How to be a lightworker

18 Apr

If you’ve ever wondered what the term lightworker means, or how to be a lightworker, this week’s blog is especially for you. Over 4000 people search ‘What is a Lightworker’ each month – which not only shows that there are many more people waking up to their spiritual self and feeling called to work their light, but also that the usage of this term is becoming more frequent in common vernacular.

What is a lightworker?

Lightworkers are self-aware individuals who recognise that they have a role, or a calling in this world and understand that their thoughts, actions and vibrations have the potential to impact and imprint on the world around them including other people.

A lightworker is a person who is spiritually awakened and that wants to bring and spread light to the world. Lightworkers are aware of both light (high frequency energies) and darker energies (ego-based fears), and makes a conscious decision to act from a place of love, compassion and empathy. They feel called to help others and/or the planet in some way.

There are no tests or qualifications for being a lightworker. Whilst you can certainly learn more about being a lightworker – the essence is very much on the word ‘being’.

‘Definition of a lightworker: Someone who wholeheartedly makes the decision to make the world a brighter place by being in it’ - Rebecca Campbell

Where does the term come from?

The term is often attributed to spiritual teacher and writer Michel Mirdad in the 1980’s who used the term to describe those individuals who were raising and expanding their consciousness by encouraging love and light into the lives of others.

In 1997 Doreen Virtue published her book The Lightworkers Way, in which she shared her own journey along with advice and guidance to support the reader to connect with their inner being and recognise their higher calling. Since the late 90’s this term has been widely used, as more and more individuals wake up to the magic of high vibrations.

So is it all love and light, rainbows and butterflies?

Being human means that there will always be contrasts – where there is heat there will also be cold, where there is light there will also be dark. Darkness does not mean evil – but it’s about feeling limited by our human-ness, feeling constrained by our thoughts and feelings, and disconnected from the greater consciousness and the energetic web that binds us all to everything and everyone.

This is where the concept of shadow work comes from – being willing to delve into your unconscious and uncover the parts of yourself that you keep hidden, to release trapped emotions and self-limiting beliefs and reconnect to your divine cosmic self. When we acknowledge our shadows, we can no longer hide in them. When we are willing to face and release our fears; we raise our vibration.

Are all lightworkers healers?

Yes, and no. Overall lightworkers generally feel joyful and gratified by their sense of self-expansion that comes from living in higher vibrations and recognise that operating from a place of love, compassion and empathy not only helps them to feel good, it also raises the vibration of the whole planet. Many lightworkers will have been through their own healing journeys and feel a soul level calling to help others through healing modalities. However, the ‘healer’ never truly heals anyone, they simply provide the tools and hold space for the recipient to heal themselves.

Lightworkers might be called to work in healing modalities; as a medical practitioner, an energy healer, or a therapist/counsellor; but they might also work their light in other ways that help society through being a teacher or an artist – or any other role that enables them to feel creative and help others. Simply by holding a high frequency vibration lightworkers transmit healing like a beacon. If you’ve ever walked into a room and noticed that one person’s energy seems to lighten up the energy, uplifting everyone around them – they are broadcasting higher frequencies, often by doing nothing other than just being themselves.

What are the challenges of being a lightworker?

Being a lightworker can be challenging at times – we live in a 3D world which is built on a framework of disconnection from any higher being (i.e. that if there is a greater conscious outside of ourselves) and sometimes the operation of everyday life, and the trappings of societal expectations, make it hard to maintain a high vibrational energy.

Others might dismiss your mindset as unconventional, or even unrealistic. Some will even take pleasure in trying to bring you down to their lower frequency level. Very few lightworkers walk about constantly feeling like they are in a constant high vibration and at one with everything and everyone 100% of the time – and those who do have usually put a lot of time and energy into their own healing.

For most of us it’s a bit like meditation – when you meditate you might find that the mind wanders and you end up thinking about what you’re having for lunch, or an errand you must remember to run, or a call you need to make. When you realise that the mind has wandered you bring it back to focusing on the breath again. Likewise as lightworkers it’s all about self-awareness and regulation. Noticing where your personal energy frequency is at, and then being able to consciously adjust it.

What are the benefits?

Being aware that you are part of, and connected to something greater than yourself, creates positive emotions. In the 90’s, research carried out into the effect that a belief in god had on the brain, found that feeling connected to spirit neurologically stimulated parts of the brain associated with reward and reinforcement. In other words – it feels really good!

Higher vibrational states are connected with powerful positive emotions such as love, joy and compassion, whereas lower vibrational states as associated with fear, grief, apathy, guilt and shame. When we operate from higher vibrational states of consciousness life seems easier, we can more easily manifest our goals and desires and life looks more hopeful.

Helping others has been known to create the feel-good hormone oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine – the more of these hormones you feel, the brighter and positive the mindset, which in turn makes it easier to feel connected to the greater consciousness and creates an upward spiral of connection, high vibrations and widens the impact, like ripples on a lake.

So how can I be a lightworker?

If you’re aware that you are part of a greater cosmic plan, here to experience human form, and connected to something greater than yourself – and feel called to support others on their journey, then you probably already are.

Being a lightworker is not about saving people – it’s about being a lighthouse, not a lifeboat. Simply by holding a high vibrational frequency, seeing the good in others and approaching life with an attitude of love and compassion, you’ll shine your light for others.

Helen Hardware