In the creative cycle, the Inner Winter is the initiation and incubation phase. It is the time to retreat, tune in, and allow yourself to receive the inspiration without taking action—yet.

Giving ourselves space and silence to allow this process to happen enables us to receive the inspiration for the next phase and incubate it in our being so that, much like a baby, it can build in energy before we birth it into the world.

As a creative, I’m aware that there is a time when I should hold the seeds of a new idea or creation close to my heart and nurture them carefully, keeping them safe from the hard frost of other people’s opinions and criticism.

The energy of the Inner Winter is not linear or logical. When we are in this inner season, we may find ourselves moving in spirals, circling around something, and returning to the same spot repeatedly as we do when we walk a labyrinth.

For this reason, it’s important to allow yourself to be fully in the mystery of this phase. To accept that...

I have been thinking a lot lately about how when I am fully present to myself, I naturally am an embodied leader, whether I am meditating, or spending time with my family, or teaching in front of a group.

Being an embodied leader means, first and foremost, that we lead ourselves through the process of self-exploration, self-healing, soul-love, and soul-realization. You inspire others much more when you have done your own personal work ; )

Comparing a disembodied leader and an embodied leader

Disembodied leaders lead from a place of fear and fragmented self, hungry for validation, and projecting the divisions they carry inside. Disembodied leaders find short-term success by creating resonance with the fears of their followers.

However, because this goes against the natural impulse of life, it will eventually retreat in the face of the human impetus toward expansion and growth. Because we all come to a place of self-reliance and self-love, whether it happens during our lifetime or at...

Preparing for the meditation:

• Practice it in a quiet place where you will not be distracted or disturbed.
• If possible, draw the curtains or cover your eyes with something soft (be sure it is lightweight) so that you will experience as little sensory stimulation as possible.
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing. You may want to cover yourself with a light blanket. Be sure that you will be warm throughout the practice.
• Lie on a comfortable (not too hard, not too soft) surface.
• Consider using a folded blanket under your knees to support your lower back or a cervical/neck pillow to support your head and neck.
• Do not move once you begin to practice, so be as comfortable as possible when you begin.
• In order to derive the maximum benefit from the practice of Relax into Greatness, have the intention to remain awake throughout the process.
• If you do fall asleep while practicing it, don’t worry. This is a natural occurrence, especially when you first start practicing, and particularly if y
...

Stop. Right here. Right now.
Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let it out your mouth.
Continue. For a moment.
Stop going so fast. Just stop.
Right here. Right now.
Your heart knows. You are here.
Breathe.
Remember who you are. In your heart.
Stop. Pause. Breathe.
Come home. Be in you.
You are here. Now. How beautiful you are.
You are here in your heart.
Breathe.
Feel. This moment. Your being. You.
You. Are. Here. Now. Breathe.
And remember.
This. Now. Is more important than anything you were doing.
Come back now. Be home.
In the centre of your chest.
Everything is there. Nothing is missing.
Breathe. Be here.
Your heart.

And if you want to relax even deeper, try this 20-minute Guided Meditation to Relax Into Greatness. 

In this practice, we will be connecting ideas and thoughts with bodily sensations. I’ll walk you through all of it. Follow along and do what works for you.

What I would love for you to do is to sit with your feet on the floor. So, if you can have your feet on the ground, that will help with the intention of this meditation, which is to really connect with the earth. 

For this meditation, we're going to breathe in through the nose, and we're going to breathe out through the nose, which we normally don't do. But this is the intention is to increase the energy and to build this sense of inner world. When we breathe out through the mouth, the intention is to let go and surrender it all and allow liberation. But when we breathe out through the nose, we're saying, we're going to build here, so it's different.

I'm going to guide you, we're going to do each of the chakras, but we're going to talk about a quality in the chakras—there's one specific quality I want us to connect with. 

I'm go...

We were born very sensitive—At first, we didn't worry about the pain such openness would create. 

That is why being in the presence of a small child feels incredible. They don't hold back from showing their true sensitive self.

In that way, children are powerful. 

They can shift the energy in a room in a moment, simply with their presence. 

For adults with unexamined wounds, children are an easy prey. 

First, the adult feels uncomfortable in the presence of so much love and light that they shut down even more. The child feels the separation and the distance. There is no more connection and connection is love. 

The child experiences this as a disruption of emotional safety. 

Then, in order to feel better or regain power, the adult will say or do something to hurt the child, often under the pretense of safety or discipline, e.g. "It's not how we behave.”

Eventually, the child develops a protection mechanism in order to mitigate the pain of the emotional betrayal. That protection ...

This month, I was invited to be a guest on the podcast SecondWind with Joyce Buford.

The title of the episode is Why Highly Sensitive People are Prone to Experiencing Burnout.

In our conversation, Joyce asked me how I was using the word “burnout” in the title of my new book, “The Burnout Antidote: A Spiritual Guide to Empowerment for Empaths, Over-givers, and Highly Sensitive People.”

I told Joyce that I see burnout as a crisis in meaning. What I’ve noticed in the past 10-15 years is this: even if you’ve found your path and purpose and it brings you a lot of joy, you can still burn out. 

In the podcast episode, I talk about my own burnout journey, coming to understand how something that was aligned with my passion and purpose—one-on-one coaching, in particular—was causing my burnout. 

Highlights of our 35-minute conversation include: 

• Investigating the root causes of burnout
• Why do we hold on to trauma
• The power of processing emotions

You can listen to the podcast episo...

Does your day begin with other people in mind? Perhaps you wake up in the morning with the best of intentions to share your gifts with others in the best way possible. You have hopes and dreams for the people you care for, your children, your clients, your patients, your customers, your family, and your friends. You do it because you are a giver. You have a big heart with extra love to give. Nothing is more meaningful or brings you more joy than to help ease someone else’s pain, to inspire them, to care for them, to teach them, to make them feel better.

You are attentive to everyone’s needs. You spend your day, on a sort of “selfless service automatic pilot”, extending your resources to others, whether it is finding creative solutions to improve your clients’ businesses, your customers’ lives, or your patients’ health, listening to your coworkers’ marital problem around the water cooler, offering a helping hand to a charity, organizing a bake sale for your kids’ school or a meal chain ...

Discernment is key here.

If your truth is not integrated within you, and you share it prematurely, two things will happen. First, if the person you are sharing your truth with doesn't understand it and can't see your truth, it won't feel good and you will doubt what you know to be true. Second, your truth won't have the clarity and the precision it is meant to have. It will be difficult to be clear and grounded and not get triggered. So next time you have a personal transformational experience and have understood something profound and life-changing, before you share it, make sure you have integrated the information enough to be ok with the other person's response. What you know is sacred. But not everybody around you is where you are and on a similar path as you. Honor your truth, keep it safe and nurtured with your love. You are the one to validate it. You are the one to believe you. You are the one to be the advocate and the mama bear to what you know to be true. There is a time to...

Fire needs to move, to flow, to express itself. We are used to controlling it, managing it, keeping it under wrap. It eats us up, it burns us out. It’s exhausting to manage our fire. Breathe into the intensity in your solar plexus, trust that your fire is intelligent and has purpose. Allow it to disentangle from your organs and nervous system. Let it unfurl and be set free. Bring it down into your belle, follow it up to and through your throat. Your fire is sacred. Don’t be scared of it. It is to be loved and embraced