“Living in the Heart of the Universe” – Book Review

“Living in the Heart of the Universe” – Book Review

Over the past 14 years, my shamanic training and exploration has carried me along two simultaneous and complimentary paths. One of these paths has been journeying to the Upper and Lower spirit worlds for wisdom and healing power. These journeys are where the  compassionate healing spirits hear our requests of them and give us help us out of their love and compassion for us and their desire to alleviate pain and suffering in the world. As shamanic practitioners, we listen to the spirits and assist them in their healing work. The second path has been developing my sensitivity and connection with the spirit in all things – the trees, plants, and animals, the rocks, the rivers, the mountaintops, the air, the sun and moon and Mother Earth. I think of the first path as “going there” and the second path as “being here.”

In her book Living in the Heart of the Universe: Expanding your relationship with earth and the cosmos, author Meg Beeler offers a third path, or entry point, into the world of spiritual connection.

She simply calls it “energy,” but it is much more. As she states in her introduction, “When you observe the congruence of energy, spirit, and nature, worlds open; your heart connection with the heart of the universe opens.”

Living in the Heart of the Universe takes us through a process of exploration, supported by personal energy practices, to broaden and shift our perception of the world into one of “living energy” in which everything – including us – is interconnected and alive. Drawing on her observation and learnings from the Q’ero people of the high Andes, Ms. Beeler teaches us that among these indigenous people, “letting go of what weighs you down – hunger, worry over a sick child, a bitterly cold winter, a heavy heart – is as normal as breathing. The joy and laughter people exude is palpable and omnipresent: their habit of filling with lighter energy – cleansing winds from the mountaintops, a brilliant night sky, the companionship of other villagers – continually shifts their perception.” She writes, “The Q’ero and other Quechua-speaking people I met could have perceived their lives with deep sorrow…. Yet they maintained their presence and joy.”

This book is a treasure trove of practices and understandings from many sources, adapted to our modern, western world. They help us shift, like the Andean peoples, from our “pain-body” to our “joy-body” on a daily basis and live in deep and natural connection with the living energy of the world. For me personally, this is a new and refreshing approach – to work purely with energy – to shift habits, release pain, and enter into deep spiritual connection with the universe.

Meg Beeler is a shamanic teacher, Energy Alchemy expert, and founder of Earth Caretakers. She translates ancient wisdom into simple practices for connecting with the powers of nature and the universe. Located in the San Francisco Bay area, find her at www.megbeeler.com