This is a reality I witness a lot of people struggle against. Wanting a straightforward path to follow their hearts. A clear step-by-step A to Z process. They feel confused and disappointed in search of their hearts in this way.
Over the years I’ve been asked the same question in different forms. The essence of this question is how does the spirit world connect to our practical everyday life? And recently someone asked me this question about plant spirits.
When I follow the thread of when poisonous plants showed up in my life, I continue to discover that they called me much sooner than I consciously recognized. In fact, every few months they show me another moment in time when they called me and I wasn't quite ready to say yes. For example, recently my husband started reading a book that I read not quite a decade ago. And guess who stars in the first chapters of the book? Poisonous plants :)
From the impact of childhood traumas to the ancestral burdens we carry, there is wisdom in the poison of our wounding.
Recently I was catching up with a dear spiritual friend of mine that I haven’t spoken to for quite some time. But we’ve had deep spiritual conversations and attended retreats together on and off for the last eight years.
Bridgekeeper. This is a title I heard given to me from the Spirit world many years ago on retreat. It’s a word that keeps returning time and time again. During meditations. During dreams. Synchronicities. And during sacred reflection time.
As I’ve turned this word over in my mind, heart, and soul, I’ve come to know that part of my sacred work in the world centers on bridge keeping. Which of course makes me a bridgekeeper.
I have an interesting relationship with possibilities. For a long time I always focused my attention on problems. I'm trained as a conflict resolution practitioner and even before my training, my mind was a problem solving pro. It's one of my most tried and true skills. And while it can be useful, valuable, and has served me well many times, it also gets me into knots.
Earlier this week I wrote about my love affair with Joy. How every cell in my body is dedicated to Her. To this North Star of sorts guiding my way back Home when I've lost myself in the thick of life. She guided me when I was young and as an adult I came to loose my connection with her. Recent years have been focused on reconnecting with Joy once again. When I finally reconnected, my life felt alive like never before.
Confession time. I've been playing small lately. Falling into this pattern that I do to hold myself from breakthroughs, growth, and new horizons in my life. I go there because it feels safe. Like a monastery in a forrest and my meditation practice. Playing safe feels like a cocoon I could stay in forever. Or at least that's the story my mind tells me.
In this addition of Joy Tip Wednesday I'm exploring how I show up for myself in the stickiest of times...the middle. I've been reading the brilliant work Rising Strong from Brene Brown this past week and she helped me realize something. I hate middles. I want them to end. And my mind wants life to get on already and get over "the middle" of everything.
Practice is on my mind lately. Practice in the widest sense of the term of consistently staying committed to something.
Tomorrow marks one year since I left Washington, DC to make my way cross country on a road trip that changed my life. I spent time in national parks, took long drives through hills of golden brush in silence, and I lived in a Buddhist monastery. I've been doing some "stocktaking" over the last week of the last year since my trip.
I am super excited to have a new class schedule starting this week with some fun changes! First, my Monday evening class at 14th Street is now a Dharma 1 class! This is a perfect class for beginners to Dharma Yoga or regular Dharma Yoga practitioners who are looking to work on the foundations of their practice.
Watch my complimentary masterclass to learn how to trust your intuition more and follow your inner guidance.
