Dear Hearts,
Wherever you are, how are you keeping up? How is your heart, mind and body? How are you managing your energy level?
Four weeks in self-isolation flew by. At where I live, in Singapore, we have another four weeks to go. We are not alone in this mandatory stay-at-home order. Globally we are staying inside. There are those blessed with a privileged retreat. Many are struggling with necessary familial duties, work demands and self-care in truncated environs. Some are simply facing extraordinary hardship.
I did not think I would live to see a pandemic. Who could foresee toilet paper would be precious commodity. Who knew a previously taken for granted grocery run would be a chance for fresh air and a breather. I certainly appreciate the joy-walks and loving messages from above when I venture out to replenish fresh produce.
It is hard to fathom the magnitude of housecleaning that is required on a personal and collective level. A world painstakingly built to stay safe and cozy is crumbling. Debris that has been swept under the rug, stubbornly held old ways, parts that have been starved and repressed, everything has morphed into monstrous proportions because life is being examined at a microscopic level.
I like to believe humanity is at the threshold of a new way of being. They say you either have the intuition to change or you are forced to change. The Big C, Change, is unimaginable for most people even during the best of times.
For me transcending my resistant to technology was one such change. As a highly sensitive empath who feels everything so deeply, I wondered how I could be of service. With loving support from tech-savvy soul sisters, I took the great tech plunge, to teach online. I, or rather we were called to serve during this incredible time of introspection.
The last few weeks saw me teaching meditation to a whole new community across different time zones. I was very grateful to share the practice that has allowed me to meet my authentic self in this unending journey to find true liberation. It was a free offering from my heart. Your lovely notes saw me through the sense of disconnection I felt in a Zoom room.
You wrote:
“It was a powerful and invigorating session!”
“Was really good. Didn’t realize there were so many meditation techniques. It really helped to feel calmer and more focused.”
You had so many questions after our meditation sessions. Some of you were inspired to keep up with a self-practice. The Work works if you are willing to do the work. What is important you rise, show up and do your best every day. Every new day is an opportunity to listen deeper, trust more, live a little truer, one day, one breath at a time.
It is amazing there is so much grace and silver lining to this crisis. This reluctant pause is profound time not to be wasted. Our suffering cannot be in vain. Mother Nature thrives again. The plight of migrant workers, the marginalized and vulnerable is under scrutiny. Children are realizing being able to go to school is a privilege. There is newfound appreciation for personal and environmental wellness. All around me, people are breaking habits, patterns and cycles and finding change is not so daunting after all. Pursuits in the external world we once counted on for happiness appear to be trivial compared to the richness and sheer freedom a peaceful inner world can offer.
What if staying in and finding our true h[om]e is the deepest journey we will ever make this lifetime? What if this exploration brings us to uncharted territories where a breathtaking horizon is closer than we think. It is beautiful to witness this rousing from a slumber, shifting from paralysis to full-on engagement. Perhaps this is the long overdue reset planet earth needs.
How are you using the gift of this moment to transform yourself, to be the version of yourself you always wanted to be?
What and who will you be when you step out and walk on earth again?
How will you sustain and settle into the new you?
How else can we collectively stay awake for as long as possible?
There are more questions than answers and it is okay. Some days at home are better than the others and this is okay, too.
Soon enough I’ll be back in the mountains. My self-healing retreats will return next year. This is all I know and it is fine. The daily spiritual practice that saw me through change and loss is now preparing me for an unknown future. In this present moment, I am at my most prolific, creating healing music on the harmonium and writing a book. For now, my partner and I are rescheduling our journaling and yoga workshop Trust & Let Go. Come if you are called.
Till we connect in person again, please reach out if there are ways I can support you. There is more than enough space in Zoom room.
May you be unafraid
May you be free
May you live your best life from now on
