It is easy for many to assume that the mentoring work I do is a sort of life coaching. It is not.
There is an appropriate time and place for the kind of behavioral change and strategic planning favored in life coaching, cognitive behavioral therapy, and recovery programs. There are times in all our lives where we must make a concerted effort to change certain behavior or thought patterns, for our own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. There are also times when it is helpful to have a strategy and accountability in making that change.
Whereas Life coaching, cognitive behavioral therapy (without process work) and recovery programs tend to place their focus on the externals, the services, and programs I provide focus on the internals.
The work that I support clients and students in accomplishing focuses its attention and work on the internal wounds, false perceptions and conditioning that created the unhealthy thoughts and external behaviors in the first place. When we heal these wounds, the unhealthy thoughts and behaviors simply become no longer necessary. The transformational work in which I support my clients and students creates enduring, long-term healing, thereby eliminating the effort required when we are otherwise trying to change.
Here we no longer need to try because our being itself has changed.
That does not mean that the support I offer doesn’t require work. In fact, it might be the most difficult work one might accomplish in one’s life. It is for this reason that few find themselves drawn into this work and fewer remain. To stare down the barrel of our deepest wounds, past traumas, false perceptions, and patriarchal/hierarchical conditioning requires an enormous amount of courage. It then takes persistence, tenacity, discipline, and support to stay with the deep process work that liberates us from these wounds so that we can really and truly be free.
This work might be compared to the fire of a forge that releases metal of its impurities while bringing forth what is precious within. Through my support, those who do this work discover the truth of who they have always been – beautifully unique and precious in their own way, and confidently empowered to be their truest self in the world for the sake of their own fulfillment and in service to the betterment of the world.
While the work requires effort, the outcome proves to be effortless.
Lauri Ann Lumby is a trained Spiritual Director with a Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Psychology who has been mentoring individuals in their journey of self-actualization for over 25 years. Lauri further supports self-actualization as a Reiki Master Practitioner and through ancestral shamanic practices.
Lauri primarily works remotely over the phone or via ZOOM.
I am humbled and honored to have been interviewed by Dr. David Morelos for the Psychology After Dark podcast, “Secret Teachings of the Magdalene” Listen HERE.
The story of the life of Jesus Christ is one of the most quintessential in all of humanity, and is celebrated across many cultures. And yet, many argue that parts of his life are still shrouded in mystery. His complicated relationship with the enigmatic Mary Magdalene, for instance, is one such mystery. Some scholars argue that Mary Magdalene was more than just a follower of Jesus, but a spiritually realized partner who would continue to teach after his death and resurrection. What are the teachings of Mary Magdalene? How was her role in the life of Jesus Christ marginalized in history? How does an acknowledgment of a divine feminine side of the Jesus mythology change-and potentially enrich-the understanding of his teachings? Join Dr. Morelos as he interviews author and fellow transpersonal scholar Lauri Ann Lumby about the secret teachings of Mary Magdalene. This special bonus episode drops Wednesday, January 12th!!!
SPOILER ALERT: David and Lauri discuss plot lines from the The Matrix Resurrections movie in this episode! Hopefully we don’t give away too much!
YES, but not in the way many religious institutions would have us believe. While some (many) have used the Bible to manipulate the masses and to put forth their own hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) agendas, this is not how scripture proves relevant to us today. I should probably qualify that statement….if our desire is for separation, then using the Bible to put forth dogma, justify separative actions, or to sell the story of a God who wants you to be wealthy, then that is how one will use the Bible. If, however, our desire is for unity and for humanity to come together in harmony with one another, then we are required to approach scripture in a different way.
While the Bible is the inspired word of God (Truth, Love, The Divine, by whatever name you call the Source and Revelation of all that is), so too is every example of the written word.
As we become increasingly aware of the wisdom traditions and sacred writings of other cultures, we discover an abundantly flowing wellspring of wisdom. As the Western world grows increasingly disenchanted with institutional Christianity and discovers the compassionate teachings of our friends in the East or from the Native people who were here before the European invasion, the temptation is to exchange the traditions in which we were raised for these “new age ideas.” The problem is that there is nothing “new” about New Age, neither is there something unique in Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, Paganism, or Native traditions that we cannot find in our own traditions.
This is where the rich tradition of Christian contemplative practices proves helpful. (Note: there is also nothing unique to the tradition of Christian contemplative practices. Expressions of all the practices we call “Christian” can be found in the Jewish faith out of which Christianity emerged, and also within the spiritual practices of the cultures in which Judaism was immersed.)
With these practices, we can approach scripture through the lens of inquiry and as a tool through which we can discover and discern our own truth. In this way, scripture acts like a mirror, reflecting the guidance, insights, learning, comfort and healing we need in the present moment.
Whether we think of God as the Divine Source of all that is, or as a reflection of our highest self, when applying contemplative practices to scripture, “God” is providing us with what we need. It is through these contemplative practices that we come to know the God of our own understanding while at the same time coming to know ourselves. In this way, scripture can be our teacher, our source of guidance and direction, our healer, our counselor, and our comforter. St. Paul says it well in this epistle:
Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Tim 3:14-16
The above is an excerpt from my latest book, Choosing Love – Lessons and Practices for Personal and Global Transformation.
Choosing Love is a collection of fifty-two spiritual lessons and practices for personal and global transformation. These lessons and practices invite you to shake off the cloak of cultural conditioning and discover the freedom of the LOVE hidden within. Here there is no God to appease, no outside perceived authority whose approval needs to be earned, and nothing that can keep you from being and living as your most authentic self. LOVE is who you are. Choose that LOVE.
It could be said that longing is the bane of human existence, but it would be more accurate to say:
Misdirected Longing is the Bane of Human Existence
Longing is the natural consequence of choosing the human condition. Longing arises out of our false perception of separation from Source. Longing is the calling of the Soul to return to Union, drawing us home to ourselves. The destination of longing rightly directed is an embodied experience of peace, contentment, and joy. Here we feel safe and secure in all that we are and with all we are experiencing because through deep inner work, we have freed ourselves from longing by coming home to ourselves.
Misdirected longing, in contrast, provides no fulfillment because instead of turning our longing inward we have projected it outward. Misdirected longing is rooted in the belief that our longing will be satisfied by something outside of us. We believe, and have been led to believe, that the fulfillment of our longing will come when we make enough money, find the right job, achieve the next promotion, find the next true love, move to a new location, find a new home, buy that new car, etc. etc. etc. We are also told that longing will be fulfilled when we lose weight, achieve a certain dress size, find a remedy to the signs of our aging bodies, buy a new wardrobe, etc. etc. etc.
Longing projected outward will always leave us dissatisfied, unfulfilled, anxious, and insecure.
We are freed of longing when we turn that longing inward – directing it toward all the parts of ourselves that feel unloved, unacceptable, imperfect, and flawed. In freeing ourselves of longing we are also invited to direct that longing inward toward every experience of our lives that we have judged as wrong, shameful, mistaken, or misguided. Longing arises when we have forgotten that we are LOVE and that everything happening in our lives has come about for the purpose of that LOVE. Longing finds its fulfillment when we remember that LOVE – this alone is the purpose of the human experience.
Become FREE of Longing:
Mary Magdalene and the Path of Beloved Partnership Live/online course
Starting January 17, 2022
Beloved Partnership is a term that has been alternatively associated with concepts such as soulmate or twin flame. Beloved Partnership is neither of these. Beloved Partnership has nothing to do with the human pursuit of external love.
Instead, the longing for Beloved Partnership and its resulting pursuit can only be satisfied from within.
Today is the “anniversary” of the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the US Capitol. As the US Justice Department continues to investigate and hold those accountable for their actions of domestic terrorism, it seems like a good day to reflect on the two worlds in which we are living.
The First World is where I, and many of my companions, friends, clients, students, and community members are choosing (have trained ourselves) to live:
The World of Unity and Love
This world exists BEYOND the trappings of the (other) world which is rooted in fear, power, oppression, and control. The World of Unity and Love exists BEYOND the imprisonment of Capitalism and all the rules that have kept that beast alive:
Fear Power Oppression and Control
The “other” world is that which has been built on fear, power, oppression, and control. Capitalism rules that world with its rules that make rich men richer, on the backs of the working class and poor. The “other” world is defined by separation and division, creating a perception of “us vs. them.” It is only out of such a world that events like the insurrection can happen.
The World of Unity and Love co-exists with the world of division but is not of that world. Being not of the world of division, allows those choosing Love to observe the divided world through an objective lens without getting dragged into the emotional reactions typical in division. It also allows us to disengage from the ongoing conflict and chaos of the divided world. We may see it, even become angered or saddened by it, but it doesn’t have to destroy our life.
Instead, we might look with compassion on those who are choosing division because they don’t yet know how to love.
Living in the World of Unity and Love is not escapism. Instead, it is a kind of Divine activism. Here we demonstrate to the divided world that Unity and Love are possible. That compassion is a strength, and empathy is a superpower. That harmony in a diverse world is possible and that in fact, diversity can be celebrated for the beauty it brings into our world. That the drive for peace is fueled by the search for understanding and that
PEACE IS POSSIBLE.
As we reflect on the events of January 6, 2021, let us ask ourselves, which world do we really want to live in?
Click on image above to learn more and enroll.
Taking Back Our Power to Choose For the past 5000 years our world has been imprisoned by those who benefit from a people afraid. For 5000 years, we have been conditioned by institutions that manipulate and control us through fear, guilt and shame. Religious institutions, governments, corporations, banks, advertising, social media, education, health care, pharmaceutical companies and the insurance industry (to name a few) are all guilty of benefiting from a people afraid. As has always been true of feudal societies, only a few truly benefit from a culture rooted in fear. The rest are made to suffer while those who are manipulating us are getting rich at our expense.
When we stop believing in these fears by healing the conditioning that caused these fears in the first place, we are no longer vulnerable to manipulation and are free to choose love instead of fear. In choosing love, we are able to experience the peace, freedom and union spoken of by the ancients and which has been taught by the highest expression of every spiritual tradition on this planet.
It is time that we say NO MORE by taking back our power to choose by healing our wounds and transcending cultural conditioning.
Authentic Freedom empowers you to TAKE YOUR POWER BACK!
I am super excited to announce that my latest book, Choosing Love – Lessons and Practices for Personal and Global Transformation is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.
Choosing Love is a collection of fifty-two spiritual lessons and practices for personal and global transformation. These lessons and practices invite you to shake off the cloak of cultural conditioning and discover the freedom of the LOVE hidden within. Here there is no God to appease, no outside perceived authority whose approval needs to be earned, and nothing that can keep you from being and living as your most authentic self. LOVE is who you are. Choose that LOVE.
Beloved Partnership is a term that has been alternatively associated with concepts such as soulmate or twin flame. Beloved Partnership is neither of these. Beloved Partnership has nothing to do with the human pursuit of external love.
Instead, the longing for Beloved Partnership and its resulting pursuit can only be satisfied from within.
The journey of Beloved Partnership has been portrayed throughout history in legend, myth, and fairytale. The story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is one such tale – one that institutional religion would like to ignore, and which popular culture has turned into a romance. Whether Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth enjoyed a romantic partnership is immaterial to the Beloved Partnership that they both embodied within themselves.
This course explores Beloved Partnership as the process of human self-realization reflected in the embodiment of the Beloved within as it was achieved through both Mary, called Magdalene, and Jesus, called Christ.
Beloved Partnership is nothing short of the embodiment of that which some might call God.
is a Priestess of the Magdalene and the founder of both the Order of the Magdalene and the Temple of the Magdalene. Lauri has been a dedicated student of the Magdalene since first experiencing her portrayal in the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar in 1978. Lauri has since studied every scholarly work that has been made available on the Magdalene, and many works of fiction. Lauri has come to believe that Mary Magdalene was indeed Jesus’ closest disciple, possibly his wife, and that it was Mary who was ordained to continue Jesus’ mission of transforming the world from fear into love. Rejected by the patriarchy, the Magdalene influence has flourished in the mystical traditions of Christianity, though few would acknowledge this. The Magdalene has been a profound influence in Lauri’s own mission and has been the inspiration for Lauri’s writings, books, teachings and online courses all available through Authentic Freedom Academy.
Lauri Ann Lumby has her BBA in Marketing, a master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology and has certificates in Pastoral Ministry and Spiritual Direction. She is a Reiki Master in both the Usui and Karuna traditions and is an ordained interfaith minister.
From the introduction to my upcoming live course:Mary Magdalene and the Path of Beloved Partnership:
I cannot say exactly when my search began, but for as long as I can remember, I have felt (what I now know to be) the longing that fuels the search for beloved partnership. It was both a longing and a deep inner knowing of a “love” that was deep, abiding, honest, loyal, supportive, and uplifting. In hindsight, I experienced glimpses of this love during the times of silent prayer. But mostly, I was inclined to look outside of myself for that love – primarily in the search for “the one” with whom I would enjoy the fairytale “happily ever after.”
Happily Ever After eluded me, even in marriage. As my marriage was falling apart, dreams of this elusive love resurfaced, becoming more potent and urgent. I began having dreams of “the one” and visions of “him” while in prayer. This “one” took on the appearance of any number of Jesus-looking men and started showing up in movies, television, advertisements, etc. Along with “hot Jesus,” a woman cloaked in red began to make her appearance. She revealed herself as Mary, called Magdalene, who I somewhat already knew through my academic studies.
All of this was happening as I was experiencing the most profound emotional and spiritual crisis of my life. The Universe had pulled the rug out from under my feet, and I was in the throes of clinical depression and spiritual collapse. Through the help of a therapist and my spiritual director, I was brought back to the practices I had learned in my ministry training and began a deep, soul-eviscerating dive into the wounded areas of my Soul and began stitching myself back together.
As I was stitching, my marriage came to an end, and I began the search for the “one.” I continued to believe in a “love out there” that would make me happy, whole, and complete. In this I turned to the romantic ideas of Jesus and Mary Magdalene as ones who have lived and modeled the external love I imagined.
The “one” I dreamed of never came. Instead, what arose out of that search was the profound realization that the love I was seeking for “out there” could only be found within. This is the love that Jesus described as the kingdom of God and which both he and Mary Magdalene embodied in what gnostic scripture refers to as anthropos. This is the love that I have been seeking, nurturing, and cultivating since 1999 when the foundation of my life began its collapse.
As demonstrated by both Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Beloved Partnership is Union with the Divine within. In this Union, we come to know the Love that we are in Union with our Source. In this we know that there is no separation between ourselves and Source. Who and what we are, and our purpose in this life, is to be the full embodiment of the Divine who lives in and dwells through us – through our own unique giftedness and calling.
At 57, I cannot claim to have fully realized Beloved Partnership within, but I am much closer than I ever have been. With this I feel I have the experience and wisdom to share what I have learned of this journey while providing a map for those who have heard a similar calling.
Mary Magdalene and the Path of Beloved Partnership LIVE/online course begins January 17, 2022
Beloved Partnership is a term that has been alternatively associated with concepts such as soulmate or twin flame. Beloved Partnership is neither of these. Beloved Partnership has nothing to do with the human pursuit of external love.
Instead, the longing for Beloved Partnership and its resulting pursuit can only be satisfied from within.
The journey of Beloved Partnership has been portrayed throughout history in legend, myth, and fairytale. The story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is one such tale – one that institutional religion would like to ignore, and which popular culture has turned into a romance. Whether Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth enjoyed a romantic partnership is immaterial to the Beloved Partnership that they both embodied within themselves.
This course explores Beloved Partnership as the process of human self-realization reflected in the embodiment of the Beloved within as it was achieved through both Mary, called Magdalene, and Jesus, called Christ.
Beloved Partnership is nothing short of the embodiment of that which some might call God.
is a Priestess of the Magdalene and the founder of both the Order of the Magdalene and the Temple of the Magdalene. Lauri has been a dedicated student of the Magdalene since first experiencing her portrayal in the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar in 1978. Lauri has since studied every scholarly work that has been made available on the Magdalene, and many works of fiction. Lauri has come to believe that Mary Magdalene was indeed Jesus’ closest disciple, possibly his wife, and that it was Mary who was ordained to continue Jesus’ mission of transforming the world from fear into love. Rejected by the patriarchy, the Magdalene influence has flourished in the mystical traditions of Christianity, though few would acknowledge this. The Magdalene has been a profound influence in Lauri’s own mission and has been the inspiration for Lauri’s writings, books, teachings and online courses all available through Authentic Freedom Academy.
Lauri Ann Lumby has her BBA in Marketing, a master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology and has certificates in Pastoral Ministry and Spiritual Direction. She is a Reiki Master in both the Usui and Karuna traditions and is an ordained interfaith minister.
In 2016, I penned an article addressing the HUGE issue of teen suicide. At that writing, 5 of my children’s peers had died by suicide. Over the years this number jumped to more than 10 and as of this week, we are up to 15 or more!
Our Kids are NOT ALRIGHT!
In my original post (highlights below), I mentioned several contributors to suicide among teens and young adults, along with some ideas for support. Today, our world has only gotten worse. Our kids are not alright because
Our world is not alright!
More specifically,
THE UNITED STATES IS NOT ALRIGHT!
We are living in a nation that has been at war with itself over a division that increases every time we find (or someone convinces us there is) something new to fight about. The list is endless:
Politics
Vaccines
Masks
Guns
Women’s Reproductive Rights.
Gender
Sex
Orientation
Race
Add to this a dying economy, a dying republic, the death of democratic process, a dying healthcare system, a long past dead education system (by no fault of the educators), the increasing separation between the haves and the have nots and the decreasing accessibility to meaningful work with a sustainable wage, all while trying to navigate the ever-changing (and volatile) waters of a global pandemic.
No wonder our kids are anxious, panicked, and depressed!
Our kids are not alright, and if we believe they are, we’re fooling ourselves. I personally have no idea how to respond to the dying world, except to let it die and hope that something better will be coming forth out of the ash. But our kids deserve so much more than what our world has become. They also deserve more consideration than what we have been giving them. Is this the kind of world we want to leave our children? Don’t they deserve more than a nation always at war with itself and each other? Don’t they deserve what we once thought of as the “American Dream?” Can we just for this moment worry less about whether wearing masks are an infringement on our personal freedoms and more about our children and what they might need to feel safe in this very uncertain world?
Lauri Ann Lumby is the mother of two young adults who have seen too many of their peers die by suicide. Lauri is also a professional spiritual counselor to has supported those suffering loss and mentored individuals on the journey of self-actualization since 1995. Lauri can be reached directly via email: lauri@lauriannlumby.com.
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Highlights from 2016 post:
This week, another one of my daughter’s classmates committed suicide. This young woman is the fifth in a graduating class of 200-some students to commit suicide. Something here is wrong. Very wrong…..
The problem, and the reason our kids are not alright is: Our world.
Our world is a mess. Our world is a mess for all of us – and for some of us, it is just too much to bear. Let’s look at the facts:
For as long as our children have been alive, THE WORLD HAS BEEN AT WAR.
If it’s not a conflict or a war with a name, (Desert Storm, Iraqi, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, etc. etc. etc.) it is “the war on terrorism.” And the worst of all the terrorist attacks have been accomplished right here on our own soil by our own U.S. citizens. The media does not help in this regard by triggering our fears through sensationalism. As my son said, “Hundreds of people a year are shot in Chicago and no one cares, but as soon as one guy gets shot in Oshkosh, the whole world is in a state of panic.” (This also points to media and racial bias which is a topic for another blog another day.)
For our children – the world does not feel safe.
In the U.S. success is determined by external measurements like money, status, power and fame. And some of these measurements are literal – how much money you make, how many time you are Tweeted or your Facebook post gets “liked,” if you have your own reality show or not, and do you measure up to the current standards of “beauty.” For those who do not know their true selves and who have no way of knowing themselves except in comparison to others, success feels like an impossible goal – especially when they look at the TRUTH of our economic situation – which brings me to #3
Education does not mean what it used to. In the old days, a high school education was enough to prepare you for a regular job with a decent rate of pay. Then, college became the necessary gateway to a career, a paycheck and economic security. Then, a master’s degree became the gateway, then a PhD. Now….none of this really matters – and our children know this. A college degree guarantees you nothing, or as a friend of mine told her daughter, “Do what you love because there won’t be any jobs for you after college anyway.” Bleak, but true. As much as politicians are touting the economic recovery and that the “recession is over,” this is not the truth.
The world as we know it is dying. Our children know this and they know that they will be the ones who will be creating the new world. For some, this is just too overwhelming a task. Imagine, for a moment, that you are a player in the Hunger Games and the entire world (as you have known it) crumbles at your feet and you are left with the task of building the new world. While the endless possibilities and the excitement of building something new is enticing for some, for others, it is overwhelming and feels impossible and they shut down under the burden of the task.
And finally….this is the whoo whoo part…..our children are empaths. What this means is that not only are they feeling their own anxiety in the face of a world that is a mess, they are feeling EVERYONE ELSE’S anxiety. They feel the anxiety of their parents, their siblings, their classmates, their teachers, and the entire world around them. When there is a terrorist attack on the other side of the world, they feel it – maybe not consciously, but they feel it. When a weather system is moving through that will cause people anxiety, they know it – again, maybe not consciously, but they feel it. For those that don’t understand the gift of empathy and who don’t have tools for managing this gift, the emotions come out sideways – temper tantrums, disproportionate negative behavior, anxiety, depression – and you guessed it, suicide.
Which brings me full-circle. I don’t know what caused that young woman to jump off the bridge into a freezing and raging river to her death. What I do know is that her death is another wake up call for us as parents, teachers, and other adults.
Our children need our help. While we cannot change the outside world, there are things we can do to help our children, and in helping them, find help for ourselves in a messy and broken down world:
Lead them to resources to help them manage anxiety. Resources that have been proven to help manage anxiety include: meditation, mindfulness, regular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate and deep sleep, creativity exercises, being in nature, being with others in healthy community interactions.
Support them in knowing their TRUE selves. Self-knowledge increases self-esteem, confidence, and the ability to be ok with our differences in a world of great diversity.
Help them develop a different set of values. This starts with us. We need to stop valuing ourselves in terms of money, fame, status, power, and physical characteristics. What we are wearing, whose bag we are carrying and what car we are driving DOES NOT MATTER. These external measurements of “success” or “popularity” do not give us happiness. In fact, all they do is create more ANXIETY. If we want our children to be comfortable in a world that will NOT have the resources in which everyone can be a Kardashian, we have to help them find value in the internals – peace, contentment, joy, and fulfillment in knowing and exercising their gifts. We then need to give them tools for finding this inner peace which leads us back to items 1 and 2.
Support them in their dreams. Our children see and know the new world. They see a world that is free from the separation with which we have defined the world. Instead of separation, they see only oneness. They do not comprehend the separation we keep placing between ourselves and others we view as different from us. Our children do not see race, religion, sexual orientation, or even gender as barriers, they only see this as the miraculous and amazing diversity among human beings and they seek to know more and to honor these differences. Let’s get out of the way and let them do this, shall we!?
Teach them what to do with Empathy. This is where the whoo whoo community can help. Empaths are healers and those with this gift (all of our children) possess this gift because they are here to heal our dying world so that a healthier and happy world can emerge. Our children need to know what to do with these feelings and how to stop taking responsibility for everyone else’s pain. Interestingly, this also brings us back to items 1 and 2.
While we cannot change the world, we can change the world in which we are living and the journey starts within. Let us join together to help our children, and in helping our children, helping ourselves so that we can survive in a world in the midst of change and through our children’s dreams, help to support the birth of a new and better world. Then perhaps these children would not have died in vain.
Authentic Freedom Academy provides empowerment training for those who want to change their world, which starts by changing the world within.
Lauri Ann Lumby 