I choose to accept those things over which I have no control.

I embrace the solitude and quiet times demanded rather than becoming frustrated and angry over the circumstances that require them.

I am willing to assess my personal habits and rituals to assure myself that I am making wise choices and taking care of myself.

My Attitude will determine the Nature of my Personal Process, Experience, and Life.

I first formed these intentions 30 years ago in order to acknowledge and embrace a fundamental truth: I am 100% responsible for my thoughts, emotions, and choices.  When interacting with others, I acknowledge their feelings and offer understanding and compassion to the best of my ability, knowing that I am not responsible for their thoughts, feelings and choices, even when they tell me that I am. I learned through intensely difficult and personal experience that I can only "fix" myself. I can seek support and professional guidance when needed but no one else can "fix" me.

We all...

Were you taught how to discover the truth of who you are or, like me,  were you told who you should be and how you should behave or act?

I did my best growing up to meet the expectations of the adults who loved me, the teachers who saw my potential and sought to define it for me, the religious leaders who claimed to know God's will for me. I really did try to live up to all that was expected of me.

I suppose, to some degree, I was successful. I know that, ultimately, I disappointed many of them because I had to be me. I was well into adulthood before I realized my own truth. I turned my life upside down and inside out in the process of discovering and embracing my True Self. Even though my intention was never to hurt others, my choices brought unhappiness to some and confusion to others. Their hurt and judgement brought me deep sorrow yet my true spiritual journey had begun and going back was not an option for me. Why?

Because Divine Love was filling my mind and heart with It's...

My spiritual mentors remind me in many ways of the importance of intention. Beginning each day with awareness by taking 3-5 slow breaths and feeling my body is my first step. As I breathe I ask myself how I want this day to feel...yes, feel. I find this much more powerful than starting a list  of things to do before I even get out of bed. For me, it isn't about doing; it is about being. I know how I am be-ing when I am aware of what I am feeling.

Today I want to feel peaceful, happy, loving, and compassionate toward myself and others.

This is my desire. It tells me what I want to discover when I ask myself tonight how my day went. I move from desire to intention by making a commitment to myself as I begin to look at what I want to experience and accomplish today. Once I have done my morning yoga & meditation, I sit with my coffee and make a list or check my calendar. This is my opportunity to let desire become intention. It is the same thought, the same desire,...

Silence can be a place of sweet surrender where I connect with the Oneness of All That Is. It can also be profoundly uncomfortable when all that I meet there is my relentless humanity!

I am comforted in the memory of a well-known avatar who came to show us a picture of the Divine in Human Form. His name in that lifetime was Yeshua  Ben Joseph. He was a teacher, healer, miracle-worker. From a young age, he knew who he was and some thought him arrogant that he would dare to speak with older, wiser adults as an equal. As an adult, multitudes sought to be in his presence. There is one story told in which he is reported to have knocked over tables and shouted as he sent people scurrying out of a holy place. He was angered by the lack of understanding and the behavior of those doing business there. That day the man known as the Christ let us see his humanity.

I have said and heard so many times that I am a spiritual being currently having a human experience. You are a spiritual being...

After the past 18 months of pandemic, restrictions, and fears, it is no small thing to re-emerge into every day life. It's a lot! Some find it easier than others of course. I am thinking about this today because I am realizing how often I have thought, or said, to myself "Catherine, be patient and gentle with yourself and others. Each of us will decide what is best for ourselves and it will take time for the details to flow easily and clearly."

For me, I seek to be part of creating a more loving, compassionate world. There will always be people and circumstances that I do not understand or even agree with as we all move forward. I choose to allow others to make their choices and trust I will be allowed to do the same. Who knows what joys may unfold when we choose not to create conflict. Let me be clear, it is not acceptable to mistreat or reject others when they do not agree with me. Oh, I can get angry and we can even debate, vote differently, live differently, etc. but we...

In the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Are you exhausting yourself as you work hard to be more spiritual? Or are you discovering how to be human? One day as I walked yesterday, I was almost run over by squirrels at play. It was so funny. They were magnificent at being squirrels and they could have cared less that a two-legged being crossed their paths! I laughed and realized I could have that much fun being human!

I hear you thinking, "Well, it isn't always fun being human." You are correct and it isn't always fun being a squirrel either. The thing is, do I have to let the challenging, not-so-fun parts of life take away from the parts that are fun? Or can I learn from nature that it is okay to move from one state to another and simply experience the one I am in at the time because, either way, it isn't going to last forever?

I am a passionate person. My...

One of the many gifts of practicing yoga is heightened body awareness, a clearer and deeper communication in the body-mind. The messages from the body can be subtle, discerned primarily through intuition. Some are very specific. Different emotional energies "live" in specific areas of the body. I will give a few specific examples and invite you to explore more information on this topic.

The chakra or energy center system of yoga and Ayurveda are very helpful in learning to understand where and how energy moves in the physical body. The lower three chakras are at the base of the spine, in the center of the lower abdomen, and behind the naval. These centers contain what we call the survival energies:  stability (1st Chakra), relationships/community (2nd Chakra), sense of self/will (3rd Chakra). For example, it is not unusual to experience discomfort or pain in your lower back, just below the waist, when you are fearful or having a specific crisis in your finances. Financial...

There are some fundamental truths that cannot be said any better or clearer than they have already been said. So, with respect and reverence for their work, I will simply quote others.

Daily Quote, August 20, 2015, from Abraham/Esther Hicks:

Even in your rightness about a subject, when you try to push your rightness toward another who disagrees, no matter how right you are, it causes more pushing against. In other words, it isn't until you stop pushing that any real allowing of what you want can take place.

Desiderata (excerpts), by Max Erhmann:

As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond a wholesome...

One night I awoke with a start and wondered what had awakened me. Did I hear something outside? Did I dream something intense? Then I realized I was hurting. I thought I had strained my shoulders (especially the right one) earlier that day but this was beyond a sore shoulder. I turned to my breath to start to relax within the pain and discovered I could not take a full breath. I made my way up and walked through my apartment slowly. The left side of my rib cage and neck were in spasm. Every time I tried to slowly and gently breathe into the sides of my rib cage I hit a wall of pain that almost dropped me to the floor. I won't belabor the details of the next 90 minutes because what I suffered is not the point. I will say it took that long to come to a place where I could lay down and get a bit more sleep. By the next day the spasms had almost fully released and I was exhausted from the experience. Two days later I felt normal in my body but still not fully balanced and at...

There are times in life when it is necessary to have important discussions with a family member or friend. Even people who love one another have challenges in communicating when there is disagreement or deep emotion.

There is a simple practice that has helped me many times in such situations. It is the use of a Meta Blessing. A Meta Blessing can be spoken or prayed for myself when I need guidance or clarity.

Here is an example:

May my mind and heart be open. May I release the need to be right. May I be open to guidance both human and divine. 

If another person is involved and I am seeking mutual trust, understanding and/or reconciliation, I might use these. *Always begin with yourself so that you are free of the need to win or make the other person change:

May my mind and heart be open. May I Listen rather than planning my response. May I receive wisdom and clarity. May I speak with love and compassion.

May (person's name)'s mind and heart be open. May she/he...