Being Unstoppable….Together: Why Community Matters
This past April, after a year spent living on the Big Island, I decided I was ready for my next “mission update” (aka, my next home). I’d been asking my guides for clear signs about my next move; I didn’t care where it was, or how it happened, I simply asked “just put me where I can be of the most service to myself, to my community, and to this planet”. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to find my next place on Craigslist…I had the feeling that I was just going to have to trust on this one and the right place would come up at the right time. I tend to like having security and a “plan,” so this was a stretch for me. But, my growth lessons typically take me right out of my comfort zone and plop me smack dab into trust and surrender. This lesson was no exception.
I kept the faith, and in my moments of fear and insecurity I just went back into my toolbox; prayer, meditation, visualization, consciously dreaming up the best vision for myself, staying open, being flexible, reaching out to my community, and surrendering. Despite all my work, I was admittedly getting a little impatient with my guides…my tone changed from “I trust you completely” to “Okay I trust you completely but like it’s almost May and could you PLEASE give me some clear guidance soon? Like I’m REALLY curious about where I get to live. REALLY CURIOUS.” I think they heard me, because the next day I had a phone call with Jummee.
She and I met in a women’s empowerment community and were having one of our weekly connection calls. Before our conversation, I kept seeing these big open windows in my meditation, and right before we talked I received a little intuitive nudge that I was going to live with her. “Huh…that’s interesting,” I thought. A little startled by the sudden insight, I decided to say nothing of it, release my expectations, and just trust the process.
While we were catching up, Jummee asked me what I’d been up to. I told her about my focus on manifesting a new living situation. I told her that I had some options, and that I just knew I had to trust that the perfect place would present itself to me in the right time. We connected for about an hour and a half, and at the end of the conversation she asked me, “so where are you planning on living next?” I told her that I had options but no clear decision yet, and that I was just waiting on clear guidance to take my next step. Then, without me even mentioning my intuitive nudge, she asked me if I’d be interested in coming to Santa Monica to stay with her for a few months and help her with some content writing for the launch of her new “yoga of play”; JUMMEE Method®.
TRUST THE PROCESS! She showed me her house on FaceTime and I recognized the windows that I saw in my meditation! Confirmation number one. It seemed like a perfect fit; an excellent opportunity to support a sister, be of service to a community, and play yoga? Um…count me in!
The service I’ve been giving has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far. When your acts of service are given to a purpose and cause that is aligned with your vision, the work becomes play. It becomes effortless to give, and every day you wake up excited to go to work. The tools you learn, practice, and grow are invaluable. You begin to sink into a deep trust that your selfless service is rewarding you dividends, both tangibly and intangibly.
One of the most rewarding gifts I’ve received through my service is seeing the power of community to transform people’s lives for the better. Every week we host Wisdom Wednesday here at Carmelina Sanctuary, and every week we get the opportunity to serve up a healthy heaping dose of breath, sound, movement, stillness and a delicious heart opening cacao elixir (because we all know chocolate is the best medicine). It’s been a joy to co-create this container of service every week. It acts as an anchor for me, a consistent place where I know I can give back; to myself, to the community, to the planet. Every week is different, and every week is perfect. The constellation of who shows up changes, but the connection I feel while we’re facilitating stays the same.
One of my favorite things is getting to hear stories from our community members about their experience. This opportunity to share, connect, and listen helps me feel the ripple effects of just a simple action. This feedback makes me feel like I have a super power; it makes me feel like I really can help change the world. Two of our community members shared their experiences with us, and it left Jummee and I in the deepest gratitude and most profound motivation to keep doing what we’re doing.
Here’s what they said:
“As someone who considers himself to be generally grounded and spiritual, my recent move across the country and the adjustments that came with it has gradually thrown my mental balance off and I found myself growing more and more impatient and frustrated with the demanding new outside world in which I found myself. My inner machine was operating, but I was losing touch of the processes happening under the surface and rarely took a moment to check in on what’s going on inside. Word of mouth brought me to Jummee’s group practice, and immediately I knew I found a special group of people seeking the same things that I was.
We spent the evening going through a variety of exercises – breathing, moving, sitting, laying down, making weird faces, stretching, focusing – all following Jummee’s wise and quirky guidance. It was fun, it was tough, it was funny and it was profound. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was truly bonding with myself and others around me. … The evening ended with a relaxing sound bath and we all went outside to drink cacao and chat by the bonfire.
The next day I already noticed a change in my attitude towards myself and the world around me. Jummee’s method really challenges you to go inside and explore the relationship between your physical and emotional bodies. I took the exercises and new perspective from that night and carried it with me in the next days and weeks. It was amazing what this practice did for me in such little time, and I’ve gone back three more times since. Each time peeling one more layer of discomfort and learning to be more loving, relaxed open and authentic. I’d recommend Jummee’s practice to anyone who wants to get to know themselves on a deeper level, challenge themselves to open up and be expressive and have lots of fun with the process itself! I am so grateful to have become a part of this community.”
– Ofer Zmora
“Full Spectrum Retreat’s Wisdom Wednesday has become a crucial element in my journey to find balance and a higher degree of love, self love, and peace in my day-to-day life. Jummee and her team provide beautiful space and a guided meditation, which is incredibly heart opening and encourages profound reflection.
When I first started working with Jummee, I had just moved across the country and was experiencing waves of doubt and self-criticism, building walls of protection that only hindered my growth and separated me from the people I was meeting. After undergoing so much change, I was quick to try to control things in my life, rather than going with the flow and accepting things as they are. I felt boxed in and I needed to let go of whatever was holding me back from feeling free.
The JUMMEE Method has been truly powerful. It combines variations of meditation, sound healing and breath work in a candle-lit space with hints of relaxing aromatherapy. Every week I feel more relaxed, in tune with myself, confident with myself, happy, and most importantly OPEN. Open to give and receive love; open to change: open to accept what comes my way.
I can’t express enough how grateful I am for Full Spectrum Retreat. For the heart opening and all the silliness. Highly recommend this to anyone and everyone who is holding onto something, anything, a little too tight.”
–Sarah Balter
If you’re reading this and crave this kind of community connection, let me speak to your heart and remind you that it’s right here. If you’re in the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area, come connect with us. We’d love to share this container of heart healing connection with you. If you’re not local, I hope to inspire you to seek out a community that uplifts, inspires, and nourishes you, and I pray that you find one or have found one. If you want to widen your community, feel free to play along with us through our social media pages; facebook.com/JUMMEEmethod and facebook.com/fullspectrumretreat.
In my own experience, community has provided me with more than I could have ever created alone. It has lifted me up, given me homes, jobs, friends, and family. It’s given me new experiences, new love, renewed purpose, inspired vision, restored hope, and boosted confidence. It’s reminded me that I’m not alone… which to me feels like how I imagine a magical superhero might feel; unstoppable.
So let’s be unstoppable…together.
