The Role of Courage
In asking Spirit for guidance on this article, what topic comes naturally to me, and what would be the most helpful to share, I received the answer of courage. Taking risks is not just something that lights me up — it’s my way of playing out my relationship with faith on this earthly plane. Calculated risk waters down the potential to leap when everything else says not to. When you do, I’ve found that what is on the other side is by Divine design.
I built the first halotherapy business in Louisville when there were only around 50 in the U.S. Most people I shared this idea with before it was completed either laughed or couldn’t even conceptualize such a thing. That’s a tip about sharing your ideas when they’re in their infancy; they often are meant for you alone. Shortly after, one was built in Bowling Green; four years later, a salt room opened in New Albany, and now there are over 3,000 in the U.S.
It’s similar to breathwork. I love being a pioneer in my craft. This doesn’t come without challenge; half of my role is as an educator. The other time is spent learning. I think that’s why I enjoy it so much; I am a lifelong learner and yet have a knack for sharing information. Breathwork is a significant trend now in the wellness world, focusing on everything from vagal nerve stimulation to altered states comparable to psychedelic psychotherapy.
In November, I spent a workshop in Vancouver with Caroline Myss where she shared with us the path from our third energy center to our fourth, with the grace of fortitude. I suggest reading Anatomy of the Spirit if you haven’t — it covers all of this in great detail.
The purpose is to get really comfortable knowing what causes us to harm others and where we use our wounding as currency. The third power center is where we hold our storytelling about our lives. This is where our wounds reside. If we look closely at why we hang on to these wounded stories, we might see that they give us some power, a manipulative reason to be loved.
What it comes down to is truth-telling. We aren’t being honest with ourselves when we’re living and acting from our woundedness. Courage is required to reach the part of ourselves we cover up with our cravings and addictions. The first step of deepening our intuition is recognizing that there are things we will hurt others over to be comfortable.
When we operate from our wounds, we manipulate to keep ourselves in a higher power dynamic. That’s a rough space to excavate. Taking responsibility for our part is the first path to complete healing. When you heal, I heal.
Fortitude is necessary to bridge this understanding. To find forgiveness in the self for wrongdoing is where mercy lies. Our fourth center is the bridge to the heavenly realms. In the Bible, Jesus told a man at the pool of Bethesda to pick up his mat and walk. The role of this message is that despite what others might see or the laws that are created, healing is immediately available when we trust in God.
I use courage to live out the day-to-day choices of doing what is in line with truth versus what is easy. This requires a dedicated commitment to discernment through daily meditation, breathwork, coaching, and movement. Faith has allowed me to heal deeply by drawing on Spirit and expressing vulnerability in safe places. When living in this alignment, the unexplainable can occur. It is the grace of fortitude that causes the ripple in the Universe.
‘One profound act of forgiveness will redo a chart completely.’ — Caroline Myss
