Washed and tumbled in relentless fragility
The balance of strength
The net of time
The web of continuity
And a gasp of life
The point of entry
The art of departure
Hang under a primal sky
Like a rain drop in flight
On an embryonic night
A point of power
A source of life
A fledgling love
In a passionate embrace of Light
Cells divide
The day breaks
And the Earth cracks its stony crust
In the beginning…
As a meditation teacher, I can tell you things have really changed in recent years. Not long ago, you couldn’t get away with saying you were a meditation teacher at a dinner party without people looking at you sideways. Even on the west coast.
Now, meditation is more familiar. New students arrive to my classes excited to talk about their direct experience with mindfulness and meditation, many having tried apps or classes of some kind.
How about you? Maybe you’re brand new to meditation or maybe you’ve been meditating for years.
Whatever your journey, if you’re like many people, you might define meditation as endeavoring to be calm and peaceful. To be less stressed or reactive. This is true. But it can go much further than this.
Do you know you can use meditation to increase your energy level? Little known fact: meditation is a really amazing way to replenish your energy and release energy you want to let go of.
You’ve probably heard of energy audits for homes, right? You can figure out how a building is losing energy and make changes so it runs more efficiently and sustainably.
Well, you can do the same thing with your personal energy. You can do an energy audit to reveal how, when and where you’re using (and losing) energy in daily life.
Let me ask you this…where in your life do you expend the most energy? And on the flipside, what relationships, activities or experiences recharge you the most?
If any of this intrigues you and you think you could benefit from learning to power up your energy using meditation, consider joining me on May 27 and 28 for the Lightwork Meditation Energy Management Life Skills Workshop: 10 Techniques to Replenish Your Energy.
In the meantime, here are just three areas (there are many more) where meditation can improve your energy level.
Energy Saver #1: Energy-Savvy Relationships
Relationships enrich our lives, but they can also test, strain and trigger us. If you’re not aware of how to handle these stressors, you can needlessly lose tremendous amounts of your personal energy.
Meditation can help you better understand how to define your personal boundaries, allowing you to let go of stuff that really isn’t yours to manage. With guided instruction and practice, you can become more skillful at navigating relationship dynamics — even challenging ones.
When you’re not losing tons of energy to relationship drama and stress, you far have more energy to apply to whatever you want.
It becomes easier to choose relationships wisely and recognize patterns you want to change. You can bring out the best in your relationships, and prioritize healthier relationships as a norm.
Energy Saver #2: Learn to Switch Gears
Are you good at not doing your job? And I use “job” in a broad sense here, as whatever primarily occupies your time, like being a student.
How good are you at putting work aside so you can flourish in your time off? Can you focus your full attention on your downtime activities, bringing a healthy balance to your life?
Many people really struggle with this. It can be hard to switch gears and really embrace fun, or restful, restorative time.
Our society is addicted to thinking and doing. This incessant future-focused, goal-obsessed life approach taxes the nervous system. Bodies need time to restore…and to just live and thrive.
Using meditation, you can learn to calm down the analytical part of your mind at will, and be more present for all aspects of your life. This is a huge win for saving your personal energy.
Energy Saver #3: Let Go of External Opinions
We live in an age of social media. We’re constantly faced with how other people’s lives look in comparison with our own, and how we are perceived by others.
Try to stop and notice throughout the day how much attention you’re investing in other people and what they may think of you.
Don’t get me wrong, we all need to engage in the world. We are fundamentally social creatures. But focusing too much of your attention on how others view you can seriously diminish your energy and quality of life.
Meditation helps you get to know yourself more deeply. This begins with learning to invest more energy and attention on you.
Now, let me be clear, I’m not describing narcissism. I’m talking about having a healthy relationship with yourself.
Meditation helps you experience life’s simple pleasures profoundly, without anyone even noticing.
Curious to know more and learn a powerful set of meditation techniques? I hope you’ll join me for my two-day workshop.
Check out Tiffany Robinson’s Pacific Rim College online workshop on May 27 & 28.
Everyone is welcome, ages 16 and up. Pacific Rim College diploma students will receive 1 NU/WHS academic credit.
Founded in 2006, Pacific Rim College is a globally-recognized and award-winning institution of Holistic Medicine and Sustainable Living located on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees) and WSÁNEĆ nations on Vancouver Island in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia.
Tiffany Robinson is a full-time Lightwork instructor. She has studied meditation for more than 16 years. She lives at the Lightwork Ecovillage on Gambier Island, an off-grid permaculture farm-meets-meditation centre overlooking Howe Sound.
Learn More
An excerpt from the book, ‘Navigation’, by Scott Robinson
The spiritual warrior knows the tropical beach is not better or more valid than a quiet afternoon at home. Fundamentally they are the same.
You can heal yourself by seeing the ways you believe your happiness is external to you; that it is somewhere ‘out there’. What programming leads you away from this moment where everything is already as it needs to be?
Because it’s all right here, right now. Life is complete and whole as it is.
Yes, there is healing to do as you create freedom for yourself, but at the same time, there is only now. The present moment. So if you’re waiting for a different reality to show up, you are missing your life.
An excerpt from the book, ‘The Journey is the Goal’, by Scott Robinson
You must let it go. This applies to everything, including the things you want most in life. The old cliche of “if you love something set it free” is based in spiritual truth. Practicing non-attachment is one of the more challenging things for the human body, because the body believes that if you want it you should hold onto it tightly. This is not the way of Spirit, of the universe. As Spirit we understand that if we want something we need to let it go and the more we want it the more we need to release it. This does not mean we go into apathy; “who cares”. It means we can be passionately involved with something and at the same time not be attached, being able to let it go.
Being a mom, social work student and Lightwork Teacher-in-Training, Joni Louie is not new to juggling a lot in life. We caught up with Joni recently to get her take on Lightwork, and to find out what excites her most about this stage of her journey.
Joni, why did you sign up for Lightwork Level 1 back in 2015?
In 2015, I signed up for Lightwork Level 1 because I wanted to learn a meditation practice that I could use in my everyday life to help me deal with stress and anxiety.
What difference have Lightwork classes made in your life?
Lightwork classes have grown my sense of inner knowing, groundedness and confidence to navigate the ups and downs of life.
What is one of the main benefits you’ve experienced from Lightwork meditation?
One of the main benefits I’ve experienced through Lightwork meditation is the ability to be more present in my life, my relationships and with myself.
How has taking Lightwork meditation classes supported you as a parent?
It’s interesting to look back at the timing of when I started Lightwork because I found out I was pregnant a few weeks into Level 1. Taking classes supported my transition into parenthood by giving me meditation tools to deal with the many life changes that followed. Lightwork classes have since become an important source of self-care and gives me time on my own to replenish and reflect.
As a student now enrolled in Lightwork’s two-year Teacher Training program, what excites you about what you’re currently learning?
I’m excited about returning to the Level 1 perspective and seeing how the tools are simple yet profoundly powerful even after all this time.
How would you describe Lightwork classes in just three words?
Does “so, so awesome” count? If not, fun, helpful and grounding.
How are you different now from before you took Lightwork?
Overall, I feel a greater sense of freedom, ease and authenticity within myself. I also have more gratitude and perspective to meet the challenges – and joys – in my life.
This spring marks 15 years since I took my first Lightwork meditation class: Level 1. It has been an incredible journey of change as I look back over the years.
In 2007, I was working at a Gulf Island retreat centre. It was incredible – our office overlooked the ocean. I walked lush, green paths to and from work each day. Took beach walks and hikes through temperate rainforest regularly. I was introduced to digging for shellfish, evening paddles with bioluminescence, the sweetness of laundry on clotheslines and a simple life.
Island life was still very new to me, and a far distance from my Albertan roots. I loved it: the community markets, time spent outdoors, vivid bioregion and all of the healthy signatures of west coast living I was introduced to.
But it was also a time of personal tumult; of messy question-asking and emotionally-driven seeking. I had a lack of skillfulness in my relationships. Frequently, my life was intense, engaging, dramatic and at times volatile. I was learning a lot, but it wasn’t easy.
When a friend put up a poster offering a Lightwork Level 1 meditation class series, I registered with little hesitation. I had no way of knowing how significant that decision would be.
Right from the first class – I was riveted.
I had come to Level 1 with an internal feeling of a million loose ends within me that needed to be dealt with in some way. It was as if a wild array of emotions might surface at any time, and I had no idea how to manage them – no idea how to find calm or make right what was so obviously painful inside.
Despite being effective in my work and enjoying life on the whole, I would at times cry without awareness of why. I created untold angst for my partner at the time. I was aware there were dark corners that needed to be investigated and cared for inside of me.
In each class of Level 1, I learned simple, powerful techniques that provided me with a structure for better understanding and caring for myself.
Level 1 taught me about the fundamentals of managing my energy. It gave me a language to name and begin owning my emotions with greater maturity and self-responsibility. It introduced me to boundary setting, which I had struggled to understand in relationships for years. It pointed me to a practice where I could find peace and calm.
More than anything, Level 1 uplifted me spiritually. It spoke to me so clearly in a language I could understand. Amidst so much internal fog and lack of clarity, every tool I learned in Level 1 rang out like a bell.
The class resonated so deeply with me that I took every subsequent Lightwork class without pause! Each one inspired new depths of personal healing.
Fifteen years later, I am immensely grateful to everyone and everything interconnected that led me to sign up for that first class.
Now, I am a professional Lightwork meditation teacher and one of the instructors of Lightwork’s two-year Teacher Training program. I am happily married and work full-time at Lightwork supporting others in learning powerful tools to get to know themselves more deeply.
There’s nothing I love more than this work.
And I ended up on another west coast island, and loving it…
Maybe Lightwork is a fit for you too. If you’re curious about Level 1, the next class series starts April 11 online.
Updated March 28, 2022
Are you thinking about taking Lightwork Level 4 this year?
Now is the moment to request a pre-registration interview so you can register by March 6.
You might be wondering…what is Level 4 exactly? Why do people take it? Let us explain.
Level 4 is a journey into self-awareness and personal transformation. You do a deep-dive into how energy works by learning to read auras and energy systems.
As you may already know, everything is energy and humans are inherently able to sense energy and work with it. But because most modern-day cultures tend to deny this, people have largely lost touch with these abilities.
Level 4 allows you to turn those abilities back on. In doing so, you open up the true, big picture perspective on yourself and the world around you.
When you can see energy and understand how it works, your whole way of navigating life changes. You can heal yourself. You can change your life. You can help to bring light onto the planet.
That’s why we call Level 4 the transformation program.
To inquire about registering for Level 4, please send us an email at lightwork@lightwork.ca.
An excerpt from the book, Navigation, by Scott Robinson
Creating stability has been a priority in my own life. In the past I was into drama. One of the biggest changes I’ve had to make is letting it be okay to lead a simpler life.
Simple isn’t mundane. As you play with simplicity, you create more clarity.
I like to notice when I’m creating the next level of stability for myself. I can be more present for the simple things, which are often my biggest joys.
When I’m busy, I don’t have time to stop and really experience the small things. Like a raindrop hanging from a leaf. Or the scent of a rose as I walk by. Or the quality of the air at daybreak. Or the essence of light bouncing off water.
Or the pure stillness of a quiet room.
An excerpt from the book, ‘Navigation,’ by Scott Robinson
Being in balance is a spiritual choice.
We can choose sustainability. We can choose a more holistic way of living. We can choose to be in harmony with each other and the earth. We can shift our value system.
I’m not talking about reverting to a pre-industrial society. I believe in the gifts of technology. I’m just saying to use them consciously. I’m saying be aware of the addictive quality of products, and make conscious choices about how to use them.
As a spiritual warrior, aim to bring spiritual awareness to every decision. Is it of the highest integrity for all of humanity and the planet?
Choose the path of balance.
Like the young morning’s light
Orange, gentle, warming
The giddy excitement of the new
Grounded in the ancient
A bright and powerful dawn
The darkness slowly bleeding away
Revealing the places longing to be filled
Scott Robinson is the founder and spiritual director of Lightwork Spiritual Development, based on Gambier Island, B.C. For more than 30 years, Scott’s spiritual evolution has been his life focus, along with helping others discover themselves as spiritual beings.
Even in earlier stages of his life Scott lived outside the confines of mainstream society as a hippie kid, musician, video artist, photographer, poet and world traveller. Spiritually aware from childhood, he could see energy, and he knew there was a bigger picture than the material pursuits of life.
His spiritual purpose took shape in his early twenties when he discovered a meditation style that was an immediate fit. He dove deeply into spiritual studies, deepening his clairvoyant abilities and learning the art of self-healing.
Scott is constantly pushing the boundaries of spiritual knowledge. Through teaching, writing and photography, he empowers others to become conscious, bright spiritual beings on the path to freedom.
Scott is also Chair of the Board, chief visionary, and manager of the Lightwork Ecovillage, the Gambier Island sacred site that is home to the Lightwork practice.
Alison has been practicing Lightwork meditation since 2007. As a certified Lightwork teacher, she offers classes suitable to first-time meditators or anyone who has practiced other meditation styles. You can attend her classes in beautiful Nelson, BC, or by phone or Skype.
Alison has found Lightwork's clarity, ease and potency to be transformative in all aspects of her life including parenting, work, relationships and stress.
She has a Masters in Strategic Leadership Toward Sustainability which she applies in collaborative projects seeking solutions for climate change.
Julia offers meditation and consulting services for organizations and individuals.
She started her conscious spiritual journey in her mid-twenties but it wasn’t until she came across Lightwork in 2002 that she found a meditation practice that really worked for her.
Julia completed Lightwork’s seven levels of training in 2010. She has been joyfully teaching meditation classes and offering private energy readings since then.
She was previously the Program Director at Hollyhock (Canada’s leading educational retreat centre) and is now a self-employed bookkeeper.
Julia received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University in 1994. She received a permaculture design certificate in 2000.
Julia started taking Lightwork classes by phone from Winnipeg in 2004. The classes rocked her world so thoroughly she moved to Vancouver to continue her meditation studies, eventually graduating from Lightwork's most advanced program, 'Level 7: The Apprenticeship' in 2012.
Her move to the West Coast allowed her to become involved in the Lightwork Ecovillage, where she continues to deepen her meditation practice and learn life lessons (like...you really can grow kale year round!).
Julia is a certified Lightwork Teacher. She offers Lightwork Level 1 and Level 2 classes for beginners, as well as private energy reading sessions.
She brings creativity to the Lightwork administration team, and manages two annual meditation retreats: the summer '9-Day Dharma Healing', and 'Winter Light Week'.
She has an intuitive and studied understanding of all things green, arising from her work in therapeutic gardening at BC Children's Hospital and other locations around Vancouver.
When Cathy signed up for her first Lightwork class, she entered brand new territory. Coming from a scientific background, meditation was well outside her normal repertoire but she felt compelled to try it.
Without even being able to describe how, she shifted perceptions in all parts of her life and began making decisions that decreased stress. Encouraged, she thought she would keep meditating until it no longer felt like a fit. That day never came. She’s now a committed Lightwork practitioner and teacher.
Cathy offers Lightwork Level 1, Level 2, private classes and energy reading-healings. She blends her passions for writing, teaching and meditation by offering creative writing workshops for children and adults.
Darci discovered Lightwork meditation in her last month of nursing school. She realized she wanted a totally new way of coping with stress.
So she turned down a fancy job in California with a big signing bonus and season’s tickets to her favourite football team. Instead she registered for Lightwork's beginners class and never looked back.
Throughout her healing journey Darci has witnessed how meditation has the power to shift tough situations and heal what needs healing.
Her favorite thing about being a Lightwork teacher is the simplicity and presence of being in the moment. The big and small of the universe come into focus and make room for significant awareness and healing.
Darci graduated from the Lightwork Apprenticeship program in March 2014. She offers energy reading sessions and meditation classes in a loving, supportive environment.
Tiffany Robinson has 18 years of experience in the social services sector, a B.A. in psychology, and over 15 years experience developing and facilitating dynamic wellness programs for youth and adults. She is a full-time instructor of Lightwork’s Level 1 – 3 meditation courses and Teacher Training program, and has been studying meditation for over 15 years, completing Lightwork’s two-year meditation teacher training in 2012, and a three-year apprenticeship in 2015. She is also Lightwork's Director of Operations.
As the Wellness Programs Specialist for the Crisis Centre of B.C., Tiffany co-developed and facilitated hundreds of workshops, webinars and wellness programs designed to enhance well-being, resilience and mental health. Over 13 years, she championed the centre’s first mindfulness training programs and was instrumental in establishing key contracts to deliver large-scale mindfulness programs to 1,500+ employee organizations, such as the Vancouver School Board.
Tiffany lives at the Lightwork Ecovillage on Gambier Island, an off-grid permaculture farm-meets-meditation-centre set on 80 acres overlooking Howe Sound.
Jacqueline first learned to meditate as an antidote to stress and a crazy-busy lifestyle in the tech and PR industries. As she gradually made it part of her daily routine, an entirely new way of experiencing life emerged.
In March 2014, she completed Lightwork’s two-year meditation teacher program and began its most immersive course, a three-year apprenticeship to founder, Scott Robinson.
Jacqueline teaches Lightwork's beginner classes (Levels 1 & 2) and offers meditation workshops for companies and organizations. She has hosted workshops for the Dalai Lama Center for Peace & Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine, BC Cancer Research Centre and BCIT Student Association.
She is also a writer and communications consultant.
Elizabeth decided to give Lightwork a try in 2010, after observing a friend's Lightwork journey. Deciding it was a fit, she took classes from her hometown of Victoria by phone for six years. She then packed up and moved to Vancouver to continue her studies, completing Lightwork's Level 6 Teacher Training Program in 2017.
Meditation has helped Elizabeth let go of fears and embrace all aspects of herself. She's excited that teaching now gives her the chance to offer the Lightwork techniques to other people.
Prior to Lightwork, Elizabeth completed a B.A. in anthropology, and certifications in community counselling and permaculture. Music has always been an important part of her life. She enjoys singing opera and jazz, and offering vocal improv classes.
Leslie took her first Lightwork meditation class by phone in 2012 while living in the busy city of New York. She was awestruck by the simplicity of the tools she learned, and how they helped her let go of old patterns. She knew she wanted to learn more.
Now settled in Vancouver and enjoying a much simpler life, Leslie offers Lightwork Level 1 and Level 2 classes, as well as private energy reading-healings. She completed the Level 7 Apprenticeship program at Lightwork in 2021.
She also works in communications at BC Recreation & Parks Association.
Zhenya started taking Lightwork meditation classes in the fall of 2012 while living in New York City and working for a bank. Meditation was his way of dealing with stress-filled workplace and hectic city life.
While taking Lightwork's Next Step program, he moved to Vancouver to lead a quieter, healthier life with a focus on his spiritual development.
Zhenya completed the Apprenticeship program at Lightwork in 2021 and now he offers beginner Lightwork classes (Level 1 and 2), as well as reading-healing sessions.
Having a job in the tech sector, Zhenya finds his meditation practice to be essential for having wellness and balance in his life.
Bogdan Serban is a certified Lightwork teacher and a soccer-playing dad of two boys.
He started studying Lightwork in 2015 after many years of interest in spirituality and energy work. He considers the Lightwork practice to be life-changing, improving his relationships at home and work, and instilling a deeper self-confidence. He uses the Lightwork techniques every day to support his parenting, marriage and work life.
Bogdan originally hails from the picturesque, mountainside city of Brasov, Romania. He’s lived in Vancouver since 2005 and works in the telecom sector. In his down time, you’ll usually find Bogdan hanging out with his family or on a soccer pitch.
Bogdan completed his Lightwork teaching certificate in 2020. He also holds a degree in business management.
