Gaia Exercise

This article describes an exercise I have used in Life Purpose Intensives and some of the experiences people have had. This exercise is specially oriented toward making a contribution to changing society. The full exercise can be found in my book Inner Journeys.

            This is a guided meditation in which participants first see the earth as Gaia, a living organism and then envision the various environmental and social problems that are threatening Gaia and destroying our life support systems. Then they meet Gaia as a goddess at a time just before their entering this life. She is giving them information about the purpose she has for their lives and the gifts they will have to carry out this purpose, especially as it relates to healing the dangers to the earth.

Feeling Worthy

            Don described his experience with the exercise as follows:  "The journey up into the stratosphere was exhilarating.  It was great to see the earth whole from a distance like that, and it made perfect sense to see it as a living organism, the cyclical nature of things."

            "When we saw all of the things that are wrong it had quite an impact.  I mean I knew all those things already, but to experience it all at once really made the tragedy come home.  When we met Gaia, I saw her at first as a young goddess with long blonde hair.  Then she became half black, half white, divided between the left and right sides of her body.  Then she assumed a lot of other forms in sequence, representing all the different peoples on earth."

            Don had been thinking about doing some research on a pet idea of his having to do with the historical causes of our current societal situation.  In the fantasy, he was deeply moved to be told by Gaia that this project was his special gift to the world.  He was also filled with feelings of unworthiness, because his project is in an area where he doesn't have the normally required academic or professional background.  He started to cry, asking "Why is it my job to offer this to the world?  I'm not qualified.  I'm not worthy to do this."

            In an exercise ( The Naming Ritual, Chapter 14, Inner Journeys) that directly followed, Don described this experience to his partner and shared with her some of his frustrations and doubts about himself.  Having heard about his insecurities she was eager to empower him in just the ways he needed, especially by affirming this project as innovative and worthwhile.  This had quite an impact on him.  He came away from the evening having uncovered an unconscious block to his work and replaced it with renewed confidence and sense of purpose.

            Further inner exploration also confirmed that this particular project was important for him to pursue.  This was grounding for him because he tends to generate ideas easily and spread himself thin working on too many things at once.  In this case, the affirmation he received made it possible for him to stay focused on this project and move ahead with it.

A Big Heart

            Another participant, Liza, reported her experience as follows:  "When you suggested that we see all the different things happening to Gaia, I didn't see them so much as feel them.  It felt like my body was being polluted and my protective shield had holes in it.  It was visceral and unpleasant, but I'm still glad to have experienced it.  I feel like I know more from the inside what's
going wrong in the world."

            During her audience with Gaia she was enraptured by the lovely female voice in the music.  "Then I started hearing a voice saying 'Beautiful healer.'  I could feel myself on the planet being instrumental in helping everyone to transform the heat of their destructive rage into heart energy.  It happened as a result of people being able to deal with their rage.  The heat was like a silver cord between all beings.  On the planet, in addition to the usual activity, there was this great heart thumping; the earth was a big heart rather than a big head.  And the joy was incredible, actually unspeakable.  No matter what was going on, life was a celebration."

Other Experiences

            Another person experienced the Gaia fantasy kinesthetically through her body.  She saw Gaia dancing as she rotated on her axis and revolved around the sun, and she felt herself dancing with Gaia.  Then she experienced herself as Gaia dancing and then finally as everything in the world dancing.  Her message from Gaia was, "Walk this earth and touch people gently."  This meant to travel the earth (like Johnny Appleseed), moving from place to place and touching people, bringing love and healing where she could.  She was to avoid getting involved in small, ego-oriented concerns, and instead to find ways to reach out and make people conscious.

            Sally was told by Gaia that her work in the world was to be who she already is in the world, not to do something specific.  This meant cultivating her gentleness and generosity, and being a "therapist in the world" with everyone.  Gaia also told her, "Open your heart.  Open your mind.  Say what you see and feel and know."  This underscored what she was currently working on--trusting what she had to say and using her voice to speak out.  She came "feeling grounded and whole, and with a profound sense of having been seen and appreciated."  The next day she was able to speak out in new ways at a conference she attended.

            Another man identified Gaia with his wife in some way, and as a result became more accepting of her moving out into the world.  He also got a message from Gaia that it was time to make his poetry available to people.  He became more accepting of his work and also more flexible about how to circulate it, letting go of the idea that it had to be in the form of a book.  He began putting this into action immediately.