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Stories of Awakening

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About Spiritbath

Spiritbath is here to awaken your spirit by connecting you to inspiring videos, stories, thoughts, and products. To inspire, heal, and maybe even teach.

Our team recognizes that this world can feel dark, hopeless, even dirty. We began spiritbath to bring together a community of diverse thinkers who seek to bathe their spirits in love, support, optimism and positivity.

Our vison is to have a community of contributors provide a daily reminder of the good; delivered with a wink, a few tears, and often some humor, though written andvideo storytelling. Please stay a while and inspire us with your own stories, visit our store to purchase good vibe gear, and share our spirit of awakening mission with your tribe.

Live life awake.

– Spiritbath Team

Founder’s Story

My awakening didn’t come easy. I found it in the darkness of a prison cell. Let me explain.

I grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with many blessings. I was an upper middle class kid with awesome siblings and loving parents. We had a big house in a nice neighborhood and spent our summers at the beach, hanging out in the sun.

For most of my life, school and career came relatively easy to me. I graduated cum laude from the prestigious Lawrenceville School, finished a double major at Duke University and spent four years as an investment banker in New York and London. After getting an MBA at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, I started working at a hedge fund. By my early 30’s I had launched my own fund, become a multi-millionaire, gotten married, had two kids, and joined a country club. Life seemed perfect.

But it wasn’t.

In 2012 the FBI knocked on my door and exposed the lie my business had become after a critical investment went bad. In short order, I lost my house, my health, my friends, and my good name.

For more than four years, I was spit through the federal prison system as inmate #282780-058. I saw stabbings, vicious fights, was threatened, extorted, and robbed. I endured dozens of days shackled in holding cells, while my worst nights echoed with the sounds of rats scratching in the walls and the shrieks of other inmates. I even spent time in the solitary confinement unit at the Manhattan Correctional Center. My cell was one floor underneath notorious drug kingpin El Chapo, in the same area where Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself.

In trying to right some of my wrongs, I pled guilty to additional charges and agreed to testify in a high profile trial. For a year and a half, I suffered in the high-security pre-trial prison MDC Brooklyn with no sunlight. This included the week when the building lost heat in the dead of winter. The horrendous, inhumane conditions made national news. I shared meals and cells with murderers, rapists, terrorists, mobsters, MS-13, and other violent gangbangers. For weeks I sat on the witness stand as defense attorneys tried to discredit me as nothing more than a crooked, greedy, cocaine addict.

The Awakening

It was during these darkest hours that things started to change. I surrendered. I retreated within. I grew quiet. I reassessed everything. I chose to walk away from many of my vices. I began to pray to the universe or God or whatever unseen force there might be. I sought the council of healers, mediums, and spiritual guides. I learned Reiki and began practicing transcendental meditation.

Four years in prison and hundreds of books later, including the entire Bible, the Koran, along with Buddhist, Hindu, and other religious, philosophical, and spiritual texts, I have emerged with a different sense of things. Well, I’m still an imperfect oaf. I’m still prone to self-absorption, judgment, and gossiping too much. I have an absurdist sense of humor. But I’m improved.

Most importantly, I finally realize that life is not about trying to stack chips and accolades. I feel profoundly awakened to a new sense of purpose and a renewed compassion for all living things. I finally get that there’s a spiritual current running through all of physical life.

I finally understand that we are all connected in the most beautiful, fundamental way.

It was in prison that I started rediscovering a lost part of myself — the creative, joyous boy of my youth. I filled notebooks with my writing. I learned guitar and piano, jamming for hours with a diverse set of musicians. I played softball, soccer, ping pong. I taught yoga, creative writing, and basic business. I wrote letters for other inmates and led spiritual discussion groups.

Although I can never mend the pain my past choices have caused I can certainly be a whole lot better the rest of my life. I can try to be the man I was always meant to be. Through my journey of brokenness, repentance and self-discovery I’ve come across many like-minded souls. We are human. We make errors. We face trauma. We suffer. We cause suffering.

Spiritbath is Born

Spiritbath was first born as an idea in 2014 – even before I went to prison. For a year and a half I sent out positive vibration viral videos anonymously as I awaited my sentencing. Each loving comment from the community, each gentle-hearted like lifted me during the dark, silent hours. And thankfully what I sent out seemed to lift others too. Before long the site had a thousand followers. Then ten thousand. One video went so viral that over three to four hundred people were consistently on the site for weeks. That month we had as much traffic as a top 100 US website. By May 2015 Spiritbath had about 100k followers and was growing well. But then prison came.

The new improved Spiritbath is a labor of love. A bigger vision. We’re doing videos again. But better. And now we’re including your creativity. Spiritbath video pops are short form positive vibe videos. Little bursts of joy we share with each other. We can’t wait to see what you post.

We have a section called “Stories of Awakening” with written blog type posts from the community. This is a place for you to share your awakening testimonials, acts of kindness that moved you and tips for living the awakened lifestyle. Things that will support our village of awakening.

Finally we have our products. We’re really excited about this. We’re starting with just a few shirts and other items but have big plans. Keep an eye. More will be coming each week! And we donate 10% of our profits to education and causes that awaken the spirits of kids in need. (Click here to learn more). So wear your Spiritbath gear with pride!!!

Through Spiritbath, we feel called to do our part to uplift, inspire, heal, and awaken your spirit. To pay forward the blessings of our own mentors.

Awakening happens in increments for some and all at once for others. But it doesn’t happen alone. It takes a village.

Please join our village. Awaken your spirit.

With love,

Stephen Ewing Maiden

Share Our Story

The Spiritbath Team

Steve Maiden

Founder

Kathryn Osborne

Co-Founder

Matt Dunn

Co-Founder

Ma. Carmina Torres

Graphic Designer

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TEAM
Stories of Awakening
Share your own Spiritbath story in words. Can be a simple act of kindness you witnessed, your full blown awakening testimony or tips for living the awakened lifestyle.
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