to Florida... all in 4 days! As I entered his home and prepared for the task before me, I was hit with a wave of... density (no better word for it). Oh crap, how do I do this? How do I feel what I'm feeling and do what I am here to do? How do I decide what goes and what gets discarded or given away? How do I navigate this... doing the best possible organizing job for my Dad while simultaneously dealing with all the feels surfacing from a very complex and complicated history together?

What I learned is this: you let yourself be human, and you let that human-ness be holy.

I felt waves of sadness that left me sobbing in the bathroom. I felt anger over the wounding our human mash-up created. I felt love... a deep down buried love that I didn't know was still there for my Dad. I felt pride, seeing my Dad through the eyes of a mature adult Julie, seeing how beautifully he managed and governed his life. And, after years and years of healing from the pain I experienced as a child... I felt a surprising amount of gratitude that I got to have this crazy, wounded, imperfect, quirky, caring guy as my Dad. 

The result? The whole experience was downright holy to me. It might not have seemed that way from the outside looking in: I ate french fries, I drank wine, I got irritated, I didn't sleep much, meditate, or exercise (at all, ha!)... and yet it was just as holy and sacred as the most high-vibing spiritual retreat I have ever experienced. I had no bandwidth to judge myself, or hold myself to any egoic standard of how I should or shouldn't conduct myself, I just followed and allowed. I trusted the process. I let myself be human, and I let the human-ness be holy. 

There was something to allowing all those emotions and experiences to be felt consciously, authentically, and with gusto, that allowed for something transcendent to take place. 

I'm sure there are many layers of this that will continue to teach me and work on me, but this one, the holiness of the human-ness... it's a lifelong teaching that continues to awe me with it's richness and gifts. And it makes sense, right? I feel like that's why we're here. I'm here to experience this thing called Life as Julie, in all her colors. To deny that, on any level, is to deny the Divine idea that brought me forth into this Earth experience. The more I surrender to this and allow this to happen authentically, the more I feel a merging and unity with the Divine. The holiness never comes by by-passing, escaping, jumping out of or around to.. it comes be being and allowing who we are in every moment. Ahhhhhh~ yessssss. Can you feel that to be true for you, too? Just do you, authentically and consciously. Does that take a weight off your shoulders? 

I realize this level of authentic allowing is not as easy as it sounds. Our egos can really get in the way with shoulds, shamings, or spiritual by-passings. Ironically, it takes a high degree of trust and understanding of who we are (personally and spiritually) to let yourself be intentionally messy, unclear, and human.  

Thank you for allowing me to share in this with you! 

Deep bows to your most holy human, 
Julie 

In moments of inner struggle, conceptualize the highest truth related to the subject you are able and focus all of your attention on it.

Often, in times of inner turmoil we place our focus on altering or distracting ourselves from the unpleasant emotion itself. Unfortunately, the experience is the effect of a prior cause and not the root cause of the experience itself.

​The root cause is a thought or concept we are holding as truth in our inner world that is discordant or a catalyst or seed for suffering.

By shifting your mind's focus to a higher truth you essentially lure your human to focus on a thought that generates a much more positive experience.

Happy humaning!

Marco

By Julie Day

​Shame~ let's let that go. 

In the last month, there's been a potent conversation ignited in our community, and it's around shame. Someone very vulnerably shared about her body shame, and in a matter of hours, dozens of comments followed suit, sharing their own intense experience with shame. 

Blech! Shame is the absolute lowest frequency one can experience. It's lower than depression, lower than grief. It's crippling, debilitating... AND THERE'S NOT AN OUNCE OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH IN IT! It's a lie, an egoic fabrication that can take us away from giving our highest in any given moment. And yet, this is an all-too-common experience... even for those of us knee-deep on the spiritual path. What gives? 

I've experienced tons of shame around my own sense of power. Who I am is too much, it's too big... hide it away, be humble, don't you dare let that out, it's egotistical. Especially in relationships, I felt that as soon as I allowed myself to "be big" I would over-step, and I would lose the love or respect of my partner. 

YEARS of healing later, and I am now in a partnership that CELEBRATES my big-ness, that encourages it, that starts to go off the rails unless I am being true to my most authentic self... and that's often big, loud, goofy, powerful me. There ain't no room for shame in that game! 

My partner, Marco, is a big being himself ;) However, he was raised in a strict, fundamentalist family, where his entire human existence was seen as sinful... a disgusting, imperfect, sinful human being. That's a ton of shame to unwind for anyone, let alone someone who is here to be big... but unwind it he did.

How'd he do that?

In his own journey, what has been most helpful for him in unwinding shame, has been to create a solid "Super Structure" in which to test these limiting beliefs. Super Structure is Marco's term for a belief matrix... "what is God, what is existence, who am I within this, what is really true?" The more solid this Super Structure, the more aligned with high truth it became, the more quickly shame crumbled, and revealed itself as the lie that it was and is.  

Here's how shame shakes down in his Super Structure:   

• Spirit/God NEVER shames, it is completely a creation of our Ego/Human.
• Shame is a reflection of the concepts we hold in our inner world (what we expect ourselves to be or do in order to meet our inner definition of good or even lovable)
• it's our Ego's defender/enforcer, the voice of our Inner Critic.
• Shame does very little to curb our behavior and much to cause us to shrink and doubt ourselves.
• Shame is reliant on unconscious assumptions on our part - for instance: assuming that we are meant to be "perfect" or that existence is designed in a way that would allow a mistake or imperfection on our part to completely derail and destroy our chance at our highest existence, etc...
• Shame is a choice.

Yesterday, Marco did a whole video for us on the topic of shame over on our community page. You can find us here. 

If you would like powerful support in building out your own super structure that can bust the ego's limiting beliefs, whether that be around shame, lack, limitation, and beyond... please check out Marco's Accelerated Coaching Sessions. 

Accelerated Coaching Sessions

With Love, 
Julie 

The machine of existence is powered, in part, by our intentionalized expectations.

​We don’t get what we ask for, we don’t get what we want, we aren’t even guaranteed to get what we work tirelessly for - we get what we expect.

Nestled deep inside our human’s Ego structure is an anticipatory fear of how much it will hurt if we really let ourselves desire something…and it doesn’t manifest. Understandable as this fear is, its existence in our inner worlds has an incredibly limiting effect.

If your objective is to continually find and follow your highest you will invariably find yourself needing to overcome this challenge. So why not start now?

Are there areas you are currently keeping yourself from truly desiring something because you fear it would hurt too much if it didn’t happen?

God doesn’t elbow angels and say “watch this, I love it when they REALLY let themselves want something and then I don’t give it to them…” If you believe that your prime calling is to ceaselessly pursue the highest expression of the individual you incarnated to be then you must also believe that your highest, most deeply rooted and sacred desires were given to you as part of that expression.

That was a really long sentence without a lot of punctuation that boils down to this: you have been given your deepest desires to have them fulfilled.

Manifestation is a co-creative partnership between us and the Universe (if you don’t believe me try and control every single detail of your life and let me know how it works out lol). Implied in that partnership is our need to trust that our partner will come through for us - especially on the big things.

So where are you holding out from yourself? And what would happen if you allowed yourself to truly desire partnership where you are met on a soul level? Or a way to support yourself financialy that was truly fulfilling and enjoyable? Or…?

- Marco

by Marco Nunez
​
The super-intensity of the full moon has kept things quieter than normal this past week on The Playground. We have found that things flow more easily and turn out much better than planned when we follow the movements of God/Spirit/Source/The Universe, and the promptings this week were certainly for more space and support and less teaching and engagement.

Following the promptings or movements of Spirit is a tricky wave to surf, and when you add in our own internally-generated impulses or desires it can become a confusing morass quickly. This week, I want to share a two-part humaning hack that Julie and I love to use to ensure we are making a consistent habit of following our highest resonance AND the movements of Spirit.

It is actually a fusion of two concepts you are likely already familiar with - the first being to “follow you highest resonance” at any given moment, and the second being “go where the energy is.” Together, these two concepts form a valuable Master Key that will help you avoid the traps within our humans that can pull us our of sync with the Universe.

At some point in my growth process I became aware of my human’s ability to generate a feeling of excitement in my Emotional Body about something that felt like, but wasn’t actually my highest resonance. For instance: as a Virgo with a Sag rising, sharing higher knowledge and insights with others in support of their growth is one of the highest, most fulfilling experiences for me. Before I learned to allocate it to its proper place, my Ego would intercept that pure impulse rooted in my Highest Self and tweak its frequency, transmuting it from a pure desire for a particular experience into a sticky, need-based desire like being acknowledged as a “teacher.”

The moment I begin intentionalizing or acting based on a desire now rooted in the dimension of my Being where the Ego Body exists I remove myself from the flows of Spirit which cannot and do not reach into the artificial past/future realms where the Ego must reside to “exist”.

This is where “go where the energy is” comes in.

Every moment, the Universe is unfolding its highest plan for our lives and the impulses we are acting on either are, or are not in alignment with what is unfolding. When our actions are in alignment, we experience flow and ease of Being, regardless of our present circumstances. When they are not in alignment, we experience struggle and frustration. Both of these provide valuable information.

Prior to learning this hack, I would blame myself for any lack of enthusiasm or excitement I felt for various tasks or projects and I would ignore promptings to do things that didn’t match my definition of my “highest resonance.” What I came to learn, however, was that what I was experiencing was actually a prompt to tell me that the Universe/my Higher Self knew there was something more important for me to do at that moment. Even if that something is sleeping…or laughing!

“Wait, but life isn’t always easy or perfect, how do I know I’m not just running from a challenge I am supposed to overcome?” Great question, fictitious writer’s cheat - you follow your highest resonance in those moments - see how it comes full circle again?!

Here is how it looks in practice:

Step 1 - Scan your Inner World - between your physical body, emotional body and Spirit/Soul, what is your highest resonance?

We might be incredibly excited about creating the website for our new project or business but after yesterday’s 18-hour day our highest resonance in the moment may be to rest the body and get sleep.

In another instance, we may be desperately in need of rest but tending to the newborn baby or relative in the hospital might be a much higher priority at the moment.

Step 2 - envision taking whatever action you have uncovered as your highest resonance in Step 1 and pay close attention to the response generated in your Inner World.

Was it excitement? Was it dread?

Did it feel light and energetic or heavy and draining?

Whatever comes up is a critical indicator of whether or not your intended action is in alignment with what the Universe has identified as your highest.

In the previous website example, you may feel tremendous excitement about working on your website but find that when you go to work on it, there is an absence of creative energy. If your creativity was a space the Universe wished to flow through in that moment, It would - regardless of how tired you were. In this case, the absence of creative energy is a reflection of your body’s absence of energy and a call to prioritize rest over creation.

In the next example we saw the opposite, where the body was tired but the “energy” of that moment was directed towards something other than rest. Either way we see how combining an awareness of our highest resonance, and observing whether or not their is energy behind that taking action on that resonance, allows us to remain in a flow state even IF what we identify as our highest resonance isn’t in alignment with the current workings of Spirit.

If you have questions or would like to discuss these concepts more hop on over to The Playground! It is a beautiful community of souls who are striving to express the Spiritual in every moment of their humanness and we love sharing our experiences around concepts like these. Join us!