I know when I feel anxious, challenged or I feel I have lost sense of the deep inner trust that everything will be okay, I tend to launch into ‘spiritual tourism’ and buy a spray, a crystal, an oil, and my goodness is there a bounty of new-age wellness stuff that can be purchased now. It feels like a quick fix for my soul. Which it is not. It’s just a little trap, where we can tell ourselves because it’s linked in some way to spirituality and that it makes it an okay purchase. And I know I am not alone as I talk to students about this all the time, who lurch into the same situation; where we don’t want to be as materialistic YET seem to have found a loophole with a new yoga mat spray, newly published tarot cards, face oil with CBD oil in it, incense holder, archangel essence, the list is miles long…
If you feel gripped by this also, what I would recommend doing is asking yourself, what are you really looking for? For me when I peel back all the layers, it’s simply a sense of connection to myself. I can find that in my meditation sitting, doing yoga, walking in the park. I can find that by reading one of my beautiful books. I can listen to some of my teacher’s lectures. I can find that connection by getting off social media for a moment, and just sitting still, quietly, calmly and observing what’s actually going on in my mind, my body, and my breath.
Once settled, and a few days later if I then still really feel drawn to invest in whatever thing I desired, I am doing it from a much different state. Most of the time the desire falls away anyway. The need to own something is usually replaced by the thirst to learn something, discover, to absorb, that was funneled accidentally into ‘buy this object’ as a bandaid for feeling a bit off.
Written with love,
Jac x