I am looking forward to moving through this book by Julia Cameron. It won't be my first time. Each time I have gone through it it has had an enormously positive impact on my life.

That is no exaggeration. I have also had the honor to witness others move through the book and it seems everyone who commits to the process also gains enormous benefit.

This book is a beautiful gift from Julia Cameron. A guide. A roadmap. It is not necessary to do this book with a group, but it is helpful. So I put it out there.

I wanted to do it again and I thought others might also be interested. September is such a good time to start new routines and all.

I am blown away by the response. People are ready to do inner work! I am grateful so many of you have showed up and said YES! I can see this is going to be an incredible group of people.

It is my honor to bring us together and help to facilitate the journey. May it bring much clarity, understanding, compassion and Joy to your life.

For those of you...

One aspect of the journey of self awareness or self realization that shows up again and again is the importance of taking SMALL steps. This doesn’t mean we can never leap, or test our stride, it is that small, consistent daily action makes the most difference.

If you look at people who consistently reach their goals, you will see they commit to daily action. Taking steps ~ CONSISTENTLY. This does not imply there is no falling, or failing. Quite the opposite. There is much trial and error that goes along with this daily commitment of taking small steps.

Nobody does it perfectly. The structure is not rigid. There is movement in all directions. This does not have to be a linear journey. Taking steps is a part of learning how to dance with your dreams.

I see it in myself and in others. We hesitate. Freeze. We find ourselves disabled by inaction. Procrastination. Doubt. Over-thinking. We find reasons to wait. Put it off. The thing we know we have to do. And often this thing would only...

I am staying at a friends in Vancouver and got up early to do my meditation practice. The whole house still quiet. I first did a little Yoga to get into my body which always makes it a bit easier to sit. I closed my eyes and went inside.

It takes me some time to drop in. I allow myself to do a few sweeping body scans to see if I am comfortable. I make micro adjustments so my body is set up well to sit. I find a place to rest my hands and figure out where my head wants to rest. Once I am comfortable I let myself witness the breath.

I watch it come and go. I explore the journey it takes, the spaces inside myself and the movement it creates. My attention gets drawn into feeling sensations of the body, and at that point I begin a slow scan from the top of my skull to the tips of my toes.

I pass my attention part by part, and piece by pice witnessing these different experiences. Tingling. Or heat. Pinging or maybe cool. Itching or discomfort. Even pleasant sensations. I practice equanimity....

I have made a promise to myself to write a blog post each week. I write ALL the time.

Mostly for me.

To put myself out there is another story. This promise I made to myself is challenging me. Can I continue to come to the keyboard and get something out, down?

Type the words. Even if they aren’t great. Profound. Or interesting. But challenge myself to keep up the discipline of writing. I have this dream to write a book. More than one. I have discovered that unless I write, I won’t write.

So today when I was procrastinating about getting this blog post done, it came to me. This is similar to ‘tapas’ in Yogic traditions.  The idea that you hold yourself to a goal with burning enthusiasm. Discipline.

It’s tough to keep showing up. But it is possible.

I can see the parallels between asana practice and a writing practice. I think applying what I have learned about developing a discipline with Yoga to my writing might help me, and maybe sharing these...

I love my daily practice. It keeps me sane. Gives me a chance to clear my blocks. Reminds me how important breath is. It allows me first thing in the morning to check in with myself. I have NEVER regretted bringing myself to my mat and doing some Yoga.

So why do so many people struggle to develop a consistent practice? I have been teaching Yoga for over 20 years and it is one of the most common challenges I see people run into.

When we come to our mat, we get to meet ourselves in very real way. We get a glimpse of what is happening inside. We are asked to muster the courage and look at ourselves with honesty. And when we get in touch with the truth of what is going on, it can feel challenging stay with it; to be with it.

That is the tough part. Facing the truth of what we feel. And not knowing what to do with it. Maybe this is why we hesitate to go to our mats. To be on the mat is to really meet ourselves.

We don’t have much practice with going inside. Nobody taught us how to...

People ask me all the time: “What is the proper way to breath?”

It is a good question. But impossible to answer. I think you cannot put it that way: right and wrong.

Breath is something we want to become aware of, not control.

Breath is an entry point to go inside of ourselves. An anchor to the moment. It is a link between the unconscious and the conscious mind.  It takes us into the most intimate spaces inside of ourselves. It gives us life.

How could breath be wrong. Breath is a miracle. Breath is a sign of what is going on.

If we start to pay attention to breath it will show us so much about ourselves. We will find tension.  We will find where we close off. Hold.  We will see opportunities to let go.

So should we try to breath deep? You can try. Observe what happens.

Should we sit up or lay down when we practice breath awareness? You can try either. Observe what happens.  

Should we start expanding at the top of the lungs or more from down below? Try....

The work I do, is a return to Self. A remembering of the way back.
We listen to the body as a tool to journey inside and reconnect with our centre.

In the work I do, I find people need reminding how to feel their body. We have become disconnected from ourselves. So, how do we get into our bodies? How do we start feeling again? How to move from unaware to awareness.

This takes time. Building a relationship with the body takes practice. We must be willing to listen to the body. At first its voice is far off. A whisper. We might try to feel down to our toes and intellectually we know they are there. However, to really FEEL them, do we?

We have twenty six bones in each foot. Between these bones there is the potential for movement. The design is brilliant. It is our connection to the earth. The foot is the foundation of our body.

And the hands! Think about your hands! What they do! They bring food to our mouths. They hug loved ones. They wash dishes. They paint, or maybe play piano. Or...

It was solstice yesterday. Today is my birthday.

This year I decided my intention was to SHINE. Each year I pick a word that will represent where I put my focus. When my intuition pulled out the word SHINE, I was a little perplexed.
I resisted it.

We do. I think we all try to dim our light. We all have this tendency to play small.
Until we decide to get our of our own way.

I think collectively we are being called to use our voices. To allow ourselves to express what we are feeling. For so long we have let ourselves be overridden.  We have allowed ourselves to be shut down. Shut in.

It is time to shine.

We are being called to rise.

There is no longer any good reason to hide.
We have to come out of our comfort zones and explore our full potential.

We have to stop allowing authorities to install doubt and fear in our beautiful minds.
We have to clear some space for joy, play and fun.
We have to return to trust.
To truth.
And to life and living.

These financial systems, our education,...