The key to manifesting your dreams...

Today, I wanted to tell you a story.

Four years ago I felt alone and lost.

I arrived back in the US after 6 months traveling in India.  My health had taken a toll through my travels.  I was much heavier than I am now, my hormones were imbalanced and I was going through a difficult breakup.  Overall, I felt uncomfortable in my body.  I then found myself using food and sugar to suppress my emotions and loneliness.

I arrived back to no community, no boyfriend, and no job.

I didn't know where to turn. I was applying for jobs I didn't want, and began asking what is the point of all of this?

While I was in India, I had experienced the community, the love, and the synchronicity that made me feel alive, but back in the states I didn't know what to do with myself.

I would turn to my meditation practice, but it felt boring and rigid.  

Although I could watch my thoughts, I didn't know how to change them.  Meditation felt endless and unsustainable.  I developed a strong resistance to it and stopped altogether.

Meanwhile, I had been trained as a yoga teacher, but was afraid to share my voice and speak in front of a group.  I found a job I didn't like instead, and was spending hours a day at the computer, was barely making ends meet financially, and had to turn to family for financial support.

Luckily I immersed myself in my yoga practice, and learned about the law of attraction - what you think, becomes.  

I quickly changed my thoughts and started using affirmations and began catching myself when I thought negatively..  I began to imagine myself living a new life full of peace, joy, and fulfillment during my meditations.  My meditation practice evolved into something new and enjoyable.

I meditated for the love of it, knowing I was planting seeds to create a new reality.

After I began this new kind of meditation, I met a man and a few weeks later, I was falling in love.

Synchronicity and magical experiences began to permeate my life.

I was given the opportunity to teach my first yoga class, and I began sharing my voice and facing my fears.  Doors were opening for me.  I was saying yes.  I changed my diet, my health improved and I began attracting the life I always wanted to live.

I was feeling lighter, more joyful, and in love.

The intentions I set, that at the time I had no idea could become possible, suddenly are becoming true.

I am now living my dream career and built a full coaching practice.  I healed my relationship to money and to food, I have a loving, healthy relationship and I am traveling, giving talks and teaching yoga to large groups.

I am fully living my passions.  I am doing exactly what I thought was impossible just a few years ago.

Since then, I have been refining a 40-Day Vision meditation practice that I now share in my program, Vision. 

But Vision is more than just about meditation.  I knew I couldn't sit with my eyes closed to make all the changes I wanted in my life to happen... I had to actually step up and face my fears.

The key was integrating the knowledge and wisdom from the ancient yogic teachings with a fully engaged life of being in the world.

One step at a time, I faced my fears, devoted myself to my dreams and was met with beauty and magic in my life.

My vision now is to join together women from around the world ready to show up for themselves, tap into source energy and find love within.  

I am calling together a global network of women showing up in daily devotion and sacred practice to shift their thoughts, manifest their desires, and live their visions.

I have joined my knowledge of spirituality and manifestation as a yoga and meditation teacher with the accountability, support, and grounded action tools I have learned as a coach and facilitator.

The key to manifesting is to integrate the spiritual tools of meditation and manifestation WITH grounded actions to face your fears and achieve your goals.

But it's not always that simple.  It takes courage, daily action, self-love, devotion and a community of support to create real, lasting change in your life.

That's why I created Vision.

This 8-week online course for women begins on Wednesday, February 3, with intimate group coaching calls, an online forum, and a members area with weekly videos, audio discourses and handouts.

We begin 40 days of daily devotion and meditation on February 15, ending on the Spring Equinox, March 20, 2016.  We will be connecting to our body's wisdom, manifesting our desires and living our visions.

I believe you have what it takes to overcome the biggest challenge you are facing in your life.  I believe you can manifest real, lasting change to feel fulfilled in your career, relationships, and connection to spirit.

I invite you to watch the launch video and learn more about Vision right here. 

Now, I would love to hear your Vision...what is the life you have always imagined for yourself?  What excites you?  What scares you?  I'd love to hear in the comments below.

With love, Meredith

Ready to Live Your Vision? The Free Training is Here...

Happy New Year!  I hope this holiday break provided an opportunity for you to rest and restore and get excited for 2016... I've been gearing up to lead my online course, Vision, for the third time since I first launched it in 2014.  Every time I lead this course I see amazing results in the women around creating a daily devotional practice and making courageous changes in their lives.

Vision is an 8-week online course that includes a 40-day meditation practice to help each woman create a meditation practice that is sustainable and enjoyable.

Enrollment will be open from January 19th to February 2nd and the course will run from February 3 to March 30, 2016.  

In the course, I release weekly content full with videos, handouts and audios on a new theme each week.  I have a facebook community and lead weekly group coaching calls in an intimate setting to create a feeling of sisterhood among the group.  I provide personal mentorship with the women in the program and even have some opportunities this year for one-on-one guidance and support.

This is a great opportunity to start the year off on the right foot with a daily practice of ritual, self-care, self-love as well as guidance on how to take grounded action and face your fears to manifest your deepest desires for 2016.

In honor of the New Year, I've created a free training called Live Your Vision that I would love you to be a part of!  The training includes 4 free videos as well as 8 daily actions to learn more about meditation, manifestation and a chance to see if you'd like to join us in the online course, Vision.

The free training begins in one week on Monday, January 11.  When you sign up, you will be sent a daily action to your inbox with all the free training materials. You'll also be notified of when Vision enrollment opens and be offered a chance to win a free spot in the course.

You can now join the free training here! With love, Meredith

Live Your Vision ~ New Teleclass

Are you the kind of person who likes to get stuff done?

I know I am. When I have an idea, I spring into action.

But I've also seen if I try to push before I'm ready, whatever I do will feel like a struggle.

Over the last few months I have taken special care to achieve a balance between visioning and taking action, being courageous and also resting into self-love.

My desire is for you to take action and face your fears to manifest your dreams, but also to feel ease and grace throughout your days.  If this sounds appealing, then I designed this new teleclass just for you...

Live Your Vision As A Rising Woman Leader

In this 1-hour Teleclass Event I'll be sharing my 8 Spiritual and Practical Tools to: - Move Past Fear and Blocks - Tap into Intuition and Open to Guidance - Achieve Divine Balance to Manifest Your Dreams and Live Your Visions

I'll also be sharing more about how I found my voice and stepped into the role as a teacher and leader.

This class is perfect for you if: - You’re full with creative ideas and new projects - You feel a calling to give back and help others - You’re ready to share your voice - You want to feel vibrant and alive

It will be particularly helpful if: - You’ve had trouble fully expressing yourself - You’re feeling held back by fear or self-doubt - You want to implement a self-care routine to avoid burning out - You’re curious about teaching and running your own business OR - You would like to rise into new forms of leadership in your current career

Even if you can't make the live call, when you sign up you will receive the call recording and pdf design guide in your inbox the next day.

Sign up for the call details here.

With love,

Meredith

Last week on tour...and music for you!

A few days ago I shared a story about forgiveness, and how key that was for me when I went through a difficult breakup four years ago. The strength I gained from that experience pushed me forward to find true forgiveness, freedom, independence, and love within myself.

As I let go, and focused on my dreams and visions, new love entered my life.

I have always seen relationships as a beautiful mirror - showing us what we need to see in ourselves.  For me, that reflection happened when I met a musician, Michael.

Music was always something I loved, but growing up, didn't always feel I could excel in myself.  I thought you were either born with a natural talent to sing and play instruments, or not.

But when Michael and I started dating, he consistently encouraged me to sing with him and use my voice.  I usually shied away from it, but last year, something shifted.  

I bought a harmonium and began learning to play mantras.  I brought the harmonium into my daily meditation practice, and alone in my room, began to sing.

I gave myself permission for it to not be perfect, and after a few short weeks, I was amazed to see the transformation and confidence I gained in my voice.

With Michael's guidance and encouragement, I began to share with friends, and accompanied him at performances.

When Michael and I planned our Vision & Voice tour, I expected to teach yoga, and only occasionally accompany him with the harmonium at our performances, however, that quickly shifted.

We've been on the road for four weeks now, through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and the California coast - and are on the last few days of our tour.  

We have events in Monterey, Santa Cruz, Mill Valley, Berkeley and Sebastopol this week.  (details below)

I know not all of you are able to make it to our events on the west coast, so I wanted to share a couple songs from one of our live performances in Ojai this week.

~ You can listen here. ~ With love, Meredith

Upcoming Events:

May 21: Monterey / Pacific Grove, CA, Kundalini Yoga + Kirtan, Chautauqua Hall  May 23: Santa Cruz, CA, Yoga with Live Music + Kirtan Divinitree Westside May 24: Mill Valley, CA, Homecoming KIrtan Celebration, Redwoods Retreat House May 25: Berkeley, CA, Singing Workshop, House Event May 29: Sebastopol, CA, Yoga with Live Music, The dhyana Center May 30: Sebastopol, CA, Homecoming Celebration Kirtan, The Root Collective

How I Fell in Love with My Meditation Practice

Over my career as a yoga teacher I have spoken to many women who strive to keep up a home yoga or meditation practice, but quickly give it up when life gets busy. 

I used to constantly struggle with keeping up a morning practice and would feel guilty when I fell off track.  I tried numerous ways to keep up a practice, but had a hard time keeping it up and wondered, “Why is it so hard for me to keep a consistent connection to spirit?”

I know that when I am connected, and do take out that time in the morning to myself, I am so much more present, calm and compassionate throughout my day.  I know that’s when I rely less on others and am more in tune to my inner guide. 

When I connect to the love within myself, I am not constantly searching for it in my relationship or places outside of myself.

I’ve found more than anything else, when I made my meditation practice enjoyable, it became sustainable.

I knew I wasn’t going to wake up every morning to sit quietly and do something I dreaded.  I had to lure myself into my meditation practice.  I had to bring in the romance.

Gabby Bernstein says, “I made spirit my boyfriend.”  When she did that, everything else in her life began to flourish.  When we fall in love with spirit, we begin to attract and manifest what we want and need in our lives easily.

I know how hard it can be to keep up a daily meditation practice, so I wanted to share the top ways that helped me fall in love with spirit and keep my morning practice sustainable…

I learned to:

Shift from Discipline to Devotion

I used to live in a house where my roommates and I practiced silent meditation together for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.  The practice became so disciplined that I began to avoid it altogether.  Even though I willingly created the rules, when I felt constricted, all I wanted to do was break them.

I eventually moved out of the house, and went months with no meditation practice.  My rebellious side wanted to take back control.  After awhile, I began to miss those solitary moments with my breath, but I knew I had to approach my practice in a different way.  I remembered something my yoga teacher had said about developing a home yoga practice, “No one is making you do it.  You’re doing it for yourself.  Think of it as a devotion, rather than a discipline.”

Shifting my perspective and realizing, no one was making my do it, but rather I was showing up in devotion to myself and to spirit changed everything.  I suddenly was able to show up to my meditation pillow, and my mat with ease.

Change it Up

When my practice was the same silent sitting everyday, I got bored and went back into avoidance.  I learned I needed to change it up once in awhile, even if it was a slight change to stay with it.  Some mornings my practice includes yoga, some mornings it is pranayama, and sometimes it is mostly silent meditation.  When I prioritized devotion over the structure, I was able to let go of the guilt and keep coming back to my meditation seat.

Call on an Archetype

I began connecting to archetypes in my meditation after reading Deepak Chopra’s book, Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire.  I would imagine a heroine, chief or goddess I felt connected to and began to ask, “Please express yourself through me.”  Over many days of connecting to the powers and attributes of someone I looked up to, I began to embody the qualities myself.

Move and Breathe First

What many people often struggle with when meditating is a “busy mind.”  The Indian guru Osho says you need to get all the garbage out of the mind first before you can get anywhere in silent meditation.  The best ways I have found to “get the garbage out” is to breath and move my body.  That could mean going on a run first, putting on music and dancing or shaking, or doing breath of fire or other kundalini breath work before silently meditating.  When I exert myself first, then sit silently, the experience becomes so still, silent and peaceful.

Bring in the ROMANCE

When I began to think of my morning practice as a devotion, I began to think of all the ways I could make my practice more enjoyable.  I bought an essential oils diffuser to create beautiful aromas of Rose and Geranium into the space.  I sat on a heating pad to feel warm and comfortable, I began my practice with singing, and made my altar a gorgeous representation of my devotion.  Every day I felt so happy waking up to my practice because of how loving and romantic it became.  This is the art of falling in love with yourself.

Connect to a Vision

After learning about the law of attraction, I began to bring manifestation to my morning practice.  I wrote out, in the present tense what I wanted to create in my life and in the world.  I connected to how I wanted to wake up and feel everyday.  I connected to why I wanted what I wanted, and every morning, read this vision out loud.  Every morning then became not only a devotion to myself and to spirit, but a devotion to what I wanted in my life and for the world.

Set a Container (A   begin and end date)

In order to create a new healthy, habit, it helps to choose a set number of days to do your practice for.  Feel free to start small and say something like, “For the next seven days I am going to do this practice.”  Put a reminder in your calendar, an alert on your phone, or a note on your bedside table to stick to it.  Tell yourself, “If resistance comes up, I am going to just sit down and do the practice, only for these seven days.  If I still don’t want to do it after these seven days I don’t have to anymore.”  Chances are, you will be able to keep it going after the set amount of time you create.

I choose to do my practices in forty day increments.  Forty days is historically known as a sacred time period for enacting change.  It can clear old subconscious patterns, set up new positive patterns, and change your life for the better. At the end of every forty day cycle, I celebrate and reflect on what has changed in my life.

Get Others Involved

It helps to know there are other people out there meditating with you.  Try calling up a friend and creating an accountability partner.  I began a whole program based around creating a vision and meditating with other women for forty days because I wanted to create that accountability for myself and others.  The program grew to include women in five continents.  I began to see when I meditate, I am not just meditating for myself, but I am meditating for the visions of women all over the world.

Whether you are just starting a meditation practice, or you’re a seasoned meditator, try these tips when you sit down for your practice to fall in love with your own connection to spirit.

You're invited to #LiveYourVISION! (new video)

I'm writing from sunny New Mexico where Michael and I just arrived on our tour.  Besides leading singing workshops and yoga classes for the last few weeks, I've also been working on a project I'm excited to share with you today. But first, I have to tell you a story.

I used to struggle with a busy mind, negative thoughts, and I felt like a victim to my life circumstances.  I was constantly placing my value and worth outside of myself.  I was in a relationship where I always put my partner's needs above my own. I constantly looked for love and attention from the outside, rather than within myself.

Luckily, I found out about meditation, and over a few years learned about the law of attraction and began to quiet my mind.

But then, meditation felt like such a drag.  It was so disciplined.  I got bored and began to avoid it altogether.

It wasn't until last year I found a way to make my meditation practice enjoyable, and something I actually wanted to show up to everyday.  I was able to connect to source energy within, fill myself up with love, and become a magnet for what I wanted to attract.  

I now have a consistent meditation practice that helps me be calm when difficult situations arise, connect to love within myself before giving it to others, and receive insight on the visions I want to create for myself and the world. 

Now, I'm ready to share what I've learned.  Have you struggled to keep up a daily meditation practice?  Have you found yourself looking for love, affirmation, or attention outside yourself?

I want to help you make meditation enjoyable and sustainable.   You too can connect to an innate love within.

That's why I created the training #LiveYourVISION:  11 days of devotion to shift your thoughts, manifest your desires and live your visions.

These free resources include videos, stories, personal insights, and the most useful guided meditations that have created powerful transformation in my life.

It's all free, and it begins May 15.  When you sign up, you'll receive a magical message in your inbox each day throughout the training.  You can now watch my welcome video and sign up here! 

With love, Meredith

Creating magic in the redwoods

A few days after the New Year, I got together with mystical artist and photographer Jasmine Amara in the redwoods of Occidental for a portrait session. I first met Jasmine before she joined my group coaching program, "Let go, Vision Transform."   Jasmine knew she was passionate about dreams, water, and photography, but didn't fully believe she could support herself through those passions.

Over the course of the six-month program, she came up with an exciting idea for a photography exhibit.  With some encouragement from me and the women in the group, she began taking photos for her series "Dreaming Awake" creating lucid imagery through double exposures.  When I first saw the images I acknowledged her for how unique and powerful they were.

Over the months that followed, Jasmine began to create a business for herself doing what she loved.  When she announced her offering of Visionary Portraits, I was inspired to participate.

Leading up to my portrait session, she asked me a series of questions..  One of those questions was, "What is your deepest desire?"  

I sat with that question for a few days, and eventually wrote this piece, (Which I sent to you a few weeks ago.)   It was about the feminine rising, women stepping up to take supreme care of themselves, to face their fears, and develop the courage to take care of the world.

Before our session, she asked me to read my deepest desire.  She created a sacred space with flowers, dreamcatchers, and sipping chocolate (ceremonial cacao from her travels in Guatemala).

Being witnessed in sharing my deepest desires in such a sacred and intimate space was a powerful experience.

Then, she took these photos.

IMG_0621

m10

m8

m4

IMG_0628

IMG_0625

m2

Images by Jasmine Amara Photography

To have this moment captured through photography was invaluable. When I saw the beauty and magic we created in the photographs, I was in awe.

After seeing the images I thought, "If Jasmine had never taken the steps to believe in her art, these images wouldn't even exist!"  

So today, I invite you to look through the images, and to ask yourself, "What gifts am I hiding from the world?  How could I be of higher service to others through my gifts and talents?"

It's time to honor whatever hidden creative potential lies inside of you, ready to rise to the surface.  Do you know what it is?  I'd love to hear in the comments.

Love, Meredith

P.S.  My next free teleclass series is filling up.  I'd love to share my latest insights with you, over the phone, or through the recordings. Find Your Glow As a Feminine Leader:Just sign up here.

You're invited to VISION

Today I'm excited to announce the course I have been dreaming up for years: VISION. As we step into 2015, we need more women loving and taking care of themselves, more women facing their fears, and more women leading from their heart...

VISION is a 7-week course for women stepping into courage and self-love.

It is a program to shift your thoughts, manifest your desires, and live your passions as part of a sangha of committed sisters.

I believe world change starts from within.

It is time to fill ourselves up with love, face our fears, open to our highest VISION for our lives and for the world, and authentically support each other.

When we do this, we inspire each other.  That's when the magic becomes real.  That's when life has meaning and purpose for us all.

Our journey begins December 14, 2014...

You're invited to join an exclusive group of women in sacred sisterhood.

The Program Includes:

• Two training videos to as we create our vision and learn the 40-Day practice together
• Six audio recordings sent out weekly: Daily Rituals, Self-love, Body Wisdom, Grounded Action, Courage, Sisterhood
• Seven weekly coaching calls to be supported by your sisters in the brilliance of your vision
• The 40-Day meditation practice I personally designed and use for manifestation
• A Winter Solstice and New Moon Ritual (the first day of the 40-day practice)
• A 2015 VISION roadmap and materials to help you create an ideal schedule in the New Year
• Handouts to support you through the curriculum
• An online community to connect with other women
• Lifetime access to program materials and our online forum

The Schedule:

• WEEK 1: Create your VISION
• WEEK 2: Daily Rituals
• WEEK 3: Self-Love
• WEEK 4: Body Wisdom
• WEEK 5: Grounded Action
• WEEK 6: Courage
• WEEK 7: Sisterhood

Enrollment is now open until December 13.  

As we step into this New Year, I invite you to VISION.

Will you join me?

With love, Meredith

How I made a CHOICE and found my calling

When I started college I had no idea what I wanted to devote my entire life to.  I knew I was passionate, artistic, ambitious and organized, but I didn't know what career to choose.

It was actually pretty daunting to have lived so long without very much choice and then be expected to make the biggest decision that would determine the course of my life at age 18. It felt crazy for me to choose a major just because I had reached that age and the time had come for me to choose.

So I started asking older and wiser people for advice about what they majored in for college and how that played out in their life.

The advice I received again and again was, "Choose based on what you love to do.  The rest will figure itself out."  Many people shared with me that what they chose to study when they were young didn't determine the rest of their life. Many also shared they wished they had chose what they loved rather than choosing out of other people's expectations for them.

I was relieved, because I had many talents and interests and simply needed more time to try them all.  I wanted to find what really felt right.  I didn't just want to prepare myself for a job, I wanted to find my calling. 

Marianne Williamson says, "A job is an exchange of energy in which you do a material task and someone provides money in exchange.  A calling, however, is an organic field of energy that emerges from the deepest aspects of who you are.  It is the fulfillment of what God has created you to be and do.

You have a calling simply because you are alive. 

You are on this earth with divine purpose: to rise to your highest creative possibility, expressing all that you are to make the universe a more beautiful place."

I felt this from a young age, that I had a calling and needed to give myself the time and space to ask and discover what it was.

It wasn't until after college I really started asking the bigger questions and had a desire to move to San Francisco.  That intuitive move led me to meet one of my very first spiritual teachers (Amma), which led me to become a yoga teacher and travel to India.

Sometimes my ego would enter and say, "You need to just get a job.  You need to get real."  But I knew my soul was bigger than that.  I did try different jobs and internships but was always called back to ask about this "something bigger."

So how did I make a choice and find my calling?

I learned to:

1. Listen to my intuition.  With each job I tried, I noticed how it felt to be doing that job.  I asked, "Do I want to be doing this for the rest of my life?"

2. Give myself time and space to ask the bigger questions without a need for an answer.  I learned the answers only come when I am ready for them.

Even though I chose a major of what I loved to do (photography), my life continued to unfold.  My own discomfort in my body, exhaustion and anxiety led me to yoga and my own healing through nutrition led me to become a health coach.

Life unfolded the path for me and with commitment to asking the bigger questions, I found the fulfillment that only living your calling can fulfill. 

So maybe you are just stepping out into life on your own and want to discover this deeper calling, or maybe you have been in a job for years and don't yet feel like you've found that larger sense of purpose...

Wherever you are in your career, remember: It's never too late to be who you were born to be. {tweet it} 

If you feel called to create the space for yourself to ask these bigger life questions, join me tonight for"Purpose" the final call in a series of three teleseminars.

I'll be sharing more of my personal insights, stories and inspiration, as well as leading a guided writing exercise for each person to open to their unique purpose.  You can sign up here to get the access code and a recording of all three calls (Magic, Power and Purpose) in your inbox.

You'll also hear more details about my upcoming group program where I will be guiding a group of women to open to their purpose and create a new vision for their life.

With love, Meredith

Why it's so important to have a VISION

Last week on the spring equinox I invited my students to create a vision.  Everyone took time to write and consciously imagine their higher selves, their bigger world vision, and their purpose in that vision.

So why is it so important to have a vision?

For the last three years I have asked myself again and again, "Why am I here?" and "What is my larger life purpose?" I've come back to these questions over and over, and in doing so, have developed a business that supports both my life, but also my larger vision for the world.

Having a vision creates clarity and clarity creates power. {Tweet it}

Five years is going to roll around whether you want it to or not, so why not consciously design it?

Having a vision doesn't mean you have to stick to it.  It just means you know where you're going.  

If you're setting out on a road trip to Florida, it's good to know your destination.  That doesn't mean you might not change course and have a pit stop in New York along the way, but at least you are headed in the general right direction.

The problem is, sometimes we don't exactly know what we want.  I remember the pain of not knowing my purpose, not having a vision for my life or the world.  I even remember sitting on the top of a mountain in Mexico on a vision quest at my yoga teacher training asking again and again, "Why am I here?" and still not knowing the answer.  It can be hard to not know and not have community or a guide to lead you on your path.

That's why I created a 6-month group program for women, Let go, Vision, Transform.  If you're feeling stuck, looking for a new direction, ready to discover your vision, face your fears and strengthen your voice, I invite you to apply to this elite online phone based program beginning at the end of May.

I am gathering a small group of women to support each other and open to the vision for their life and the world. I will lead a series of calls on health, self-care and nutrition so each woman can start feeling energized, naturally beautiful and confident to start owning her dreams.  We will then shift focus to finding fulfillment through career, personal finances, and relationships.  After focusing on ourselves, we will open to a larger vision for the world.  I will have two private coaching calls with each woman to develop her vision, and on the last 40 days I will teach a manifestation practice for each woman to turn that vision into reality.  This will be a very close bonding experience where each woman will be fully supported to grow by leaps and bounds.

Over the last three years I've done the work to discover my vision, face my fears, and strengthen my voice to make an impact.  Now I am hear to help you to make yours.

Love, Meredith