7 Powerful Lessons Being Stuck in an Elevator Taught Me

Co-authored with Jen Hecht.

Life is a series of experiences that call upon us to show up as the powerful beings we are. In every experience, we are faced with the truth of ourselves, challenged with our idea of who we think we are, versus who we show up as when the pedal hits the metal and the rubber hits the road. Last week, I found myself stuck in an elevator along with a few friends, and we were confronted with the reality of ourselves, as we hung in a limbo between our past and our future. We had 45 minutes to reckon with our truths.

What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with 10 people for 45 minutes?

Jen: It was just another Friday morning.. My youngest son had his school play and holiday party and then I scooted over to Maimah's quarterly, “I Manifest Bliss Experience” (IMB) for a day of enlightenment. It was a day of soul working. I bonded with incredible and inspiring human beings. At the end of the day, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, to start implementing what I’d learned at the event, my notepad filled with ‘to do's’ and reminders to apply what I learned. Well, the Universe couldn’t wait until tomorrow, for us to integrate what we’d learned. Excited and deeply connected, a bunch of us piled into the elevator. My first thought was that there were a lot of people, and it might be wise to grab the next elevator. I hesitated, but shrugged my shoulders, got in and squeezed into the space between the cart and the front of the elevator. I pushed the button to go down, and 2 seconds later.. the elevator jolted.. We were stuck.

Maimah: I was basking in the emotions of the day. Earlier this year, I had taken a leap of faith and launched the “I Manifest Bliss” workshop series. I had envisioned this type of event more than six years ago, but had to allow for the space between then and now, in order for me to evolve and mature enough spiritually, into a place where I was confident enough to show up as who I was, and allow the vision to boldly unfold. I’d envisioned an event where people came together for a day of soulwork, sharing their stories in a series of powerful, authentic conversations, looking deep within, unearthing, and through this sharing, inspiring awakenings and shifts in the attendees. The event on December 15th was the most powerful yet. Time stopped, and we were all wrapped in a beautiful web of powerful storytelling, transformation and deepening love for self and others. When the event wrapped up, I didn’t want it to end. I was eager to see how the Universe would integrate these lessons into all of our lives, and where the transformation would take us. When the elevator came, we got in - ten deep - talking and laughing, basking in the energy of the day. We were going to have dinner, then I was going to head home to my daughter.

The elevator started to go down...I felt a bounce, then a jolt. Then, it stopped. The Universe wasn’t going to wait. We were being called to integrate what we’d just learned, and to manifest the soulwork we’d just started. As several people in the elevator panicked, I found myself growing eerily calm. Initially, I began using the word “stuck”, but I realized that we were not stuck at all, but that this limbo, this cocoon, being together in the elevator was a microcosm of our lives. “What do you do when God doesn’t want you to wait to grow tomorrow, but wants you to start today?” “What do you do when you are forced to confront yourself and it’s uncomfortable?” “What do you do when you find yourself in the middle of here and there, and you are forced to become the catalyst that you seek?” Within that 45 minutes, we had to manifest all the shit that we had learned that day, and it was beautiful to see the transformation - while we hung in limbo, between our past and our future. Below were the topics we discussed at the conference.

I Manifest My Soul’s Purpose: One of the things I talked about at I Manifest Bliss, was that the soul always knows what we need to evolve, and our 10 souls could not wait. We came to the event that day with the desire to accomplish rapid self transformation. Our human selves have this idea that things have to take time to happen, but that’s a figment of our storytelling. We can manifest in an instant. Many thought we were in a crisis, but we weren’t - we were creating something magical on a whole other level. When faced with our fears, anxieties, other personalities, panic and the swirl of human emotions, do you manifest as the higher soul self you truly are, or do you melt into a puddle of emotion and forget who you were born to be?

On an even deeper level, the experience called us to look at who we surround ourselves and have relationships with. If you were to be trapped in an elevator for 45 minutes, are the people closest to you people you’d want to be “stuck” with?

I Manifest My Truth: Jen’s truth was that she was petrified of heights...and we were “stuck” on the elevator in a high rise building. I reminded everyone that we were not stuck, we were where we were supposed to be. Someone else said, “We are not stuck, we are waiting.” Jen realized that if she was "waiting", she could not have asked for better company. In the elevator were motivational speakers, a transcendental meditation expert, a doctor and life coaches. You see, our truth isn’t just what we say, but the truth of our lives show up as who we surround ourselves with. The truth of the matter is that we need each other. Each person gave each other something during that 45 minutes that enabled them to look at his or herself and grow.

I Manifest Mindfulness. Phil Kreutzer, our transcendental meditation expert had talked about how the act of meditation is actually an act that makes us more aware of our deepest selves “noticing” and training where our minds are taking us. Now, literally hanging in mid-air, all the iterations of what could happen ran though our minds, but we had to be mindful of our thoughts. We had to make a choice - allow ourselves to panic or focus on the fact that the Universe might just be conspiring in our favor.

I Manifest The Goddess Within. When you think about life, do you see it as the magic that it is? Here’s what we see - badasses, game changers, lightworkers, unicorns, goddesses and powerful manifesters. When trapped in an elevator, what would a goddess do? According to ancient Greek mythology, goddess symbolized magic, re-birth, cosmic time, strength, growth, nurture, divinity, life, wealth, inventiveness, fruitfulness. Cat Odderstol had led us in a beautiful meditative exercise of connecting deeply with others.

During our time in the elevator, we not only experienced all of these emotions, but we were forced to connect with, and support each other during that 45 minutes. Dawn Espinoza, goddess, gypsy storyteller, and MC of IMB, later shared, “There is power in harnessing our goddess energy at all times, and using that magic in every aspect of our lives.”

I Manifest The Catalyst. The catalyst here was this - the push from within to shift our thinking. Were we stuck or were we in a place where we had to rapidly grow? How do we view life’s experiences - as victims or do we realize that in every moment, life is calling us to be catalysts for transformation. At IMB, Dip Chandra shared that we are transformed when we bring new people and experiences into our lives, because each person has something to teach us. In building strong, values-based relationships, we are catalysts - the sparks that precipitate an event.

I Manifest Light. There were some amazing light and energy workers on that elevator, and we had to manifest as much light as possible, because we didn't know how long we were gonna be in there. It can be a challenge to “be the light” when you’re scared shitless, but realizing and stepping into a place where you can be a light to guide and inspire others is powerful.

I Manifest My Inner Warrior: Bershan Shaw talked about turning your pain into your purpose; and “warrioring” through life. Every day, we are faced with challenges. We must focus on overcoming the odds, bravely pushing through our limiting beliefs, manifesting the warriors we truly are.

As we are evolving, we find ourselves in situations where we could easily revert to former versions of ourselves - less spiritually mature, less centered, less sure, less connected with soul. Manifestation is about holding the highest vision of yourself and striving in every moment, to create and live there. - Maimah Karmo

The experience of being “trapped” in the elevator has forever changed our lives. No matter how “small” we might see ourselves, we are powerful manifestors, and powerful beyond measure, in every moment, calling into our lives experiences that enable us to live as God expression in human form.

We would like to especially thank all the firefighters at Fairfax County Fire Station 29 for working diligently go get us out safely. You are true light workers. Thank you for your service. We are extremely grateful.

Learn more about the I Manifest Bliss Experience and join us for powerful and transformational events in 2018.