03/28/2026
This past month and a month has been truly TRANSFORMATIONAL for me.
I wanted to share this for anyone who’s going through a hard time or feeling disconnected. I hope that this can help you, because I was there in that dark, disconnected place for a while.
Some really challenging things came up in my life, and I was struggling to hold everything together. It felt like I was being torn apart at the seams and living in survival mode. It was all that I could do just to show up and get through my days.
And I did. I continued to show up as a mom, as a wife, as a teacher, and I’m proud of myself for that, but I also felt very anxious and empty inside. I had lost connection with my spirit. Anyone who has struggled in this way knows that once the spiral begins, it can be really hard to pull yourself in a new direction and so I lived in that space for a while.
When your job is to inspire and uplift people and you are feeling personally down in the dumps, it can feel like a real crisis of character. How can I be authentic and honor what I’m feeling while also showing up for the people who depend on me?
These past several weeks have been life-changing and transformational for me, and what I did was so simple: I just started waking up 30 minutes earlier, and in those first 30 minutes of my day, I don’t look at emails or read text messages or go on social media or turn on the television or start thinking about what I need to do in my day. I just sit outside on my patio and listen to the birdsongs as the world wakes up. I write down everything that I can think of that I’m grateful for, and then I write a few words to describe how I want to show up to my life today. Next I read a few pages of a spiritual book. Whatever resonates for you that grounds you in the bigger questions of life is great. The goal is to stay out of the small, thinking mind mode and to stay in the bigger experience of spirit, live, and possibility. (Right now I am rereading The Untethered Soul which I read probably a decade ago. Coming back to it now was incredibly helpful. I highly recommend it!) Lastly, I close my eyes and sit in stillness for 5 minutes, observing what is without judgment or reaction. I simply sense myself as the clear conscious presence observing the world happening.
And then I start my day.
It seems too simple to be transformative, but beginning the day with positive thoughts and intentions and the space for some quiet and clarity sets the tone for the rest of the day. Nothing else that happens in the day feels as stressful or makes me as reactive. Most importantly, though, I’ve reconnected to my spirit, to the depth and beauty and mystery of life in a real way, and ultimately, I think that’s what everyone craves most in their lives. Purpose. Connection. Love.
These are not new revelations or lessons. Many wise people have talked about the importance of what you focus on first thing in the morning and the transformative nature of gratitude practice. In fact, these are practices I have spent years of my life doing and teaching to others, but sometimes life hits us hard with a curveball and dismantles what we thought we had all figured out. It is those moments of breakdown that can ultimately lead to spiritual breakthrough.
The path home is not a straight line. There are curves along the way. Things can happen that make us feel like there is no way out, but when we come back to these simple practices, we are reminded that the only way out is through. We have to go through the darkness and the heaviness in order to get to the other side where the light is. The only way out is in.
If you’re struggling, remember that you’re never alone. Reach out to people. Share your story. Remember that the light is always here even if you can’t always see it.
This is also a PSA that we never know what silent battles the people around us are facing so always choose kindness and compassion.
