Straight Talk About Spiritual Sh*t
Elephant Dung
Welcome to Elephant Dung!
Help for the Mystical Dung Beetle
Offering support, encouragement and information for anyone sitting in the unpleasant space between a spiritual awakening and spiritual enlightenment.
Elephant dung is crazy useful, but that doesn't make it fun to stand in!
Did you know that elephant dung can actually be used for 25 different things? I know, right? Seriously, you can even make soap out of it! (Though personally, I’ll have to pass on that one.) But I have come to understand that a spiritual dark night of the soul is no different. It’s an incredibly useful and important part of spiritual development, it also stinks! And to make matters worse, it doesn’t take long before you realize you’ve invited its manufacturer into your living room.
Most of us have approached the elephant from the front, perhaps gently touching the trunk as we begin to explore yoga or meditation. Others come in from the side with an energy art such as Reiki or Qigong. Some find themselves at the heart of it all, with Bhakti yoga or the Course in Miracles. And a few, for better or worse, are simply stepped on by a restless elephant during a sudden and spontaneous Kundalini awakening.
However you arrived here, it doesn’t take long for the blind men and the elephant fable to kick into full swing. Initially we practice our individual arts and explore one tiny piece of the whole. The majority of people will stop there. In someways perhaps, they are the fortunate ones.
But for those that move on, the elephant inevitably becomes larger and more complex. The big picture begins to form and just as we find our way into the highest levels of understanding, our egos find themselves standing in dung.
I know first hand, this is not a pleasant space to be! (Trust me, I spent nearly six years there!)
But you don’t have to shovel alone! Humor, help and support are here. Join a community of fellow dung beetles and keep your spiritual progress rolling.
Exploring the ever-present, but less popular (and often stinky) side of spiritual growth and awakening.
Survive the space between awakening and enlightenment!
Offering online classes, peer support, educational videos and help for anyone struggling to incorporate a spiritual awakening into their daily lives.
Want to talk to someone who's been there? Trust me, I get it! The weird, the mundane, and yes, even the really out there experiences. I know first hand how hard it is to process the esoteric spiritual realm alone. Offering individual sessions for anyone in need of a friend, coach, or sounding board.
Thoughts along the path of my own spiritual awakening journey. The struggle is real! Sharing some of it here, in hopes that others might feel a little less alone.
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About Me
When my daughter was 16, we were standing in the kitchen awaiting the arrival of her then boyfriend. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing, but I will never forget what she said: “Mom, please be normal - or at least act normal while he’s here.” The year was 2006, and I was deep in the throws of my Reiki phase. I was also communicating with plants and animals. Needless to say I was anything but normal.
My spiritual journey, however, had started long before that. At the age of 9, I was already practicing walking meditation and playing with energy fields. At 12, my grandfather’s spirit appeared in my bedroom, leaving me to announce to my atheist mother that he had died, a full 30 minutes before my grandmother called with the news. Needless to say, my mother was less than thrilled. And she too, instructed me to be normal, or at least, act that way while she was around.
And so I did. In fact, I kept my spiritual life hidden for years. I graduated from college, and ultimately completed my PHD. I married an engineer and raised three kids. I worked as a nurse, a university professor, and a nature photographer. But, for better or worse, in 2015, the lines again began to blur. I had become a laughter yoga teacher and pretty quickly opened a healing arts studio. Before long, I was teaching meditation again and had shifted back into a regular practice. As an entrepreneur, however, I continued to present myself in the business world as normally as possible.
For the first two years, things were going well. My children had launched and my business was thriving. But in December of 2018, just prior to attending an Advaita Tantra immersion in Ojai California with Igor Kufayev, I was surprised by a kundalini awakening. Suddenly, I could no longer meditate in public. I simply couldn’t sit still. Try as I might, once the spontaneous kryias had started, all bets were off. So, I closed my studio and set off on a six year vanlife / dark night of the soul adventure.
As some of you may know, learning to live with kundalini energy in your body is a lot like leaning to surf during a tsunami. It isn’t fun! And while I pushed thru my journey alone, it is my hope that you won’t have to.
My vision for Elephant-Dung is to provide a safe, non-judgmental space for spiritual information and growth. I am here to answer questions, host workshops, create videos, and hopefully draw together a community of support for anyone caught in the uncomfortable space between spiritual awakening and enlightenment.
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I have no religious affiliation and maintain a non dual perspective. All are welcome here.
Jessica A. Lloyd, PhD
Speaker, Author, Coach
Formal Education:
1986 BSN, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
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1998 MEd, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
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2008 PhD, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Book Publications:
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2013 Embracing Impermanence
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2014 Attitude is Everything
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2016 Laugh Your Way to Enlightenment
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2024 Driven by Grief: Navigating the Road of Suicide Loss
Influenced By:
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Caroline Myss, Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Gary Renard, Jack Kornfield, Rupert Spira, Igor Kufayev, Ekheart Tolle, Course in Miracles, St. Teresa of Avila
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Just to name a few....