Our Daily Show Interview! Final Free Spiritual Wellness Experience on 10/2!
ALTON - Community members are invited to learn more about spirituality at a free spiritual wellness experience.
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A group will gather at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at River Bend Yoga in Alton to talk through the topic “The Goal of Spiritual Mastery.” Flora Van Koten and Sheila Aehle, who will lead the discussion, noted that there is no right or final answer that will lead to spiritual mastery, but it’s about embarking on the journey.
“The goal is to just keep moving,” Van Koten said. “The benchmark is to do a little bit better today than I did yesterday.”
This is the third of a three-part series called “Ancient Wisdom for Today,” though there is no requirement to have attended the other discussions. The sessions are led like conversations between attendees, with everyone invited to share their spiritual experiences.
Van Koten and Aehle practice Eckankar, the path of spiritual freedom that encourages your personal connection with the divine. What they have learned by being students of Eckankar will be part of the discussion on Oct. 2, but they emphasized that the “Ancient Wisdom for Today” series is for anyone who wants to learn how to connect with their own inner knowledge and apply it in their daily lives. They regularly meet people who come from a variety of religious and spiritual backgrounds.
“That’s what I love about Eckankar,” Aehle shared. “It’s just living, breathing, teaching. It’s your own personal unfolding. It’s not fixed. You are part of the journey. You are the journey, the guidance and master.”
The organizers also noted that it’s easy to get caught up in our own concerns, but we can instead make an effort to do more for other people. They emphasized the importance of taking responsibility for our own lives and experiences.
“What is my spiritual purpose? That’s what we’re sharing. What can I do spiritually to make a difference for ourselves or others?” Aehle said. “That’s where personal responsibility comes in for us to recognize that and go, wow, I’m going to move forward here, but I’ve got to do some walking. I can’t just wait here and be snapped up.”
Van Koten added that she finds a lot of value in singing the HU song, a prayer that allows her to recenter. She encourages everyone to find their “trigger” to relax or connect to their spirituality and God.
Aehle and Van Koten also noted that there is a difference between engaging with the mind and engaging spiritually. They believe everyone is soul, and people must learn how to listen to this soul.
“It’s your adventure. It’s your journey,” Van Koten added. “We struggle with, am I doing the right thing? That’s the mind wanting to know. The mind is a wonderful tool. But it’s not the best advocate for soul. Soul is the advocate.”
Stop by River Bend Yoga at 1 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2025, to learn more. Visit ECK-Illinois.org for more about upcoming events.
For more information about Eckankar, call 630-427-5950, visit Eckankar.org or download the free HU app at HearHu.org. For more information about the "Raise Your Spiritual IQ!" series, click here. For your own copy of the "Raise Your Spiritual IQ!" journal, click here.
