The reward for having a daily mindful practice

(the art of going within)

Hello friends,

Sorry for my absence. I have been away, and upon my return, I decided to unplug from the world of tech for a little longer, tend to my garden, swim wild, and move a little deeper into my inner world.

A song for you:

Over the last two years, I have immersed myself in nature and open water, rain or shine. I have learned that being out in a wide open space—seeing life exactly as it is—helps you become more intimate with the landscape of your inner world. 

When you know your inner world, you gain insights into the natural ebb and flow of your routines — how you can nurture your healthy habits and let go of the less helpful ones.

When you know your inner world, you better understand how to cultivate safety, stillness, and joy.

When you know your inner world, you reveal the unique language of your intuition and learn to trust it to illuminate the path of your purpose.

“Every person must live the inner life in one form or another. Consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, the inner world will claim us and exact its dues. If we go to that realm consciously, it is by our inner work: our prayers, meditations, dream work, ceremonies, and Active Imagination. If we try to ignore the inner world, as most of us do, the unconscious will find its way into our lives through pathology: our psychosomatic symptoms, compulsions, depressions, and neuroses.”

-Robert Johnson

Happiness is within

Our happiness can’t depend on the outer circumstances of life because the outer world is constantly changing: things come together, things fall apart, things are often out of our control. But the mind’s ordinary tendency is to match that rhythm—crashing and rising, swelling and contracting, as though we somehow have the power to stop the flow.

When we live attached to the happenings of the outer world, we can end up resisting or denying what is showing up and chasing what is yet to appear in the hope that the future will somehow be better. 

Life is like moving water, sometimes still, sometimes terrifying and wild, but always moving.

Every now and again though, we turn around and try to hold back its flow. We stand in its way and try to grasp and cling to everything slipping through our fingers.

We fail to notice the fresh, clear water collecting beneath our feet; the pearls of yesteryear, the lessons, the beauty brushing against our skin.

We fail to accept the impermanence of life.

Our happiness—living in a way that is meaningful and purposeful—starts with how connected we are to ourselves.

And that requires an exploration of our inner world.

John O’Donohue said: “One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.” I don’t believe he meant by others, but by ourselves. Our soul wants us to acknowledge it, to feel its essence unfolding, to recognise its fragrance.

To get there, we have to go through all of the patterning of the mind: thinking, worrying, reacting—everything we are dealing with most of the time. Because, underneath all of these innate tendencies is a stillness, an inner dwelling, an energy that is stable and constant.

A vital life force, spirit, or Chi.

Carmine Bellucci (with permission)

When you can gain the skill of dropping down beneath the mind, to the rooted place of your ‘being’, you start to reveal more and more of this inner stillness. That’s not to say that the recognition of this place removes all the responsibility, action, and emotions you have to deal with, but it gives you a place to view these things from.

It gives you a place to return to. A place to rest.

Returning to stillness

When you cultivate inner stillness, know that it is not subjective to the movement if life: it is simply here, being as it is. But it takes the work of going on the inner journey to feel that inner stillness. It takes the work of building your capacity to sit with yourself, to allow the contracted energy in your body to be there without trying to change it, fix it, or push it away—to simply meet it as it is.

It is a practice that may feel uncomfortable to start with, especially if you have unresolved wounding and unprocessed trauma, but it is one that you can gently introduce into your morning routine; one that you can tend to with compassion and care.

One that becomes part of your everyday life.

When you embody faith and move into the very heart of fear, the hidden world comes alive.

Building a daily mindful practice

The invitation in doing any mindful practice is to choose to return to your true self, to claim it, and not look to the outside world to define what that means or looks like. The goal it to reach a place where you know yourself, accept yourself, and love yourself exactly as you are; to allow your true essence to unfold with you, in the ground of your own life. 

Start small.

I have one non-negotiable every morning and that is meditation.

Start with something you know you will feel better for doing. Even if it takes a couple of weeks — you will feel better for doing it.

The goal is to create some sacred space to be with yourself, to pay attention to your inner world, to get still enough that eventually you can hear your inner guidance and know that it is precisely that and not the voice of fear or doubt.

The more you build a daily practice, the more you will reclaim the power of your true self in the midst of the messy, overwhelming moments of your life, and the more you will be able to stand in stillness despite these challenges.

With more practice, and more embodiment in every day life, you will eventually learn to walk through these moments in the presence of your whole self.

Tender Reminder

You have the choice to find the part of yourself that your heart yearns for: the ground of your being—alive, authentic, soft, wild, and unique. Even if that deep longing has been covered up by self-doubt, trauma, heartache, and unspeakable pain, the fact that you are showing up for yourself each morning shows that you are ready to reclaim the truest part of yourself.  

This is the reward: to build an unconditionally loving relationship with yourself.

There's a point when your tape of life runs off the reel and there's this stillness of your own - I got to know myself.

―Melissa Etheridge

Life lately

Early mornings at the lake, flowers sown from seeds, handmade mala beads, camping in Whitby

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