What if our religion was each other

If our practice was our life

If prayer, our words

What if the temple was the earth

If forests were our church

If holy water – the rivers, lakes, and ocean

What if meditation was our relationships

If the teacher was life

If wisdom was self-knowledge

If love was the center of our being.

As I reflect on the question, “How Can I Be Me?”, I invite you to ponder the same: “How Can You Be You?”

Stop asking: Am I good enough?

Ask only

Am I showing up

With love?

Julia Fehrenbacher

"by tending to the river inside, keeping the water rich and deep, keeping a bench for you to visit."

Sometimes, the most important thing - the most skillful strategy - is to recognize and accept when help is needed.

Our society often promotes a superficial understanding of joy, encouraging us to seek it outside ourselves. We skim over the depths of our lives, keeping things on the surface because it's easier and less painful. Many of us avoid, distract, project, shame, and blame to escape the hard work of inner exploration. Yet, deep down, we all long to be our true selves.

In our journey towards healing and self-discovery, one of the most profound realizations is the importance of connection. When we truly connect—with ourselves and with others—we create a space of belonging that nurtures our souls and fosters a sense of CommUNITY.

We all yearn for love and understanding in our closest relationships, but achieving that consistently has been elusive for many, especially recently. The truth is, every individual has imperfections. These intricacies make sustaining love and mutual acceptance challenging at times.

Imaginal cells hold the information code for the butterfly, and while no single imaginal cell has all of the information, collectively, out of apparent death, they bring forth the majestic creature. How poetic that scientists knew to call them imaginal, for indeed, they are keepers of imagination.

Back in January, I facilitated a program for The Innerwork Center called Digital Detox. The goal was to help participants explore their relationship with technology, bringing conscious awareness of how, why, and when they are engaged with it - and most importantly whether it was serving them. When researching this program, I found a few statistics published in a Forbes article from January 2023 that help to pull the necessity for a program like this into focus

Dear Pleasure,

I know you left because I was emotionally neglected. What I thought and felt wasn’t a concern to anyone. I was scared, anxious, and overwhelmed and no one checked to see if I was okay. I was taught to mask my feelings by “fixing my face” when I was upset around others. I wasn’t allowed to feel unpleasant things.

This is a guided walking meditation ritual that may be practiced in a park, on the beach, by a river, in the woods or any natural setting. Please adapt this offering to your accessibility needs, any movement outside is fine. If you can’t be outside, sit comfortably where you are and imagine that you are reveling in nature. The intention of this ritual is to support you in embracing your connection to the natural world, as you connect these words with your movement, speaking aloud and planting this truth inside your body.

I am a woman of many words - a hyper-explainer and an over-describer. My favorite type of word is the adjective because we can pile them on top of one another, each addition providing more specificity and distinction.

When I first attended a Mindful Self-Compassion workshop at the Innerwork Center, I couldn’t imagine my three kids and my demanding day job giving me time or space to break free and meditate. Once I arrived, I wondered about the wall of meditation cushions in the Center’s meeting room.

I discovered a mental health hack that helped me cope with the stress of being a CEO: the silent retreat. It was the one thing that helped me stay grounded, balanced, and refreshed, and I started attending one every year.

May we be happy

May we be well

May we feel loved

And grow from the ground

of loving-kindness.

Happy August! This poem was shared by our Executive Director, Rachel Douglas during one of our mindfulness orientations. It resonated with me and I wanted to share it with YOU - our community. Perhaps, you may sip a cup of tea or enjoy your morning coffee as you allow each word to permeate your spirit.

How many times a day do I ask others “How are you?” as a passing by, as a habit, as a greeting. Hi! How are you? I’d like a small coffee please. Cream no sugar. Thanks. Hihowareyou. I’m here to pick up my _________. Hello….good thanks how are you? I have an appointment.

For the majority of my life, I’ve felt alone. I was cared for and all my needs were met, yet I still felt alone. This loneliness came from feeling unseen and unknown – not feeling like who I am and what I liked matters. This loneliness came from not being able to connect to myself—not knowing or acknowledging my feelings, doing things because it impressed others instead of doing what I wanted.

As I journey in the second half of life, I both ponder and become clearer.  I have questions and I have some answers. What I know is, however, that it matters deeply how I show up in this world, in this universe.