Nurturing the Soul is an entirely new course by Helen Brown. It can be used in a group or for personal exploration. Here is an extract from the introduction:
The question of what is the soul and how it interacts with our consciousness, the life of our mind and body, is one that has vexed people from different cultures and ages. Can we identify its influence and what it is? This aim of this course is primarily to encourage reflection, experience and exploration of what ‘soul’ might be for you. Hence the title ‘Nurturing the soul’ which expresses this emphasis. You will find that the scope of this short course is very broad. It includes areas such as music, art, prayer, meditation and energy medicine. This is because, in my opinion, there are many ‘gateways’ to soul; one way of looking at this is to consider the three aspects that comprise a human being; mind, body, and spirit. Each of these can be an opportunity to experience the Divine in our lives ... The course encourages a reflective process which is like a spiral of returning to the material or reading of each session and allowing the thought process to take you deeper into the subject.
Nurturing the Soul: A personal view of a course led by Helen Brown
This has been a course that was both inspirational and challenging. Throughout the eight sessions in our exploration of the ‘soul’, Helen gently guided us along an inner path in keeping with her book on the subject. We were a small group who throughout our time together formed a very supportive and close connection. At the beginning of each session we sat round a table where there was always a simple but beautiful delicate arrangement of flowers and leaves encircling a candle. As we lit the candle and concentrated on the light we left behind the outside world, forming our own peaceful and tranquil world through meditation and prayer. This made a perfect start to our spiritual journey, discovering and connecting with our own soul. During the course we were encouraged to follow our own path freely, expressing and sharing our thoughts and feelings. It brought in music, art, prayer, meditation and specially chosen readings to help in this search and nourishment of our own soul. It was suggested by Helen that we should keep a journal where we can reflect on the course as it unfolds, giving time for more thought. I chose an artist’s journal as I find both illustrating and writing stimulating. In the quest for the soul I found I was becoming more attuned with my inner self, gaining a deeper understanding of what this long journey involved. There were parts which were challenging and painful; complex issues had to be confronted before moving on. Throughout the sessions this was balanced with the uplifting realization that the soul is a recipient of life from God and that the Divine flows in with Love and Wisdom. The soul is a sacred place where God dwells. This knowledge is inspirational, but before we can find and nurture the soul we have first to reach down into the recesses of ourselves, seek and find God and with love bring Him into our daily lives, letting His light shine in our hearts. I have found this course exhilarating and plan to continue with this spiritual journey. As we sat around the table for our last meditation, it came to me that our group represented a lotus flower. I visualized each one of us as petals of the flower joined together as one with the candle in the centre radiating light. As we lent forward to blow out the flame we sent love and peace to the world. “OM. In the centre of the castle of Brahman, our own body, there is a small shrine in the form of a lotus-flower and within can be found a small space, we should find who dwells there, and we should want to know him” (Chandogya Upanishad).
Rosella Williams
Here are some additional comments from others in the group: - ‘its been a spiritual journey, a journey of discovery’, ‘ I found it opened doors and brought up things that I hadn’t thought about before’, ‘enlightening’, ‘gave me peaceful thoughts – we shared the journey’, ‘helpful and reassuring’.
Here is an example from the book showing the first part of the first session on 'What is the Soul?'