Brandon Bays on Healing

Insights on healing

Her inspirational story leads one to re-examine their own life to discover the deepest truths about themselves and gain access to the infinite wisdom. She believes that by clearing out past challenges and emotional blocks, one can begin to properly heal on all levels and overcome pain, hurt and traumatic events of the past, which may have previously held them back. Read below for Brandon’s brazenly honest answers to our Personal Insight questions.

1. How has your upbringing influenced your direction in life?

From the time I was a child I always had a knowing there was a life behind life. I sensed there was some undefinable mystery that was the essence of life and had a deep longing to know God. I think I came into this world with this knowing and have been a spiritual seeker since my earliest years. I also had home circumstances, which caused me to turn inward - my father took his life, my sister drowned and in our home life, emotionally, there was great upheaval. It was fraught with domestic violence. All of these external events conspired to cause me to seek something beyond my apparent circumstances, something of greater beauty, of simplicity, of grace. There was an unceasing thirst to experience the essential love that my knowing knew pervades all of life.

2. What led you to develop ‘The Journey’?

After working as a professional in the fields of mind body healing and personal growth since graduate university, the last thing I ever expected to have happen, was at the age of 39 to be diagnosed with a basketball sized tumour. At that time I was living all that I believed in, eating vibrant life-giving foods, working out on a regular basis, meditating every day and had done a huge amount of process work on myself. So, the diagnosis came as a huge wake-up call. It really sent me reeling and catapulted me on quite a radical and profound soul-searching healing journey. Part of the gift of that journey was that I uncovered a means for all of us to get direct access to the infinite intelligence of the body, the healing potential that exists within us all. I was guided to uncover old cell memories, limiting patterns and emotional blocks that are stored inside our bodies and go through a deep process of clearing, healing and ultimately awakening, thus allowing the body and the being to heal. It was from my own direct experience of healing naturally from a basketball sized tumour in 6 ½ weeks time, that I was inspired to pioneer Journey work, which is now used across the world by people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds.

3. What do you think has made you successful?

Love… love, grace and results. I feel that love gave birth to all of this work. It was a gift from grace. There is a fire that lives through me, a passion to bring these powerful tools of awakening and healing to the world. And it’s grace that allows people worldwide to get radical, immediate and direct results. So it’s a combination of both living every day passionately in service to life and the power of the work to create lasting transformation.

I believe The Journey is widely loved because it allows people to use the work directly in their own lives to uncover the enlightened awareness that is their own essence and to go through their own processing, transformation and healing. It gives them the ability to find their own answers, listen to their own inspiration and come to a deep sense of wholeness and peace in their lives. So I believe that success has come through both, the power of the work and the power of the passion that lives through me.

4. Is there one ‘illness’ that you see more than others in people who come to see you and partake in ‘The Journey’? If so, do you think there is a reason for that?

You know, I have to say honestly that the vast majority of the people who come to The Journey don’t have an illness. In fact most have their lives already in order and maybe experiencing a certain level of health and success in their lives. Yet they recognise that there is more to life and they want to fully uncover their essential greatness and clear whatever emotional blocks might be holding them back. They really want to roll up their sleeves and clear the old cell memories, limitations and ‘baggage’ to find a greater wholeness in all areas – spiritually, emotionally and physically. People want to realize their fullest potential and awaken to their true selves.

And obviously a lot of people have been attracted to The Journey who have been diagnosed with illnesses, but I can’t say that more of them have been diagnosed with cancer than any other disease. There are people with arthritis, with crone’s disease, with depression, eczema, asthma, heart conditions, brain tumours, addictions, skin diseases - every imaginable physical issue one can have and they are comfortable using The Journey process work to get to the root cause of these illnesses. So, I can’t say that I know of any one specific disease. But what I do know is that people are ‘getting it’ that the time is here to co-participate in our own healing journeys and clear out whatever cell memories are here BEFORE it manifests as illness.

5. What inspired you to write your new book?

I travel the world 44 weeks a year giving Journey seminars and they are now being offered in 33 different countries. The Journey book is translated into 21 languages. So, I really get a chance to dive into the very heart of every culture I go to and facilitate people in taking their lampshades off, in uncovering what’s really going on at the deepest level. And what I’m finding all around the world is that there is a fear consciousness that is widely pervasive – no matter where I go. With the recent disasters - 9/11, the tsunamis, the wars, the hurricanes, global warming, the ecological breakdown of our world, the threat of terrorism - it doesn’t matter where you look, it seems to be coming at us from all directions. And the financial crisis is the final straw that seems to have tipped everybody over the edge. What I’m experiencing is that people are responding to all the various crisis by shutting down and contracting in a futile attempt to protect themselves and they are getting stymied and immobilised by the fear, incapable of taking conscious action or opening up to inspired answers at a time when the world needs innovative, creative solutions. When Kevin and I wrote Consciousness The New Currency, we wanted to give people concrete tools and powerful process work to take the lid off again, to clear out whatever is holding them back, to open into the abundance consciousness that is their own essence. This infinite potential is capable of coming up with inspired answers and creative solutions, even during these most difficult of times. We wanted to give people the ability to manifest abundance even during a time when life would tell us that’s not possible. So, this is a very dynamic book, a very pro-active book. It’s a book designed to help you healthily co-create conscious abundance, lasting fulfilment and a sustainable future.

6. How do you push past any moments of doubt?

You know, for myself I feel that doubt is a natural part of life. Very simply, doubt is going to arise, because that is the nature of our minds. So I don’t try to push past doubt. I think what happens when we deny our fears or suppress our doubts is, we end up burying them very deeply in our psyche. They end up transmuting into silent saboteurs which undermines us whenever our potential is burgeoning.

Instead when doubt arises for me I do a Journey process to get to the root cause of what put that surface issue in place. I get to the very bottom of it and clear the cell memory - the very consciousness - that is the basis for it. Once that is well and truly cleared, that particular fear or doubt doesn’t arise again. For me, doubt is an invitation to do a Journey process.

7. How do you balance your career and personal life?

This one is a tricky one for me, because my life feels surrendered to grace and I am perpetually on tour and always on the move, serving the awakening and healing our world needs. So in my personal life, when I have free time, I take time out to be with my loved ones, relaxing in nature. For instance, when I’m in Australia I live by the sea in Byron Bay and I get into the ocean most days - surfing when I can, when there’s a wave I can actually catch . On vacations I like to have playtime with loved ones, scuba diving, skiing, waterskiing and of course in my daily life I meditate, pray and chant.

Most importantly I get a Journey process once a week and that to me is the key, because with the Journey process you get to the root cause of whatever is blocking you and when you clear that out, more of your own natural energy, your life force, your own vitality becomes available. So I try to look after my body in a well rounded way.

I also eat vibrant alkaline vegetarian fare that enlivens my body with living foods and freshly squeezed vegetable juices. I spend time walking in nature and mainly just enjoying life, savouring the blessing that life is. I feel that nothing gives you more juice than savouring the abundance of life. Being allowed to breathe, to bask in the beauty that our world is, to see a child’s laughing eyes, to sing, to dance, to celebrate - living a life of gratitude is what brings balance to my life.

8. With the stress of your public life, what keeps you grounded?

What keeps me grounded is living and walking my talk, which is getting Journey work, meditation and prayer and spending time with fellow lovers of truth who hold me to a high standard and old friends who aren’t afraid to call me on my stuff. Also, my husband keeps me grounded. He is a very practical, down to earth man and is deeply supportive. He helps me to keep a wider perspective and together I feel that we ground one another. I feel graced and blessed by both my family and spiritual life.

9. Have you had a ‘spiritual awakening’ in your life?

If so, how did it change you? From the time I was young I seem to have been blessed with many spiritual awakenings freshly recognising the infinite love that is the nature of our own souls. For me, awakening is a never ending process of stripping away the lies, the patterns of the ego, the limitations we’ve identified with and falling ever deeper into the love – the presence of god that is our own selves. It’s a process of dying to the lies of who we thought we were and opening freshly into the newness of living in this awakened presence. Awakening is an ongoing life long journey. That’s why The Journey is called The Journey. The Journey is all about awakening. It gives you the tools to uncover the enlightened awareness of your own self.

10. What issues do you feel are the most pressing in the world today?

If we are speaking about emotional issues here, I would say the most pressing one is fear. Fear has driven us to squander our world’s resources, to hold tight to our finances, to insulate ourselves and keep our lives small. For our world to heal, the healing will have to start from within each of us. As we open up to life and embrace all of life it naturally allows others to follow suit. As we take our own lampshades off it gives permission to others to do the same.

11. What do you see happening in the world in the next ten years and what will your contribution be?

I feel there is a global imperative that we all play our part in healing our world. Everywhere people feel a call to respond to this global imperative - to be the change our world needs. It is amazing to see so many of our world’s greatest manifesters of wealth - Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson among 1000s of others choosing to give back to life - to serve humanity. There is real hope here!

There is a big wave of healing and awakening sweeping our planet right now. I recently read in a business magazine that the three biggest buzz words of our time are consciousness, integrity and sustainability. Nearly all businesses want to be seen to be more conscious, creating a company that is sustainable on all levels, instead of just making a fast buck. People want to flourish life, potentialise their employees and build a business that makes a positive difference to life. So in the next 10 years I believe we will be seeing more and more businesses jumping on the band wagon of bringing consciousness and sustainability into the workplace – taking a more global perspective. With this kind of decision making there is a real possibility for humanity to come together to co-create the positive solutions our world needs. So though these are scary times, they are also exciting times.

As a company, The Journey Seminars, The Visionary Leadership Seminars and our international charity Journey Outreach will continue to passionately play our part in offering powerful process work for potentialising leaders, bringing ground breaking practical tools to heal, liberate and awaken humanity.

12. Which two books would you recommend people to read?

Truthfully, other than Consciousness The New Currency and Freedom Is I would probably recommend The Power of Now.

13. Name two people who have inspired you on your journey.

It’s hard to limit it to two. There are many individual people like Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, whose very consciousness changed history and shaped the way we think about life, even liberated nations. They are testaments to the power of one person’s ability to positively and irrevocably transform the way we live our lives. I’m also inspired by specific enlightened masters, including Ramana Maharishi and Poonjaji, who both celebrated the presence of God that dwells within each of us.

14. Sum up your philosophy on life. Savour each precious drop of life.

Count each day as a blessing. Be present to each moment and welcome whatever life brings. Take time to clear out whatever would hold you back from recognising the extraordinary gift that your life is. Spend time with yourself. Get to know the enlightened awareness that is your true essence. Make time to connect deeply with your loved ones, to cherish the beauty of nature, to honour the blessing that life is. Make your life a living prayer of gratitude.