It’s Not What it looks Like: My Zen Experience at Whole Foods

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Long before James Allen wrote the book, “As a Man Thinketh,” in the King James Bible Proverbs 23:7 states, ”As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he...” Although I was raised Christian, it wasn’t until I was recently faced with an unpleasant experience that I got the significance of the meaning of this verse.

 

On Saturday, March 29^th, 2014, I went to Whole Foods Market in Potrero Hill in SF to eat organic salad, like I often do after working late with clients. The store, located in the hub of some of the top technology companies, is one of my favorites. I was so happy to go there because I could use a gift card given to me from a previous time when I was dissatisfied with the rough fish I'd consumed from the salad bar. After purchasing the salad from the salad bar using the card, I still had to pay $1.39 cents because the food cost a little more than what was on the card. I took the food downstairs and I really enjoyed it. I was happy. I departed the store and as I was walking to my car in the garage, a plainclothes security guard approached me. He identified himself by showing his badge and told me to accompany him back into the store. I had no idea what this encounter was about so I asked him to please explain what was going on. He told me that it was about the food that I got that I didn't pay for. He continued to escort me to the rear corner of the store up the stairs into a dark room, which I perceived to be an interrogation room. He calmly asked me if I had the receipt and I couldn't find it, but I still had the gift card so I showed him the gift card and explained that I had paid for the food with the card and some change. He told me that I was banned from the store. He then asked me to tell him who the cashier was and I described her and told him that he could verify with her. He said he had to talk with the manager, who came into the room and said that he didn't recognize that card. I kept telling him that he needed to talk with the cashier and the plainclothes security guard went back out to talk with the manager. Moments later he came back in and told me that the manager was letting me go. I told him that this was not about him or his manager, but about "me" because I had created this experience for my own growth and it was an opportunity for me to step into who I want to be. “I know what I know,” I told him, "Thank you for playing out your role in this physical experience for my growth and evolvement." He was a little perplexed, but directed me to the entrance of the store.  

Call it synchronicity or coincidence, but, the day before this happened, I had just read a book by Jamillah Shabazz, “It’s Not What it looks Like: Your Challenges are Your Gifts.” The book provides a look at the life challenges we face and how and why they are brought to us. Rather than becoming a victim, we rejoice in self-empowerment. As I have also been following Ester Hicks (Abraham), author of “The Law of Attraction” and practicing hypnotherapy, I understand the workings of the subconscious mind, which provided me with an extra buffer from external perception. I began to reflect inwardly on this experience, feeling my body flood with anxiety. I thought about the uncomfortable feeling and the many times I’ve been falsely accused of something. Several years ago, the same thing happened in another convenience store, but as I look back on my life, it has been an energetic pattern (to be falsely accused of something) since junior high school and college when a professor mistakenly declared that I had not taken a final exam and was about to give me a failing grade. My mind continued to reflect on other times at work and other relationships. I know now that I must break this pattern by choosing to do something different or the pattern will continue and the gift will get bigger the next time. I’m beginning to look at things from a soul perspective and not from the more limited lens of the personality. I know what I know, and I'm not a victim. I'm happy to open up the gift in the present moment, to look at the energetic patterns I have been creating in my life without blaming someone else. It's time for me to take responsibility for what I‘ve been creating.

This defining moment was an emotional turning point in my life when the light was finally turned on and I began to see the truth without pointing a finger at another. Suddenly, I felt compassion for all the innocent convicts and the people who are falsely accused but don’t have a voice to express themselves. Yet, in looking at myself, I realized how sometimes I didn't feel worthy, didn't stand up for myself, and avoided confrontation. Now the universe brought me a situation that allowed me the opportunity to "know what I know." I am worthy. I stand up for myself and I can confront others in a peaceful and noncombative way, standing my ground and firmly stating my position. By using my voice and honoring myself in the process I'm assisting myself and others to evolve.

Since I’m an African American woman, some have viewed this incident as “racial profiling,” however; self-realization is a key factor if civilization is to evolve to a higher awareness. Yes, it may look like racial profiling, but if we are creating everything in our lives with our thoughts, Whole Foods and their employees involved with this have nothing to do with the way I'm feeling. Furthermore, I don't know what their store policy is around security measures or why they have adopted it to be the way that it is and without seeing the other side, I prefer to look at myself and find out why I've created it. It's much more self-empowering. It is my intention, however, by sharing how I feel about how I was treated by a couple of employees, will help them look at treating others who are falsely accused and judged with much more respect.

Whether by applying the law of attraction or staying in the zone of love, when we rise above our challenges by perceiving them as profound opportunities to grow and evolve into our highest potential, there is a shift in energy. Perceiving from the viewpoint that we created them and understanding that the hurt and pain that derive from adversities are our indicators of the gift we are receiving allows us to neutralize old patterns that limit us from stepping into our greatness. In an interview on Inner Light Radio, Sophia Stewart (the writer of the Matrix and Terminator), eluded to the fact that “Nothing appears as it is.”  In the search for truth, one has to look very deeply as what appears on the surface is never the truth. On the top of the entrance to the Egyptian Mystery schools was the saying, "Man Know Thyself." If we all know that we are Divine Intelligence, pure positive energy, infinite and immortal, why is it so difficult for us to align with the higher part of our being? This is where all the power is to heal anything in the physical.

I will most likely continue to shop and eat at Whole Foods Market in Potrero Hill, enjoy an organic salad from the salad bar and only think on the wonderful experiences that I’ve encountered there including the time when a customer service representative so graciously gave me a gift card to change my dining experience and a cashier flashed a contagious smile that made my day brighter. I realize that the only way to create positive change in moving humanity forward in the Age of Aquarius is through a heart connection that aligns us all as one. It begins with each of us. Once this occurs, we will be able to live harmoniously with more joy and peace and without judgement, blame, shame and guilt.


Wanda Whitaker is a visionary artist, holistic coach, and certified hypnotherapist and author/illustrator of "Angels and Spirit Guides Activity and Coloring Book" for ages 5+.

 

Soul to Soul Communication

When I was seven years old riding in the back seat of my father’s Plymouth, I would look out the window into the cars stopped at the same stop light and look into the eyes of the passengers. I was looking to connect with their souls. I knew then at a very young age that the body was the same as the car, a vehicle that the soul travels in to get from one state of being to another. Each time I deliberately looked into a person's soul, a feeling of true warmth would come over me and a divine connection would be made.

We live in a world in which the majority of individuals do not comprehend the language of the soul. It is not the same as the personality, which is terrified and fearFUL. The soul is fearLESS and has made the journey to the earth plane to fulfill its divine purpose and to learn the lessons for expansion of itself in the spirit world. The purpose and lessons were chosen in the spirit world before it was born into a human body through its parents. We choose our parents and we even choose our departures from earth whether it’s a chronic illness, disease, old age, handicap or catastrophic event. We have incarnated with certain personalities that help us attain our soul’s purpose and lessons this lifetime. Personalities are determined by the position of the stars and planets the moment of birth - more commonly known as the horoscope. Thus, our sun signs provide for some personality traits, as do the rest of the planets.

When we live by the personality alone, we can be tossed and turned by situations and circumstances of which many have been set-up prior to our lives on earth by our spiritual teachers and soul groups. That person who you don’t get along with, the boss you can’t stand, the abusive parents or the husband that leaves you for another is a loving member of your soul group. Unconditional love, compassion, authenticity, courage, etc. are some of the lessons we may need to learn. The people that we encounter throughout our lives may be more than mere associates, friends and family members. They are souls we set-up contracts with in the spirit world, however, these contracts can still be broken because of our “free will” on earth.  In her book, “Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential” Carolyn Myss explains this in great detail and even provides a process to decipher your own contract.

As a hypnotherapist, I’ve worked with clients who’ve experienced their soul’s incarnation during past-life and between-life regression sessions. During these sessions they have actually felt the emotions of certain situations in these lives whether traumatic or loving. In the books, “Lives Between Lives” by Michael Newman and “Bringing Your Soul to Light,”  by Dr. Linda Backman, clients are transformed by a higher plane of awareness under hypnosis. This awareness has allowed them to look at their present challenging circumstance or situation from a different perspective, one that is rich in understanding of their divine purpose and chosen paths this lifetime.

Whether we realize it or not, we are communicating soul to soul on a constant basis. When we wear certain colors, we are transmitting signals that are decoded by our brains, i.e.,  red for passion, orange for creativity and pink for love, are vibrations our soul is picking up on. When our intuition tells us to make a choice different from our intellect, its coming from our soul. Knowledge and awareness of the soul allows one to look through a higher lens at what’s really going on in our lives. Deliberately connecting with each other’s soul involves looking past the physical to the invisible force that's driving it. Communicating on a soul level clears the road of perplexities and brings about a profound experience and shift that allows us to play the game of life with fun and adventure.

NEXT: Spirit to Soul Communication