Until Today!: Devotions For Spiritual Growth And Peace Of Mind [abridged]

Until Today! Discussion Group Guide
For Personal Study:

1. It is suggested that you read the daily message each morning before you begin your day. In this way you will have ample opportunity to incorporate the principle being covered into your own life experience. Make a note of any feelings that come up for you while you are reading. It is best if you give the feeling a name, e.g., fear, resistance, acceptance, understanding, confusion, etc. Once you have named the feeling make a note of what it represents to you. Resist the temptation to agree or disagree with any particular statement. Seek the deeper understanding by exploring your feelings. Should you choose to join a study group, be open to sharing those passages that you found most difficult, or those which evoked the deepest feelings or memories for you.
   
2. You are encouraged to develop the habit of writing the daily affirmation and carrying it with you. You can post it in your car, home, office, even at your desk at work. When the affirmation is read or recited daily, it reinforces the principle in your own consciousness.

For Group Study:
Each member of the group is encouraged to follow the daily personal study guide, and to use group meetings to gain further clarity or understanding about the principles. Group study is also a means of support with issues or revelations that may arise as you experience the book. We offer you the following guide for facilitating meetings in which the content of Until Today will be discussed. Of course, you are free to work with any process that is amenable to your group. The following format and process is offered as a guide to a deeper understanding of spiritual principles that foster spiritual growth and peace of mind.
Opening Processes:

1. Center Yourself
   Take a 3-5 deep breaths, inhaling slowly, followed by a slow exhale. Rest by breathing normally for several seconds between each breath.
2. Remember The Truth About Yourself
   I am Divine; or I am blessed; or I am open to a deeper understanding of myself and my life; or, love and light surround me. Feel free to use any statement beginning with "I am" that makes you comfortable.
3. Open Your Heart
   Before you inhale, imagine that there is a nose in the middle of your chest. Inhale deeply from the center of your chest. As you exhale, see, fee or imagine that the breath is being released through the top of your head.
4. Call Forth Your Higher Self, Divine Self, Angels, Guardians, Ancestors, or Guides.
   Mentally affirm that you are surrounded, supported and guided by the presence of good and loving forces. If there is a diving energy with which you feel most comfortable, call the presence forward. (E.g., Christ, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, Holy Spirit, etc.)
5. Set an Intention for Your Experience
   "It is my intention to receive divine guidance;" or "It is my intention to gain a deeper understanding of?" or "It is my intention to gain clarity about?"or "It is my intention to experience the divine presence of?," etc.

Group Check-In (3-5 minutes per person)
This is the time for members to share any challenges, upsets, victories, and realizations they have experienced since the last meeting that are directly related to one or more of the daily messages. A simple way to begin is to share what has come up for you since the last meeting; if/how application of the principle being covered supported, assisted, guided your responses and behaviors; and where you are experiencing difficulty.
The process works best if each group member shares their own experience without judging, fixing, exploring, and challenging any other member. This means that once a person speaks, the process continues to the next person. You are encouraged to avoid cross talk and examination of personal experiences. In other words, when each group member speaks, there should be no comment about what any other member has shared. Each member should conclude their sharing with the statement, "Thank you for the opportunity to speak." This is a form of self-acknowledgement, as well as acknowledgement of others.
Once all group members have checked in, read the opening passage of the daily message for the date the group is meeting. Once the statement is read, 3-4 members, one by one, read one sentence of the message, and share how they relate to it. Relating means sharing what you understand; how it makes you feel, and any experience you can share that ties into the overall meaning of the sentence. Remember, the process does not require agreement; it is a process of self-exploration. You are encouraged to use such statements as, "What this means to me is..." and "The way I relate to this is...." Once the entire day's passage has been read, the group is open for a deeper discussion. Any group member can re-read any sentence, sharing their challenges, understanding and experience with that sentence.
When/If a group member has a challenge accepting or understanding a sentence, another group member can read it aloud. The group should then spend 2-3 minutes in silent reflection/contemplation of the sentence. Beginning with the member who read the sentence, moving around the group from member to member, each member briefly shares any new or different understanding or interpretation of the statement.
The members who had difficulty with the statement can then share whether or not they have clarity, new insight or understanding. If there is none, the members can examine why they are experiencing difficulty with journal writing at a later date. The journal-writing exercise could include completion of the following statements:
When I read this statement I feel....
What I tell myself this statement means is....
What I really feel about the statement is..., which means what I tell myself is....
This makes me feel....
Another way to understand a challenging message is to do 15 consecutive minutes of journal writing about the feeling that comes as a result of the passage. This means that you will write everything that comes to mind until your mind is clear, or until the time is over. Should you discover that the feelings which come forward are painful or unproductive, DO NOT RE-READ THE PAGE. Destroy it -- burn it, tear it, or flush it.
For the first meeting of the month, or with each new principle, the group is encouraged to create an affirmation for the group using the principle. For example, if the principle is love, an appropriate affirmation would be, "I am surrounded and protected by the divine principle of love which brings into my life all the good the love has to offer." Each member can write/post the affirmation in their home, car, or office, where it can be seen and/or recited daily to reinforce awareness of the group's intention.
Some groups may choose to devote their meeting to a discussion strictly related to the month's principle. Should this be the case, the following process if offered as a guide.

There is no right or wrong way to conduct a group meeting. You may start with one process, only to discover that there is another process which better serves the members' needs and interests. More important, remember to have fun. Spiritual growth need not be a painful or devastating process. Remember to laugh at yourself. Remember to support, nurture, and embrace yourself. Share your challenges. Revel in the new understanding you discover. Above all else, tell the truth! As you know, the truth will set you free!
I wish you joy, love, and an abundance of good things. Surely one day our paths will cross. In the meantime,
Be Blessed!

In her introduction to Until Today!, Iyanla says that, "the journey into self-acceptance and self-love must begin with self-examination.... Until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life." To this end, the author shares how she asked her staff to write a five-hundred-word description of themselves, using the first person in the present tense.

• Discuss the personal description called "The Landscape of Myself" from Iyanla's introduction. Try this assignment yourself, keeping in mind the essay that the author shares. Remember, although this may be a struggle, this can be an instructive way to further focus on the work you want to do - and it will likely reveal some inner resources you didn't know you have! Discuss some of what you wrote down about yourself, and share your reactions about the process and what you discovered.

January's theme is allowing life to work for you.

• Retrace your plan for this coming year of UNTIL TODAY! activity. What goals have you discovered, or have you set in motion? How has embracing the Law of First Things (accepting, acknowledging, and embracing God first in all things) made a difference in your life?
• If you've tried it, how has being silent for ten minutes at a time impacted you? What have you learned by practicing patience? Share what you have discovered about enacting these changes, and what occupies your thoughts, and how you are feeling.
• Are you living in the moment, in the present, or bringing up the past by reminding yourself of how bad things have been for you? Have you been able to bring yourself into the present each day? What are a few things that you've been avoiding, and what are you doing to squarely face them? How have you learned to take responsibility for your life?
• At the end of the month, go back to any lessons you had trouble with or chose not to do, and try them again. Examine what caused the difficulty and what you did about it (or what you didn't do about it). Chances are these lessons are very valuable to your growth.

"Love," February's focus, "is who you are," says Iyanla.

• Look at the entry for February 1, and practice treating everyone around you how you treat yourself. How did this make you feel? How did it make a difference in you day? Discuss what the author means when she says, "How you see yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you express yourself is a direct reflection of your true beliefs about love. When you can be gentle and compassionate with yourself, you will feel love." Share a time or situation when this has borne out.
• When people lie to you, speak ill of you for no good reason, or strike out at you, how can you greet this lack of love with love? If you've tried this, how did it make you feel? How do you withhold love? If you're in an abusive relationship, can you begin to understand how by participating in activities that are not loving toward you, you are helping to hurt yourself? Explore the idea that love is not a tool or a weapon. Ask yourself if you are receiving all that you are giving, and share your answer.
• Are you relationship material? How are you willing to open your heart? Are you willing to allow others to see yourself exactly the way you do? Why is it not a sign of loving someone when you withhold information that you think will disturb them? If you are wondering why you should stay in a friendship or relationship, and how you can leave without hurting or being hurt, are you fully present in a loving situation? Consider what has happened as a result of this newfound expression and acceptance of what love means, and share your feelings about it.
• At the end of the month, go back to any lessons you had trouble with or chose not to do, and try them again. Examine what caused the difficulty and what you did about it (or what you didn't do about it).

Awareness, March's topic, looks at judgments of all types.

• How...
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