My guest today is Maya Alper: a courageous, inspirational survivor of the Nova Festival massacre. On Oct. 7, 2023, Maya was working at the Nova Festival when the massacre began by Hamas terrorists. She ran for her life and was hiding inside a bush for 6 hours till she was rescued. Maya published a viral post on Facebook days after the massacre, in which she shared her tremendous powers to handle the atrocity and draw hope – through the most important meditation of her life. This is Maya’s story. Efrat Fenigson
Loka Samastah Sukinho Bhavantu
May all living beings be free and happy, and may I contribute to this in the best possible way with my thoughts, words and actions.
שכל יצור חי יהיה חופשי, שכל יצור חיי יהיה מאושר, שכל ייצור חי בכל מקום בעולם יהיה תמיד חופשי ומאושר
Heaven and Hell are Choices
I don’t usually share on social media but after running for my life, being shot at and hiding in a bush for 6 hours, I realized there are some thing that are worth sharing.
heaven and hell are choices, they are state of minds that we can choose to be.
I was in the heart of the war zone, and during those 6 hours I was hiding in my bush – I heard thousands and thousands of gun shots coming from the villages around me, knowing that terrorists are mascaraing innocent children, men and women
I saw the people that were with me, as we were running together for our lives, getting shot at. and I also saw the smile the terrorist had on his face as he shot the girl and she fell to her death
I saw the fear and worry and the amazing strength of the soldiers that helped me get out of my bush and towards safety
they know they are on a mission to save all the families that are getting mascaraed, and they will lose their lives to do so. I will be forever grateful for those brave souls and their sacrifices to help me and every single person.
in all of that – being surrounded by living hell – so much death and hate, I sat in my bush smiling, breathing, praying in my own way for my self, for peace and for love. I realised that between all of the bombs, gunshots and screams – the birds were still singing, and behind all the smoke the sky is still blue and I kept focusing on that
when ever any thought of stress, fear, anger or revenge came to my mind – I stopped, I took a breathe and gave gratitude for at least three things in my now moment
“thank you for the bush that is keeping me safe, thank you for the birds singing to me, and thank me for doing such a great job at the situation I’m in”
now being home, with my family, safe and sound, my heart and soul can’t even begin to imagine the horrors, the kidnapped children, men and women are going through in Gazza. and the unimaginable things our brave soldiers are going through, including my own brother. who was fighting and saving people, at the nearest village to my bush, without even realising his sister is right there in need of rescue.
I think what I’m trying to say, is that I don’t have any answers on how to bring world peace, but I was able to bring peace and heaven to my self in the heart of that living hell
***As long as we are breathing, we are winning***
literally
so many friends and family asked how they can support me best, and here is how..
stop watching so much news, be here present with your self, family and loved ones.
they call it present because it’s a gift
if you don’t have anything smart to say please don’t, especially on social media
our words have so much power, please use them wisely
every time you have a thought that comes from fear, anger, hate or revenge to your mind – stop, BREATH it out and replace it with three things you are grateful for
if you can’t be grateful about something in your now moment, it can be of something from your past or future
just give gratitude
keep choosing and acting from a place of love and not fear
that is the difference between living in heaven or hell
***As long as we are breathing, we are winning***
as important as it is to acknowledge the horrors that have happened there, as a country and a community, let’s put our focus and energy on how we are all uniting together. every single person in Israel right now helps in his own magical way, giving his gifts to the world right now, there is no more mine or my – we are all giving to whoever needs it right now and that is something that no one can take away from us
the strongest weapon in the world is our collective consciousness, lets put it to good use together.
At the end, the people that got me out of the war zone were Israeli ARABS , that got me from my bush all the way to my dads arms and to safety.
this war is not Jewish against Muslims or Arabic people, they are our friends israeli arabs.
ITS EVERY LIVING BEING AGAINST HAMAS
and it doesn’t matter how much the media will try to twist the reality and cause more fear, we know our truth and we will keep believing it.
I’m not saying I’m right or wrong – I’m just sharing my experience and what worked for me
I’m sending love and strengths to the families who have lost their loved ones
sending prayer to the kidnapped in Gazza
to our brave soldiers
and for every living being on this earth
please keep breathing, keep choosing love every second of every day
for my brothers and sisters who were there at the massacre or any one that is experiencing stress, I would like to share with you a breathing method that is calming the nerves’ that I used a lot in my bush and after, its called Savitri- (not for children!)- breath in and out thrugh the nose.
Inhale slow until you count to 8
Hold your breath until you count to 4
Exhale until you count to 8
Hold empty until you count to 4
8-4-8-4
The longer you do the deeper the relaxation. 21 minutes is very healing
and one more thing that helped in the last week and might sound a bit weird, but our emotions and traumas are stored in our hips, dance twerk shake your bodies and booty’s, don’t let that trauma get stuck in your body!
In the picture – it’s me smiling from my bush
a video I took 1 hour before being rescued
Loka Samastah Sukinho Bhavantu – may all beings be happy, may all beings be free, may all living beings all over the world be forever happy and free.
