What graduates of the Authentic Greatness retreat say:
What is it that keeps us bottled up?
I will share with you why this work has become my passion and how my Journey experience has transformed my life.
After one failed marriage and diving into another, I realized that my future looked very much like my past. In my heart I sensed I was repeating my mistakes. This time was a bit different; this man was free-spirited and believed in himself. He was not easily influenced by others. What attracted me to him was that he had the very qualities that I desired, admired and with which I fell in love. Today I have realized (and my realization via the Journey confirms) that I was attracted to my husband’s qualities because my subconscious craved this freedom of self-expression and self-love. I realized I did possess these qualities. – How could I reveal them?
The Journey, as the name implies is a journey through the emotions which leads to the uncovering of an unspeakable truth. What is it that keeps us bottled up? What is it that hurts us so? What is it that has been done to us that has traumatized us so that we are afraid of opening up and being our selves? The Journey helped me feel the strength and courage to open up and deal with the issues that essentially ruled my life through childhood and into adulthood. My problem was my dysfunctional family. My parents got divorced when I was very young. Too young to remember the details, but certainly old enough to verbalize my resentment as I got older, the environment within my home was one of sadness, peppered with insults, fighting and a feeling of total disconnect. The reality of living in two different households created a sense of not belonging or being wanted. Then my mother re-married, looking back I realize she was just spinning her wheel in a different direction (another version of my own story.) My father on the other hand, shut down emotionally after the divorce.
I did not realize how this had affected me until I was an adult and in my second marriage. Now that I thought I had “everything”, I still had this void inside -a black hole, a deep feeling of emptiness: This is one inner secret with which many of us can identify.
My quest to be able to feel again.
My first Journey session took five hours. There was a great deal to uncover in order to reveal that deep hole. Yes, the Journey gets underneath the issues, arrive at it and releases it at the core, and allow for a healthy cellular regeneration. But how can this happen if this is suppressed? The essence of my journey concentrated on my relationship, or lack of relationship, I had with my mother. As a child, all I remember is screaming, negativity, humiliation, demand for perfection and lack of physical and emotional contact, a total depravation of love. I longed for attention; hugs, a sense of security and acceptance. Basically I just wanted to be loved. Confronting and opening up the wounds caused by this neglect and my resentment and sadness of being robbed of a childhood caused me to be angry, depressed, frustrated, negative. I sensed that these particular emotions were the cause to the emptiness that I felt inside. Once with a Journey practitioner in Sweden named Agneta Johansson, I vowed to let go, and feel the raw tightness in my gut as I relived those painful memories. I was able to feel the fears, and the sense of resentment that stemmed from my childhood. There was nothing “childlike” during this portion of my life. It was all about survival: no feeling at all, just numbness. Now I was on a quest to be able to feel again.
Forgiveness is the “only” emotion that restores balance.
The journey process starts by finding your own inner body wisdom. It latches to a specific memory connected to a negative emotion/s that you have stored. This memory is blocking any possibility of productive and positive energy, needed to fuel emotions for a healthy soul. The Journey is a vessel that goes from stage to stage and helps you release the negative emotions. Forgiveness is the “only” emotion that restores balance, equilibrium and a sense of peace. It is this fulfillment that allows for love to evolve. This was my triumph: I forgave my mother and father, and I was able to save my marriage. Once I cleared my emptiness and brought back peace, harmony and a sense of self-love and belonging. I had a different perspective on my relationship with my husband and children. It has allowed me to be passionate, open and be myself. What one journey session did for me was more than months of traditional therapy had ever accomplished. I decided to share this work and become an accredited Journey practitioner.
The journey experience is more than simply an experience. It is transformational. It connects you with your inner core and it allows you to be strong in the face of fear. It gives you courage and is such a positive tool that you want to share the experience with loved ones.
The conviction that the Journey releases suppressed emotions led me to believe that when the parent goes through the Journey experience can he/she relate easier to an issue that their child may have. I can attest to this because it was not a surprise that in my daughter’s journey I learned that in some ways I was treating my daughter as my mother had treated me. My older daughter revealed in her journey that she felt I was giving more attention and love to her younger sister. My daughter was right, I did not see it, I certainly did not willingly give more attention to one or the other, but she sensed this and this is what she believed. I believed that the problem was that I was not capable of showing my emotions to her. The difference now is that I know better. My daughter and I now have a great relationship – one in which we really connect. The ironic part is that out of her journey my own daughter helped me to uncover something that was also hidden. As a child I felt that my mother gave more attention to my brother.
The beauty of the Journey is that you can clear one issue at a time. Metaphorically this is just like peeling an onion; when one skin is taken off, there is another underneath. Same with issues, there will always be another to uncover.
I feel enormous appreciation and gratitude to Brandon Bays for taking her conviction and sharing her experience with her inner issues and creating this simple, powerful tool which is available to every human being.
You have a choice and it is as simple as the Journey. You can buy the book and do it yourself or seek an accredited practitioner for support. Either way, the fact that you are interested in this wonderful tool shows that you are on the road of healing.
Louise Sanda, Accredited Journey Practioner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Freedom from the Old “Story”
I had lived with no awareness of life inside of me. I stuffed my emotions often not knowing what I was feeling. There was lots of anxiety and depression and little self-esteem or confidence. I spent much time reading self-help books to understand and analyze it – yet there was little change that occurred for me and it kept me attached to the same old “story” that continued to run my life.
Then after experiencing a major loss I became very depressed and felt that there was no longer anything meaningful in my life. At the same time I was also facing the emotional pain I was holding onto around my relationship with my mother. I did not want to see her or even think about her for a year and a half! I got in touch with a part of me that knew there must be a way to bring about real healing. I was ready.
In my first Journey Session I experienced true forgiveness. In this powerful step-by-step process I moved through emotions, released the stored pain and naturally came to a place of peace. It was like a miracle for me! I felt an enormous shift and the depression lifted. From this healing that had taken place within me, I was filled with compassion and love for my mother and went to see her – as I hugged her I could truly say “I love you”. Our relationship was renewed and it is so amazing that I no longer feel “triggered” by her! I just feel love and compassion naturally – free from the old “story”. My perception about it has changed and it has brought me peace in the deepest part of my being. This is enormous – that one journey process did more for me than the many years I previously spent in support groups!
Because that was the most profound and lasting inner work I have ever tried, I attended the Journey Intensive Weekend Workshop in Ottawa, Ontario in August 2006. I learned how to do journey work and I continue to use these practical tools in my daily life. My friends have noticed a change in me and have told me that I am more confident and free. I experience more joy and peace than I ever have and I am becoming more empowered and free to be who I am! Transformation continues to take place in many areas of my life.
I had a desire to become a practitioner to continue deepening in my own healing and facilitate others in their healing. While doing the 45 case studies I gained experience working with adults of all ages and with various issues relating to depression, unworthiness, abuse, fears, and phobias. I received accreditation as a Journey™ Practitioner in March, 2008 and have set up a practice in Perth, Ontario (Canada).
Having experienced moving beyond the old “story” that I had, it is particularly meaningful for me to work with those who want freedom from specific anxiety/fears/phobias, abuse, depression as well as self-confidence and self-esteem issues. I feel honored in guiding others with gentleness and compassion to open into the wholeness that is already inside them and find their own inner wisdom. No matter what else you have tried there are possibilities – somehow something takes place on a level deeper than our minds can comprehend allowing real change and healing to take place. I am so blessed to have found this Journey work.
Marie Bonselaar, Accredited Journey™ Practitioner Perth, Ontario (Canada)
Migraine Headaches… Completely Stopped! I Feel Great
I had suffered for 25 years with serious migraine headaches. After undergoing Journey processing the headaches have completely stopped! I feel great!
Nicki H., Pharmacist
