Support for Your Journey

Announcing!

My next FREE Tele-Class ...

... for all "Ladies in Waiting"

... for women in transition!

I know what it's like to feel as if your life is on hold ... or not the way you want it ... or the way you're sure it should be.

I know what it's like to try to live "in the meantime," when not much makes sense, and you're not sure whether to stay or go, give up or keep trying.

I have the feeling you do, too.

This is what I mean by being a Lady-in-Waiting or a woman in transition. It's not an easy road to walk because we are NOT taught how to wait or be patient or to let go ... Nor do we live in a society that encourages this.

Which is exactly what is required of any Lady-in-Waiting!

Join me for a free Tele-Class on living "in the meantime" 

 and I'll share my personal list with you of  

"How to Wait with Grace,"  

when you absolutely don't want to or don't know how.

When: Monday, August 30 ~ 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. (EST)

Format: Presentation, A Guided Meditation for "Living in Transition with Ease," and (live) Q and A.
(You can send me your questions ahead of time and I will answer them on the call.)

Pre-Registration: Send me an e-mail that says you'd like to attend.
Send it through the Contact Box here.
I'll send you a confirmation e-mail with the Dial-In number and Access Code.

(This call is free, but you may have to pay your phone server's long-distance charges.)

I look forward to being in Presence with you and connecting soul-to-soul.

~~~~~~~

I’m curious. How is your spiritual health these days? Is your spirit in good shape? Are you peaceful and at ease? Openhearted and loving? Grateful and kind?

The state of our spirit, perhaps even more than our state of body and mind, can influence the quality of our days. As busy women today, we know we are supposed to take good care of our physical health, our emotional health, too. But we don’t read or hear much about how important it is to tend out spirit.

Yet, in my own life, especially during the child bearing years, when days felt chaotic or overwhelming, taking time to nurture my spirit could change everything. Stress walked out the door; inner ease took up residence, and I could breathe again. Life felt very different when I remembered to make my spiritual health a priority.

So, how can a busy woman tend to her spirit? Here are seven ways that are sure to please—and restore health and harmony.

Stop

Give yourself permission to sit down. Lay down. Put your feet up and do absolutely nothing.

Rest is vitally important to our well-being and, yet, according to studies today, most women say they are exhausted. In the name of busyness and productivity, we do not stop. We move through our days like the Eveready Bunny. We just keep going and going and going …

M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, was once asked how he accomplished so much in a day. He replied, “Because I spend two hours a day doing absolutely nothing.” To Peck, rest was sacred. It is. Giving ourselves permission to “be” instead of “do,” to get off the fast-track and honor the quieter places within ourselves, actually creates space for productivity.

Breathe

Really breathe. Take time each day to simply sit—anywhere, in your car, at your desk—and focus on your breath. Bring your attention to the in-breath and the out-breath; breathing in for 8 counts, out for 10.

Consciously breathing in this way eases the body. It creates new pathways in the mind, releases emotions, opens the heart. It connects us with our innate peace, a virtue of the spirit. Did you know that the words breath and spirit come from the same Latin word, spiritus? This implies that breathing is, indeed, a sacred act.

Seek silence and solitude

Give yourself a “time out”—time to sit in the quiet and be alone with yourself. Turn off the television, the radio, and put away the newspaper. Halt the input so you can get in touch with a gentler place inside of you.

In a world of noise and commotion, silence and alone time are vital to well-being. Overstimulation of our senses and constant input can make us anxious or depressed. Within each of us is an oasis of calm, but it is not one that will seek us out. We must drop down inside ourselves to find it if we wish to rest beneath its sheltering palms and drink of its cooling waters. Everyone deserves an oasis in the busyness of life. Not to mention that you deserve the pleasure of your own company, now and then!

Go outside

Even in the midst of a busy day, you can step outside, look up at the sky, feel your feet upon the earth, and hone in on the beauty found in nature. Connecting with the natural world is an effortless way to re-connect with your spirit.

We can turn our senses up to high and really notice the brilliance that is all around us: see the colors, hear the sounds, smell the freshness of Mother Nature. By doing so, we are able to get in touch with the uniqueness, the majesty, of what is here, right now, right in front of us. Awe is restored and our spirit is “naturally,” uplifted. The many features and forms of nature remind us that life is good, full of beauty and hope.

Practice

Utilize daily practices that nurture your spirit; activities that bring you peace of body, mind, and heart.

You may already have some of your own: prayer, meditation, yoga, walking, chanting, singing, dancing, tai chi, gardening, devotional reading, journaling, and more. Or, you might like to explore new ones if yours are feeling a bit stale. There are as many spiritual practices as there are people. The key is to find those that bring you joy.

In as little as 20-minutes a day, we can move away from thoughts and feelings of anxiousness, depression, or frustration and return to our natural state of equanimity. Spiritual practices work, as long as we put them to work for us. Time and faithfulness are key.

Give

Consider the fact that if you are experiencing more negative emotions than positive ones, you may be overly focused on your self. A ‘What about me?’ attitude is a surefire way to stay disconnected from your spirit.

Focusing on others—‘What can I give? How can I help?’—can shift our perspective. We see there are others who are less fortunate than ourselves. Giving and being of service to others opens our heart to the plights of others; fosters feelings of lovingkindness. We may even begin to feel that we are finding or fulfilling our life purpose. By applying the virtue of generosity, we are making a difference in the world—and that is spirit-enhancing!

Gratitude

Finally, say ‘Thank you’ often. Say it out loud to people. Write your feelings of gratitude in a daily journal. Offer a prayer of gratitude to a Higher Power for all that you have been given, for the gift of life itself.

An attitude of gratitude may be the most powerful virtue of the spirit. Why? Because walking around with gratitude in our heart enables us to see life through lenses of appreciation. It grows a habit of honing in on what is right, instead of what is wrong or lacking. When we are able to perceive our day full of blessings or little joys, our lightheartedness washes over others making them feel good, too, and in an ailing world, we can certainly use more of that. The mystic writer, Meister Eckhart, may have said it best, “If the only prayer you ever say in your life is thank you, it will be enough.” 

Take good care of your spirit and it will take good care of you. Breathe on!