Alex Jago: What is Spirituality?

Alex Jago – a lion mane of hair, true Aussie accent, and a soul overflowing with excitement for the universe as it unfolds around her. Sitting down to interview Alex was intimidating – which direction to take, when there seemed to be a thousand possibilities? In the end, Alex suggested we take it message by message. The result was a conversation that took place over two or three weeks, and our scattered questions and answers, once stitched together, became an interview describing Alex’s free-spirit, honest, no-shit approach to spirituality.

I want to start with the Imaginary Friends group. When did that begin?

I started it about 3 months ago. I was posting videos about expansive thinking on my Facebook, but it was only reaching my friends. Most people don’t really care and it was like talking to a brick wall, so I created a space – this Facebook group – where I could let loose to an audience of those who were actually interested. I don’t really know exactly what I want to achieve – I just want people to start tapping into a higher understanding, and perceive life in a different way.

Expansive thinking, higher understanding – can you elaborate on that? 

That’s actually so hard to answer! Think bigger, I guess. It’s kind of obvious, but a lot of the time it’s the hardest thing to do. It depends on the situation, but usually it’s all in our mind; the potential lies within there. You just have to find it through alternate perspectives.

This whole journey actually started about 18 months ago, though. I decided I wanted to help girls in schools with self-esteem and it just evolved from there, so the first topics and concepts I was talking about were self-love, health, image and wellness.

How much of a difference can we make talking about these topics?

I think the reason teen girls suffer so much with self-esteem comes down to comparison. The more we compare ourselves, the sadder we become, because we only compare our worst self with someone else’s best (aka Instagram). We can’t win, and it’s almost an addiction. It’s crazy. And we don’t even realise we’re doing it!

But I do think we can make a difference through talking about it. Essentially, it’s just about finding the right people you can look at and think ‘yes, I can relate to you’ rather than ‘omg you’re so amazing, I could never be as good as you’.

When you talk about ‘thinking bigger’, you’re talking – partly – about manifestation, intention, even spirituality. When did you start learning about these concepts, and applying them to your daily life?

Yeah, absolutely. I think maybe about 2 years ago I started becoming more conscious about consciousness. I had this friend, and we would just talk about things going on in my life. It seemed like normal conversation (if a bit deep), but she was getting into my subconscious without me realising. One day, she said something – and I can’t even remember what it was now – but everything just clicked and fell into place. I laid on the ground of her house freaking out because all of a sudden the entire world made perfect sense.

There have been a few moments like that. Where it’s like I unlock bigger understandings that enable me to do what I do. It’s so crazy though, because it’s so simple. Yet the irony is no one knows how to perceive it.

I’ve learnt everything through my daily life. I’ve never touched a book, podcast or anything about spirituality. Everything I have learnt is though things like fights with parents, breakups, bullying… you don’t need books. Humans are the most spiritual beings ever, and everything you need to know is standing in front of you.

You do that sort of thing with others, now, right? ‘Get into their subconscious’ through conversation. Tell me a bit about that – how do you approach it?

It’s pretty much all I do; I run workshops and yoga in Bondi and then do these one-on-one sessions. Basically, I try to shift their conscious mind through – deprogramming the subconscious, I suppose, so they can then relearn things in a different way. It sounds super complex and weird, but once I get people to that point, they realise how easy it is.

I approach it by offering a bit of insight on social media. It’s entirely up to people to come to me. I learnt along the way that it doesn’t work if I make the first move. I would try to show people this incredible magic and I couldn’t figure out why it only worked sometimes. I couldn’t understand why those I approached weren’t able to get it.

I think people have to come to me, and not vice versa, because when they approach me, that’s them trusting and letting go of the barriers. When I try to approach them… they build barriers, unsure of what I’m going to do.

Getting back to intention & manifestation & spirituality – how do you apply this to your daily life? 

I’m still human. I still have the same struggles. I’m really good at working through other people’s subconscious, but seem to struggle at manipulating my own! But when I get out of my own way, I’ve seen the effects of listening to my intuition … being able to step into my power, unlocking abilities, creating and generating opportunities out of what seems like thin air, landing myself into dream situations… I think my whole take on life is very different now.

I’m still yet to perfect the manifestation formula, but without really trying, I’ve had a pretty surreal run so far!

In regards to psychical surroundings, emotions… I still get sad. Of course. But I let it run through me instead of bottling it up. I’ve learnt to trust the physical world more. That’s not to say nothing can go wrong, but I feel like knowing what I know, I can’t fail. Right now, though, I run my workshops in Bondi and do my one-on-ones, but otherwise I’m pretty much jobless. I’m actually living out of my car – probably a less than ideal situation!

I’m honestly just going from friend to friend each night. It’s a bit of a whirlwind. If you had told me two months ago I would be in this situation, I would have laughed. But this is what I mean: everything is so completely hectic right now, but I believe in myself and my work so entirely that I know it’s going to get me to amazing places.

When I’m feeling stressed (like right now), I have this funny mantra: “No-one cares about a movie where nothing goes wrong”. I’m just pretending my life’s a movie, and in order for it to be worth while, shit has to go wrong. So right now, it’s the weirdest mix of utter chaos but pure clarity. I can’t even help but laugh at this ridiculous reality I’ve created. Luckily I can fit everything I own in my car!

You’ve talked about instincts being incorrect. I think that can be a common block, people experience when first following intuition. How do you overcome this, and just take it in your stride?

There are so many things I get wrong. The Sofia story was a classic (for those who don’t know, I kept having this Sofia name drop in and pop up, and I was sharing the story publicly on Instagram because I thought it was going to lead me to something epic, and it just fizzled out). It’s important to remember that everyone gets shit wrong, and I feel like the more I share (especially when I stuff up), the more people realise that’s it’s completely okay.

I try to bring things we’re usually ashamed of to our attention and remind people it’s okay to be proud of it, and it’s okay to have a fall from grace. I think my entire life right now is a fall from grace.

That’s really interesting, because I think the whole concept of ‘spirituality’ has been put on a pedestal, and portrayed as the easy means to an enlightened, perfect life. Whereas it’s just a way to better yourself emotionally and attract what you need into your life. You can be a bit of a mess (or mid-way through a fall from grace), and still be completely immersed in spirituality. 

Yes, that’s exactly right – in my world, anyway! Humans are energetic & spiritual beings. The whole human experience is incredibly sacred; when I speak to humans, I receive messages straight from Source. Everyone is your guru if you know how to look. The emotions, moods, lessons, mistakes, traumas … that’s how I learn it all. Everyday problems & emotions. That’s the spirit. That’s the magic.

I’m actually the least ‘spiritual’ person ever; I’ve never read a book on spirituality and never listened to a podcast. I have no rituals, no crystals, and I only do tarot when I’m feeling desperate. [laughs]. I do really enjoy all of that, though. Definitely.

I’m very simple. I’m often childish. I can be lazy, and I complain a lot. I don’t think you should take yourself too seriously – being spiritual doesn’t mean you have to never feel anything other than love and understanding.