Today, I packed away the last of the loose dog food, left at our house after Lu died last week. He and his mama Terra Milligan stayed with us for the last 2 months of his life. I notice a heaviness and an openness in my heart, a mix of sorrow and gratitude for being part of an incredible dog's life for so many years.

In the vision, the Moon appeared to as a Native American woman, adorned with a feather in her long silver hair, radiating wisdom and agelessness. Her weathered skin held stories and guidance as old as the universe. She introduced herself as “The Woman in the Moon.” Simply by her tone of voice, she appeared as the wisest elder I had ever known. Her words cut through time and space, urging me and humanity to consider the consequences of our choices for the seven generations that precede us and those that will follow.

The journey, for all of us, begins with the instinctive inhalations of infancy. When we are born, we often know how to breathe. We send the breath deep into the belly and it calms the little body. Yet, for me, as a girl who grew up in the United States, society's expectations weighed upon me, and I found myself entangled in a web of misconceptions about beauty and body image. The shallow breaths of conformity replaced the deep, nourishing breaths of my childhood. I wanted to look thin, skinny. I learned to suck in my stomach at all times.

Today I will share a version of the story that holds the ancient Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. I read this story in a book called "The Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist. Living amidst the majestic Rocky Mountains of Colorado, I had several profound encounters the other day with three bald eagles flying over the pond behind our home.

On April 8, 2024, my husband Jon Medina and I were in Austin, Texas for the total solar eclipse. It left a profound impact on me. This natural phenomenon reminded me of the interconnectedness of celestial bodies and deepened my understanding of the cosmos and our place within it.

Have you ever found yourself asking questions like, “Can I make it through? Can I handle this? Will life be okay? Will the practices give me refuge in the experiences of the darkness?" If so, you might be experiencing what is sometimes referred to as "the dark night of the soul." This term is often used to describe a spiritual crisis that can happen to anyone, at any time, regardless of their faith or beliefs. It can be a time of deep questioning, doubt, and uncertainty about one's path and purpose in life. And it's something that many people experience many times in their lifetime.

This is the task in the heart chakra as it is the task for every one of us that wants to heal this world and assure its future. We need love to hold our world together. This is our work now.

Neuroscience + Ancestral Lineage was the topic of module 7 of the Magic of Meditation. Throughout the history of human development over time, research has shown how we integrate our ancestral lineage into our bodies, our minds, and into our everyday. Our ancestors used to live in a place of survival constantly: what we’d call “fight or flight”. From the dawn of human existence, we were running away from predators and fighting each day to find food and survive.

Have you ever been through a friend break up? Sometimes is hurts more than the romantic endings... I recently experienced this and it brought up so much for me. I realized how I can take things personally and that I make assumptions too... I created a story about myself where I feel that I am and need "too much." (THIS IS NOT FOLLOWING THE 4 AGREEMENTS!)

Week 5 of Magic of Meditation allowed us to dive deeper into our mind-body-soul connection by enriching our mindfulness meditation practice + aligning with what we most desire to bring forth into the world.

There’s a reason for the rising popularity of the old phrase ‘Clean space, clear mind’ in recent years. “Minimalism” has gained a lot of media attention and critical acclaim with its resurgence.

A note from the writer : Many of the teachings from this blog come from my undergraduate and masters studies in psychology, in my clinical practice as a mental health practioner, in my meditation courses + daily practices and from the teachings from Anodea Judith in Eastern Body Western Mind. Happy reading!

Dating back millennia, meditation, in its many forms, has been an ancient, Eastern spiritual practice. Meditation in Latin is meditatum, meaning “to ponder.” Although we do not know when, exactly, people began to meditate, experts agree that the practice probably began many thousands of years ago, before the birth of modern civilization.

A mentor of mine, Robin Wall Kimmerer asked permission to share these sacred words of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address Greetings to the Natural World and the message she received from the Onondaga Faith Keeper, Oren Lyons was, “Of course you should write about it. It’s supposed to be shared, otherwise how can it work? We’ve been waiting five hundred years for people to listen. If they’d understood the Thanksgiving then, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

This blog posts provides a link to our recorded webinar and the ‘spark notes‘ of what we discussed about Practical Magic. We begin with what I call ‘The Magic Recipe’ for creating the life you desire through meditation + ritual. You can refer to this blog over and over as supplemental support to your practice!

I go back every year because I find that Burning Man is a place to dream “the waking dream” of new collective consciousness, a new global society, a new world. At Burning Man, we can see that anything is possible and there is a place for ANYONE & EVERYONE to be their most authentic selves. It is so beautiful to experience how people want to dance, play, learn, express and dress (or not dress.) Freedom babyyy!