All of my life I have felt moments when my connection to me was so strong that it allowed me to make choices that were significant markers in my life.
Once I was offered drugs at a party when I was about 15. I clearly remember stopping and standing there and thinking that I don’t smoke so why would I want to smoke marijuana. It felt like I was being offered a moment to stop. It wasn’t just about having a smoke or taking drugs, it was far greater… it was about making a choice that would affect the rest of my life. I was never offered drugs again.
These moments that occur in our lives are like signposts along the way. We are given an opportunity to make choices that have the potential to change our lives forever.
By being aware of these moments and this connection in me, I was able to see things differently. I didn’t react to life in the usual way. There was a clarity in what I was seeing.
After my first marriage ended I remember one night having a glass of wine while watching TV and when one of my children went to the kitchen to get something I asked if they would get me another glass of wine. I distinctly remember in a flash seeing my life projected in front of me. I could choose to drink another glass of wine (drown my sorrows) or I could choose to stop. I called out to not get me another drink. This moment was so clear and I can feel the power in my choice, knowing deep down that what I felt was about far more than having another glass of wine.
Another time one of my children lied to me. At the time I knew that there was something much bigger at play here. I couldn’t express what it was that I was feeling, other then a deep knowing in me that told me I needed to be firm and so I grounded her for 6 months to stop what was going on. This was something that I would not have previously done but I knew deep down that what I was doing felt so loving.
A few weeks after the grounding I took her lunch to school as she had forgotten it. When I got there she was sitting in the lunch area on her own; I found out that she was sitting alone every day. I remember feeling upset that she was alone, but this did not make me want to change my mind. It felt like I was given another opportunity to stay committed to the choice that I had made. At the end of the 6 months I could feel a real difference in her; she was no longer following what others were choosing to do and was far more independent and had gained a strength and confidence in herself. She no longer felt driven by the opinions of others. To me this was a confirmation of choosing to trust my feelings.
One day as I was getting out of my car I had a feeling of a strength and power in my body. I looked down as I was walking – I remember looking at my shoes and what I was wearing and wondering what it was. I could feel something very different in the way I was walking, how I was stepping. Something felt very powerful, I felt a solid strength in my body, it was not anything on the outside, it was a feeling on the inside that felt different. I wondered what this feeling was and why it would come and go, and why it was not something that I felt all the time.
Years later I heard someone talking about a man called Serge Benhayon – in that moment I knew that I wanted to see him. I didn’t know why, but I knew that nothing was going to stop me.
Since then and through Serge’s teachings I have discovered that this powerful feeling that I have is my connection to me, the power-fullness that I have felt comes from stopping and reconnecting with myself. With every choice that I make I have the power to choose different paths in my life. I feel this is what I have felt in the moments that I have stopped and had a clear picture of how my life could be if I made a choice that was not a loving choice.
Serge Benhayon has shared The Gentle Breath Meditation™ as a way of reconnecting. With this conscious presence we can bring a quality to everything we do in our lives. I feel it was this quality that I felt as I got out of the car and connected to my body. With this connection I have learnt to love and care for myself and not leave me until last. This choice has allowed me to strengthen my awareness and connection so that now these moments are becoming a more consistent way of living with myself each day.
As a child I remember lying in the sun on our veranda with my eyes closed and feeling this beautiful feeling – a warmth in my body as the sun was shining on me. Years later when I remembered this moment I had a feeling that this was what everything came back to. I did not understand at the time but now I know that it was about returning to a love that was deep within me.
When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.
It is an absolute connection to everyone and everything beyond me. That is the glorious feeling inside me, my connection to the all.
By Denise Cavanough, BW (beauty-full woman), Living Expression, Brisbane
Related Reading:
~ Living a Religious Life – Connecting with the Divine within
~ Connection, Choice & Energy: Are You the Pilot or is Autopilot Running You?
~ How a Smart Phone Brought Me Back to Connection — a Story on Selfies
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
“When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander”, it feels that connection is not just about the human then. When we really look at this further, it isn’t just the physicality, it is the being part of the human that many do not understand about until you start to connect with it.
We can and be more when we connect to ourselves. The Gentle Breath Meditation is a simple reminder of how we can connect to ourselves. If more people performed this often, the state of this world will be in a different place. We will not experience this continuum of exhaustion and unrest, because we will be with ourselves more and in that what is occurring out there does not absorb us.
“Something felt very powerful, I felt a solid strength in my body, it was not anything on the outside, it was a feeling on the inside that felt different.” The body speaks volumes when we stop to tune into our inner-most being.
Agree Mary, when the body speaks volume it is a different feeling, one that is of service than just working. The two differ in that the former leaves us with joy, whilst the latter can leave us with resentment if we are unobserving of its imposition.
This is so true, ‘When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.’
We can make certain choices that are supportive and not know really why we made them other than having a deep knowing that this is what was simply needed. And then we can make other choices that we learn fast are not the ones that support us in the long term. These latter ones cannot be called mistakes if we learn from them.
We are always learning in one way or another.
Certain choices we make in life are done with such a conviction that this means this situation or experience does not need to be re-visited by us and if it does come our way again, we know how to deal with it instantly. This is the blessing of learning from life and our experiences.
Thank you Denise for your sharing – I too can relate to those ‘magic moments’, moments when our knowing is so strong and we sense something beyond any doubts, and there is no choice really needed as we can feel the body has made the choice for us. This is the particles of our body speaking loudly.
It feels nothing short of glorious in that connection to everything and everyone and it’s not airy fairy or new agey to be ‘connected to the universe’ when it is done through the whole body. It is very real and tangible.
A very real access to the wisdom within and the connection that is age old.
The Universe has so much wisdom, so it makes sense to connect with what we are a part of.
Learning our lessons in life can take us to a place where we love who we are in our essence so much that there is a hate and distain for every thing that keeps us away from our inner connection to our essence.
“When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.” And what a truth that is – so grand we often don’t want to consider it or sabotage our connection. But when we go there we find ourselves at home.
Absolutely the home of our essence is so power-full, and all that is needed is for anyone to simply recognise this fact, as reconnecting to that level of divinity feels amazing.
The Gentle Breath Meditation is a beautiful and powerful technique that allows us to feel connected to ourselves, allowing us to make choices that are more loving and supportive.
We have so much power within ourselves and when we connect to that and live from it – wow, what lives we would have.
The small decisions we make can have enormous ramifications down the track. They are literally a fork in the road, and often the road taken is not one we would look back on and have chosen had we known where we would end up.
So power-full we are, that lots of detours or forks are placed in our way and the most Loving way to approach these entrapments is to be open in all we do so the True energy can be felt as the lies leave us beside our-selves and in disarray.
When we stop and connect we realise how vast our knowing is, yet it is not something that we are taught it is a deep wisdom we have within.
We have so much wisdom inside when we connect to our inner self.
“When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.” The body speaks louder than words as it is in tune with the Universe.
‘When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.’ As you share the connection is always there we just have to …. choose it. Great reminder.
These stop moments you describe here are so precious. Sometimes it feels like I am screaming ‘Avalaaaanche!’ as it swallows me and it’ just impossible to stop, and I realise the key here is conscious presence that I have to keep coming back to for me to hear the avalanche from afar.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful examples and reflecting to us all that we are all capable of connecting to the depth of ourselves and to something greater and wiser than us.
Denise we all have this ability to see clearly but for many of us we chose to ignore the information that has been received. Currently for me it feels as though we are offered a glimpse of our potential a choice to be taken and it is up to us what we then chose, this is free will. I can say I chose to ignore what was on offer and took the long way home.
I am in awe of your knowingness which seems to have never left you. It reminds me of the power of renunciation – no ifs or buts, just a solid foundation that doesn’t ask to be liked,approved of or is apologetic.
Thank you Denise, when conscious presence comes into our lives, everything changes, and we can let go of so much and open up as well.
One of the beautiful things about reading this is feeling how the truth you have expressed comes from your experiences and the way you have lived. You are not expressing ideas, hopes or wishes, but the wisdom that has come to you from personal experience. This is a powerful line for me also “With this connection I have learnt to love and care for myself and not leave me until last.” Thank you Denise a beauty-full blog from a truly beauty-full woman!
I love how you say; ‘We are given an opportunity to make choices that have the potential to change our lives forever.’ And what we choose in these moments can and does define us. And even if we make a ‘bad’ choice we can always resurrect ourselves from it so long as we completely renounce it and see it for what it is. Otherwise we hang onto them and walk with the shame and regret of what was or what could have been. Nothing is ever taken away from us.
To have these moments and acknowledge how profound they are gives us a foundation of connection that we can come back to whenever we choose. It is lovely to read these experiences and how you honoured what you felt.
Life offers countless opportunities to become parts of a circuit. We go into some and do not go into others. We make choices in the momentum of lived life. Some things are out of our systems. We out other ones while we keep saying yes to some that may not even be good for us… until we learn and remove it from our systems.
I feel that is is incredible what you did with your daughter as it feels it is coming from such a place of love and not punishment. You held steady when many would give in and saw the results in how your daughter was actually empowered by this. Very cool.
Yes and by doing that Denise actually reflected that to her daughter what she needed to learn: stay with yourself, make your own decisions and trust yourself.
Connection is key.
And The Gentle Breath Meditation can support with connection, ‘Serge Benhayon has shared The Gentle Breath Meditation™ as a way of reconnecting. With this conscious presence we can bring a quality to everything we do in our lives.’
There is enormous strength that comes from simply living true to ourselves.
Simplicity is a key to our evolution, and when re-connected to our essence life does become simpler.
Living true and connected to ourselves we are powerful, ‘Since then and through Serge’s teachings I have discovered that this powerful feeling that I have is my connection to me, the power-fullness that I have felt comes from stopping and reconnecting with myself.’
In life, in nature, stillness and moments of pause are built-in… even in the cycle of all of our breaths there is a moment of stillness. If we just simply tune in we will find this.
Thank you Chris – a great reminder of that brief moment between the in breath and the out breath when everything stands still and the Universe is accessible to us timelessly.
One of the things that stands out for me in reading this inspiring blog is how powerful it can be to make a choice that honours our bodies and just how far reaching that decision can be for ourselves and all our relationships. I couldn’t help but feel how different my life would have been if I had made a similar self-loving choice to never drink alcohol, for instance. Also, it was healing for me to read how simple it can be to make that choice and how much I have complicated these things by always feeling the need to know why I have made a non-supportive choice (such as with food, drink, or sports) and almost using this mystery and search for the reason behind the choice to stop me from simply making a decision that I know my body is telling me is the truth! This is how the human spirit can lead us astray from the simple wisdom the body is always communicating to us.
There is nothing wrong with signposts to point us to where we are going, the trick is to just be sure that it is sending us in the correct direction.
“returning to a love that was deep within me.” A blessing for you and all around you.
Wow it’s amazing that you were so tuned into your body that it was able to give you such clear messages. And that you responded positively to the messages.
It is amazing the clarity of messages our body will give us, we just have to listen and honour its’ wisdom.
There is a big grandness well known inside us, the moment we connect, we come back to that absolute feeling of knowing who we are and the bigger picture around it.. that is not just going around the sun doing life, but bringing a quality forth that is not of this earth.
Beautifully said Danna. This gives us an enormous strength and an intuitive way of dealing with adversity.
Connection is so important, ‘With this connection I have learnt to love and care for myself and not leave me until last. This choice has allowed me to strengthen my awareness and connection so that now these moments are becoming a more consistent way of living with myself each day.’
“The grandness of our connection to the all”. It really is stupendous and yet incredibly stilling to connect to the wonder we are from.
What a gift you gave your daughter – and to yourself.
And I applaud your strength and the simplicity you proceeded with – you just knew what to do, no self-help books, counsellors or therapy needed.
Thank you Denise (BW), I can also remember watching others do drugs and alcohol and realise I didn’t like what I saw and made the decision to never do that, which was a moment of power, connection and common sense, and occurred at a young age. Your words about being in connection to yourself and the decisions and feelings that came to you as a result gave me the awareness of how life must be like when every decision is made from living connected to ourselves – what a loving way of life.
Denise I love how all your footsteps of realisations led you further into the gait of The Ageless Wisdom Teachings as brought through by Serge Benhayon. When we look back, it shows just how much we are supported back to our truth by the hand of our soul.
Gosh I wish when I was younger I took my stop moment re smoking etc as seriously and clearly as you did. However I have learnt my lesson now. I love the examples you give throughout the blog, very powerful particularly with your daughter in that it was absolute love that you kept to what you said and saw a really beautiful change within her because of this … very cool. Many of us can learn something here through what you share.
I love how you connect us to that absolute knowing in ourselves and i am inspired to resurrect more of this way of being. It is very powerful when we renounce something that we know is not supportive in any way and likewise when we say yes because we know we have met truth even if we do not know what it means.
There is a wisdom within that cannot be denied by anyone, and that wisdom will in anyone’s life have been listened to and made some commendable decisions. Those decisions deserve to be seen and honoured for the inner wisdom that they were.
Beautiful to stay strong in what you can sense is going on around you, to not introduce self-doubt or critique, but just simply to let the situations speak for themselves, knowing that you will respond accordingly.
Reading this reminded me of feeling the moment I had a choice to continue smoking and become addicted or stop right then. I chose to stop right then because I could feel that I was beginning to rely on the cigarette to comfort me when I was stressed, sad or lonely.
Awesome blog Denise. Staying connected with yourself you traversed any possible attachment or hook that presented to take you off track and followed your inner wisdom. Very inspiring.
We connect to something so much bigger than ourselves when we respond to the awareness that is given to us. These are great examples shared here Denise and really show that we have such an opportunity to develop this natural awareness.
Where as I was offered drugs at a young age and accepted and this changed the course of my life, so yes we are always making choices that affect the rest of our life.
Absolutely, taking advantage of our unpreparedness to life, as life is set full of traps to keep us from our essences, or our divine roots to keep us from the true power that is always living within and drugs are just one aspect.
Ultimately we all know this connection so well, and yet we choose all sorts of things that take us away from that.
The opposite is also true, I recall moments where I made decisions that took me a step further away from myself, where I didn’t trust my inner knowing. Now I do and this has changed.
that is absolutely everything — our connection to the All; meaning the Universe (alignment with our Soul and Heavens), our connection to our Brothers and Sisters (humanity) and the responsibility that this connection brings for each one of us to live accordingly. In connection to this all. There is no chance we can escape that one, only temporally deny (for a certain time).
So many people can remember those times possibly rare but definitely there when there was stillness grace and connection and a sense of oneness with everything… This is what is possible now.
Yes, that connection does not move away from us – we move away from it.
The power of connection may mean something different to each of us. Nonetheless, each of those experiences is deeply felt and deeply registered. It is something that leaves a mark that will never be forgotten.
Connection is the difference between being yourself and not being yourself.
We already are amazing beings belonging to something much grander, are we able to surrender to that innate grandness, ‘When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.
It is an absolute connection to everyone and everything beyond me. That is the glorious feeling inside me, my connection to the all.’
‘It wasn’t just about having a smoke or taking drugs, it was far greater… it was about making a choice that would affect the rest of my life. I was never offered drugs again.’ I find this sentence fascinating, by clocking the absurdity of smoking marijuana you where giving yourself permission to say no to what was not true which naturally paved the way or the path your life would take from there. That’s extremely powerful. This is the type of article that should be shared in schools when bringing awareness to drug abuse is on the agenda.
How powerful we can be when we take hold of our lives and not be swayed by our peers.
We always have a choice in every moment, ‘With every choice that I make I have the power to choose different paths in my life. I feel this is what I have felt in the moments that I have stopped and had a clear picture of how my life could be if I made a choice that was not a loving choice.’ What we choose has consequences, and so it is a great idea to reflect on our choices, are they loving and evolving of who we truly are.
“… now I know that it was about returning to a love that was deep within me. When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.” When we deeply connect with ourselves we connect with everyone – and the all.
Trusting in our connection, without needing to calculate and control situations, opens up the grandest pathways in life.
Bringing quality, and being aware of this quality, to everything we do is so important, ‘With this conscious presence we can bring a quality to everything we do in our lives.’
I have been feeling recently the grandness you speak about Denise and it is the most amazing feeling in my body. I had completely forgotten that such grandness was within me just waiting for me to reconnect back to it once again.
“It is an absolute connection to everyone and everything beyond me. That is the glorious feeling inside me, my connection to the all.” it is the grandness of our divine love that connect us to all humanity and beyond.
‘When I stop to connect to me, I am connecting to something that is far grander.’ This statement says so much. We forget we are part of the all, that we are all connected, and so to connect to ourselves, means we connect to the universe.
Thank you Debra a gorgeous reminder. No wonder when we disconnect we are so discombobulated. We miss this profound connection, and totally unaware of it at the same time. Even though we know it like the palm of our hand.
How empowering this stop moment was Denise to say no to drugs. Our life can change in a moment from the choices we make to love and support our body or not.
“It wasn’t just about having a smoke or taking drugs, it was far greater… it was about making a choice that would affect the rest of my life. I was never offered drugs again”.
Connection is always there, available to be chosen. So much clarity comes with it and any doubt is instantly dissolved
You are indeed a beautiful woman (BW) Denise! I really enjoyed reading this again, it’s amazing to reflect back over my life and see the times I’ve trusted myself and what I knew to be true for me, and also reflect on why other times I did not. I also appreciated what you shared about your powerful walk, this is something I intend to feel into myself over the next few days and how walking in connection feels for me.