transformational practices

The Devil at Your Door

The Irish are correct in their habit of holding good news loosely and for being always alert to the shoe that’s sure to drop. That shoe always drops, and good news is often followed by bad. It seems to be the law of the universe. This law has even been given a name – an Irish name at that: Murphy’s Law.

This universal law is also rooted in an often-forgotten spiritual reality.

When we are actively pursuing our spiritual growth and development, there will always be a “devil” knocking on our door. There is truth in the religious saying that “a quiet mind is the devil’s playground,” but not in the way that the religious warn, and definitely not in the way they often prohibit spiritual practices for “fear of the devil.” The devil who is knocking at our door is none other than ourselves – our ego attachments, false perceptions, unhealed wounds, non-loving conditioning, habitual behaviors, fears, and our attachment to the status quo.

Spiritual growth leads to change. The “devil” hates change.

Instead, the “devil” wants us to stay where we are. “He” wants us to remain small and imprisoned by our habits, our attachment to approval, our wounds, and our victimhood. The devil wants us to stay chained to the bars of the cell in which we are living that has been created by our past.

Our Soul, on the other hand, wants us to be FREE.

The Soul drives us to pursue opportunities for healing and growth. The Soul leads us toward the resources and tools we need to transform the pain of our past and to break free of it so we can know our original nature of LOVE and live out of that LOVE. The Soul guides us to those who will help us in this healing and drops gifts into our laps that will assist us along the way.

Every time we say YES to our Soul, the “devil” comes knocking at our door.

The devil shows up with all the weapons of our past wounding. In his arsenal are all the words, experiences, and thoughts that are sure to trigger our past pain and cast us into the hell of confusion, doubt, fear, depression, anxiety, panic, and self-loathing. Self-doubt is the devil’s best work. And yet, there is a gift in this. The devil doesn’t come to cause harm, he comes for the purpose of asking us,

“Are you really sure you want to take this step toward your liberation?”

He then continues with reminders: “Aren’t you really comfortable where you are? Isn’t the known far better than taking the risk toward something you don’t yet know? Aren’t you getting attention and other benefits from staying small? What about the relationships that might have to end because they are solely dependent on you obeying the rules, keeping the peace, and maintaining the status quo? Won’t you miss that familiar pain and self-loathing? Why would you give all that up for the small chance that things could be better? …. And so on….

I have found that many, if not most, give into the devil’s pleadings. They forsake the opportunity for spiritual growth because a) they’re afraid, b) because they don’t have the tools or resources to recognize the true designs of the devil and then do something about it. Freedom from the devil is possible – but only when we have the proper tools to meet him where he is at.

The devil is at home in our fears and unhealed wounds.

When we do the deep inner work of healing and transforming these wounds, the devil no longer has a place to live within us so he moves on in search of others he might torment.

What tools do you have for when the devil comes knocking on your door?

Authentic Freedom is a protocol and practice developed by Lauri Ann Lumby which supports you in identifying and then healing the fears that have kept you imprisoned by your past wounding and cultural conditioning.

Through recorded lessons, reading, discussion, mindfulness and creativity practices, you will be given the tools to identify, heal and transform the fears that:

There is not enough.
You are insignificant and have nothing of value to offer the world.
You cannot live as our most authentic selves.
You are not loved (or that love has to be earned or can be taken away).
You are not free to express our truth.
You do not know the truth.
You are alone.

At the end of this course, you will have the tools to support you in the continued liberation from your fears and the conditioning that has placed them there.

Learn more and register HERE

Authentic Freedom, by Lauri Ann Lumby, transcends centuries of dogma to reveal the powerful and life-changing message at the heart of Jesus’ teachings and the universal truths at the core of every religion. The book’s unique approach offers an opportunity for the reader to heal the separation they feel within themselves, with God and with each other, ultimately revealing the truth of Oneness. Built upon the compelling integration of Eastern Energy Medicine and the 2000-year-old tradition of Christian, contemplative spiritual practices, Authentic Freedom revels a Dynamic and unifying path of spiritual transformation that speaks to people of all traditions and beliefs.

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toward enduring recovery

Psycho/spiritual transformation: the process by which one identifies, heals, and is freed of the wounds, false-perceptions, traumas, and societal conditioning that prevent them from living a joyful and contented life.

Behavioral Modification: using effort to change one’s behavior, thoughts, or beliefs. Behavioral modification might include: therapeutic treatment, addiction and recovery programs, affirmations, and positive self-talk.

Whereas there is a value to and an appropriate time for employing behavioral modification for the eradication of non-loving behaviors towards oneself and others, unless these programs employ additional techniques for healing and eliminating the wounds that created these behaviors in the first place, recovery will always prove effortful.

Transformational practices, on the other hand, get at the core of our non-loving behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs by providing effective tools for identifying, healing, and transforming these wounds. Transformation creates the environment in which non-loving behaviors prove no longer necessary. With attention and over time, it is found that refraining from these non-loving behaviors no longer requires effort because through transformational practices, we have literally been changed from the inside out.

The transformational approach understands non-loving behaviors (what some might call sin) to be symptoms of something deeper out of alignment with our original nature. When we approach non-loving behaviors as symptoms rather judging them as wrong, sinful, or as a character flaw, our recovery hastens because we are no longer suffering the judgment (from self or others) that would otherwise impede our healing. Like “gold that is tested in fire,” transformational work burns away that which is preventing us from being our most magnificent self – shining with joy, and content in the life we’ve created for ourselves.