Spiritual Strategy with a Little Snark
Will You Navigate Liminal Space with Me for the Next 3 Weeks?
It’s an odd circumstance that while I was writing my last series offering three things to help you survive an unexpected job loss, losing a job was what was happening to me in real time. It wasn’t entirely unexpected in my case. But the end, which happened less than two weeks ago, was abrupt.
Writing is a way I like processing big events in my life. So why not write about it right here? I’m going to give you a real-time glimpse into how my spiritual practices influence me and my vision for figuring out my next big steps. I’ll ask the questions —
“How is God/Universe/Consciousness inviting me to live into my vision of my life?”
“What IS my vision of my life and work?”
“How can I trust these practices will lead me toward my next big beautiful movement?”
This series will be about how spirituality meets strategy. This is a liminal space in which I live a lot, but I don’t talk or write about too much. It might make you think I’m weird or something. 😂 It will be a vulnerable place in which I don’t feel entirely comfortable, but it also feels exactly where I should be right now. Will you join me on the wild journey?
If you just said, “Hell, yeah, I’m in,” read on for how spirituality has already been part of this chapter of my journey …
Yoga Nidra Offers me Clarity on the Journey
Right when my stress was about at its highest, the monthly New Moon Yoga Nidra session with my friend, yoga teacher and Ayurvedic practitioner Kara Aubin rolled around. I got out of bed more easily than usual for this 5:30 a.m. Zoom practice. Now, I do yoga nidra — a deeply relaxing practice during which you set and integrate an intention — almost every day to several recordings that I have. But I get up at ugly o’clock for this live session not only because Kara’s teaching is amazing, but because there’s something about practicing with other people — even virtually — that elevates the practice. Kara usually invites us to begin by journaling on some questions. Because we were just moving out of an eclipse season, Kara invited us to write about what had been obscured and what was being revealed in our lives.
Because these sessions are so early in my time zone, my journaling is often a rambling mess. But something about the liminal space was very clarifying for me that day. I wrote down that many aspects of the job I was so stressed about simply did not align with my values. I also realized there was a poetic parallel to it — I had said yes to it last year during a solar eclipse. Now it was ending in another solar eclipse. Weird, huh?
Meditation community provides me a place to feel my feels
Even with this clarity, endings are hard. Emotions were high, and I am not fond of emotions. Last Wednesday, I hopped on Zoom to join another one of my meditation communities — the No Big Deal Sit with the Liberated Life Network founded by rev. angel kyoto williams. I attend this 20-minute simple meditation session once or twice almost every week, but last week I needed it more than usual. I was raw. I was hurting. I was tired and heavy. I did the simple practice that focuses us on breath in the belly core. The breath isn’t really the point, though. The point is to return to ourselves. The mind will wander, and you simply return to your breath, to yourself.
When you’re doing a simple practice like this, whatever needs to come up will come up. Most of the time what comes up is a seemingly random collection of thoughts. Other times, like that day, a whole stew of emotions emerges. After our 20 minutes of meditation, we are invited to reflect on what happens. We share in the chat and are offered the chance to speak our reflections out loud. Most of the time, I don’t speak. This time I unmuted my mic and shared. I don’t remember my exact words, but I said something about how I was grateful for the space to feel my feelings, even though I’m not a fan of feelings. I felt wrapped in a loving embrace by the people sitting in the silence with me.
I was reminded that in those moments of beautiful and agonizing silence, true healing happens.
So I’m inviting you on a few weeks of this journey with me. For the next 3 weeks or so, I’m going to be doing at least one contemplation meditation daily, with probably some yoga nidra and the No Big Deal Sit thrown in as well. (I explained the contemplation meditation in a post just a few weeks ago.) I will jot down reflections every time I do a practice, and I will try to put the notes into something resembling coherent thoughts. I don’t know what will happen, but I can almost promise that it will provoke some thoughtful and possibly snarky reflection. 🤪
Try the contemplation meditation with me?
If you’re at a crossroads, too, or just want to try out this meditation, I’m going to make a recording of a guided contemplation meditation available to my paid subscribers. I encourage you to do the practice at least a few times a week for the next 3 weeks.
On Tuesday, April 29, 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET, I will offer a live reflection and Q&A about the experience at my monthly Just Rest community conversation.
I hope to see you there!