rarely sit down and say, “I'm here. I'm listening. What do you want?” In Writing Down Your Soul, I share what can happen when you step out of conscious mind for a few moments and give the extraordinary Voice room to speak. Now, here in The Lotus and the Lily, you will use deep soul writing and many other delightful spiritual practices to give your wild soul all the room it needs to create a truly beautiful and abundant life.
There are thirty experiences, one each day. The first twenty-eight are divided into four week-long explorations:
Week 1: Prepare—step into your natural spiritual power, set your intention, and create your own ritual and prayer
Week 2: Look Back—uncover all the gifts in the life you've created to date
Week 3: Create Space—make room for the new by releasing and forgiving the old
Week 4: Look Forward—identify what you want in alignment with your soul's desires
After twenty-eight days of rich exploration, you will spend Day 29 setting up your Soul Day. And then, on Day 30, you will give yourself something precious—a day alone with your soul. On this day, you will clarify your all-important conditions. Then, with your conditions in hand, you will make a highly charged and deeply personal Intention Mandala. The mandala, as you are about to learn, not only holds everything you want, but it also spins out into the universe to draw it all to you.
The mandala sounds exciting, and it is, but don't jump ahead. There is a reason the days progress the way they do. They build gently one upon the other until you know you are ready for your Soul Day. Without the twenty-eight days of preparation, you could create a life, but it might not be the life you really want.
The Structure of Each Day
The Lotus and the Lily process is deep, but it is not work. The soul does not work. At the soul level, life is divine play. Approach the content of the day from the vantage point of soul play, and you'll discover that even the deepest exploration can be a source of delight. Each day begins with a page or two about the day's subject, then invites you to play in the following ways:
Reflect. Big questions crack you open and allow big information to flow in. Ponder these questions before you dive into your deep soul writing.
Write. Each day has a sample deep-soul-writing prompt to stimulate your imagination. Take any parts that speak to you, but allow your own conversation to come through your hands, onto the page.
Explore. Pick and choose any activities that call to you, or create your own.
Nourish. This short, powerful, soul-nourishing statement holds the essence of the day. Savor it aloud. Feel its wisdom enter your being. Write each statement on a card or in your journal, and watch what happens as these jewels accumulate.
Want More? If you want more, dive into any of the books and resources listed for additional information.
Paradox Alerts
As you walk through the Lotus and the Lily, you'll stumble upon the occasional “Paradox Alert.” In his book Psychology and Alchemy, Carl Jung said, “Only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life.” You'll discover many paradoxes in your own deep soul explorations. When you find one, stop and look inside yourself. Capture all your divine puzzles. Mull them over. They hold clues to the miracle of life.
Your Journal
You will do lots of deep soul writing, so get a journal in which to capture your “Nourish” statements and “Paradox Alerts” and all kinds of other insights and surprises. Perhaps you'd like to write under the wise, loving eyes of the owl on the cover of My Soul Pages, the companion journal to Writing Down Your Soul. Whatever journal you choose, dedicate it to this exploration. Almost everyone who goes through the Lotus and the Lily repeats the process and makes a new mandala the following year. Just imagine how exciting it will be to look back at several mandalas and journals and watch how your soul has created life over the years.
Deep Soul Writing
If you've read Writing Down Your Soul, you know that deep soul writing is not journaling. It is a unique but easy writing process that moves you quickly out of high-stress beta brain waves into slower, calmer theta brain waves. It is in theta that we have access to true creativity, breakthrough thinking, and divine guidance.
Three things happen when you write at the soul level: You exit the conscious mind. You get in touch with your authentic self, your soul. And you connect with and activate the divine Voice of wisdom within.
There are seven simple steps to transforming your writing practice and get into the theta brain-wave state:
1 Set your intention to connect with your divine Voice.
2 Address the Voice by name. If you have a special name, as many deep soul writers do, use that. If not, simply write, “Dear Voice.”
3 Write by hand. It's possible to get into theta while writing on the computer, but looking at a screen pulls most of us back into our conscious mind. If you can, write with a pen so you feel the presence of the Voice in your hand.
4 Activate all five senses:Vision is automatically engaged.The parts of your brain responsible for hearing are firing even if you write in total silence, but if you want to add sound, you can play sacred chants, the Theta Music CD (available at my website), or anything else that appeals to you.Touch is automatically engaged.Activate the sense of smell with essential oils, flowers, candles—anything that feels right.Drink pure water after you write to bring your wisdom and insights into your body at the cellular level.
5 Ask lots of open-ended questions. In Writing Down Your Soul, there is extensive information on questions that work and questions that don't.
6 Write fast without editing or judging.
7 Be grateful. Say thank you, because you were heard.
One of the amazing discoveries of deep soul writing is that the more time we spend in theta while writing, the more easily we slip into theta throughout the day. A particularly rich opportunity to experience a natural state of theta is during the semidrowsy moments before you are fully awake. Lie still on the pillow and notice what's happening inside. You can also slip into theta while meditating, praying, driving, walking, and taking a shower—a.k.a., the phone booth to God. (Don't laugh. I get so much information in the shower, I had to find waterproof paper.) For more information on deep soul writing and theta, please visit janetconner.com.
Foundational Truths
I'm not your teacher. I don't have your answers. My saying this may surprise you, but think about it—how could I, when I don't know your soul's purpose? It's possible that the very thing you are wrestling with—and trying so hard to make go away—is exactly what you're here to unravel. So I don't have your answers, and I don't think anyone else does either.
What I do have are powerful processes that help you activate your own innate spiritual intelligence, communicate at the soul level, and find the answers only you can find. Those are the answers that will change your life.
So who are your teachers? Well, for starters, they are you, your soul, and life itself. And then there are our master teachers, the Buddha
