The Next Step
with Joe Gillick

Over the almost 70 years of my life, I have had some remarkable
experiences and opportunities to learn about being a spiritual being
journeying through the material plane of existence.

For the past 35 years or so, I have assisted others along the path
in an informal way as a mentor, healer and spiritual guide.
It is only recently that I have felt called to share my wisdom with others
in a more formal and structured way.

So, I invite you to browse my site to learn who I am, where I have been,
and where we might go together through the yellow wood of life.

Next Step Mentoring

What the Next Step offers is a mentoring and educational process
for individuals who wish to achieve
their highest potential, fulfill their life's mission
and manifest a life on the material plane
that is of benefit to themselves and all beings.

The guiding principle of the this work is that all beings
are seeking happiness, seeking to express their true nature and
seeking to fulfill their life's purpose.

To achieve these goals fully,
an individual must be prepared to deal openly and honestly
with one's present reality and work to move beyond
the constraint of one's small story of who you are
and what is driving their life.
To do this requires a certain amount of maturity,
processing and releasing one's beliefs
about oneself based on the past.

Concurrent with the small story of one's life is the big story
of what the Soul wants to realize while inhabiting a physical body
both for the individual self and for the service of others.

Next Step mentoring is offered to assist individuals
in becoming free of the past, opening to the present
and manifesting the highest aspirations
for oneself and for others.

The Next Step Process

Next Step Mentoring Sessions might include any of the following
depending on where you are in you life and what you are seeking:

Life Process Mentoring

We can live either from our small story based on our childhood socialization
or from our big story based on who we truly are and why we are here.
Life is an educational journey toward realizing our true nature
and manifesting our purpose on the material plane.

Manifesting our true nature requires that we go through
a process of self-awareness and Self Realization.

Life Process Mentoring provides you with the time and a safe space
to attend, reflect and discuss your life process.
It offers you a chance to look at your beliefs and emotional structures
that keep you from seeing clearly and acting in congruence
with your true nature. It will help you identify where you are,
how your energy is flowing or blocked
and what needs to happen for your Next Step to occur.

This work is based on my studies in psychology,
the Arica School, Buddhism, Huna and Metaphysical Christianity
as well as many thousands of hours working on my own evolution
with some quite remarkable therapists, healers and spiritual guides.

Manifesting on the Material Plane

We all live on the physical plane.
There are definite laws about how life manifests on this plane.
This work can include everything from finding a place to live or a life partner,
creating a job, a business or a life style for  manifesting your Soul's purpose.

Quite often it is necessary to look at other aspects of your life,
belief systems and energy blocks to clear the way
for allowing your life to manifest fully.

See the section below.

Entrepreneurial Coaching/Small Business Consulting

Do you need help finding a way to support yourself
that gives your the flexibility to do other things in your life?
Do you need help building you business, attracting new clients,
or making a career change? Do you want to do work that is more
in alignment with who you are and what your here to do?

Finding ways to allow Spirit to manifest through me
(doing God's Will is another way to say it)
has been a life long pursuit of mine.
As opposed to some of the current thinking
and techniques in this area such as "The Secret"
or the multitude of get rich quick books and tapes,
I have evolved a system that avoids using the wants, desires
and lacks of the ego in manifesting on the material plane.
But rather uses the energy of Spirit, your Essential Self
and the intuitive knowledge of your life's purpose
to make a life that works for you, benefits others
and does no harm to your relations with others
or with the planet.

Since college I have sought to use these principles in managing
my financial life, starting small businesses, managing various
non-profits and doing social service jobs and volunteer work.
(See a full list of my jobs and business under About Joe.)

Assisting others to find creative ways of of supporting themselves
in a good is my greatest joy.

Energy Healing

The beliefs and structure ideas about who you are and what is real
is not only located in the mind but stored in the muscles,
joints, organs and energy channels of the body as well as
the energy fields that surround the body.
This stored and bound up energy is a very real and significant factor
in illness and the psychic dysfunctions of everyday life.
Freeing and clearing this stored energy can have a profound
positive effect on the health and well being
of both the body and psyche.

Energy healing can also be used for relieving and ameliorating
the trauma of one's socialization process, injuries
and the results of medical treatments and surgery.

My work in this area is based on the knowledge and practice
I have done with the Arica School, Charlotte Selver,
J. R. Schroeder of the IOM Metaphysical Christian Church,
the Healing Touch Certification Program,
The School of Intuitive Massage and Healing with Anne Parks,
and Qi Gong Practice with Dr Shen and Chris Fernie.

Master Level Exercise

Living life requires energy.
We acquire energy from food and the oxygen and chi that we breath in.
The function of exercise is to direct and distribute energy
to where it is needed throughout the organism
and to remove energy waste products from the body
that are no longer required.

Exercise is also important in balancing the acid/base metabolism
and results in a feeling of well being and happiness.

This work is based on my study of Qi Gong, Tai Chi
and Arica Psychocalisthenics.

Group classes are also available. 

Embracing Death

In 1980, after a four year interlude living in Ohio,
I moved back to New York City (actually Hoboken).
After getting established in a business, I sat down one evening
and asked Spirit why I was directed to move back East.

Quite unexpectedly a Being appeared in the space in front of me
and said that I was to learn as much as possible about
Death and Dying and of how to be of assistance to people
who are dying, have just died or are transiting through
the Bardo states.

This Being said that I needed to devote a number of years
to this study and that the knowledge that I attained
would be put to use latter in my life
when Many people would be dying around me.

In a very short period of time I found myself studying with
a Tibetan Lama and doctor Chagdud Rimpoche
who had been with many thousands of Tibetans
who died in the refuge camps in India.
He introduced me to all the basic concepts and practices
associated with death, dying and the Bardo states
from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.

During my years of study with Lama Chagdud,
my mother developed cancer and within six months was dead.
During this time I had a chance to see first hand the power
and usefulness of what I had learned. And as my mother
was a practicing Catholic, I saw how well what I had learned
was beneficial beyond the Tibetan tradition.

(See "Embracing Death" a monograph I wrote at the time
about my experience with my mother as she was dying.)

After my mother's death, I became a student of Sogyal Rimpoche.
For the five years I studied with him, he in the process of writing
"The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying." Beyond the knowledge
he imparted to me about Death and Dying and it's relation
to the rest of the Tibetan tradition and practices,
he showered me with many blessings including introducing me
to the true nature of my mind: Rigpa.

Over the years I have volunteered in a number of hospice settings
including St. Ann's Hospital in NYC and Sarah House in Santa Barbara.
And have been with individuals who are dying;
and have done a lot of practice for people
transiting the Bardo.

For anyone facing death whether themselves or a friend
or family member, I am happy to share what I know
and be of support in whatever way I can.

The Black Earth Bardo Ceremony

This is a ritual based on the Arica tradition which I can set up
to be preformed by the family and friends of someone who has died.
This can be done in conjunction with or in place of a traditional
funeral service. It is a very deep ritual experience
for helping the deceased through the after life.
It greatly benefits both the person who has died
and those who remain.

Spiritual Practices/Spiritual Emergencies

My life since the second grade has been about coming to know,
love and serve God. It has taken me through many paths
and through the dark night of the soul more than once.
I have developed a keen awareness of both the benefits
and the pitfalls of spiritual pursuits.

This service is for individuals who are traveling the spiritual path on their own
or with a group/teacher and are needing guidance along the way.

Referral Service

Based on my knowledge of what other practitioners have to offer.
There are many great healers here in Ojai who might be of benefit for you.

Important Information

The Next Step is not psychotherapy or a therapy of any kind.
It is a mentoring/educational process providing participants
with skills that they can use to become more responsible
for their own lives and evolution.

The work of The Next Step comes from my life experience, my education,
the spiritual paths I've followed and the healings I have experienced.

It has been my experience that it is possible to live from your true self
free of the constraints of one's socialization process.
My desire is to assist others in finding that freedom
and from that place bring love, compassion
and a healthy lifestyle into manifestation on the Earth.

My search at an early age and has taken me along
many avenues of self discovery.
Starting as a Catholic onto the Great Books, Ayn Rand, Atheism,
Unitarianism, Undergraduate Psychology/English Degree,
the New School for Social Research,
Zen, Arica, Tai Chi, 12 Step Programs, Metaphysical Christianity,
Huna, Tibetan Buddhism, Jungian Analysis,
the School of Intuitive Massage and Healing,
Qi Gong, Advaita and, of course many, many books
and thousands of hours of psychotherapy.

Mostly I have supported my search with various small businesses including,
manufacturing and wholesale, retail jewelry stores, and massage therapy.
There have also been times when I worked for others as a Caseworker in Harlem,
Arica Trainer and Center Director, House Parent, Geriatric Social Worker,
Administrator of a Massage School, Physical Therapy Aide, Elder Care,
and Pre-School Teacher.

My gift in doing this work is my ability to hold a space and a presence
and provide a catalyst through which others come to see and feel clearly.

Please feel free to call me between 8AM and 8PM if you have any questions
or would like to schedule a session.

Namaste'

Joseph J. Gillick
Ojai, CA 90323
805-646-0769/805-512-1890
joegillick@sbcglobal.net