My friend taught me how to travel through time.
Sit down, close your eyes, and breathe deeply for about 90 seconds.
When you start to feel floaty, get a sense of your younger self in front of you.
Don’t push too hard for this, and don’t worry if it’s just a vague sense. Do it with a light touch.
See, or at least sense them in front of you—how you’d sense something in a dream.
Have a little chat with your past self.
Give them advice and a hug. Knit them a sweater and make a cup of tea. Spend some quality time with them.
When you’re ready, come back to the here and now.
Pretty simple. Like making toast. Only it’s in your mind, and you don’t need fresh jam.
This is just the beginning, though.
As we explore this practice more deeply, our past, present, and future can take new shape, transforming along the way.
Here’s how to get the most out of this process, how it changes you, and how to take it a step further.
Past and Current
As if through some time travel paradox, the wisdom you give your past self is received and lived all the way up to the present, transforming the current you.
I talk with my younger self all the time. I tell him to slow down and do things for the sake of doing them instead of for money or status.
I tell him to focus on learning. I hope he learns to love learning. I hope he learns to love.
Sometimes, he doesn't want my advice, but that’s when he needs it the most.
During one visit with my past self, he said, “You’re concerned with growth, and I’m concerned with keeping my head above water.” I told him, “How do you think you get out of the water?”
Future Self
When I visit with my past self enough, I can visit with my future self—maybe 10 or 20 years older—softly standing there. I can’t see him, but I sense his presence. I ask him what I need and what he wants to share.
Sometimes, he tells me I don’t need anything. Other times, he tells me to go outside. A lot of times, he tells me exactly what I told my younger self. I guess it’s a practice-what-you-preach kind of situation.
My future self tells me to receive more love. He tells me I only have one life and should act like it. He says I’m getting too many steps ahead. I’m worried about solving problems that haven’t happened yet.
“It’s not a problem until it’s a problem,” he says. “Only focus on what’s right in front of you. If a problem arises, face it when it happens and move on.”
On one visit with my future self, I asked him how I could be more wanted. He said, “It feels good to be wanted, but flies devour the fruit with their wanting.”
Visit Heroes
I learned that if you study your heroes enough, you can visit them, too.
With some elbow grease, you can sit at a table with Einstein, Jung, Martin Luther King Jr., Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jesus. Or whoever you want. You can sit with them in your mind and ask for advice. Sense their answers the way you sense answers from your future self.
Have an ice cream sundae with Gandhi—a soft pretzel with Buddha. Go for a midnight stroll with Nietzsche. Ask them anything.
Ways of Traveling Through Time
There are so many ways to travel through time. But my favorite is to change what I do right this second.
We make thousands of tiny acts every day. Stand up, go for a run, make that call, book that flight, read that book, say hello, say yes, say no, put it down, pick it up.
Every moment offers a chance to change the future and rewrite what the past means.
Usually, this is done through a slightly uncomfortable choice.
One Moment, Two Possibilities
There’s that moment when you feel pulled toward what you’ve done a thousand times. It’s boring, but it’s comfortable. And then there’s the desire to do something different and scary, leading you toward growth. One moment, two possibilities.
Fear is the cavernous gap between those two choices. But like Evel Knievel, you get on your motorcycle, put on your leather jacket, and jump from where you’ve been to where you’re going.
You leap across that ravine of fear, doubt, and warm, depressing comfort. Then something incredible happens. You stick the landing into the future—a future where you become your fullest self. Cuts and bruises adorn you like a crown.
You did it. You leaped.
You looked fear and comfort square in the eye and jumped over them in one sparkling choice.
As you flew through the air, you traveled through time, transforming your life in a single moment, a single action.
That’s what you’d want your younger self to do. That’s what your future self would tell you to do.
Do what scares the hell out of you, and have faith you’ll stick the landing.
There’s no need to worry. When you leap, there are powerful forces beyond your comprehension supporting you.
Some of those forces might be you.
If you’d like to go deeper, Upgrade to paid to access subconscious healing audios, and join our monthly Community Healing Hours — where we learn, share, reflect, and practice hands-on healing together.
Our next gathering is Sunday, June 29th, at 12 PM EST.
This month’s theme: the fear of being seen.
I’d love to have you in the circle.
𖦹
Warmly,
Lucas
P.S.
This is a chapter from my last book Touché: How to survive in strange and difficult times.