Introduction:
Last Saturday I was a facilitator at the day retreat at the Soul Wellness Centre in Halifax. A day where all sorts of holistic practitioners meet and offer their services to dozens of visitors. The place was packed with interesting and loving people from so many backgrounds. When walking into the center, you are greeted by some small stands selling items like crystals or plant medicines. A smell of lovely nutritious food and incense lingered in the air. Someone was standing on the little stage in the downstairs cafe space, talking about mushrooms and the power of plant medicine. When I entered the space, I grabbed myself a healthy avocado on toast and a glass of light tea, just taking in the hustle and bustle of the scene for a moment. I drove about 2 hours, and I'm still a little soft-headed from all the driving. I slowly eased into the space, and my energy synchronized with the people, finally meeting my good old friend James. Meanwhile, the owner of the space was with his girlfriend together. James and I were there already for the second time, already having made a few sessions together and for the day retreat. I always look forward to going back there because there is just nothing like this. After meeting all familiar faces and wandering around the space for a while, it was time to set up the LiBa space, the sacred womb space downstairs.
The Sacred Woomb
The room just held ten mats with all the lights and equipment. I placed all the bits and burned some sage to give the space a warm energetic note. After testing all the lights and getting my Bluetooth speakers going, which every time is a new experience, I will never get used to them, I think, but well, they do the job and are small enough to fit into my event boxes as well as deliver great sound. Still doing my final touches on the setup, I heard a knock on the door. What brings us to the first interaction with someone embarking on the light journey. She was in the second of three groups but was a little concerned about how the light would impact her. That brings us to the first person I want to write about because she brought a few concerns that are absolutely normal and need to be addressed:
Meditating with flashing lights sounds unnatural.
Very intrigued and filled with a lot of anticipation, she was conflicted. It felt unnatural for her to relax under flashing lights. She couldn't wrap her head around how someone should get any relaxation out of lying there and just getting flashing light blasted in the face. Fair point if you've never experienced it before.
Our stress responses are closely connected with certain brainwave frequencies, particularly the high beta waves, a frequency between 18-28 Hz we enter when we are highly active, the frequency range we are in when we are in a state of fight or flight. Not the healthiest state to be in, but we humans spend a lot of time in this state in our modern world. When we wake up in the morning, we start our day usually in a deeply relaxed alpha state, and as we slowly start to wake up, we enter a low beta state. It's when we open our phone and start reading first messages and go through social media that we usually enter the high beta state for the first time in the day. Due to our lifestyle, we usually stay in high beta for most of the day. In comparison to a lifestyle a monk in a monastery would have, he goes through different phases in the day, with a quiet breakfast and entering hard labor or training in the morning, followed by prayer and quiet time over lunch. The afternoon spends with everyday tasks like cleaning and prepping for the upcoming day, and spending a quiet evening in solitude while reading or studying. The modern western human just keep going for the whole day. We have all these things we need to sort and follow deadlines and have to answer on dozens of platforms while maintaining a picture of freedom and self-fulfillment. When it's finally time to relax and unwind, we spend the time in front of the TV watching news or just doom scrolling through the toxic exemplification of the perfect life we'll never have. So where does the LiBa light fit into that? Where do you actually need that light piece that apparently makes you just more activated with its flashing lights?
The key lies in the frequency and our ability to synchronize to outer stimuli. The same way we go in sync with negative frequencies, we also can do that with beneficial frequency. That is what the LiBa light can give. It suppresses high beta and allows the user to unwind and let go of "normal" thought patterns. Experiencing new connections made in the brain is a truly fascinating thing, and there is not much else that can give you that in such a blissful way and with such an immediate impact. Light is the most natural thing. Light is the material we are coming from and we return to when we leave that layer of existence. Light has the power to make us awake and activated. It builds everything we see. When there is no light, then there is only void and blackness. So it makes our reality literally visible. It breaks apart and makes all the color we see. So even colors are a specific frequency of light. Where a low frequency results in a color red and the high frequency gives us blue.
When white light flashes, our brains start building a brand new reality behind our closed eyes. We go through a colorful vibrant world and tunnel vision filled with kaleidoscopic patterns. We start dreaming and go places with our mind that we only can do in our imagination. So as wild and weird as it might sound to relax under flashing lights, it, in my eyes, is the purest form of relaxation and going back to the center of the self. I can understand the insecurity it can give and the fear of entering the altered state is also very justified. The fear of losing control or the ability to react. Often, these fears are rooted at the very base of the problem. Our constant feeling of being available and tangible makes the thought of just leaving everything behind for a few minutes and potentially entering a space of the unknown in a world where we google everything before we even make ourselves on the way might feel scary and need some courage to move forward with it. So I am aware of that, and I always feel honored for all the trust participants in the events give me, and I'm taking the task seriously to offer a space to do that.
The Psychonaut:
That is the complete opposite. Some people walk into the room, and they are absolutely free of any concerns; they can just jump straight into the experience without questioning anything. As long as it brings them into another state whatsoever they are in. Some of them might have had an experience with another light or visited a LiBa event sometime in the past. They lay down with their own cushion and blanket. They don't care if there is one provided; they exactly know what they need, and that's what they bring with them and also would never use what's provided because they know that they won't be cold with their own blanket. They are the seasoned travelers of their minds. My introduction is basically a waste of time and just holds them back from experiencing something they are just waiting for. They can lay down during the experience with wide relieving body posture. They breathe loud, spread arms open and smile and cry without judging. They are literally in the moment and have the greatest time and are just in for the ride. Funny enough, I found these people not very open when it's about sharing their experience. They just sit with it and do not feel the itch to let everyone know. They come, get what they want, and leave the space thankful.
The Analyst:
Knowing everything and trusting nothing is the analyst's toolbox. Just accepting that the light can do wonders is not an option. The analyst wants to know every little bit and analyzes every crumb of information. I try to provide as much information as possible to please the analyst but also try to steer that curious mind into a world of discovery. Some experiences need to be lived through to get the information the analyst so craves. Entering the space of light and exploring and finding answers to the questions is often more fruitful than knowing everything beforehand. Trust is key in this situation, and delivering the facts without taking anything of the magic is the artistry here. I invite the analyst to just discover and give them the tools to navigate that unknown space. I have an analytical mind myself and especially after a period of technical work I go under the light and analyzing everything. Of course, I want to see if the changes we made to the LiBa light firmware code have any effects or if they need further tweaking. An analytic mind never travels far because it is still processing what is right here and now. To get the full experience under the light, one needs the capability to just let go and observe. Some things are hard to describe and get the head around it. Some things just are what they are, and the analytic mind can't accept that and keeps asking. It's hard to bring someone like that into the necessary space to experience the bliss. With the suitable set and setting and gaining the trust as well as having the facts in place, a light facilitator can offer that person the space he requires, but it's hard nevertheless.
A No is a No:
We all might be intrigued by something, and when we get closer, realize that we actually are not ready or simply don't want it. That is okay and absolutely normal and our right to do. It's okay to change your mind at any time within the process of entering the space until you leave. Exposing yourself to flashing lights and entering an altered state of consciousness is not for everyone, and only the ones who find joy in that practice should do it. Taking offense or being afraid to offend the facilitator from the participant's point of view should be out of the window. I found the light in my life when I was ready for it, and it never left me again. Some might need multiple attempts or need to hear it from friends and family they trust in order to give it a go. The LiBa light is a tool that should bring joy and emotional growth. If that is not given or someone does not see themselves getting that out of the practice, then it's better if they do not go ahead with it. I don't have any pride in forcing someone or pushing it into the practice at all. It often happened that people come across the technology and need to see first multiple email campaigns and videos and want all their questions answered in an email until they place an order. Just to receive it and not being brave enough to just test and explore. We all build the boundaries around us, and we have free choice how far we take the boundaries around us. Some of us just don't allow themselves to give more space. We sit in that box that we find very cozy and safe, and everything else from the outside puts that at risk. So entering a new practice feels scary. It's okay to be in this position and simply say no and not going on that journey. The only thing I can do in this situation is to debunk some concerns and leave the decision to that individual.
Some final thoughts:
After many years of working in that field, I'm still amazed at how different people approach the light. Always when I thought that I get the fundamentals and have the toolset for the next group, I'm realizing that the learned stuff does not fully apply to that group or customer. We are all different, and we not only experience the light in a unique way, we also approach it in our very individual manner. We stand in our way and question everything or simply jump into the cold water. It's unfair that the person who approaches it in a careful way also prevents itself from having the full immersive experience, and the ones who jump head-first in are bathed in beauty and bliss. All I can do is to be there for everyone and let all people to be themselves and provide a loving environment for everyone.
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