I am a single mom, I go to school part time, I work full time, and most importantly I am a 24/7  nurse/counselor/life coach/chef/bodyguard/tutor/cheerleader/etc. for my teenage son. I also have a very dedicated and thriving meditation practice, and I want to share with you how you can weave meditation into even the most hectic of schedules. The key word is mindfulness. It’s quick to learn, easy to practice, and deeply rewarding. This simple technique has the power to transform your life inside and out.

My yoga and meditation classes, and my client base, are 95% women. I wanted to write this for awakening women, particularly those who struggle with deep feelings of compassion triggered by earth events. I don’t intend to exclude men, though, because the Divine feminine rests in the male form, too. So if you are a man reading this, please read on.

Do you know that feeling you get,
when it’s a beautiful day and so you go somewhere to be in nature?
And you are sitting there in the calm breeze and gazing at your favorite mountain,
or lake,
or river
or tree filled mossy patch
… and something comes over you …

The people who are in your life right now are in your life to bring you to where you are supposed to be. The people who are leaving your life right now are leaving your life to bring you to where you are supposed to be. Where you are right now is a result of all the people in your life who have brought you exactly what you needed in every moment of every day, making sure you were always where you were supposed to be. Where you are right now is where you are supposed to be.

I was once given a teaching in a dream that helped me understand the distinction between the permanent and the impermanent. The understanding of this dream enabled me to embrace life as it is. It showed me that all of life is transient, and I can be free to enjoy the ups in life without grasping at them, and recognize that the downs in life are also temporary and so there is no need to try and make them "go away."

The antidote to the victim* mentality is conscious choice. Before you read this article any further, stop for a second and notice how those words made you feel.

The deepest scariest place inside, the one that we want to run from screaming in terror, is the exact place to go to access your inherent freedom. The place that you want to run from is like the center point of life, surrounded by a wall of fighter planes. The fighter planes will go off to battle if anyone or anything gets close. But behind that wall of 'fight,' is the soft spot, the tender point that is waiting to be met by life.

Ever since childhood I have dreamed of swimming with dolphins. During my first retreat on the Big Island in Hawaii, I had the chance to snorkel near them in a local bay. Seeing wild dolphins up close was a life long dream fulfilled.

When I was around 5 or 6 years old I had a near death event, and the memory of waking up from myself has never left me. In fact, it has shaped the person I’ve become.

I’ve always remembered the feeling of waking up out of my body. Sometimes when I first come out of a really vivid dream, as the dream fades and my bedroom returns I’ll hang out there in that state, remembering what it was like to wake up into the even bigger room of my essence, and a realm of love that defies description.