It is a month since the City of Los Angeles announced the physical distancing policy, and yesterday we received the news that schools will not go back until the new academic year. It was met with sadness in our household. No dramatic tears but a quiet sadness.

As I tucked my children into bed last night, a quiet moment opened. I was able to see into their eyes and was suddenly touched by their feelings of confusion and worry. The news of not returning to school for several more months, tipped the emotional balance.

I realize these past weeks, I’ve been in something of a reactive state … it’s understandable and normal. After the closure of school and work spaces, I jumped into dealing with the immediate need to make adjustments to our routine, reshuffling our resources, figuring out how to keep some semblance of normality, a juggling act of school, my work, meals, shopping, daily exercise trying to squeeze in some fun.

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Taking heart from this dream that I’m called to share. We are supported by our ancestors. Take comfort and connect to what is of real value, our loved ones, the earth, the trees, tend to the soil, nurture and water seeds of change.

My dream from last night,

“In the dream my valuables, passport and credit cards, have been taken from my house, and it is left turned upside down and totally disheveled. This is not a house I like anyway.

I go out into the garden and lean against a tree. I close my eyes for a moment to breathe. I have neither energy or will to go back to the house. When I awake something calls me to look back. There is a shed at the bottom of the garden and a figure comes out of it. When I approach I realize it is my Grandfather. I know his shed is beautifully organized, I don’t even need to see inside.

He says “Look, first you must tend to the soil. Turn it over, then rake it, see it becomes so fine.” He shows me as he rolls the soil between his fingers. “Then make these little rows. Watch as I drop one seed at a time, with plenty of space between. Then push the soil back over, sprinkle a little bit of water, and come speak to them every day.”

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If you are anything like me, you may have been feeling unsteady over recent weeks. I can recall speaking with a friend back in January, of a news report I’d heard about the emergence of a virus in China. Since then, I’ve had half an eye on it, watching with a kind of surreal birds-eye perspective as the mandala of dominos has rippled out to illuminate our intricate global interconnectedness.

Well, it has now arrived and recent days have seen rapid and incredible action in many places around the globe. The schools and social venues are closed, shop shelves are depleted, air travel has folded, this was all unimaginable to me back in January. And so, over a period of days our lives, individually and collectively, are profoundly different.

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As we saw the close of 2019 and welcomed in 2020, a new year and a new decade, I’ve been communicating with friends and family across the world, sharing wishes of health, love and peace. And i’ve been waiting … for my own inspiration and guidance. What is the message as we enter this new phase?

Like little bread crumbs, snippets of conversations, moments from dreams, they all seemed to come together into one simple message this morning.

“2020! Turn Inspiration into Action!”

That’s it and why not! Why not capture our inspiration and bring it into this world.

If you are caught in the loop of our daily news cycle and political game play … and feel yourself sinking into malaise about “what is the world coming to???!!!” remember we don’t have to be pulled down with the ship.

Know that the vibration you hold, your personal energetic marker, is important and affects the collective. Know that what you do is not insignificant. Each of us can use the opportunity of this life to inspire, uplift and support, for the benefit of all life on our planet. And the most effective way to step out of the maelstrom is to figure out what is important to us, what sparks our passion … and then to take action on it.

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“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?” Lao-Tsu

I’ve been holding this quote dear whilst traveling between countries ... trains, planes and automobiles. While I tend to do lots of my best thinking and dreaming in this space of moving betwix and between, it can also stir up lots of unsettled emotions ... doubts and worries. 

It highlights a common experience when one takes on a practice of self-awareness. By turning the spot light on yourself, watching the activities of your mind moment to moment, it means that you do become more aware! No longer numbed, or operating underneath awareness, the emotions jump out and say “hey I’m here right now!” When these happen to be negative emotions, it can feel uncomfortable to say the least.

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“Home is a state of being we carry within us.” These were some words shared with me shortly before setting out on a year long adventure across South America. They stayed with me throughout that year when I learned I could make my home out of a bare room, complete with a run of fire ants, and a few basic belongings. It has stayed with me to this day, after several moves, across oceans and cities. And suddenly, i’m beginning to understand, home is a vibration that arises from within. For me it is associated with an expansive feeling of serenity, comfort and belonging. It is very similar to the feeling that arises from chanting the Sanskrit syllable OM. If we look closely, OM is actually nestled in the heart of h OM e.

In a sense, much of my work as a Holistic Coach and Yoga/Meditation Teacher is focussed on tapping into this vibration of ‘home’. While at essence it is an inner state of being, it is in a dynamic reciprocal dance with the physical spaces we inhabit. Our home and work environments are an extension of ourselves. Physical spaces hold the energies of the people and experiences that occur within them. 

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I consider the practice of self observation to be a fundamental starting point when establishing a healthier relationship to the mind. This process of receptive awareness, which can be found in many meditation practices, is a bit like like slowing down the speed dial on a record player. By slowing the speed, there comes a point where it is possible to clearly hear each note. Then if you slow a little more, it becomes possible to hear the space between the notes.

Imagine doing this with your mind. Slowing the mind, first to hear the individual thoughts as they arise. Then to hear the space between the thoughts.

Why is this practice helpful? Well it teaches us some important fundamentals about who we are and our relationship to our mind. Firstly, it shows us the kinds of grooves we get stuck in, the particular thoughts and situations which activate and aggravate us. It shows us our patterns. Secondly, as we become proficient, it helps us catch our patterns as we are moving into them. Once we catch them, we find we have CHOICE and this choice is like a golden gift. We can choose to remain under the influence of our fluctuating, rather erratic and sometimes neurotic mind, or we can operate from the spaciousness. Suddenly we move into a new relationship with our mind, which moves towards relating to it as a tool which is there to support us.

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"Are you doing what you love?" I was asked this simple question shortly after arriving in LA and it  knocked me side-ways! I realized I'd spent most of my life doing things that I thought would give me security, geared towards career and materials. Unexpectedly, moving to LA would take me straight into the heart of this question. Much to my dismay and frustration at the time, I was unable to keep doing what had been doing - clinical psychology. So I was presented with a blank slate, and a choice. It was almost as if the universe was shouting from the roof top "OK so now no excuses - DO something you love!" 

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On the eve of the summer solstice 3 years ago, I sat on a rocky ledge somewhere in the expansive landscape of the Grand Canyon and watched the sun descend under the horizon. It was my first summer in USA and my first taste of the deserts and big skies of the south west. This continues to be one of my favorite images and moments, speaking to the whispers of the land and its sacred history.

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