WORLDS WITHIN with Anna Varga

Being at peace with not knowing came to represent something very powerful to me: faith.We cannot know how life will unfold, or when or why, but we can find ways of trusting in the unknowing, and in that trusting I have found we receive a special kind of access to working with the subtle forces that are at play in our life.Being at peace with not knowing, having faith, is a very powerful place to be, and it's the place I invite you into in the book.In this episode I read to you chapter one of my book 'Everything I Do Not Know', as well as the prologue which offers a little insight into my 'why'.I want to add a content warning to this episode as I do talk about suicide and share a personal experience of suicidal behaviour in this podcast.Shop the book here.If this is a difficult time for you, or this episode prompts you to seek support and you are in Australia please phone Beyond Blue on Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.Internationally check here for resources. Visit my website.

The spiritual world is FULL of different labels that seek to define who or what people believe in.All the jargon can be a little confusing, and perhaps not very helpful in dissolving the boundaries that exist between us so we can find mutual understanding and respect.It can also feel scary to 'claim' spiritual vocabulary for ourself. It's as if we think we need to reach a certain level of holiness before we could identify as belonging to a particular group.Over the years, I've come to identify most comfortably with mystic spirituality, which is not really a group at all, but instead a way of seeing the world.A mystic is not bound by the dogma or doctrine (unquestioned truths and rules) of any particular religion, they are informed by the teachings and practices of teachers throughout the ages, but live a spiritual life that is guided by their own personal connection to the divine.In this episode we explore what mystic spirituality is and how it might be a useful lens through which we can more freely explore our spiritual life.The modern mystics I refer to in this episode are Richard Rohr and Mirabai Starr. I recommend both their newsletters as potent sources of wisdom and insight.

How do we access intuition? Mystics have long spoken about a veil that exists between the physical world and the spiritual world. Beyond the veil is where we access intuition and commune with the unseen. So how do we cross that threshold? What is the thinning of the veil?In this episode, we explore:What are duality and non-duality?'Oneing": Merging with the divineThe thinning of the veil around menstruationQuestions to draw us into the place beyond the veilEchoes in the Yoga Sutra of PatanjaliHow can we know what an intuitive "yes" and "no" feel like in our body?What is dowsing?How to dowse and whyThe limitations of dowsingA real-life example of using dowsing.The questions I pose to lead us towards the subtle realm are:When are you most relaxed in yourself?When are you most relaxed in your spirit? There’s a different flavour here, perhaps of deeper intimacy.When is it that your mind is most quiet?When you find yourself in this state, drop right into it. Let yourself immerse fully into that place beyond the veil, the place where time slows.Pose yourself a question. It could be. "What do I need to know today?"Continue to  soften your edges and quiet your inner voice, what is the deeper truth that comes to the fore?In this episode I mention Julian of Norwich a 14th century who you can read more about in this book.If you'd like to learn more about living a cycle-aligned life, enrol in my online course CYCLICAL BEING.Visit website.