Sense of Soul - Spiritual Awakening Journey

Episode Date: August 15, 2022

Today on Sense of Soul Podcast we have with us Darren Marc, he is an internationally recognized healer and teacher with over fifteen years of experience in the field of self-growth and mind/body/soul wellness. As a Yoga teacher and Reiki practitioner, he’s impacted the lives of thousands, helping his clients achieve happier and more spiritually fulfilled lives through his workshops and lessons. Darren is dedicated to sharing the wisdom of his guides and improving the lives of the people around him. Darren joined us to share his AMAZING book, Journey of the Heart: Awakening to Love a powerful guide on the topic of spiritual wellness and self-discovery.  He’s also worked as a former writer at For Your Health Magazine. In his free time, Darren enjoys singing and composing songs, working as a realtor, and being an ambassador forthe non-profit group Yoga Gives Back.   We highly recommend this self-transformation book, Journey of The Heart: Awakening to Love, where Darren shares a series of channeled transmissions that will help you connect to your true-self and experience more peace, happiness, and joy.  Order here. Visit his website to work with him: https://www.awakenwithdarren.com/ Follow his journey:  @darrenmarc111 Visit Sense of Soul at www.mysenseofsoul.com Do you want Ad Free episodes? Join our Sense of Soul Patreon, our community of seekers and lightworkers! https://www.patreon.com/senseofsoul Try KACHAVA! Your Daily Superblend. For your gut, your brain, your muscles, your skin, your hair, your heart. Your whole health. Use this link below!  https://www.kachava.com/senseofsoul

Welcome to the Sense of Soul podcast. We are your hosts, Shanna and Mandy. Grab your coffee, open your mind, heart and soul. It's time to awaken. Today we have with us Darren Mark. He is an internationally recognized healer and teacher, and he has impacted the lives of thousands, helping his clients achieve happier and a more spiritual fulfilled life through his workshops and lessons. Darren is joining us today to share his amazing book, Journey of the Heart, Awakening to Love, powerful guide on the topics of spiritual wellness and self-discovery, a book I so enjoyed. And we feel very honored to have Darren join us today. Hi, Darren. Hi, good morning. Good morning. Hello. Hi, Mandy. So how are you, Darren, and where

do you live? I'm doing well, thank you. I live in Santa Barbara, California. Your weather is probably perfect today. Yeah, it's pretty close to perfect. Yeah. Yeah. We had some warmer days recently, but even the warm days are not miserably hot. Yeah. Yeah. So I was just telling Andy before you got on, Darren, I think that we always can find some of our beliefs and our journey within all of our guests. But I would have to say that yours probably takes the cake for me. We must be on the same channel. Yes, I love that. Yeah, yeah. It's very amazing. I was not able to read your book. But Shanna was like, Mandy,

you're going to have to. If you just went and looked, you would freak out. Everything is so amazing about it. That's wonderful. Well, that's my sense. And we can talk about this, that we're all connected to the same one source so that the same information is available to all of us. And some of us are just tuning into the same broadcast and getting the same information is available to all of us. And some of us are just tuning into the same broadcast and getting the same information. Where like you said, we're on the same channel,

we're tuning into the same channel. Yes, of course, we want to hear all about your book. Sure. And I always like to start out like, who is Darren? And where did you come from? Well, that's a big question, isn't it? Where did I come from? It's a multifaceted question. Yes. In the linear sense, Darren was born in Queens, in Flushing, Queens, which is a borough of New York City. And I spent most of my life growing up on Long Island in a town called Melville in western Suffolk County, about an hour away from New York City. So that's where my journey began. And what took you to Santa Barbara? That is a great question that I enjoy answering. So I was living in New York City and I felt like it was time to go. And I had a short list of places that I was contemplating moving to.

One of them was Santa Barbara because I was familiar with it, having also lived in LA for a long time. And I received very clear, direct guidance in a dream from angels that I'm familiar with to move here. And the guidance was so clear and so direct that I couldn't say no to it. Wow. Was it literally like Santa Barbara? Yeah. Of course, we all have free will, right? So we don't have to listen to anybody but i was told to move approximately 20 minutes

outside of santa barbara oh my god that's so direct wow i had a dream and so it wasn't even really a dream it was a word and i woke up one time and i text shannon i'm like i don't know what this word means but it's a place. And it just so happens to be right. Like they basically merge Destin, Florida. And the word was Miramar. And Miramar is, I mean, God sent beautiful place. And Destin is one of my, so I know eventually Miramar is supposed to,

is where I'm supposed to end up. That's great. I love that. Yeah. And there's a lot of history in Miramar too when it comes to military. So that kind of resonated with me too. But as a child, did you always have these angels as guides? I mean, was this something you've always felt from a young age that you could tap into?

No, I was not aware of my angels and guides until I was around 20 years old. Yeah. I love sharing this story because it's fun. Fun for those who believe in synchronicity and being in the right place at the right time. I was about 20 years old and doing what most 20 year olds do. My friend and I were on our way home from the bar, and we pulled up alongside two women in a car. We began a conversation with them. It turns out they were much older women. One of them was a chiropractor. It turns out my best friend at the time wanted to become a chiropractor. The other one was a healer, a channel. And I was just beginning to become interested in things like that. And so they kind of became mentors to us in a way.

I still think of this particular woman as my very first spiritual teacher because she introduced me to my guides in the sense that I began to attend her channeling groups. She was a really gifted trance channel, really clear trance channel. Many different guides would come through her and speak to me and others. And so that's how I was first introduced to my guides. And then shortly after that, one of them came into my dream state for the first time. So just very high testosterone, horny 20-year-olds turned into a God lifetime gift. You could say that. Yeah. Yeah. You could say that. Are they part of the Teachers of Light? The answer is yes. The Teachers of Light are a collective of energy. So it's my sense that the Teachers of the Light, you know, speak as a collective, as a group. But, you know, every once in a while, you know, one particular guide or one particular energy might step forward out of the group when

needed. Do you have names for them? I know names of some of my individual guides, but I don't have a particular, other than the T-shirts of the light, I don't have individual guides to call out that are part of that collective because it's my understanding that it's actually most appropriate not to speak of the collective as this guide or that guide. Okay. Is this school that you're going to? I just recently went to school in my dreams. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I have gone to school in my dreams. I don't remember going to school in any recent dreams, but I certainly have. Yeah. I mean, we learn so much in our dreams.

Dreams are fascinating. It's funny. Shannon and I are always so aligned because she said school and I was going to kind of playfully joke and ask. So you have these teachers of light. Yeah. And I used to be a para for a teacher. So are you now a para, like an assistant to them, like a para in a classroom? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And from my awareness, we're all teachers of light. Yeah. And in fact, there's potential to receive and then also share. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And even in the, you know, in the channeling, the teachers of the light, they invite us

to become teachers of the light. Yeah. Because we all have that potential, you know, to simply share our light. Are there consequences if you turn down the invitation? No, I think the only consequence is that we get caught in the maze a little bit longer, the maze of life, so to speak. I believe that we were given certain opportunities, you know, in life to choose a path that's for our greatest good and for the greatest good of others. And we don't necessarily have to choose that path.

And if we don't, it's okay. We're going to get there eventually. Be it in this incarnation or another incarnation, we have to get there. We're going to get there. There's no way we're not going to get there. It's just a matter of what detours we take along the way to get there. We're going to get there. There's no way we're not going to get there. It's just a matter of what detours we take along the way to get there. So what do you feel like is the first step? Mandy and I pondered on this quite a bit. That's how we started our podcast because we felt we needed to share. And so years ago, we were like, well, let's just do it in order of how we received it or what happened in our journey.

Right. And of course, at the beginning of our journey, there's a lot of pain. And it really began with awareness for us, which then turned into self-love. And I feel like for you, that was very similar. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I did too experience, as many people do on this planet, a lot of pain and a lot of suffering as a child. And I do believe that in some way, it's a gift. And as spirit, we choose it because we're meant to experience it. And by experiencing it, we're actually able to shine brighter in the world. And for me, I know you just mentioned the first step. For me, the first step is always meditation. And I think that's the most essential first step that anybody can take is to sit and to

close their eyes and to notice the breath. That's the beginning. We're all spiritual, but that's how you step forward in terms of engaging in practices that help you to become aware of your essence. And you're specific in your book with 15 minutes. Yeah, that's what came through. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's what came through. Okay. Because, you know, I often tell my students, five minutes is better than nine. I mean, just, but I would say that 15 minutes, like 10, 15 minutes is such, I mean, you don't have to go like two hours every morning, like Deepak does,

which I think is amazing that he has time, which I would love to do that. I just, that doesn't fit into my life, but yeah, 15 minutes can change your life. Can't it? It can. Yeah. And I want to share a couple of things about that. It's my sense that 15 minutes was offered because it's a chunk of time that's doable for most people. I think 15 minutes is doable. It's not asking for too much. But personally, I am one who, I don't meditate for two hours every morning like Deepak, but I often sit for much longer periods of time for 30 minutes or an hour quite frequently. And those longer meditations are so beneficial because they really allow you, as I'm sure you know as well, just to sink in deeper and to drop into that stillness on a deeper level and to receive more. And what I love doing these days,

which I think would be so beneficial for everybody who's listening, is to take little mini meditations throughout the day. I remember fairly recently, I thought to myself, I have to start doing a better job of organizing my schedule and I have to start time blocking better. And then I sat just for like five minutes in the middle of the day. And by sitting for those five minutes, I was guided to what truly needed to be done next, as opposed to what I thought needed to be done next based on my schedule. And so I think those opportunities just to sit for five minutes frequently can be really beneficial for people to receive the guidance they need to receive and to take those little

pauses, those little retreats from the outside world. You'd say just in the morning, right, would be the best time to kind of start that. Yeah, for me, it is. For me, I go right from my bed to my meditation chair. I think it's a really powerful time of the day to meditate before the mind has a chance to start going. If we can start the day in stillness, I feel like we've got a better chance of staying in stillness more frequently during the day. And it might not last all day, right? Yeah. But I really do think we've got a better shot of maintaining equanimity and maintaining a nice, calm mind throughout the day if we start with it in the morning. Oh, my gosh. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I just needed to get out of my head and out of my house.

Yeah. out of my head and out of my house. My cousin took me paddle boarding and talk about a very still full meditative experience because you can just lay on the board in the water, you know, your feet dangling into the like the colder water and just listen to nature. And I was like, oh my God, I could do this every single day. I think anything we can do that's meditative is awesome. Obviously, I'm a big proponent of seated meditation, but anything that's meditative, like the paddle boarding that you did yesterday, anything that calms the mind and brings us into presence is the meditation. Yeah. Like this morning I took my dogs out,

right. Just, you know, listening to the birds and just taking some deep breaths. And then all of a sudden this bee started coming by. So I was so mad. So I went in the front yard, right.

And I thought I could continue this. So I'm sitting outside in my rocking chair on my porch. I got my eyes closed. I'm just taking some deep breaths, feeling the air in my skin and just really connecting with nature. And all of a sudden I hear a freaking beat. I'm like, this thing followed me. Well, maybe there's some meaning in that today for you. Yeah. So I'm curious. I'm curious. What was meaning in that today for you. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'm curious. I'm curious. What was the meaning of it for you? Well, I felt like this busy little bee was trying to pull me out. Right. Of your meditation. Yeah. Yeah.

And so maybe, you know, in some way that is an allegory in itself that, you know, maybe there's something in my mind that's pulling me out of my stillness, that busyness. Yeah. I've also learned that it's best sometimes just to create space and acceptance for it all to be there. I had the experience yesterday morning. I woke up and I sat in my meditation chair. And the moment I sat, the gardener showed up at the house next door and there was so much noise. And in moments like that, I think the best choice is just to include it as part of your

Just to be. Yeah, to accept it, just to be. It's exactly what you just did, Darren. It's perspective. Perspective, yeah. I just bought this beautiful home. It's like my dream property on five acres, but there's a road that's way down there that has these,

they're called some sort of strips to slow people down. So when a car goes over it, it goes, okay, it doesn't bother anyone else, but it bugs the shit out of me. And I mean, it literally, so I put on Facebook, I need dirt. Does anyone have dirt? Because I heard that farmers build these things called berms and a berm is the best way to get any sort of noise. It soaks in the vibration, the dirt does. So that's why and now you'll notice if you go by like properties, you'll see a lot of them have these huge berms around their homes, it's to keep away

the noise from the traffic from roads. Oh, that's interesting. So this guy's like, I've got 5000 pounds of dirt, I'll bring it over to your house. I'm talking he shows up in semi trucks. Okay. Well, it was interesting. I went on the next door app and my neighbors were telling me that that noise, those six little things that annoy the shit out of me that got was put there because six people have died at the intersection right here. Oh, wow. And so once they told me that now it's just part of knowing that it saved lives and it can save lives.

So perspective now, and it doesn't bother me anymore. Now it's just part of knowing that it saved lives. It can save lives. So perspective now, and it doesn't bother me anymore. So interesting how the mind can have so many different perspectives about the same thing. And I think that's why meditation is so useful. Like you said much earlier on in this conversation, it begins with awareness. And so one can have the awareness, okay, this is a thought, this is a perception. But, you know, perhaps, you know, I can become a little more detached from that perception and just be aware of it as a perception and perhaps even hold space that there could be other perceptions, other possibilities to experience this same thing. And so I think that's one of the gifts that comes out of a meditation practice is being able to step back and to perhaps question the way in which you are perceiving something. And freeing yourself from anything that might be controlling your day or your thoughts. Yeah, and I had this experience just yesterday.

I was awaiting a text reply from somebody who hadn't replied. And so I began to create this whole story in my mind about it. Because that's what the mind does, right? It does. And I even began to write text messages in response to this person not responding. And then this morning I got up and there was the response. And so I'm human. I'm always learning and I'm always in the process of doing my best to be less reactive.

And so there's always that opportunity to step back and to create more space and to perhaps not react in a habitual way so quickly. Yeah, I've done that a million times. Of course, everybody has. I have a friend I shared with her that I had recently relapsed after being sober for almost 12 years. And I relapsed for like two days. And then I immediately drove myself to a detox. And the detox, they said, you're the first person that's ever showed up at detox blowing zeros.

Why are you here? Because I had stopped drinking. but I said, because I want to feel safe here and I want to stay here just for like a day or two. So I called a friend of mine and she said, Oh, wait a minute. So you mean to tell me Mandy that you're human? Yeah. And in those simple words, it was like, okay okay so now i can stop beating myself up i'm human it didn't take away the years of sobriety i had i'm okay i'm human so now it's time to move forward that's a whole nother level of awareness is just to have compassion for our humanness except the fact that we're human to have love and compassion for ourselves humanness, accept the fact that we're human, to have love and compassion

for ourselves as human beings. Oh my God, I'm going to write that on my mirror. I love that. Yeah, and it's necessary for me as well. Often in life, as we all are, we're good at the theory, but putting it into practice consistently, it's difficult. We have to constantly be reminded. We have to constantly have those support systems to remind us that it's okay. We're human. We're going to have our judgments. We're going to have our reactions. Passion for humanness.

I love that. Compassion for humanness. Yeah. Maybe that'll be my next book. Compassion for humanness. Ooh, that's a good one. And sometimes those moments, though, are exactly what we need to get us back on the path. Yeah, absolutely.

You know, I mean, sometimes, you know, we just get so comfortable that we need something to shake us up again. Sometimes I'm like, oh, my God, I was doing so well. Yes, yeah. I have those moments, too, where I have that moment. Oh, I was doing so well. And I didn't even realize how well I was doing until this moment when I'm not doing well. And now I realize I was doing well and I want to do well again. And that's another reaction that the mind is having. Yeah. So many little reactions that we have. Yeah. To me, the definition of spiritual, of progress on the path is not perfection. Yeah. But rather to have an awareness that we're experiencing longer periods of equanimity, longer periods of residing in peace and calm than we were

a few years ago, for example. And you never stop growing, right? You never stop growing. And if you do, that's not good. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I feel compelled to share this with you guys. Yesterday, I was gardening while trying. Apparently, I have some green beans and some cucumbers coming up. I've never gardened in my life, but as I was gardening, it was being very mindful to just all the different leaves popping up. And I have to be honest with you. I don't go to the Bible a lot because the Bible is very hard and confusing for me, but something about soil kept popping up. And I saw this verse and it said in Genesis, you will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil and you will become soil again and i loved that because it's like

you're sitting there working with the soil to provide food for your body that's actually your body is going to end up going back to being that soil that's feeding you how i mean how freaking amazing is that yeah that's goodness i love that yeah many spiritual teachers as i'm sure you are aware have spoken of life as simply being uh returning we're just returning we're just returning home and remembering then when you return you know into your next incarnation which is why i think that and didn't, I don't know if you agree with me, but as much as we have against us, like in the world, the people maybe who are not asleep or maybe who have another agenda. I feel like it's almost causing people to awaken more and remember. Yeah. So I'm just like keep coming fine you know what i mean right i mean it seems like we're going a little backwards

in the world now we're in war you know we're losing rights and then all of a sudden it's i i had this moment where i was like that's's okay. Because you know what? We have more people awakening than ever because you can't condition people the way you used to. Right. Speaking of perspective, that's a great perspective to hold, empowering perspective to hold that it's part of our awakening, part of our awakening. And this is what a lot of people point to is that it's all part of our awakening, that the darkness is part of our awakening. All that's coming to the surface. Yeah, that duality is part of it. Exactly. Yeah, the duality is part of it. Yeah.

So Darren, what inspired you to write this book? Was it channeled? Was it one of those dreams again that said, instead of moving to Santa Barbara, this time now you're writing a book? Well, it was channeled, though I was not intending or was not aware in the beginning that I was writing a book. What happened is several years ago, I began to channel some individual guides that shifted into channeling a particular collective of guides. And that shifted into channeling another collective of guides. And I began to record the transmissions as they were coming through. I would get up and meditate and channel. And within a short period of time, it was channeled that it was a book. So I was like, oh, okay, I guess it's a book. I actually channeled material for two books. I didn't realize at the time until I actually was reviewing all the material. And I was like,

oh my Lord, like I channeled material for two books. And so I released the first one and eventually I'll release the second one as well. Yeah. There's nothing you don't cover. Darren, do you mind reading reading off just maybe ramble like some of the chapters and and what you wrote about absolutely let's tease them the human incarnation okay retreating into your heart oh beautiful yeah which is a lifelong practice, especially for me. And that is also part of the purpose of meditation is to come back home to the heart, which is where the most pleasurable experience of life is. I know for me, because I can spend a lot of time in my head. And then when I'm in my heart, I'm like, oh, this is it. Here I am, I'm back home. Seeing with new improved eyes, which is recognizing that, you know, we are all of God.

We are all of the light, regardless as to the exterior. Our prophecy, which is actually speaking to this awareness that, you know, there is darkness, but that there is light. That is an awakening that is occurring by way of the darkness the celebration celebrating our awakening manifestation a hot topic the great remembering be unproductive which is speaking to the fact that we have this mentality that we always have to be productive doing something that's moving us towards something and so the the teachers of the light encourage us to be to be unproductive and to just be i think that's that's huge for me i need to read that chapter because i think that was part of what landed me in my relapse last week is because I'm always feeling like I have to be you know, striving to, you know, get to the next place. We keep ourselves so busy. I know I do too. And we just need to be.

You know, that's interesting because I think like we were talking about perspective, I think when our society has been conditioned, and I know for myself, I have too, that when you're just being, people then think, oh, I'm stuck. Am I stuck? You know, what do I do? I kind of unstuck myself because I'm just being. We got to change that. Yeah. And you know, it's interesting when we create space just to be, it's often in that space when the ideas come, right? And those impulses come that actually guide us forward. It's when

we're just being. And in fact, the guides speak to that in multiple ways. They even speak about a particular day in which I was guided to drop my to-do list and to go to the coffee shop and to have a chocolate croissant. I love it. Yeah. It's then with that decision, you know what, today I'm just going to be, I'm not going to try to get anything in particular done. And then in that space, actually something happens. And we don't need to be in that space all the time, but I think at least once a week, you know, or an hour a day, just be.

I think we should call it like the fuck it day. The fuck it day. I love that. The fuck it day. That's great. That's what I was thinking. I saw your to-do list fall to the ground like, fuck it. The fuck it day. Do you remember anything in particular, Darren, happening in that space where you were eating that chocolate croissant that now I'm craving? Yeah, I remember. Well, first of all, I ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in a long time. So that was cool. Awesome. Yeah, you go. Yeah. And I also received, you know, an impulse

to do something new. You know, that was actually beneficial for my path. Yeah, yeah. And when we're so busy, we don't have space to receive those intuitive impulses. Or if we're thinking about it too much. There's no space for that to come in. Exactly. Yeah. That's why we have to put things aside sometimes and just drop it for a day or two. Yeah.

Yeah. One of your next chapters is like letting go. Letting go. Yeah. Yeah. Letting flow. Let go. Letting go, yeah. Yeah, letting flow, let go, letting flow. Yeah, I think letting go, and I've been reflecting upon this a lot lately. It's so important that we have the courage to let go of, you know, the people and the situations that we need to let go of so that we can, you know,

have enough space for ourselves and so that we can call in more of what we want. I know for myself, I've observed myself, and again, I'm going to have love and compassion for myself because I'm human, but I have observed myself, you know, holding on, gripping, yeah, to people and situations that I just need to let go of. Yeah. And that requires courage. And so I invite everybody to have that courage to ask, is this, you know, is this for me? You know, is this person for me? Is this situation for me?

And if not, can I have enough courage to let go of it so that something new can come in? I love, love, love that you say it takes courage. It does, yeah. I've never thought of it that way. I know it does for me. It takes courage. It takes a lot of courage. Yeah. Just to, you know, to hit send, to take that step. Yeah. There's fear things you know

that society says we need to do and be whether it's busy or productive or that is not the purpose of life correct it's just not but this is what we've been sold on for so long. Earthly, material things, this matter. When our real purpose here is to evolve spiritually and to help others evolve. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Well said.

I don't even know what more to say. Right. That's why I'm speechless. Yeah. Because you said it. Yeah, more to say. Right. That's why I'm a little, that's why I'm speechless. Yeah. Because you said it. Yeah. You nailed it. Yeah.

But how do you, how do you integrate the both? Because you have to do both. Right. We have certain obligations perhaps in our lives that we have to attend to. Yeah. And I know for me, the key is to really do my best to spend as much time, you know, doing what is most, you know, what is truly purposeful and what I truly love to do.

Yeah. Staying aligned with that. So you're, I mean, which you probably know, which I teach that all the time and you probably do too, that discernment. That's what you follow. Discernment. Yes. Discernment. that's what you call it. Discernment, yes, discernment, that's the word, yeah, discernment, discernment, yeah, is this, is this truly what is most purposeful, you know, for me, and for others, is this, is this truly, you know, what is most aligned for, for me, and who I am? Yeah, and raising the children, I love what you said. You say teach the children.

Didn't you say that? Teach the children meditation from the very beginning? Yeah, that's what came through in the book. Okay, yes. Because even that, so your purpose in raising children isn't to raise them into lawyers and doctors. Your purpose in life with raising your children is to raise them into lawyers and doctors. Your purpose in life with raising your children is to help them find their light within, for them to find their path. It's

like we are so distorted in our thinking about what life is. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not in this world because I'm not a parent, but I am aware of other parents who have kids who are very much awake in that sense. And then of course, there are other kids who are not because it's not offered to them from a very early age. And that's why it came through. I look at my nieces, for example, and I think, well, I wonder, I wonder, you know, how their lives would be if, you know, they'd have been introduced to meditation when they were very young and, you know, had some kind of different schooling. Yeah. Everything's a system. Like what happens if you choose to not have the system be the core of your family? Yeah. Right. Or your life.

Has this pertained to your, your family, Shana? Of course I still have to be in the system, you know what I mean? Cause that's, you know, what the structure of the world that I live in, but you know, even I can tell you right now, my daughter's 10. And so she's moving out of some of the things that I wish she wouldn't have moved out of, you know, that, that stillness that she used to have and still see her coming back to her breath and stuff like that. And my older kids too are now all adopting, even though I didn't raise them that way, they're now adopting,

you know, tools that they've seen me use or that I've taught my young kids. But you can see society coming in and trying to structure her you know and it's and it's frustrating because i'm like this is my child right yeah but really she's is my child i gave birth to her but still she has her own journey so just stepping back and just watching i see everybody so caught up in their emotions and how they let their emotions fire out and i'm going through menopause. One thing that I've experienced recently is that my emotions start to come in and they stop and I can like, look at them and I'm like, Whoa. And it's like, I have this choice now that used to be a conscious thing that I used to

have to consciously make a choice to react. But now it's like, it's really different. And then I'm watching the world react on their emotions like this so that's kind of been one thing that I've been trying to teach my kids because I've been watching them just fly off of their emotions you know whether it's anger or sadness or you know whatever and so I just think like you were saying there's that space that we need to create and so I think that that's my biggest thing in my family right now is to help everybody create space individually and for each other. That's wonderful. Yeah. Well, it's such a gift for your children to have

a mother who is aware in the way that you are aware. Oh yeah. That i'm so old that i finally you're so old no not that you're so old that you're so aware well that comes with with age right that way it does it really does the wisdom definitely comes with age yeah i hate to say it but it's the truth i'm gonna ask you to do something fun i want you to close your eyes hold your book in your hand. And then I just want you to flip through it. And then I want you to just stop on a page. Done. Ha! What is it? Sitting in appreciation. I opened up to the one of the shortest chapters in the book because not much needs to be said.

So we are going to get straight to the point. It is imperative, and yes, we know that is a strong word, that you sit and simply be grateful for the present moment without any agenda at all, without feeling any need to do anything at all. If you cannot do that for at least a few minutes a day, then you are missing the mark. Then you will wake up one day and you'll realize you're always trying to get somewhere, but you were never truly here. Does that make sense to you? It is as simple as sitting and appreciating your breath.

That's it. It is as simple as appreciating that you exist as part of creation. That is a priceless moment, friends, to sit in gratitude without feeling the pull to go somewhere, to do something, or to work toward accomplishing something. Wow. And the chapter continues. Jeez. Jeez, Louise.

If that wasn't like, yeah. Yeah. It shows, I mean, look at goosebumps. I mean, it never fails. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look at goosebumps. I mean, it never fails. Yeah. It's what I needed to hear today. It's what Shannon needed to hear. Maybe you even need to re-hear it. It's what our listeners needed to re-hear. Yeah. I woke up this morning and had this moment that was like, find the hammock, hang the hammock. You've been putting off finding the hammock. So that's what I'm going to do today. I'm going to go hang my hammock.

I'm going to sit in it and just be. And I always forget to connect to my breath, which is so horrible because I have such severe asthma that if there's anyone that should have awareness to their breath, it should be me. So thank you for reading that. And God, I loved it. I loved it. I could cry. Yeah. And it hit home for me too, because it is always now. This is it.

This is the moment. This is the moment where we get to be in our hearts. This is the moment where we get to connect with another human being in a loving space. This is the moment in which we get to be grateful. And I'm hesitant to use this word, but if we can accomplish all of that in this moment, then the next now moment will be another good moment. And the next now moment will be another good moment. And the next now moment will be another good moment. Yeah, it's all about now. Well, all of these moments with you today have been wonderful. And I'm so grateful to have had you on The Sense of Soul.

Ah, thank you. The feeling is mutual. Yeah. It's been a pleasure. Yeah, I think everyone needs this book. Like, everyone needs this book. Like everyone needs this book. I mean, if you're looking for a book that really touches upon everything,

like this is it. So where does everyone get your book? Journey of the heart. Absolutely. Well, you can get it on pretty much any digital platform that sells books, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you like to purchase books, it'll be there. And it's called Journey of the Heart, Awakening to Love, Channeling the Teachers of the Light by Darren Mark. And now it's time for break that shit down.

The moment is now. The moment is always now. Now is the opportunity to be in your heart. Now is the opportunity to enjoy your life. Now is the opportunity to open up to all of the beauty that life is in the present moment. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is.

Darren, tell everybody where they can find you, like on social media. Of course. Yeah. So my website is awakenwithdaren.com. That's two R's, D-A-R-R-E-N. And you can find me on Instagram and Facebook as well. On Instagram, my username is DarrenMark111. My birthday is November 1st. Special.

And also you do teach Reiki as I do. I don't know if you do that. You know, Reiki is such a great foundation to help people find their light within. And so I'm always very honored to teach that. Is that how you feel? Yeah, I always feel very honored to teach Reiki. And I do my best to honor Dr. Isui in the best way possible and to, you know, transmit his teachings in the most authentic way. And I also understand that we are living today. So I do my best to, you know,

offer his teachings in the context of this present moment, you know, that we are a part of right now. I love that. Do you also do coaching? I do. Yes. Yeah. I've been doing a lot more coaching lately. Yeah. I've been doing a lot of intuitive coaching via Zoom. And so if anybody is interested in that, you can reach out to me by way of my website and we can have a discovery call and get to know each other in that way. Yeah. I really enjoy that, the opportunity to work with people one-on-one and to help them both be in this present moment with as much gratitude as possible and to be flowing, you know, towards whatever it is they

want in life. That's the balance that I think is so key is to be in that flow, you know, to feel like, to feel that momentum because it feels good, right? To feel that momentum, but to always be grounded in this present moment. You can just be, and you can be still, and you can be mindful, but you can still continuing in that flow of momentum and goals. Totally, yeah. I think of it like a river. That's often what I imagine is a river, like the water in the river, it is wherever it is in the present moment, but it's got this movement to it, this constant movement. Well, I like that. You know, I bet you're really busy right now because there's so many people who are awakening and who are awakening to the fact that they're multidimensional. So thank you for being that teacher and part of the teachers of light and writing this amazing

book my pleasure thank you for being you thank the two of you for being the two of you yeah yeah it's awesome you know i've been struggling with the word lately um asleep because i almost feel like you know on our podcast if someone was listening and we said, oh, you know, you awaken and then the other people are asleep. Like it almost makes it seem like they're less than when I use that word. So I've been trying to come up with something that is more appropriate because they're just human, right? They're just, they haven't leveled up yet. Is that weird? Is it weird?

No, it's not weird. Yeah. You're creating a sense of duality when you say, you know, this person is awake and this person is sleeping. Yeah. But did I also read in your book, I don't know if I'm receiving stuff from you telepathically, that everybody will awaken. Everybody will awaken to their light of course everyone will and everyone may not be in this incarnation but it doesn't make us less bad we are all equal we are all souls and exactly how about this we're actually all awake already and some you know, are, have just perhaps have had a greater sense of remembrance of that. Yeah. We all have our own time, right?

Yeah. We are all awakening. And he also does Kirtan yoga, which is something that's dear to my heart. So, yeah. I mean, it's amazing. Do you know Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band? I do. Yeah.

Many years ago, I attended one of his gatherings in New Orleans. It was like a week-long immersion, Bhakti immersion. Well, good for you. That's amazing. Yeah, that was fun. I love him. He released his new album on our podcast last Halloween. It was around, I think it was like-

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, their music's great. Yeah, and I'm from New Orleans, so- Oh, super cool. Yeah. If you ever do another one i'll meet you there okay deal deal yeah i love kirtan yeah it's a lot of fun for me all right listeners grab this book say the name of your book again journey of the heart awakening to love channeling

the teachers of the light love that title you know what thank you for being so unproductive in making this. Thank you. I have to say, I've been on a bunch of podcasts, and this has actually been the one I've enjoyed the most. Oh, yay. Thank you for that. Well, anytime. Okay. I'll be back. I'll be back tomorrow. I'll be back every day. Nice to meet you, Darren. Yeah. Blessings. You too. Thank you.

Namaste. Namaste. Thanks for being with us today. We hope you will come back next week. If you like what you hear, don't forget to rate, like, and subscribe.

Thank you. We rise to lift you up. Thanks for listening.