Sometimes the way forward begins by going back

When I first began my spiritual journey, I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing. I was getting divorced and had turned my world completely upside down—with no idea how to set it right again or what “right” would even look like. I was anxious, scared, and lost. Everything I had imagined for my life had disappeared. My deepest desire back then was simple: to stop the crushing fear and the sense that I was separated from my own life. I was suffering and wanted relief from suffering.

At the time, I had no understanding of what it meant to work with my body, mind, spirit, and energy during life’s hardest moments. The only practice I knew was prayer, and that felt external to me. I didn’t yet have a way to connect inward, to find trust in myself or in the choices I’d made.

Oddly enough, my ex-husband had studied Transcendental Meditation before we met. It was never part of our life together, but the idea of meditation had stayed with me and called to me as a possible balm for my pain. I found a meditation teacher who turned out to be perfect for me. That hour with him changed everything. It became the beginning of what I now know as my spiritual path—a lifelong, gradual, and sometimes messy process of getting to know and listen to myself.

Now, decades later, I find myself in another major transition. I retired from my corporate role on July 15th, a conscious and intentional choice, and yet I’ve felt unexpected waves of anxiety and fear. While many people I know slide comfortably into retirement, I haven’t. When I made the decision, I knew it was the right time. And I knew I wanted to give myself the time to teach, coach, write, make art, and explore photography. While this is all available to me, I haven’t yet learned how to give myself the grace and spaciousness to flow into this new chapter and to fully open to what is possible. The difference with this transition, though, is that I have years of practice and spiritual grounding to draw from and help me move through the tough moments.

One day, when the fear felt especially strong, I sat down and decided to revisit everything that had ever helped me reconnect with myself. I asked myself what I know about how I:

• Learn and grow
• Listen to and trust my intuition and inner voice
• Manifest what I want in my life
• Stay aligned to my soul’s purpose
• Remain open to possibility and create expansiveness in my body, mind, spirit, and energy

To answer those questions, I knew I had to go back to the basics—back to the practices and sources that have given me a foundation for reconnecting with my essential self. These included:

• Returning to simple breathing exercises because even some of my usual meditation and mindfulness practices weren’t working
• Re-listening to my original Human Design reading (from 2006)—the one that reminded me I don’t do well with open-ended uncertainty, but thrive when I honor what I do know about myself
• Revisiting my life purpose statement (first written in 2001) to realign with my deeper “why”
• Re-creating a new business and life plan because putting my thoughts into logical form grounds me and helps me to take action
• Reopening my journal with a single intention: to listen for the wisdom and knowing of my heart and soul’s voice waiting to be heard

In other words, I went back to the future—back to the roots of my spiritual foundation to remember who I am and how to move forward. My practice, renewed and refreshed, is helping me again—not to erase fear, but to hold it with awareness and to write this next chapter with knowing, curiosity, and trust. It’s a process.

🌟 The Invitation

Sometimes, the way forward begins by going back: back to the practices, truths, and wisdom that once helped us remember who we are. When we revisit our spiritual foundations, we rediscover that we already hold the tools to walk through change with courage and grace. If you are currently experiencing a life transition, challenge, or time of uncertainty I invite you to follow the exercise below. The exercise will help you reflect on practices that have guided you in the past, so you are able to renew, refresh and restart your life.

🌿 Exercise: Back to the Future Reflection – When life feels uncertain, return to your spiritual roots. Take a quiet 15 minutes with your journal and:

1. Look Back
   What practices or teachings once helped you feel grounded and connected to your true self? (Meditation, journaling, nature walks, creative expression, prayer, etc.)
2. Listen In
   Which of these still holds meaning for you now? Which wants to return to your life in a new way?
3. Recommit to One Practice
   Choose one simple practice to bring back—not to repeat the past, but to rekindle your present wisdom.
4. Anchor It
   Light a candle or place a small object where you’ll see it daily as a reminder: You already know how to find your way home.

Follow this link to download this exercise and keep it on-hand for when you are ready to reconnect with your heart and soul.

I wish you Peace.