Ep 126: The Real Meaning of Enlightenment with Biet Simkin

Jun 23

What if through becoming alcohol-free, we can experience everlasting enlightenment, creativity, and humility?

Karolina is honored to be joined by renowned meditation guru and bestselling author Biet Simkin, who beautifully weaves the worlds of pop-culture and spirituality together. She invites us into the struggles of her upbringing, including a near death experience and her journey to sobriety from drugs and alcohol.

Biet is both wise and humble with the most soothing voice, and you’ll easily take tons of notes as she shares her inspiring definition of enlightenment (including one of the most delicious aspects of it), plus her favorite practices from her book and how they can help us in the midst of our struggles.

A life that was destined to be

I first connected with Biet Simkin at the 2018 SheRecovers conference. The meditation she led brought nearly everyone to tears. It was so incredible. Ever since, I’ve been following Biet’s work and read her book, Don’t Just Sit There!

Her life story could seriously be a movie. Biet went to hell and back and now teaches everyone what she’s learned.

Born in America to Russian parents, she was raised speaking Russian and spent her summers in a bungalow colony. Biet’s parents made the very conscious decision to have Biet and raise her as a free child, but at the age of six, her mother suddenly died. Already living in poverty, her life became much more difficult, but she turned to creativity to process her experiences.

Raised by her father, a Shaman, she recalls reading texts from spiritual leaders and the likes of Carl Gustav Jung as young as 9 years old.

At 19, Biet was signed to Sony as a singer-songwriter and that was when her drinking began. She describes it as a sense of entitlement, and the drinking led to drug use. The record deal fell through, and was followed by a series of traumas in her life.

Between the ages of 24 and 29, Biet had a near death experience, followed by the sudden death of her baby at 26. Shortly after this tragic loss, half of her house burned down and she was left living in the other half of the house, resorting to heroin. The struggle continued with her best friend committing suicide and then shortly after that, her father died of a heart attack.

The final tragedy of her Dad’s death led Biet to get sober at the age of 29. It took about four years of sobriety for her career to finally take off, but in that time she had a vision telling her she was destined to become a spiritual teacher. She trusted that voice, and listened to its message. Not long after, her career, which was always meant to be, took off like wildfire.

The wheel of enlightenment

Do you picture enlightenment like a staircase? Like, once you reach the top, you’ve officially arrived or that there's an end of the road to get to? Biet has a very different perspective on this, one that feels so much more authentic to our human experience.

It wasn’t until she got sober that Biet really experienced true enlightenment. She actually describes it as having to reach enlightenment 700 times before understanding what it was.

Enlightenment isn't just a pinnacle moment. Instead she describes it as a wheel. This process begins with a “white light moment”, but is then followed up with creativity, followed by achievement, and lastly followed by humility.

As we move through these different stages, we learn and grow and share and are then humbled to be able to go through it again. Enlightenment is endless, not an end to attain.

Biet explains that “whenever we hit that impossibility wall where everything seems hopeless, it is our duty to fall to our knees and ask the universe, ‘what do you want me to do? I am obviously off course here.’ And then we're brought back to enlightenment. The wheel never stops.”

So what do we take away from this description of enlightenment?

The goal is not attainment, but to continue to move through. If we get stuck in one of these stages, we can’t move forward into further enlightenment. It is through humility, and moving toward the discord that we can continue on in our enlightenment journeys.

Grounding the nervous system and connecting to our body.

When it comes to enlightenment, there is so much power in connecting with our bodies.

As Biet has walked out her own journey and gone through the enlightenment wheel, she has developed the skills and tools to notice discord and move toward it rather than away. She uses breathwork, somatic work, staying open, and acceptance to move the feelings and experiences through her body. The power is in connecting to, rather than separating from, her physical existence.

Sometimes this can be challenging, especially for those who have gone through trauma. Enlightenment does not eliminate suffering; rather, it is an opportunity and a choice in how we can each move through the world and emotions.

So what do you do when you doubt yourself or question your worth?

Remember that you are unique and have so many beautiful skills and talents to offer this world and your community that no one else can. You have value. Tapping into our value is a way of staying grounded in truth, but Biet also warns us about the ego.

Just like low self-worth can cause harm, staying in superiority doesn’t support our bodies either. Just like Biet has learned, tuning into our nervous systems allows us to respond with support and practices that bring us back to homeostasis and into our body.

This work takes so much practice, but the outcome is a life of awareness, growth, and powerful presence in the world!

“Today, I endure the reality of life with bliss. I thought that enlightenment meant that I would be free from suffering. And what I found out was that actually, I just interact with suffering in a different way. It doesn't go away, there's still suffering. It's just, I use it.” Biet Simkin

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED

Learn more about Biet Simkin through her website. Also be sure to check out her Breathwork and Meditation Course and her book: Don’t Just Sit There!

Karolina’s July Dry Bootcamp is just around the corner! Consider this a mini coaching program, working with Karolina and an incredible group of women for 22 days. You not only take a break from alcohol, but rediscover how to care for your emotional needs in a luxurious, beautiful, and healthy way. This program lasts for 22 days, from July 5 to July 26, and includes 5 coaching calls with Karolina, a group hangout, and a closing celebration on the last day of the program.

Karolina’s book is available in hardcover, Kindle, and as an audiobook. Be sure to get your copy of Euphoric: Ditch Alcohol and Gain a Happier, More Confident You today and leave your review.

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