Episode 028: Paraplegic to Multidimensional Mentor

Transcription

Melissa: (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to the Spiritual Expansion and Ascension Podcast. Your guide on this crazy spiritual journey with me, Melissa Feick, this podcast is for those who want to expand their consciousness and dive deep into the great awakening and the next paradigm shift, we'll be exploring all sorts of metaphysical and mystical topics, including timelines, parallel realities, the matrix, the quantum field manifestation, aliens, the Akashic records, and so much more it's time to raise your vibe. Hi, and welcome to spiritual expansion and Ascension. And today I'm super excited because I'm here with Vikash Shivdasani, and Vikash is an amazing spiritual leader in our community. And I'm super excited because not only is he amazing just because he's Vik, but he's also a good friend of mine. He's a bestselling author, and I really want you to experience Vik so he can share his wisdom and his experiences on his own spiritual awakening and his spiritual journey. So thanks so much for being here. I'm so excited!

Vik: (01:29):

Oh my God. I'm so honored. That was such a great introduction to me!

Melissa: (01:34):

You super deserve it. So Vik, you have kind of a unique awakening, a story. So you also have a best-selling book that really gives a lot of detail about this awakening. So before we go into your story of the awakening, why don't you tell us about your book?

Vik: (01:56):

Yeah, sure. You know, I had an accident in July 29th, 2006. I was 22 years old and I fell off of a third floor apartment balcony after a lot of drinking. And what resulted was me becoming a paraplegic and basically navigating those waters. And that led me to my awakening. And so my book is called Rolling with It: Lessons Learned While Sitting Down as it really plays into the whole wheelchair theme, you know, and it's exactly what it's about, you know, going through my struggles and learning how to roll with the punches, roll with the challenges that were coming up and how I learned to overcome. And not only that, but learn from so many other teachers on how to perceive my life.

Melissa: (02:48):

So the moment that you had that experience, so here you are, you're 22 years old. You have your whole life ahead of you when you experienced this fall. What I read in your book is that, you know, you actually were carried, which they say not to do. So how do you overcome this shame almost that you have, or probably like, why did I let that happen? How did you work through that? Right.

Vik: (03:18):

So, you know, to give a little bit more detail on the fall, we were out with a bunch of people, and then when we came back, we actually took cabs to and from the bar. And when we came back, there was a missing cab. So I went on the balcony to see if I could see any headlights coming. So I know somebody was coming, but like I leaned over too much, I guess I was, my balance was completely off. And I went over the balcony. And the last thing I remember was kind of grabbing onto the railings. And the next thing I know I'm being awoken on the ground. And when they woke me up, I didn't remember falling. I didn't remember anything I was in and out of consciousness. They didn't know what happened. Cause they didn't see me fall.

Vik: (04:01):

I just had a bloody nose. They thought somebody beat me up or something. I was like, nobody beat me up. And I was like going in and out. So I was like, you know what? I'm just tired. Like, I just think I need to go to sleep, you guys.  I tried to get up and I couldn't get up and I just told them, can you guys just carry me and take me up there? And so they took me up there and on the way up there, I felt pain in my spine. And that's when it kinda came to me that I had fallen off the balcony. And so after the fact it was, it was hard, but also you know, kind of looking at it retrospectively, I had nobody else to blame, but me and, you know, I asked them to carry me and I asked them to to help me in that way. And so, and so it was hard to accept. Like it probably took me, you know, a number of years, to really, truly move through that because there was a lot of blame put on me. There was a lot of regret.

Vik: (05:01):

Should have done something different that day. But as I started looking at things and shifting my perspective, one of the things that I really hung onto was that like every moment is perfect and that this happened for a reason. And so no matter how I felt about it, even though I had my days, I would still always end up coming back to, okay, like, let's look at the reason, why did this happen and see what happens after the fact, when I look at it this way,

Melissa: (05:33):

I love that. And the reason I asked that specific question was because so many people do things in their life that they regret, and they live in this place of feeling ashamed of experiencing all sorts of things in their life. And yours had such a huge repercussion of what transpired in the next, you know, 15 years after that or how long it's been. So, the reason I wanted to people to hear what you experienced was, you know what, yes, I felt that in the beginning, but I've recognized after the fact that things happen for a reason. And so what do you think if you, like, if you always felt a shame or you always blamed yourself for that, do you think you'd be in a different place now than you are 100%?

Vik: (06:30):

I think the only reason I'm in the place I am right now is because I chose to look at things a certain way. There's a guru that I, you know, was connected to. His name was Vaswani and one thing he said was your freewill isn't what happens. Your free will actually lies in how you choose to see or to think about things that happened in your life. And that really hit me. And so, yeah, I feel like if I was blaming and upset all the time about, and, you know, in that regret place, there's no way I would have been able to even write a book or to do, you know, I've have been somewhat of an inspirational figure to a lot of people for a number of years. And I would never be able to do that if I, if I, you know, confined myself to that way of thinking. So really learning that I had the ability to pick outside of my perspective or my situation. And I feel like that was everything. Cause it opened up a lot of other doors that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.

Melissa: (07:38):

Yeah. So it brought you to a whole new level and you've gone on a spiritual journey and that's also what helped you to not blame yourself. And what I love about that story and that part of the story is because you're helping other people see that they don't have to live in their past. I think about, have you always lived in your past have that moment of when you made a decision, because that could have been the opportunity for you to possibly walk again or not, but you knew, and there's still a possibility and we all know that there's a possibility because anything's possible, but your journey has been so unique and like you said, an inspiration, so your guru can you repeat that statement that he said to you? I feel like it's a mic drop moment.

Vik: (08:36):

Yeah. It's your freewill doesn't lie in the experiences that you have, your freewill lies in the way you choose to think about the experience

Melissa: (08:47):

And how do you take that statement?

Vik: (08:50):

It's I feel like it's everything because we spend so much time and I know I'm a victim of this, like for many years of my life of really living our lives by default, in a sense kind of being a victim to circumstances and blaming it on whether it's bad luck or bad, you know, your karma or whatever it is. I feel like there's a good amount of people that spend a lot of time kind of stuck in that place. And when you know, that it's, that your, your power really is how you choose to perceive any situation. I mean, you know, like it, cause you know, the one thing about being in a wheelchair is a lot of people see me and expect me to be sad and expect me to like, oh, he has a hard life. And once they see that I'm smiling or laughing or enjoying life, I'm like a lap to their excuses, you know, to their, to their own life because I'm such an obvious, my situation is so obvious, you know, here I am kind of showing it at the shore and myself in a certain way.

Vik: (09:54):

So and like, I think you said earlier, like you don't really like having people see me in that way kind of gives them almost permission or view of how they can perceive their own experiences. Right.

Melissa: (10:09):

And it's funny because maybe people see you that way, but when they get to know you, they stopped seeing, probably even the wheelchair and also you don't fake being happy, your energy exudes happiness, it exudes higher energy, state of consciousness coming from you. And that also helps people. And what I think is a lot of us and I'll include myself in this, you know, we take this little thing and we make it into such a big problem. Oh, it's this thing. And that person did that and I'm not happy with my job and we make it into this big issue, but there's opportunities in every moment to transcend those lower vibrations. So what, who was your favorite person who really showed you other than your first screw room? Who else really inspired you to see your circumstance differently?

Vik: (11:17):

Yeah, you know, I've grown up, I'm Hindu. I grew up Hindu and I grew up with a number of gurus in my life. And one of those gurus is really my aunt, my dad's cousin.  I've grown up kind of knowing her. And she has, you know, there's a lot of people that look up to her and she, and she helps a lot of people and she has a lot of followers and they really celebrate her. And it's really interesting to see. And I never really knew her in that space before my accident. And after my accident, she really put some attention on me and, you know, called me to come visit her. And she just made a very defining statement to me because at that time I spent like four years, you know, traveling around the world to try all sorts of alternative treatments because I was in no place of acceptance of what was going on. It took me a long time to, it took me about maybe four to five years to truly, you know, be able to, to, to change my perspective. She told me, I told her, I was like, I'm in this situation, how long, you know, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to walk again. I don't know how long I'm going to be in this situation. And she was just like, well, if this is your life right now, how are you going to live it?

Vik: (12:36):

And it was just like a punch in the face. Like it was just like, whoa, I can, that was not even in my realm of thinking. And so it's interesting as we're talking about changing your perception and having these opportunities, because once I was like, oh, this is my life right now. How do I want to live it? Now opportunities opened up. I wasn't resisting the situation anymore. And so that was huge for me moving forward.

Melissa: (13:01):

Wow. It sounds like you had a lot of great opportunities to show up for other people to show up for you in a way that, oh, I don't feel sorry for you, Vik. I want to empower you through your situation. That's a different type of energy and I'm sure you got a lot of pity and how's that feel?

Vik: (13:23):

I hated it. I, there, you know, the first couple of years, first a year, especially maybe the first couple of years. I didn't want to leave the house because if I left the house, then everybody's going to see my situation and I got to answer to them. And there were multiple times where I'm out at a bar or out at a restaurant or I'm out somewhere and people would just come up to me out of nowhere and be like, Hey, what happened to you? What's wrong with you? And I'm like, what do you mean? I don't even know you, you know, it's like it was coming from different places. And because I was so young, I think it sparked a lot of curiosity for people. For a long time I was avoiding it. It played a big part in my nonacceptance because of those situations.

Vik: (14:06):

And when I decided to move forward and figure out what was possible, I just accepted that too. I just accepted that as part of it too. And it just kind of led me to all right, if they've never really seen somebody like me in a wheelchair, or there's always like some level of awkwardness, I'm going to throw jokes out there and, and just change that because that was, that was the bit, that was my, that was my big thing about really changing everybody's pity for me. If I joked about it, then like, then there was tension lifted. He's joking about his life. There's a, there was this, there was a perspective shift in them when I was able to do that. Right. And I would just say things like, you know, that's how I roll or, you know, just stupid things and stuff, but, but it was, it was really it was really fun and impactful and it actually led me to doing comedy, sit down comedy I called it, for a couple of years.

Melissa: (15:06):

That's funny. And you write about that in your book. What I loved about your book was that you let us really in, in a way that a lot of people wouldn't be as open because you were very vulnerable about your whole experience. The first, especially in the very beginning, because there's a lot of things that people wouldn't understand that you have to go through because you're in a wheelchair because you're paraplegic because you don't have sensations and the lower part of your body, like that is a whole new perspective. And, and that now, and, and I really honor your journey. And honor you obviously, but what, what is interesting is that you really show us the steps that you went through. And what do you do in those moments? Because maybe you have them, if you do have them those moments where you kind of slip a little backward, or you do feel a little sad or things are going as well for you, even though I know you're pretty good at flow, but what you do in those situations, like what are your techniques to help you?

Vik: (16:16):

You know, I look at everything as energy now, you know, and I've really progressed to a place where I don't necessarily personalize how I feel. I notice it, I observe it. I be with it. I allow myself to feel the sadness without it needing to be tied, to like, you know, some sort of memories and stories might come up and I'm not like feeling it, like going back into the story and feeling that kind of loop or that mental loop that we go through when we are, you're sad. I'd really just go more, you know, I really locate where I feel it in my body and really go into that space and just allow it to, cause I know it's all temporary, you know, I know what's, it's, it's, I just have to feel it through and it goes away and I've done it a number of times.

Vik: (17:06):

So that now it's just kind of automatic, but you know, I, my, my main thing really would, would be to, to see all these emotions as energy, don't personalize them as much. And then just kind of go into that space where you're feeling and just let yourself go there. You know, you might cry, you might, you know, you might feel like all sorts of stuff. You might feel some pain or whatever. And I think that's what most people try to avoid. But on the other end of that is total freedom and expansion. And, so I just look at it every time I am sad or upset or anything like that. It's just part of growing more the more I put attention on it to release it rather than being in the cycle of it.

Melissa: (17:49):

Yeah. Like that. And I'm all about being present with your emotions because I think so many people spiritually bypass their issues so often. And you really have no, if you know, truly you have the excuse to spiritually bypass everything you want, right. So you have all these excuses of, oh, well, you couldn't live in Sedona or you can't go live by yourself or you need help with this or that you have all these excuses and you've chosen to not let those excuses rule your life. What would you help other people to understand around that? Like what kind of advice would you give them to not let their excuses hold them back?

Vik: (18:35):

Right. Well, you got to understand that being in a wheelchair being a paraplegic puts on a lot of limitations. And so there were a lot there those first few years, I was very questionable about what I was capable of and I wasn't sure. And there was a lot of fear, you know, what, if, you know, what if I did this and you know, there's so many things like falling, it was a big fear of mine. What if I fell off my wheelchair and then what am I going to do? And so there were a lot of possibilities and I was living at home at the time with my parents. And I'll start to think about four years ago, I moved to Houston and decided to live on my own. And so when I started really taking that stuff, then it was like, and seeing myself living on my own, seeing myself overcoming, seeing myself, going to get groceries and, and just overcoming all that, like the regular daily tasks that people have, and I'm doing it now and I'm living it, I got addicted to that feeling.

Vik: (19:32):

I got addicted to overcoming. And not only did it give me those possibilities for myself and that I was able to, you know, experience that now, but just the feeling of like, I did it and I can do it. And, and so now when I, when it comes to right, I recently moved to Sedona and a lot of people, and I left like, you know, on a web and, and a lot of people were like, wow, like you just dropped everything and left. And I was just like, yeah, well, the, I felt like that's what I wanted to do. And it's, it's, it's literally that simple. And you know, it's not that there's no fear. It's just that fear doesn't hold me back. I am aware of it. And I just keep going, because I know because I've had so many experiences.

Vik: (20:26):

And so my advice to other people in your own excuses, you got to, you got to have an experience of it for yourself. You have to experience whatever is holding you back from doing anything that you want to do. Just do it, even if it sucks, even if it doesn't work out, just do it, feel the experience of it. And I promise even if it sucks or it didn't work out that well, like you're still gonna feel like you had a victory and you might, and you might take it to another level or try to do something else. And once you kind of get into that flow, I don't know, for me, it gets addicted.

Melissa: (21:01):

Yeah. Yeah. And, look at your life. I mean, you've really done a lot and, and I, I really encourage everybody to go get your book because honestly it's an easy read and it's very interesting. It's really, actually, it's so interesting. And the story is really exciting and inspiring. And you know, I think too many people make excuses because it's safer for them to live in their bubble in their little place. And fear is always going to come up for everyone. But what happens is you could be crippled by the fear, or you can transcend through it. And like you said, you do it anyway, but not everybody can do that. So we let's say somebody is in front of you, and they're really afraid to make that next step. Maybe do stand-up comedy instead of sit down comedy. What would you, how would you inspire that?

Vik: (22:09):

Well, you know, and that specific example, I, even for me, for me to do comedy took a while I thought about it for months, you know, I sat with it and then and then I decided to do an improv comedy class just to, you know, get my feet wet and get the experience of it. And I swear, we did, like, it was like a six week course and the last week was, was a showcase. And I was so scared. I don't know if I was like, because improv is no script. Right? You have no idea what's going to happen. And, you know, I almost didn't go. I almost didn't go that day. And then I ended up going anyway, and then it ended up being, I blew, I blew myself out of the water because I was so surprised that I was so funny in that, in that setting.

Vik: (22:53):

So for anyone, you know, if somebody wants to do stand up comedy or whatever it is that you're doing, you know, you, you gotta try it out and you know, maybe there's, maybe there's small baby steps. Maybe you write jokes and you tell it to your friends and see what they feel and, and, you know, get yourself there. You got a few laughs from them. Maybe you want to take it to another level. You go to open mic night just to try it out. And so it's, you really got to live your life as an experiment because there's so many things that we want to do that we hold ourselves back from doing. And the more you're just the more it, cause you know, that fear that comes, it's essentially, it's essentially our nervous system thinking we're going to die. And you know, if you really think about it, you're not going to die.

Vik: (23:34):

If you go up on stage, you're not going to die. If you don't do a lot of these things. And so your nervous system just wants to protect you from an unknown experience. And so if you understand, then it's really just getting yourself, working your way, whether bit by bit, baby, step by baby step. Or if you want to take the job, you know, it's up to you, but, but you just need that visceral experience to know that you didn't die and that, and that you may actually have something of worth in that area.

Melissa: (24:03):

So I have your quote, life is just an experiment for sure. Okay. I have a couple of quotes already. I'm like, I'm going to start taking them like notes.

Vik: (24:19):

Oh, wow.

Melissa: (24:20):

Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That's fantastic. So what do you want to share about your spiritual journey with everyone? Because I feel like we've talked a lot about your accident and what's happened and what made live outside of your box or outside of your limitations of wheelchair. So tell us a little bit more about your spiritual awakening,

Vik: (24:49):

Right. And so, you know, I've had girls in my life since I was a kid, but I wouldn't say I was still very surface spiritual. And when the accident happened and really a few years after, I think really when I accepted and started moving forward, I got really curious. I just, you know, I started seeing like these synchronicities at the time, I didn't even know they were called synchronicity. I was just like these crazy coincidences that kept happening. The couple leading me to things I was I wanted or things I wanted to do. And so I just got really curious about reality and how this works and, you know, it was tied a bit to the possibility of walking, but it was really just like, how do things happen? Like, I don't like it just, it, you know, it just planted that seed.

Vik: (25:37):

And I started reading books and I started opening myself up more to Wayne Dyer and and Abraham Hicks and, and my mom was really big and a Wayne Dyer. And we eventually were led to a conference where she met him. It's very, it's very, very synchronistically, you know, miraculously almost. But, that led us to, to meeting Needham  who has such a crazy story of, of healing from end stage cancer after going to the other realm. After, you know, after having her near death experience that when I met her and, and, you know, learn or you've been there. So, you know, like I want to know what, you know, like, you know, the stuff. And so she became my friend and I was able to pick her brain a lot and on different things I was dealing with.

Vik: (26:35):

And then that eventually led to, to, to really significant meditation and got involved with Dr. Joe Dispenza who, you know, really brings science and the, to the meditation and creating your life world. And so that really spoke to me. So I feel like it was like a step-by-step process, you know, like I had this backing with the, with, with, with Groo's I was exposed to. And so I always knew there was something and I, but the accident that B being in this situation actually propelled me to actually wanting to discover and explore and understand. And I think with that drive life started bringing me all these teachers. And and then it just kept propelling me to the next level, to the next level, to the next level.

Melissa: (27:18):

Looking back at your accident, do you feel, and, you know, we talked about everything happening for a reason, but do you feel that you'd be the same person, if you didn't have that accident, do you feel that it helped you on your path?

Vik: (27:38):

I think there's, there's no way I would be this person. If this accident didn't happen to me. When I met Wayne Dyer, you know, he told me, he told me this is the best thing that ever happened here. And I was just like, at the time I was, I was not really feeling bad. Yeah. But, but, you know, I don't, I really don't think I would have this level of a driver interest and, you know, maybe other things would have happened that propelled me more on this journey. I don't know, but, but I can see this as the best thing that happens to me because I perceive life from a completely different place. My wheelchair is my vehicle, but it's not, it doesn't define me. I'm so beyond just the situation. And so my life is about working in collaboration with the universe and, and being led and guided and, you know, just, I love being surprised and seeing manifestations unfold and all that kind of stuff.

Vik: (28:40):

The short answer is, you know, there's no way I would be this person. If this hadn't happened to me, so I do actually have like gratitude for it. You know, at the same time I hold the possibility of walking again and healed. I've seen it, I've been exposed to so many people and have healed from so many things. And, and so like, this is a kind of an interesting piece because before I wanted to walk again, because I wanted to get away from the chair and not have to live this life. Now I'm living this life whole heartedly knowing that there's a possibility of improvements. And, and just allowing that to unfold in whatever way it wants to.

Melissa: (29:24):

So whether you walk again or not, it doesn't negate who you are and where you are.

Vik: (29:31):

Or Johnny told me once she said, you can't need to walk again. You can't need any, nothing can be a condition of your happiness. You know, otherwise now you're putting pressure and now you're putting limitations and now you're putting maybe a time period or something like that. And so, yeah. So when I, so yeah, it's really about like breaking out of that and, and just, yeah, if I w I, I totally hold, like, I understand that there's a possibility of me not walking again. All right. Well, that's, that's what I'm living right now, and that's fine. You know, it can get better with me walking again, but if it does it, I'll still live this life the way I'm living it right now.

Melissa: (30:12):

Right. And, and one of the things you just said earlier was that the chair doesn't define you. And so many people, you know, we wake up because we're like, wait, there's gotta be something else than this mundane life, or this abuse I've experienced or anything else, but we still define ourselves from certain aspects of our identity with our diseases, or, you know, recovering from cancer or an illness, or we still have all these definitions. So how do you help people redefine themselves instead of defining themselves? Like you said, I love it. Right.

Vik: (30:58):

I think, you know, the concept I feel is like roles versus soul and you know, whether it's disease or you're in remission and you're like, I'm a cancer survivor, you know, that's a role. And, but at the same time being a mother as a role, or being a, you know, a brother, a sister, a boss, you know, all these, all these roles that we're we're, we're given and all these roles are or boxes, you know, that we, that we fit ourselves in. So, so yeah, you can be a cancer survivor. I could be a dude in a wheelchair and, you know, that could be my identity, but that's when we really come from this space of, of, of our roles. But if I think of myself as a soul, if I really connect to, to a higher version of me, which has expanded, which is beyond my body, beyond my beliefs, beyond my experiences, my story beyond all of that, it's just the essence that is playing out the story, essentially.

Vik: (31:55):

And I know, like, this is more of something that I feel like you want to experience to understand, like, you know, viscerally. But, I think when we talk about it, people get caught up in these kinds of ideas or limitations because we feel that our identity needs to fit in a certain role. And that's how we define ourselves and, and, and how we think we, we give meaning and me, I, I have nothing. I have no label. I just exist in every moment. And the more and more I can be in the moment, I'll say that definitely not a hundred percent of the time, but my effort is to be more and more of that soul version of I'm living this life. So that's, that's the way I would see that as, yeah.

Melissa: (32:46):

So basically what you're saying is I'm not attached to this role that I play in the world as a person in a wheelchair, as a cancer survivor, if somebody else, you know, so you're not attached to it. I'm really nothing. Because anything that is in this physical realm is just a reflection of a reflection of reflection. It's not really important. And when we make it important, then we become attached to it and you're not attached to it. Doesn't define you. And I love that because that's where so many people get caught up as we start to find ourselves identifying ourselves by, oh, now I'm a spiritual person and I'm spiritually awakened. And then all of a sudden the spiritual starts, right. And then the spiritual ego starts coming in and now, oh, well, you know, I'm really very spiritual. I know you're there, you know, and it's because they've now defined themselves as a spiritual person, but in reality, they're nothing, they're just a reflection of a reflection of reflection and we're moving through life that way. And when you start to recognize like, well, this chair doesn't define me, or this situation doesn't define me. There's a power in that. Isn't there.

Vik: (34:09):

Oh yeah. And it's, it's so expansive. I try to think of it as like a virtual reality game. And, you know, it's like a, like a 40 virtual reality game where we really experienced things very, you know, in real life and time and you feel pain and you feel all these things, but what if all of that is a game, you know, and, and the game, and, you know, it's funny when you talk about spiritual ego, I've been there a number of times too. And it's just like another way of our ego trying to limit us from, from, from being more. And that's why the beauty of saying that, you know, you're nothing and not defining yourself as anything gives such a freedom and an openness to who you can be. And, and you don't have to know everything.

Vik: (34:59):

And I think people want to have everything figured out and really, you know, have a presentation about themselves and have a certain persona and all that kind of stuff that fits into why we want to be defined by so many things. But for me, I just think that because of my journey and because, you know, cause I wa I mean, I've been on every level of limitation, you know, consciously, but the more and more I see that, and the more I learn more, the more I learned to just open up and just kind of like, I don't, I don't have to, I don't have to be that I can, you know, back to the dollar, this money. It's how you think about any situation. You can literally think anything. Yeah.

Melissa: (35:41):

Yeah. And it's up to you to then create your life forward. And therein lies where a lot of people get stuck because they live in their past or their living of their fear of their future or that they want something in their future, which both energies about grasping. And they're never, they're not living in what's happening right in that moment. So they can't create their life because they're creating from the past or their future. Right. They're not creating from the now and we're constantly in creation. And you know, I know your story of how you came here and w you know, what I, or in Sedona, I should say how you came to Sedona, but you know, it's so interesting how you've let things happen and unfold. How do you do that? How do you just let things unfold? So naturally?

Vik: (36:42):

Well, it's funny, right? Because fear comes up and then fear makes you want to control. Like, it's like, oh, like, you know, whether it's like a bank balance is going down, oh, I better work harder now. Or, you know, whatever that fear causes you to want to, to want to go in and take control of the situation. And I, like I said, I live my life. Like it, it's an, it's an experiment. And so I'm always experimenting. And so there's been multiple times where I'm like, the fear comes up and I'm just kinda like, I'm not gonna do anything. I'm just gonna see what happens. And, and so the more and more I do that, I see just things to kind of work it out on their own. And so it gives me more of a confidence to keep just allowing and letting it happen and, and following, you know, my own intuition and all of that stuff. So, yeah, I mean, I think it's just kind of like, these are all skills, right? They're essentially skills that we need to learn to cultivate. You know, and there's just more and more levels of it in, in your mastery. Yeah.

Melissa: (37:51):

And there's no end game. Like we don't stop our spiritual awakening. It's always happening. And I call what you just described the surrender. Right. So you're just surrendering into the moment and you're just letting it all happen. I mean, for instance why don't you tell everybody about the house that you're living in because it's, so,

Vik: (38:13):

Yeah, well, you know, I, I kind of, I kinda got a download last October to, to check out Sedona. I came in December for like four days, fell in love with it. And I was like, wow, I gotta, you know, th I'm supposed to be here. And it worked out for me to live with somebody else before I got into this place. And I was living in like a studio spot on the bottom floor of a townhouse. And so I went, so I ended up moving to Sedona three weeks after I visited here for the first time ever. And so I spent three months here over there. And then, I was looking for places. I don't even know where this came about, but it's like, it's like it's a two bedroom house that is completely wheelchair accessible.

Vik: (38:59):

Now I used to be an apartment locator in Houston, where I was looking for a wheelchair accessible place all the time. And, you know, it just makes things easier to manage with a lot of different places, but for this place to show up, that's really perfect for me. And not only that, like where I was living before I had my only view is my car. Now I have a view of ridiculous red rock mountains every day. I got to pinch myself every day. So, you know, I didn't, you know, this was just a download that came to me to come here. And then here I am living in this place and things are just happening. AndI'm just rolling. I'm just rolling with it. I'm just rolling with it, guys.

Melissa: (39:42):

I love that. I love that. And it's so funny because it's literally a perfect area you're living in, uptown. So you have the access to be able to go to restaurants and other places without even getting in your car. Right. So you have a great experience and it's perfect for you. And it cracks me up knowing that you found probably the only true wheelchair accessible place and all of sudden.

Vik: (40:15):

Yeah. And for people that don't know, don't know this, like, so that is a really hard place to get a residency. It's really a hard place to find places. So this was like it landed in my lap somehow. And I don't question anymore. I just, I just, I just say, thank you.

Melissa: (40:33):

Well, people can't find housing because there's a lot of Airbnbs and they get expensive and yeah. So it's definitely when you're supposed to be here, they, they, they, they find the housing for you, but she found the perfect house. I mean, it is, it's almost like it was made for you back.

Vik: (40:54):

Yeah. I, I definitely feel that. So Donna called me in and gave me an amazing place to stay. So I'm here. I did. I did, you know, at the, at this, well, at this point in my life, I think it's hard not to answer their call because if you don't answer the call, it just keeps coming and coming and coming until you listen. So so yeah, I do probably even the more beginning parts of my journey where you can kind of like struck it off and it goes away, but as you get deeper and deeper in his journey and opened yourself up to this, like, you don't have a choice a lot of times

Melissa: (41:32):

Do think that you got a call to spiritually awakened when you were in your teens and, and before you had your accident, I

Vik: (41:41):

Don't think so. I mean, I was, I was really, I mean, it was really like a very suppressed kid, you know, and spent a lot, like my number one thing was partying back then. And, you know, I would, you know, when I would only go to like spiritual activities when I had to, like, it wasn't like ever by choice. So I dunno, I think I needed this to happen for me to propel me in this direction. It was there, it was like a thought, but, you know, you also kind of look at other people like, you know, your parents or my grandma or your, you know, elder people and the way they deal with spirituality. And though they were like, they were spiritual, but it was still that kind of surface spiritual. That was the depth of my understanding. And so this actually pushed me to go past all of them, you know in, in my curiosity. So yeah, I don't, I don't think so.

Melissa: (42:31):

Great. One more question. What is your favorite part of your book?

Vik: (42:40):

My favorite part of my book. Oh, that's a good question. It is hard, but you know what? It was the first Dr. Joe Dispenza workshop. I went to, it's actually like two chapters in the book cover that I think is interesting how that happens. And it's really heavily weighed that, that first workshop and really, you know, all those workshops are really so next level. And I was so open after that. I was so excited after that and happy after that. And like I had, I had a very significant understanding of that. I could think of any emotion by thought alone and seeing that happen. And even more than all of that, I had very significant mystical experiences at that workshop. I saw visions of me walking and like, and being with my family. And it was like, I mean, it was so intense, I'd never experienced anything like that before, before that point. And that, that download that experience, you know, it was like watching a movie just behind my eyes and, and, you know, I saw my family and it just felt so real and everybody was crying and I, I, you know, there was so many tears at that workshop in so many, so many amazing experiences. I would say, I would definitely say the workaround, that workshop is my favorite part of the book. Yeah.

Melissa: (44:01):

That I love that. I love that. So other than walking, was there any, what was the another mystical experience and not maybe not at that workshop, but in general. So why don't you share some mystical experiences?

Vik: (44:13):

Yeah. I mean, you know, when we're at these workshops to give a little bit of insight, you know, you're talking about 800 to a thousand plus people in a room that are meditating together. And when we do that, we all become one. You know, I had various significant examples of oneness. There's a lot of energy at these workshops and people have Kundalini awakening. So there was a person who was really convulsive. And he was, he was like catty corner to me. Like he was behind me to the corner and I hear him start shaking. And once he started shaking, my legs just went like all over the place. And I was just like, whoa. And then he stopped. And then my leg stopped. And I was like, did I just imagine that, like, what was that? And then he started again and my legs started again and I'm like, whoa. Then he stopped my legs stopped. And it happened one more time. He started again and my leg started again. So after I was just like, what is going on here? It's just wild.

Melissa: (45:16):

Yeah. That's pretty significant. And, and do you feel like it was him or just the whole energy of the room?

Vik: (45:25):

It was probably connected to everybody for whatever reason it was the rhythm to him, you know? I think it was probably, you know, God kind of like knocking on my door, like, Hey, this is real, like, believe it kind of thing. But yeah. I mean, other than that, like, I mean, there's been many mystical experiences like from seeing fractals, geometric patterns, getting downloads and messages for other people, which, you know, where does that come from? You know, just a lot of things like that, you know, that opened me up a lot to a lot of these other gifts and possibilities

Melissa: (46:00):

Really. That's great. Thank you so much. I really, I appreciate you taking the time and being so honest and sharing all your wisdom with everyone. Tell us a little bit more about how people can find you and how they can find your book. I'll put the book link and your website link down in the notes, but you should also just tell everyone so that they can do it in case they're driving their car.

Vik: (46:27):

Absolutely. Rolling with It: Lessons Learned While Sitting Down, you'll get the Amazon link in the description and you can follow me on Instagram, @behere.rightnow. My website is also behererightnow.com and Facebook, you can reach me at, be here right now with Vik V I K. And so those are the main ways you can contact me. And then on my website you can actually schedule a free complimentary session where we can just kind of get into it. I really work with people to live like this, to be able to get rid of their emotional baggage, learn how to tune into your intuition, come from a very elevated place in your life. And, you know, I feel like those are the recipe to live an extraordinary life. And so I work with people for three months at a time. I also have a group program coming up in August called Lightworker school. And so yeah, so reach out and if you're curious, can have a conversation and go from there. Love

Melissa: (47:32):

It. That's awesome. So any last little tidbits of wisdom you want to share with everyone before we say goodbye?

Vik: (47:42):

I think a really significant piece of thought is that everything is temporary, no matter what you're going through, no matter what struggle you have, no matter how great it is, I've been, it's all temporary. And it's about you being able to just move to the ebbs and flows of life and allowing yourself to just keep adjusting and learning and growing. And that's, that's the piece I want to leave off with. Beautiful.

Melissa: (48:05):

Oh, I love that. Thank you. That was perfect. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Vik, and thank you so much for joining us. Please leave a review. It really helps my podcast and share it with your friends. Have an awesome day.