I don’t know about you, but this holiday season has felt like a rollercoaster of emotions. Lofty highs and rock-bottom lows and depleting energy in-between. I found myself feeling blue for no real reason or feeling lonely with plenty of people around. I feel like I have a label on my forehead that reads — Fragile: Handle with Care.
We are all a bit fragile during the holidays. There are expectations, demands, promises, hopes, fears, worries, and grief all swirling together. We have our own personal challenges to deal with as well as feeling the pain of humanity’s injustices.
Here is my simple practice to bring me back to balance.
• Breathe and remember the gift of life.
• Be mindful and acknowledge how I am feeling.
• Be grateful for all the blessings in my life.
• Love myself first and extend that love to others.
• Speak with loving kindness.
Here is a prayer that brings me back to Love:
I am grateful for this new day. I embrace this day knowing God is revealed as the radiant, energizing, joy-filled presence of Love. I know Love moves into the very cells of my being bringing light, harmony, and peace. I accept guidance to willingly let go of any resentment, hurt or disappointment. I invite the healing presence of Love to wash away any pain or darkness. I enter this day with a grateful heart and receive all the blessings Love has in store for me. And so it is. Amen.
Regardless of emotions or appearances in your life, please know that you are loved and appreciated.
May the light of the season guide your days with wisdom, fill your heart with joy and surround you with the presence of love.
“When conditions are sufficient there is a manifestation.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
We made wonderful joyful connections! We talked and shared, laughed and danced and even shed a tear or two.
Our Wisdom of the Heart Women’s Retreat was truly a celebration of the Spirit. Lauri Jones blessed us with her amazing voice, original music and united us in harmony. The beautiful forest at Alton Collins Retreat Center provided a sacred backdrop as we came together in love. We left uplifted, renewed, reconnected and recommitted to our spiritual practice.
Here’s what the retreat sisters had to say:
This retreat has opened up my heart to feel love again, to forgive more deeply and to further appreciate who I have become.
Connecting with other spiritually like-minded women was an enormous gift!
I call this retreat a soul tuning journey: being in the space which allows me to be completely protected while I explore the areas of my life that needs to grow.
I come alone and leave with a new tribe. The laughter, tears and very real sharing is heartfelt and I can feel it in the very core of my being.
I’ve been attending Rev Christine’s retreats for 10 years and they always take me deeper within myself.
I love the sacred, beautiful, healing container you create for us to come together and go deep into spiritual practice.
I love the mix of spirituality and fun, the peace of Alton Collins and the wonderful food that nourishes us.
I love Lauri’s voice, her style and her gentleness.
The Wisdom of the Heart retreats really do help reveal the Wisdom of one’s heart-self.
Rev Christine has a way of acknowledging each person’s experience in a way that values the person.
This was an opportunity to find time to rest and relax and deepen my spiritual awareness. I found new “sisters” and grew closer to the ones I already knew.
This deeply spiritual retreat, as always, changed my life. It moved me from anxiety to wholeness and gratitude.
I appreciate the safe and trusting environment for all participants, allowing us to connect with each other and our souls.
“When you get into the consciousness of the flow of the creative process within you, there will be a constant inner-direction in your life, leading to a deep sense of meaning…” Eric Butterworth, In The Flow Of Life
Some days, I am more efficient at catching my thoughts moving in a downward spiral. I was working on a project recently and realized I was thinking there was not enough time, energy or resources to complete it. I felt my stamina fade and my brain start to shut down.
It is important to catch thoughts of limitation quickly before they have time to take hold. Thoughts that spiral down are similar to a runaway car speeding down the hill. If we let them go, they will run away with our imagination and make up all kinds of stories of worry and fear.
The practice is to stop the limited thought quickly and realign ourselves to the universal flow of life.
These affirmations from In The Flow Of Life by Eric Butterworth lift me out of limitation and energize me back into the flow.
Be still and know…I am in the flow.
I move forward in the flow of life; unhurried and unworried.
I am in the flow of life, and I move easily with the flow. I am radiantly and enthusiastically alive.
I am free from tension, stress, and strain. I go forward in the flow of life—unhurried and unworried.
I am a child of the universe, established eternally in the healing stream. I am strengthened, renewed, restored, and made whole in every way.
I know my responsibility is to see with the eyes of love.
I am in the flow of life, and I relate easily and lovingly, patiently and understandingly with all persons.
I go forth in the joyous certainty that whatever person or situation may come to me this day, it will be good, for I will be in the flow of good. And if I should have even a fleeting moment of concern, I will simply let go…and let flow.
I accept the reality of this situation, but not its permanence. I know that this, too, shall pass away.
Copy these into your phone or print this page and keep it nearby. Use them as reminders of being in the flow.
“Those who are awake live in a constant state of amazement.” – Jack Kornfield
“How do I know if my inspirations are coming from God from my own thought?” A client asked me this great question recently.
There is a point of surrender on our spiritual journey where we know that the essence of who we are is much greater than the flesh body and more immense than our limiting thinking. When we connect with the infinite presence of God we know there is but one power, one presence, one life. We are not separate from God’s Presence but one with it.
We know that all activity, ideas, opportunities, come from this creative Source. One way to deepen this experience is the practice of gratitude. Every time we give thanks for something good, we acknowledge our greater connection with God.
There is no magic to trusting our intuition. It is a continual practice to listen to insights that we have. One of the reason’s why the time we spend in silence is so precious. Intuition comes as a whisper and a quiet presence.
I invite you to use this attunement from The Book of Love and Creation by Paul Selig:
I am choosing to live my life in accordance with my higher knowing. And I am aware that all that is before me is created in conscious choice in alignment with my Creator. As I move forward, I change my knowing to align into congruence with Divine Will and with my own requirements for my freedom. I am Word through this intention to stand in my freedom. Word I am Word.
As we develop inner awareness, we are able to discern the difference between the ego wanting attention or the whisper of Divine Wisdom. As we deepen in our practice, we trust the inspirations of the heart.
Affirm: I am grateful for Divine Wisdom guiding me each day.
