Soul, Can You?
- Soul, can you find your way out of the mired darkness of trauma, violence, despair, and depression?
- Soul, can you carry me from stuckness into a lighter, more exuberant life?
- Soul, can you connect with Grace and illuminate the path to Enlightenment?
- Soul, can you fight the demons of the past, cleanse my wounds, and help me heal?
- Soul, can you honor my journey and offer Spiritual Guidance?
- Soul, can you awaken my creative essence and reveal the power of Creation?
- Soul, can you nurture me until I learn to nurture myself?
- Soul, can you grow with me and teach the ways of expansion?
- Soul, can you elevate my vibration so I rise above chaos and commune with the God Realm?
- Soul, can you learn from the shamans, the wise women, and the pantheon of spiritual helpers so I may step into my true nature?
- Soul, can you love beyond the confines of definition and bring forth ultimate transcendence?
✨ A Journey Into Healing and Grace
I had no idea these questions were quietly brewing inside me until I embarked on an extraordinary adventure—one of profound healing, astonishing spiritual expansion, and the discovery of Grace within.
Accessing these gifts was surprisingly simple, though far from easy. It required perseverance, unwavering commitment, and deep fortitude. But above all, it demanded surrender—the willingness to release control and become nakedly humble. That surrender was paramount.
I share my story for one reason: to serve as a testament that healing and transcendence are possible. This is not a blueprint. My way is not the way. It’s not your way. It’s simply a way—one of infinite paths available to each of us. My journey demonstrates the vast potential we all carry. It’s not a step-by-step guide. In fact, I’ve come to loathe tell-you-how-do-it “self-help” books. Only after walking through my own process did I understand why: no one else is me. There is no how-to book on me.
The steps didn’t come from outside—they emerged from within, once I expanded and allowed the grand reach of Cosmic Deity to touch me. That’s when the real adventure began. The true me was schooled. There was no hiding in the back of the classroom. Each layer of revelation brought a test: Would I ignore it? Hide from it? Deny it? Or would I embrace, honor, and learn from it?
I chose the latter. Each time I received a vision, I walked through my everyday life expressing, connecting to, and revering that truth.
🔥 My 33rd HB (Holotropic Breathwork) Session
Many times, I’d felt both explosive, fiery, volcanic energy—and dead calm, anergic emptiness. This mismatch of energy states was deeply uncomfortable. I’d come to believe that the burning energy born of abuse drained my life force. It left me exhausted and depleted.
Despite countless medical tests—thyroid panels, blood counts—I always checked out physically normal. I tried acupuncture, which helped a little. But the most profound insight came through non-ordinary states of consciousness. My 33rd Holotropic Breathwork (HB) session was especially revealing.
Most of my sessions began with ballistic physical discharge—rocking, flailing, sweating. Early sessions included vivid body reenactments of abuse. Later ones were story-free, yet my body still needed to release the trauma energy, like a giant electrical capacitor unloading. Neck pain was common—where my perpetrator had often grabbed me. These reenactments lasted an hour or more in early sessions, then tapered to brief “trauma echoes” in later ones. Their intensity faded and healing time diminished their impact and frequency.
This session began with trauma echoes but I felt too drained to physically exert and shake them out. I feared I wouldn’t reach a non-ordinary state. But I did—gently. I drifted into stillness, floating outward through the solar system, past planets, toward the sun, seeking its warmth and healing. I felt barely conscious, like in deep trance sleep. It was profoundly restful, and I wanted to stay there forever.
But serenity was shattered when I jolt-awoke into fight-or-flight. The awakened part wasn’t adult me—it was a distressed Little One, a child part embodying the abuse trauma and holding the memory. The contrast between my relaxed state and this eruption of anguish was unbearable.
I asked for help. Jean, the facilitator, offered reassurance and helped calm the Little One. But the calm was short-lived. A fellow participant’s sounds triggered more trauma memories and kinetic energy surged forth within me.
I leaned into the distress, breathing into it, accentuating it, accepting it fully. This sparked a vision that then crystallized: multiple Little Ones ablaze with abuse energy. They burned inside while I melted outside. These were the mismatching contradictory energies. I asked for spiritual help.
My four Animal Spirit Guides appeared. Each took a Little One to extinguish the fire. Arapaima, the Amazonian fish, and Naga, the water spirit dragon, dove into cooling waters with their child riders. Eagle soared fast enough to blow out the flames. Panther curled protectively around the fourth Little One, smothering the fire.
Once the fires were extinguished in my heart, my body stopped melting. My life-energy returned.
Afterward, I continued acupuncture, rested, exercised lightly, and de-stressed. The energy mismatch resolved. I believe it healed because I addressed it from all angles—mind, emotion, body, and spirit.
Mandala for this session.
For more stories about my HB journey and shamanic adventures, please see my new book, a “Top New Release” on Amazon. Soul Can You, How Expanded Consciousness Cultivates Spiritual Awakening, Trauma Healing, and Creative Breakthroughs https://a.co/d/4S16kz9
Dr. Lisa Gilbert demonstrates what so many are seeking: the realization of deep transformation through nonordinary states of consciousness. In Soul Can You, she brings raw honesty, clinical insight, and spiritual depth into a single, breathtaking narrative. As someone immersed in this work, I found her journey both validating and inspiring. This book is intimate, intelligent, and deeply soulful. It is a must-read for seekers, healers, and anyone walking the path of personal or collective awakening.
–Kyle Buller, MS –Co-Founder of Psychedelics Today, Vice President of Training and Education, and Director of Vital, comprehensive training course in Integrative Psychedelic Studies.
©Lisa Gilbert 2025
(Permission granted to publish online journal Drops and Buds)
