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ALTON - A free event encourages community members to connect with their spirituality.
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From 1–2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, at River Bend Yoga in Alton, Riverbend residents are invited to learn more about Eckankar and spirituality through an interactive conversation titled “Experience the Reality of Past Lives, Dreams, and Soul Travel.” This is the second of a three-part series called “Ancient Wisdom for Today,” with conversations planned for the first Thursday of every month through October.
“This is one of our favorite ones of all the ones we do, because it’s a culmination of the tenets, if you will, of Eckankar, which is the path of spiritual freedom,” said Flora Van Koten. “Everybody has inner guidance, whether they call it my own mind telling me what to do, or God, or Christ, or Buddha. It’s an exciting journey for everybody. They can relate to at least one of these topics.
Organizers Van Koten and Sheila 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 Sept. 4, 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.
As part of their conversation on past lives, the duo will talk about reincarnation and karma. Aehle explained that responsibility is a big part of those ideas. As we accept responsibility for our roles in our lives, we gain a deeper appreciation for the cause and effect we experience.
“Part of that is taking full responsibility for everything that we’re bringing into our lives and that we’re putting out,” Aehle said. “I think karma is figuring out, oh, I don’t want to create this anymore. I don’t want to have this anger or this craziness. I want to learn to get along with people, to love them for whomever they are, and accept my role in it.”
Spiritual exercises, like singing the HU song, help Aehle and Van Koten articulate these feelings and experiences. During the conversation on Sept. 4, they will review a few of these spiritual exercises and encourage people to follow journal prompts in a “Raise Your Spiritual IQ!” journal.
Every participant will also receive the book “Eckankar: Ancient Wisdom for Today.” Van Koten and Aehle will guide the meetings by bringing up topics from the book, but these conversations are relaxed. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own perspectives and experiences to the meetings.
As Van Koten and Aehle plan for the conversation on Sept. 4, they encourage people to think about their spirituality and what questions they have about their lives. The duo believes that the universe will answer us and show us the right path, as long as we’re open to receiving the message.
“Some people get nudges. You get dreams. You get what you call coincidences. All these kinds of things start falling into place when you start looking for them and accepting them. The more we accept, the spirit is talking to us all the time,” Van Koten added. “The universe wants us to succeed, to learn how to love. The thing is, we have to do our part.”
Stop by River Bend Yoga at 1 p.m. on Sept. 4, 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.
