Cultivating Unshakable Faith in a Changing World! With Gabby Bernstein

Gabby Bernstein 0:00

If we aren't spiritually fit, we will not withstand the times. You can replay this. In a year from now, you're gonna say, Oh yeah, she's right. There is a speed with which change is occurring around us that people are quite apathetic to, but it is big. We manifest what we believe. So right now, whatever you're manifesting in your life is a reflection of what you believe on the inside, we attract who we are. We don't manifest what we want. We manifest what we need. The greatest thing you can do for your manifestation practice is to heal yourself. You're gonna need it. You're going to need it. We're here on this in this world, in this body, at this time, to unlearn fear and remember love. I heard an inner voice say, get clean and you will live a life beyond your wildest dreams. I know there is a world beyond my physical sight. I know that there is a higher power. I know that I have spirit guides. I know that there are angels around me. I know that there is an afterlife. I know this.

Speaker 1 1:03

Gabby Bernstein, a warm welcome to the show.

Gabby Bernstein 1:08

It's nice to be with you. Thank you for having me.

Jannecke Øinæs 1:11

I've been following you for years, Gabby, and it's such an honor to have you here today. You are to me, the manifestation Queen above all queens. And I've just listened to your podcast all morning, and it feels like I'm being showered with inspiration, and my vibration goes up high like that. And you're also an author. I've been reading your book, spirit junkie many years ago. You're a best selling author, and you've written super attractor. The universe has your back. And now self help that just came out, and you are helping people live a life beyond their wildest dreams. And I am excited to dive into manifestation today, but before we do that, I'd love to hear your story, because I feel it's always inspiring to hear my guests stories, to see where their teaching is actually coming from. And I know that you had a pivotal moment in 2005 that also shifted the course of your life.

Gabby Bernstein 2:12

Yeah. So I was I was brought up very spiritual. My mom brought me to the ashrams and taught me how to meditate, and I was named by the gurus and given the gift of knowing that there is a spiritual realm and knowing that there is a world beyond my physical sight. I also was accessing spirit as a child as well, so I could hear and see and I felt a really strong, sensitive connection to the spiritual realm, but I didn't have really real words for it at the time. And for those of us who do have that, that thin veil between the worldly realm and the spiritual realm, I believe that often it can lead to a lot of anxiety and some kinds a lot of chaos as a child, because we don't actually know what that means for us, and we can't have our own description or faith understanding at that time. And for me, that kind of led me down a path of really leaning into a lot of destructive patterns and fear and anxiety and depression. And by the time I was 25 I was really living for this outside perception and seeking my safety and my security outside of myself, even though that spiritual seed was planted, and I'd consistently go back to my self help books or my prayer practice or my meditation practice, trying to find my peace inside, but the outside hook was strong, and by the time I was in my early 20s, I got very addicted to cocaine and and was really addicted to being seen and being being the president of a PR company and thinking I was really, really special. And in all that specialness, I just kept going down this road of quite destructive patterns of behaviors. And by the time I was 25 I hit my knees, and I really hit a huge bottom with my addiction, and I believe it was my spiritual faith that kept me alive. I definitely know that that was a time in my life where my my guides and and God and my spiritual faith and Foundation put me on a path that I definitely could have gone in a completely different direction. And for for me, it was a choice, truly. It was a choice to live. It was a choice to surrender to my spiritual faith, and it was a choice to get clean and sober. And on October 2 of 2005 I made the choice to get sober. I actually said a prayer. I said, God, universe, whoever is out there, I need a miracle. And I heard an inner voice say, get clean, and you will live a life beyond your wildest dreams. And I've been sober since then. It's almost 20 years of sobriety and and it's a good life, and I've and that sobriety put me on the path of of surrendering fully to my spiritual faith, and in doing so, living a. Is spiritually led, being a guide and a teacher and a devotional having a devotional practice that allows me to live with an unshakable faith that there is a spiritual connection and a universal wisdom and a God of my own understanding. And it's the greatest gift I've ever been given.

Speaker 1 5:24

Hmm, beautiful. And what I sort of admire with you, or that I find really inspiring, is that connection to God to me. I call it the universe. You probably call it different things as well. I'm not sure, but, but that it seems like, I mean, it's even on your title of your book, the universe has your back, that you have such a deep trust, and that's inspiring to me, because what can you say to those who do not have that trust, who are in horrible situations? I mean, there's all this chaos going on in the world war situations, or it could be, you know, personal, bad relationships, you're sick, maybe got a diagnosis. And what would you say to those when they, you know, see a title like that, the universe has your back and they feel the opposite?

Gabby Bernstein 6:16

Well, the subtitle of that book is to transform fear into faith. It's easy to say that the universe has your back when everything's going right. It's easy to believe that there's a spiritual connection when you're manifesting and attracting it's very different when you're living through crisis, when you're going through a traumatic event, when you have a diagnosis, when you're experiencing the horrors of a community that may be at war, or all of the horrific things that we're seeing in the world right now. So the question then becomes, what are you going to choose to lean into? Because no matter what our circumstances are, we have two choices. We can lean into faith, or we can lean into fear. And for those of us who have privileges in our life, or we're living in in in pretty easygoing times or easygoing scenarios, it's our absolute responsibility to lean into that faith, because in doing so, we actually strengthen our own presence and our own energy, and can be a greater have a greater impact and support system for those who do not have the privilege of living in that way, and for those who are living in crisis, having a faith is really all that's left. Sometimes, when we many people I've met that I've counseled over the years, that I've worked with in my talks, or who've read my books, have said that the diagnosis was the greatest thing that ever happened to them, or the divorce was the greatest thing that ever happened to them, or when, when they lost it all, that's when they found it all, and oftentimes, when we are in the moments of extreme crisis, is when we learn to rely on our higher power of our own understanding, and we learn to rely on that more than ever, and we learn to transcend the fear based limitations of the world. That, to me, is sometimes the miracle of the horrific things that happen in life. Nevertheless, those of us who have the privileges of living with an easygoing life or more of the simplicities of life, we must elevate our consciousness, because there's so many out there who do not have those privileges, and in doing so, we actually start to bring positive energy into our home, and that has a ripple effect, where our family members bring positive energy into their communities, and then that positive energy starts to have a ripple effect, and a ripple effect, and that starts to lead the world in a different direction. And I believe I see myself as a Spiritual Activist. I believe that if I can put a message out that is going to have a impact on an individual, then that individual is going to have an impact on another individual, and the next one, and the next one and the next one, and that's, that's how we heal. And so, you know, when we say things like, we need to say thoughts and prayers, and I put things like that out on the social media feed, and people want to balk at it like, you know, thoughts and prayers, that's bullshit. You know, no thoughts and prayers. Is it? Because the more people we begin to experience in an elevated consciousness, the more healing can occur, and it's imperative right now. It's imperative right now.

Speaker 1 9:14

Yeah, that makes sense. And you also speak a lot about, you know, fear versus love, and especially when it comes to manifestation as well. Now that to me, that is easier said than done, to act out of love, because it's like fear. It's so ingrained in us, and it's also this protection mechanism that is trying to protect me all the time. It's linked to the ego. So how can we know whether we are taking actions through fear and love? Because it's not always easy to spot either. If can putting this out on Instagram, is this because I want people to like me, because I'm afraid that they won't like me, or is because I have such a big. Heart, and I just want to share, you know, if we're really going to be honest with ourselves. And also, how can we act through love when we don't feel that love?

Gabby Bernstein 10:09

Yeah, well, you said something quite profound, which is that the fear is like a protection mechanism. This is actually the crux of my 10th book, self help. It's all the processes in the book are based on a therapy called internal family systems therapy. And in this therapy, there's an inner family of of young parts of ourselves, inside and and they're they're very protective, right? So as children, we had traumatic events, big or small, but maybe you were bullied, maybe you had an alcoholic parent, but you experienced feelings of being unlovable or inadequate or not good enough, and those feelings ignited extreme fear inside of you, and to not have to feel that fear, you'd start to protect yourself. And so you maybe would protect yourself with numbing out and eating, or maybe, that's young, right? Maybe you start protecting yourself with people pleasing or perfectionism or control or or addiction to sugar or whatever it is. And we've carried on in those protection mechanisms, because we've been running from fear our whole lives. And so the ways to actually live and lead and show up from a place of love is to befriend the parts of ourselves that are blocking the fear. Because when we live in the fear, when we when we protect against the fear, we block the light of who we are, we block our true essence, which is our self. Self is our calmness and our curiosity and our compassion and our connection and our creativity and our clarity and our confidence and our courage. So it's, it's, it's easy to sort of be in the spiritual lexicon and say things like, oh, you know, just choose to see through the lens of love instead of fear? Yes, that is the answer. But if you are so burdened by the fear, how could you even see past it? And that's where this this book self help comes in, because it's about tending to those fear based parts of yourselves and bringing yourself back to a place of safety inside.

Speaker 1 11:59

So is it important, in a way, then to start with a healing process and then start with a manifestation process?

Gabby Bernstein 12:06

Absolutely, yes. Yes, yes. Look, you could go in and repeat affirmations, and you can go and make vision boards, and you can go out into the world and and and start saying prayers and meditating, and all that will make a difference. All that will change your life. But if you really want to manifest, if you really, really want to change your point of attraction, you have to heal the beliefs that block you, because we manifest what we believe. So right now, whatever you're manifesting in your life is a reflection of what you believe on the you believe on the inside. And I would probably say, How's that going for you?

Speaker 1 12:49

And in a way, we manifest all the time, right? We just don't always manifest consciously.

Gabby Bernstein 12:57

We're always manifesting because we're always putting out an energy, and that energy is reflected back to us. And so if you're walking through life and you're putting out an energy of fear, then you're probably creating a little bit more chaos in your life. If you're putting out an energy of of of comparison, you're probably consistently coming up against reasons to compare yourself. If you're putting out an energy of confidence and calmness, you're going to receive back images and experiences and people that are reflective of that calmness we attract who we are, period

Speaker 1 13:39

and who we are is a bunch of some personalities and inner children and inner parent and a cocktail,

Gabby Bernstein 13:45

right? It's a cocktail of lots of little people inside. That's right,

Speaker 1 13:49

yeah. So manifestation, to me, comes from this belief or reality, that we create our own reality, that what I have internally is mirrored externally, is that to a degree you think, because I'm thinking, there's also a collective manifestation, and then there's a divine will, and all these come together. So do you think we manifest to a degree like Okay, so let's say that I heal myself almost perfectly. I don't think it's possible to be 100% healed. I think there's always something to heal, but I come to a pretty good place. But then there's the elements of the collective and the elements of the Divine Will. Maybe I have a soul plan that's different than what I try to manifest. So to what degree do we actually have the power to manifest our lives?

Gabby Bernstein 14:47

We can always exercise free will so we can, we do have the power to co create a reality that's different than the one that we see. And how do we do that one by healing the beliefs that block us from. From, from what we want to believe in, what we want to see. So not just going going inside and changing the real inside, but healing What's that? What we're projecting out. And as we start to heal on the inside, we begin to project a world that's quite different than the one that we once believed in. So that inner work is imperative. The The other element is that when we you know my my late mentor and friend, Dr Wayne Dyer said that when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. So when you heal on the inside, your perception of the world is different. Your perception of the world is no longer a perception of defensiveness and protection. It's a perception of clarity and calmness and connected connectedness. Then the world you see begins to change. And it's not because things on the outside are changing, it's because you changed you. It's not that your experience changed, it's that your experience, of your experience changed, and as that shift and that change settles into your system, you begin to align with the divine. You start to experience super fast connection. You start to feel that you are far more powerful than you could ever imagine. And you just start to attract effortlessly,

Speaker 1 16:24

yeah, because I assume that you maybe start out thinking you're wanting something, and then you start the inner process and the healing process, and then, oh, you're discovering the alignment that, okay, this is not actually what I need. Maybe in, like in a relationship, you thought you wanted a special certain partner, and then you do healing work on yourself, and you find out, no, that's not really good for me. I need to feel safe, secure. I want to have a kind, you know, partner who respects me, and then you actually start to align with who you truly are. And I guess that is also the divine will, because then you are coming more into your essence of who you are.

Gabby Bernstein 17:07

Yeah, and you don't manifest what you want, you manifest what you need. So if you're attracting things that that aren't exactly what you want, it's because there's one, an opportunity in front of you for something to be healed and revealed. And two, it's also divine direction and order. How many times have we had experiences where we'd say, Oh, I really am so grateful that that thing I thought I wanted didn't happen. Had that happened, I would never be where I am right now, or I would never have learned or developed spiritually or feel as connected as I do or done the deeper work that I needed to do. So we have these, these. It's for me, I live my life when something does not work out the way I planned. I'm literally sitting there. I'm like, okay, universe, show me the better plan. I live like that. I'm not attached to outcomes. That doesn't mean I'm not attached to anything. Of course, there's, there's, there's certain things, I'm sure that that might feel sticky for me, but in general, particularly with big desires, I give it over. I don't, do not, do not interfere. I do not interfere.

Speaker 1 18:19

Yeah, because to me, there seems to be different manifestation techniques, in a way that some focus on thinking, well, maybe many are speaking about the emotions that that that you attract what you are, but that you should give focus to it, while others could be More having a teaching on just surrender, you know, just to see what appears in your life, and that is the best for you, not to try to sort of control things that they have, this complete surrender to whatever is happening. Is there a contrast there, or is are we speaking about different manner?

Gabby Bernstein 19:00

Yeah, I think there's like a lot of contrast and a lot of conflicting opinions about what to do when you manifest. And the reality is, is that that manifesting is natural, attracting our desires is natural. Being a a joyful human that is filled with love and connection is natural. We just forgot, we just built up a lot of belief systems against that natural truth of who we are. So manifesting and living a spiritual life of joy and happiness and elevated consciousness is not about focusing on one thought or doing one thing or or being a certain way, it's about undoing the fear based beliefs that block us from the truth of who we are, because when we return to that self, to that genuine essence of spiritual essence that we are, then we don't try. Try to manifest. We just do

Jannecke Øinæs 20:03

right?

Gabby Bernstein 20:04

So I think people have, you know, these ideas that it has to be this, one thing I do that is my manifestation practice. The greatest thing you could do for your manifestation practice is to heal yourself.

Speaker 1 20:18

And can we heal and heal and heal, feels that's all we're doing.

Gabby Bernstein 20:26

Yeah, I think that we're here on this in this world, in this body, at this time, to unlearn fear and remember love. I think that's what our soul's purpose is. And I think that we're here to unlearn that fear, remember love, and extend that love. That's what we're here for. So you think you have a job, and you think you have this purpose of to show up and make money, or whatever you think your life purpose is. Your life purpose is to be in as much light as you can be, and to bring as much love and light as you can. And the way to do that is to be consistently healing yourself, consistently transforming your thoughts, consistently checking in with the parts of yourself that need some healing and unburdening. It's sounds like it's a daunting task, but I would often ask people, well, how's the other way working out for you?

Jannecke Øinæs 21:20

I think as humans, we tend to, or our minds, tend to, think towards a goal, like when I get healed then, or when I do this then, but it is a continuous process, right?

Gabby Bernstein 21:34

Of course, there it's about healing along the way, healing along the way, having fun along the way, and every single shift in your thinking is the miracle. That's what that's one of the most beautiful messages I love from the principles of the text, of course, in miracles, is that the shift in your perception is the miracle. Any moment can be a shift in a person, in your perception. You could be listening to us right now and thinking, Oh, wow, I don't actually have to go get something. I just have to return to something that's inside of me. That could be a shift in you, that could change the course of your life, or you could decide to forgive yourself, or you could do a healing practice, or a therapeutic practice that helps you see your past through the lens of peace. Whatever those subtle shifts might be, big or small, those are miracles, and the real work is just to add up those miraculous shifts, and the more you add up those miracles, the sooner you begin to live a miraculous life. Those miracles are bestowed upon us when we consciously choose to open our hearts to see them. So anyone that's still listening to us right now is living with a miracle mindset. They're open to receive miracles. They wouldn't be listening. They wouldn't be on your channel. They just wouldn't be here. They wouldn't if they weren't ready to receive miracles, to see things through that lens of possibility and spiritual faith and love, they're just they wouldn't be here.

Jannecke Øinæs 22:51

And can we all experience miracles?

Gabby Bernstein 22:54

You can experience a miracle right here, right now. Just take the thing that has been burdening you, and just say to yourself, I open my heart to see this through the lens of love and possibility. Just open your heart to see it through you don't have to. You don't just change your thought right here. You can just open your mind and your heart to see it through a different lens that surrendered prayer is the miracle. If you just say it and you feel a little shift inside, that's the miracle. That's it.

Speaker 1 23:30

You spoke about the Course in Miracles, and I'm curious to learn how that has impacted your life.

Gabby Bernstein 23:39

Early in my career as a spiritual teacher. I was a big devotee of my friend, Marianne Williamson, and followed her path and was very deeply supported and served by her work and translating the text of A Course in Miracles. And I practiced the course, which is 365 days of daily practices where you do a mental reconditioning and their prayers and meditations and contemplative practices of truly just forgiving your fear. And I believe that was a real jump start to defining what my faith was and transforming a lot of the fears I have of the world. But the cool thing is, is 20 years later, now that I've maybe not been practicing the course every day, but really practicing the personal development work now and the spiritual work simultaneously. Now, having done such a deep dive into the personal growth and the healing of my human condition, that spiritual truth, that it lives in the text of A Course in Miracles, is so much more resonant now than it was 20 years ago when I was practicing the text. Now I'm sitting here and I'm like, I get that now, not just something I want to feel, it's something I do feel. And I remember underlining every page of that text, you know, just underline underlying, there's a, you know, underline of there's a way of living in the world that is not here. Though it seems to be, and you do not change appearance, but you smile more frequently, and your eyes are soft and your forehead is serene. And I remember underlining that just thinking, I want that, I want that I want that. And now I can, 20 years later, sit here and say, I know what that means. I know what that means. I know that,

Speaker 1 25:21

um, I'm curious to learn, since I have you here, what are your spiritual practices? Okay, speaking of A Course in Miracles, that might be part of it. But how does like a life, not a day, look like in your life? Because you're a super busy woman, you're doing all this work, serving, helping people, writing books. How do you manage the doing part with the being part and your own connection, which I find is quite personal, sometimes my own connection with the universe. So how do you sort of keep that balance with your own practice and being the teacher out there.

Gabby Bernstein 26:04

Well, the good news is, is I've always taught from a place of my own authentic truth, so I'm not hiding anything, not trying to be anything. I'm not, and that makes it easy to take the pressure off, right? It's somebody can tell the truth, and this is where I am, and this is what I'm working on right now, and that is how I teach. So that's that's helpful, because it takes the pressure off. And my spiritual practice is a very foundational practice of just being, being in faith all the time as much as I can be, and noticing when I'm not, and then returning back to a place of of of of prayer, or using my four step practice of my book self help, of checking in with the parts of myself that are burdened in that moment, I begin my day with with giving my day to God and giving my day to my guides. I have a very deep connection to my spirit guides, and they're working with me on my behalf, I have a devotional midday meditation practice that I call my cat meditation, where I I get on my sofa and I actually meditate for an hour with my cat. And I know that might sound so bizarre, but it is very additive to my meditation practice. I literally look at my cat, Jimmy blue, and I say, Let's meditate. And the second I say that she gets away from wherever she was sitting or doing, and she comes to this sofa, and we relax, and she puts her entire body on my chest, and I do a mantra based almost like non sleep, deep rest, type of meditation while She purrs and sits heavily on my chest, and my entire nervous system completely settles. And I know it does, because I can see it on my oura ring. I look back, and I look at what that hour did for my restoration, and it's just extraordinary. And so I spend an hour restoring every day and listening and try not to channel, because I really want to just to restore, but I will often start to channel in those in those meditations, too. So that's, that's my midday meditation, I just hear her coming. Now. Where are you? Maybe you can meet her. She'll come to see us. My Jimmy blue meditation and and then, and then, yeah, I have, you know, nightly prayer practice with my child, where we talk to the angels, and we ask our angels to help us sleep well, and we send them angels to the people who need them, and we give them hugs. He says, Huggies for everybody. But it's not just those points throughout my day. It's just, it's, it's living a spiritual life. And living a spiritual life, to me means that I am the witness of my fear, that I am the non judgmental witness of my fear that I notice when I'm not in alignment with my source, I come back fast, and I learn to rely on that connection, rely learning to live and rely on that unshakable faith,

Speaker 1 28:47

because that is a practice, that is something we have to train, right? It doesn't come naturally. I mean, it

Gabby Bernstein 28:52

seems like years, 45 years for you.

Speaker 1 28:56

Yeah, I'm 45 as well. Yeah, because, you know, with Eckhart Tolle, he sat on a bench and poof, something happened. And it seems like that's not happening for everybody.

Gabby Bernstein 29:09

No, that doesn't happen for everybody, but does happen.

Jannecke Øinæs 29:11

Do you want to cultivate a deeper sense of self love? Then I have a self love toolkit for you where I help you boost your self love. Head over to wisdomfromnorth.com/selflovetips.

Gabby Bernstein 29:24

But listen, it doesn't happen for everybody, but it can happen in these moments. Remember, I said the miracle moments are what matters. So someone listening to us might have felt a sense of relief just hearing something that we've said today, and that is a miracle. So just leaning into those moments,

Speaker 1 29:46

count the miracles and count everything you're grateful for. Yeah, how do you deal with negative thoughts? A lot of us, many. Women are very hard on themselves, and they do all this work, and then they beat themselves up because they're doing all this work, and still it's never good enough. And it seems like this monkey is just sitting on our shoulder and saying we're not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough, and all these things, especially speaking for women, because I'm a woman, and it knows how that is, but I'm sure it is for men as well. It seems like self love is not coming naturally.

Gabby Bernstein 30:27

Well, that's where my book self help would come in, because the parts of us that believe that we're unlovable or not good enough or inadequate, those are young parts of ourselves that we've been carrying around for our lifetime, and the way to heal them is to check in with them instead of judge them. And so that's this, a four step practice inside the book. And it's the first step is to choose to check inside with that belief. And so you focus your attention inside. The second step is to be curious about it and to ask some questions. So where does that live in my body, and what do I know about it? And how old is it? How long has it been around? Are there any thoughts or feelings or sensations it wants me to know about? So you get access to it. And then the third step is to compassionately connect to that part of you and ask that part of you, what do you need? And listen to it. The fourth step is to notice the shift inside, to notice the miracle. Do you feel more calm? Do you feel more compassionate? Do you feel more connected? Do you feel more clear? Do you feel more confident? What change has happened inside? And if you practice that four steps, definitely, read the book, if you really want to transform the inner critic, read that book. Read that book.

Speaker 1 31:42

Do you feel your inner critic has almost vanished in your life?

Gabby Bernstein 31:46

Yeah, I don't have feel very critical of myself. No, I have. I have parts of myself that are very active, right? And have a controlling part that I work with every single day. She wants to control everything. She's very intense. But I not critic. I don't feel very critical of myself.

Speaker 1 32:05

Yeah, I can recognize that control in myself as well. And I think it has both sides. I mean, there's good things about those sub personalities as well, because,

Gabby Bernstein 32:15

yeah, of course, these parts of ourselves aren't bad, they're just extreme. And so if we can help them calm down, less extreme, and then they can take on their natural role, my controlling part. Wrote 10 books in 14 years and served many, many people. So I don't want to shut her down. I don't want to stop her from what she's doing. I just want to help her do it in a less extreme way.

Speaker 1 32:36

Yeah, that makes sense. Um, since you have this deep connection with God, have you had mystical experiences that have left you with no doubt that there is more,

Gabby Bernstein 32:50

many, many, many, many, every single day, every day, every day, every day. I know there is a world beyond my physical sight. I know that there is a higher power. I know that I have spirit guides. I know that there are angels around me. I know that there is an afterlife. I know this doesn't have what you believe, but I know it. You know, I'm not going to put those ideas or beliefs.

Jannecke Øinæs 33:11

Oh, nice.What's her name?

Gabby Bernstein 33:12

Here she is. My cat just came to be with us.

Gabby Bernstein 33:13

Jimmy blue, it was, that's a nice name.

Gabby Bernstein 33:15

Her name is Jimmy blue, baby. You're gonna hear she's gonna purr. Okay,

Speaker 1 33:24

I can hear her. She's attracted to the conversation we're having 100%. Is there any mystical experiences you would like to share that has sort of given you insights that have just sit with you, yeah, your entire life.

Gabby Bernstein 33:50

Yeah. I mean, so many. I have so many, you know, a great one was when my grandmother passed, I asked her to give me a sign that she was okay. You know, it's just, I was like, let me know you're okay. And a week went by and I was, I was working that week, and I was leading a group at a retreat center. And so, you know, just sort of feeling her presence, but not not seeing the the sign. And on my way home from that retreat, I stopped at my friend Zoe's house, and I was sitting with my friend Zoe and my friend Jenny. And Zoe kept pushing this to me. She kept saying, I have this deck of tarot cards. I need you to pull a card. I want you to pull a card. And I was like, why are you giving me such a hard time? Why do you need me to put and I was like, I gotta text my husband. And she's like, don't put Gabby. I really want you to try the card deck. And she was so insistent. And then my friend Jenny was like, I'll pull a card for Gabby. So she pulls a card. And the card was an image of an elderly woman crossing a bridge, and the caption underneath said, grandmother ensures safe crosser.

Gabby Bernstein 34:54

You can't make it up. You just can't make it up.

Speaker 1 34:58

I remember. I saw talk with you really impressed me in a way you were speaking about that it was hard to conceive a child and that was a surprise to you. And I really felt your pain in that. Because to me, I felt like maybe you were saying that, you know, I'm having this role in one way, I'm teaching manifestation, and then all of a sudden I can't do this. And also I could think that probably you feel a pressure on manifesting things that you set your mind on, also because of the external. And I thought that was so brave to speak about that. And then I get curious about whether we can manifest everything or not,

Gabby Bernstein 35:50

like I said before, we don't manifest what we want, we manifest what we need. So I needed to not be pregnant. Then I didn't when I gave that talk, I actually was before I actually, yeah, remembered, I think you're talking about my Oprah talk, the Oprah Super Soul sessions. And it was, it was about, it was about a few months before I remembered a trauma from my childhood, and I wasn't getting pregnant for many reasons, but I know spiritually that I needed to heal the wounded child part that remembered that trauma before I could be a mother and not completely heal that part. Maybe I wouldn't completely heal, but I needed to get to healing. I needed to get to safety in order to become pregnant, in order to be a mother. And so in retrospect, I know now that that was exactly divinely timed. And so we don't manifest what we want, we manifest what we need.

Jannecke Øinæs 36:46

How do you find the courage to share?

Gabby Bernstein 36:50

For me, it feels much easier to be authentic and vulnerable. Because if I'm going to put myself out there in this way, and I'm going to teach people the power of believing in a higher power, I can't pretend it's all good, because it's not. And I don't think that would help anyone. It's much easier for me to tell the truth.

Speaker 1 37:14

Is there a feeling sometimes, that you feel a pressure of being a spiritual teacher? I mean, today, there are many spiritual teachers out there, but you have been in the game for a long time, and were sort of, in a way, one of the young people that arised as a spiritual teacher, and people sometimes tend to put you on a pedestal. And I was a musical theater artist in Norway, and I felt that, that people look different at me because I was on stage and I was someone, and I never liked that. I felt it was alienating, it was weird, and I couldn't relax in it. I felt so stiff in it. Or the expectations is that, how do you deal with that, or is that something that's on your mind? Sometimes

Gabby Bernstein 38:03

I don't really feel that I have the expectations of others, and I think this comes back to being genuine and being authentic and just telling the truth. Because I am what you see. I am what you see, the person you see on the stage is the person that I am, because I'm also honest on the stage about, oh, well, there's also these parts of myself that are not that great, you know, that I'm still working on, I'm still shying the crystal, right? Or I'm honest about experience in time. So I think, I think that that honesty allows me to not be making myself separate. May I don't want to be your guru. I wrote a book called You Are the guru. I am, I'm. I'm not a guru. I'm a teacher. I'm a human I'm a teacher of of the human experience and the spiritual experience. And I want you to recognize yourself in me. If someone said to me, I'm you know, Gabby, I look up to you so much, or they said to me, I feel like you're my best friend. The latter is what I want. I want them to feel like I'm their friend. I want them to feel seen. I want people to feel my love. I want people to feel my connection. I want people to feel my compassion. I want people to know that I love them, because that's all I ever wanted.

Speaker 1 39:32

Yeah, and I think that's, that's, I mean, that the whole point, maybe, or the way to feel safe in it, because I think a lot of people are afraid of the imposter syndrome, or

Gabby Bernstein 39:47

the people, the people that might be afraid of being visible, particularly spiritual teachers, is because they don't know for themselves what that means, what's what spirit means for themselves that they're speaking in. About something, not for something, and that is, that would be very scary. That would be very, very scary. I can only imagine that that would be very scary. So my, my recommendation to that person is to just consistently be in the pursuit of knowing what that is, what that means to you, and only speak for the truth of what that means to you, right here, right now.

Jannecke Øinæs 40:27

Yeah, and I'm also thinking of other people who wants to share something come out, you know, be visible with our creativity, in some way, they're afraid of being visible. We're afraid of being seen. But it seems like to you that the more authentic you are, the more free you are, as well, 1

Gabby Bernstein 40:49

00% I think, you know, there's this Joan of Arc quote that I've repeated for many years. I am not afraid I was born to do this. I think that it definitely is my soul's path. So there's part of that. There's a psychic knowing that I came here to do this, and I signed up, and I signed a contract, and I said, Okay, I'm going to go through all this different difficult stuff, and I'm going to live through it. I'm going to live to tell what the other side can be, and I'm going to come here as a messenger. And I know that. I know that's a choice I made, and so I think that allows the certainty to be there. It allows me to be very settled in what my mission is and what my my intentions are. And I think that can be for anyone. I think anyone can, can can lean into that. Can lean into what that, what that, what that purpose is for them, for me, I do believe that that is, that is my soul's path. It's what I'm here for. That allows for that certainty.

Jannecke Øinæs 41:42

And is that what happened after 2005 and before that, it was more the external that was driving you, it seems like

Gabby Bernstein 41:51

even when I was using drugs and alcohol, and even when I was in in very different ways being I always had a psychic knowing that I was supposed to be a spiritual teacher.

Speaker 1 42:02

Do you feel spirituality has changed, in a way, the way we approach it? To me, it seems like it used to be more about sitting, meditating all day, very stiff with our backs and doing certain things. There were some dogmas, there were some sort of schools in a way of what not to do, what to do, and that things are evolving. Even we have tons of Channeler right now, like it's booming with people speaking about spirituality. What is your perspective on that?

Gabby Bernstein 42:36

Well, I think that the popularization of spiritual principles, or living a spiritual life, and having it be a trend is wonderful, because it's a much better trend than negativity and attack and and judgment. Although I would say that that spirituality, having a spiritual life without a real practice is kind of just bullshit.

Jannecke Øinæs 43:08

And that's individual, right? What kind of practice we find then?

Gabby Bernstein 43:12

Yeah, everyone's practice is different, but I think once again, like I said, Are you speaking for it? Are you speaking about it? And so your practice could be that for once a day, you sit for three minutes and meditate, and that that's sustainable and feels really soothing for you. And that's a practice. Your practice could be that you meditate, you know multiple times there, that you pray all day, or that you strengthen your faith through scripture, or whatever it is that you you do, and that's that's for you, that's your own individual faith, but to to sort of speak about faith, rather than for that faith that's real for you is different. It's different.

Jannecke Øinæs 43:52

Yes, kind of like religion in a way. It can be.

Gabby Bernstein 43:55

I don't know if it's whether it's religion or spiritual, if you're whatever it is in your life that you're using as a way of trying to prove yourself or be something in the world, it's something to check in with. Does that make sense? I think that anything that you're doing that isn't integrated in who you are won't have a resonance,

Jannecke Øinæs 44:24

and it's not sustainable either. Perhaps

Gabby Bernstein 44:28

no. But here's the cool thing, I've been a spiritual teacher for 20 years. My faith and my practice is so much stronger than it was 20 years ago. But 20 years ago, when I first started speaking about spirituality, I was speaking about it from where I was then. And what it meant to me then, and what was real for me then, and that was authentic, and it's developed over time. x

Jannecke Øinæs 44:51

I don't are there some absolute truths, you think?

Gabby Bernstein 44:57

Yes, the absolute truths, yeah. Are, that we are love, that we are kind, that we are compassionate people, that we are we are undamaged in our core, that we are that our undamaged selves are pure light every single one of us, we've just been in a damaged world where we've learned the beliefs of chaos and judgment and attack and separation, and we've built up a lot of defenses against that light that we are. And so that's that is, that is the truth.

Speaker 1 45:26

And speaking of the world, what are your perspectives on, what's going on in the world, especially the conversation we're having about the shift of consciousness that many believe we find ourselves in, is that also your perspective?

Gabby Bernstein 45:40

It's heartbreaking, to witness what's happening in the world right now. The world is in a crisis, a real crisis everywhere. There is a speed with which change is occurring around us that people are quite apathetic to. But it is big with the shifts, with AI, with the shifts that are going to be extremely traumatic and dramatic for the world, and raising our consciousness, elevating our spiritual faith in whatever form that comes, having a personal development practice, I believe, are required to survive the changes of the times I have been channeling. I'm channeling now, but I've been channeling this with my guides for a lot a while, with a real strong urgency, and that urgency now is alchemized into a very strong, almost warning, really, that if we aren't spiritually fit, we will not withstand the times. And that means that we do whatever it takes to get closer to consciousness, and that will come maybe just by listening to this interview, or maybe it'll come through reading a book, or maybe it will come through through through a prayer practice daily, or deepening your meditation or finding self soothing tools or self regulating practices or going to therapy or finding a community, whatever it is that you can do, but you're going to need it. You're going to need it. You can replay this in a year from now. You're going to say, oh, yeah, she's right, because and it doesn't take someone to channel to know that you can see what's coming, right? It's a very shaky time, so that's why we have to have unshakable faith.

Speaker 1 47:27

And is that also because we are, I mean, we are then contributing to raising the consciousness, but also that in order to navigate this shift, we need to also cultivate certain skills, new skills, like intuition, for instance,

Gabby Bernstein 47:46

that is absolutely correct. We have to to unburden the fears. We have to do that that work. That's why I really believe that my book Self Help is a very important book of this time, because it's taking a very profound therapy and making it accessible to people on an individual level. So if you don't have access to therapy, or you don't have the time, or you don't have the money, that you can do the healing work that you need that's based on a therapeutic process by my dear friend, Dr Richard Schwartz at internal family systems, and that this process works, and it's it's science backed, and that you can do it for yourself, and you start doing it now because we need it now. You need to get to regulation now so that you can have access to your intuition, so you can have access to a way of a tool for self regulating, so that you can have access to a way of calming and healing and and living with more clarity, because it's so it's imperative.

Speaker 1 48:40

And since you, you spoke about your guides, may I ask who the guides are?

Gabby Bernstein 48:46

Yeah, so we all have guides, and we all have have have enlightened, enlightened beings and in the spiritual realm that are supporting us and guiding us. And one of my guides is Dr Wayne Dyer, who is my, my mentor and my my friend, and he's very present in my life. Actually, Louise Hay, my former publisher, is a guide of mine. I have a another guide that I that presents as a young woman, and her name is Lily, and she she's sort of a protector, protects me. I have a male guide. And there they come in different energies. So if Wayne is present. It's a very calm energy. It's very soothing energy. So I can sense them separately, and then, and then there's sort of almost like a collective that will speak with me. So when I'm having these moments where I'm my hands go numb, and so that's when my hands go up like this, and that that is how I receive and I know that I'm tuned in and and listening. And you know, it's like they're knocking at the door. They're going Knock, knock, like, like, wake up, people. Is what they're saying. Wake up. We have to wake people. And for months, I've been living with this, like, pangs of of urgency inside, urgency. And then I was just just, just flipped the switch on and said, okay, just, just start giving. Just give a message. Tell the tell the truth. You. Don't be stuck in the urgency, and hold it all to your church. Hold it all in but wake people up.

Jannecke Øinæs 50:06

And I believe we're speaking to the choir here also. So you know, people want to do the work, but what about sort of them, those who are in power, who is just not there?

Gabby Bernstein 50:21

Well, for those of us who do not have that literal power, we have to remember where our true power lies and our true power lies in our consciousness. And so as we start to develop our own consciousness and start to heighten our own strengthen our own faith and strengthen our connection to the compassion and love within us, then we can give more of that, and that is where the ripple effect begins to occur, so trusting that whoever's listening to us right now may be experiencing a shift inside, and that all of the 1000s of people, the 10s of 1000s of people that listen to this will all leave, hopefully feeling a new resonance, or a different shift or a new idea, and then they'll bring that into their home, or they'll bring that into their community, or they'll bring that into their office, And then that will have an imprint on somebody else and somebody else and somebody else. Many, many times have I've seen many men have come up to me in the over the years, in airports and restaurants, and they'll say, Thank you for helping my wife, because she changed, and that helped our home, that helped me, that helped our life, right? So maybe the wife was the first one to find the book, but the ripple effect spread through the family, and so that is the work. We have to be the light workers in our own worlds, and we have to do the work on ourselves so that we can have that imprint and that impact, and that will add up, but there's a call for spiritual activism right now. This is a call. This can't be a cute meme on Instagram or a cute Tiktok trend. It is a call for waking up right now. So I'm grateful for you to do what you do and for how you create the space, because this community that's listening. They're conscious, they're way, they're awake. So everybody listening, we got to wake up even more so we can help other people wake up,

Speaker 1 52:09

and that will transform the world. Will Love, conquer all

Gabby Bernstein 52:15

well, it is the only way. It's the only way. Yeah, you know the that doesn't mean that that we don't protest, and that doesn't mean that we don't vote, and that doesn't mean that we don't speak up and that we don't that we don't protect our people, and that we don't do the things that we have to do. But when we do it from a place of certainty and faith, we have much more of an impact. But those are two different things. Right? Elevating consciousness allows people to live from a more clear place, from a more compassionate place, from a more connected place, and make decisions and actions from that place. So that's why the collective consciousness is the is the call that's been coming forever. It's here. Now we got to get to work.

Jannecke Øinæs 53:02

And if we can pin it down to one thing, what is that first, one thing we could do right now to help the world consciousness race,

Gabby Bernstein 53:12

do one thing that resonates with you, to begin to care for and forgive yourself.

Jannecke Øinæs 53:22

And speaking of that self care, I have a few questions that I ask all my guests, and the first one is, what is self love to you, Gabby,

Gabby Bernstein 53:31

self love is forgiving myself no matter what, forgiving myself, no matter

Speaker 1 53:36

what, and what is the deeper meaning of life from your perspective,

Gabby Bernstein 53:42

to unlearn fear and remember love and extend that love throughout the world.

Speaker 1 53:48

All right, beautiful. Where can people go? Or where do you want them to go if they are just starting out to follow you and want to learn more?

Gabby Bernstein 54:00

Well, I definitely welcome people to go to my social media at Gabby Bernstein, or my YouTube channel, Gabrielle Bernstein, where I'm doing a lot of solo episodes where I'm just talking now, because it's what I'm being called to do. And the that's probably a great place to go, to go find me. And then if you're really wanting to heighten your spiritual connection, right now, I'd made something that changed me, and it's a trust the universe challenge. And it's, it's a 21 day challenge of just deepening your faith. And so if you're listening and you're like, well, they're talking about this, but how do I do it? That would be the way. And that's a deargabby.com/universechallenge. It's 21 days of meditations and practices to strengthening your faith. And it's unbelievable. It's absolutely gorgeous. I'll give it to you. It's beautiful,

Jannecke Øinæs 54:50

lovely. That sounds like a beautiful thing to do. Thank you so much for your time today, for coming to the show. I think I've tried to try to manifest this. For many years, and I did,

Gabby Bernstein 55:01

I was now, honey, the time was now. The time was now.

Jannecke Øinæs 55:05

Thank you so much for your incredible, beautiful work, too.

Gabby Bernstein 55:08

Right back at you.