When Insight Strikes in the Middle of the Night

Image source from @the_soulessence

During my travels over the last month I had a mentor pose a question to me:

“If you only had 5 years left to live, what is the one message you know you need to dedicate yourself to?”

The answer came to me in the middle of the night after waking up from a bad dream.

In the dream I was being faced with a scary situation where I felt like I was losing someone I really loved. I woke up to my heart beating fast and my solar plexus tied up in knots. 

Instinctively, I began listening to my breath and I placed my hands on my body. I welcomed all the sensations and let them wash over and through me.

I watched as the stories of my mind ran wild until eventually, my breath slowed and my heart beat became steady again.

I connected to a feeling of love I have in my heart, a love that over the years I have come to know is always with me.

I sent that love to every cell of my body.

As I lay awake in the middle of the night, I realized I had full power to love and soothe myself in a time of need, holding myself with compassion, the way a mother would hold a child. 

It was in that moment I realized the power self-love has had on my life.

I asked myself:  What if every challenge or difficult situation I am facing is actually an OPPORTUNITY to more deeply love myself? 

I believe we all have the power to love ourselves through any challenge or difficulty in our lives. 

I believe when we tap into the power of self-love, we no longer need to be afraid.  We then have the ability to share our love without fear, to take risks, and to really stand up and share our gifts in the world.

Today I invite you to think about what challenge or difficulty you are currently facing... How could you see this challenge as an opportunity and invitation to even more deeply love yourself? 

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

With love, 
Meredith

A New Moon Holiday

A couple weekends ago I went to a moon ceremony.

We were led through a meditation, remembering what happened during each month of the last year. At the end, we were asked to imagine and share what the essence of the last year was for us.

I was thinking back through each of the months, and realized the values I had been holding in my yoga teaching and my coaching practice - the values of courage and self-love were exactly what I was living in 2014.

The essence of my 2014 was stepping into courage and self-love.

This was the year I stepped up to invest in myself and my business - with both financial resources and time. This is the year I began to see significant returns in my investments...and I've been seeing my clients face their fears and fall in love with themselves.

I've been seeing more and more how I can fully and abundantly support myself doing what I love.

This year I began sharing my voice in a much bigger way, both through singing and through speaking.

Some highlights of the year included giving my first talk, leading a workshop in Hawaii with Erica Jago, signing on international clients including amazing women in Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil.

I led three group programs, including my women's yoga sangha with 10 beautiful ladies for 3 months that began last January, my 6-month group coaching program for five goddesses, that lasted from May to November and most recently, VISION, my latest group coaching program and meditation course that will last for six more weeks through the new year with over twenty beautiful ladies.

This year I went through four dedicated 40-day practices, the first one beginning in January.

I fully stepped into living from a place of self-devotion rather than self-discipline.

I saw working on my business as a devotion. I saw waking up to meditate as a devotion. I saw taking care of myself as a devotion.

Through this devotion, I am seeing my message reach farther, and I am grateful. It is a time to celebrate.

This Sunday marks the Winter Solstice which also happens to land on a new moon.

This is an auspicious time to reflect on the year past, create and share new prayers and visions for the future.

I will be holding space for the women in my VISION program to share their highest intentions for themselves in a ceremony this Sunday.

In the evening I will be attending The dhyana Center and will be singing and playing harmonium in a ceremony led by the founder, DeAnna.  It will be a free event, so if you are local, I'd love to see you there.

Now take a moment to think of all YOU have accomplished in the past year.

Take some time to journal what you remember from each month.  If you wrote down intentions last January, take some time to revisit them.  CELEBRATE YOU and all you have done.

Then ask yourself, "How will I live in devotion in 2015?  How will I be devoted to myself?  What will I devote myself to?  What will daily devotion look like to me?"

I'd love to hear in the comments below.

May the coming year provide you with all the tools you need to take leaps into courage and self-love.

In celebration & gratitude, Meredith