We Find Inner Peace When We Let It In

​December, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, is a busy time for most, gathering together, planning festivities, shopping, traveling, cooking and finding space and time to enjoy it all. It can also be a difficult time of the year when those you love are no longer with you. And so it's important to remember the "why."

I listened to one of my favorite teachers and spiritual thought leaders this morning – Caroline Myss. She is brilliant and has much to say about navigating through the times we are living in. One thing she said that particularly stuck with me was this: "The things of the greatest importance in our lives are not things; they are the things we cannot see."

Amid life's constant motion and holiday hustle, we often forget to pause and reconnect with our inner selves. Meditation offers a gentle pathway to stillness – a momentary retreat from external noise into the quiet landscape of our inner world. The following practice is an invitation to slow down, to breathe and to cultivate a sense of peace that resides within you, waiting to be acknowledged.

Please take a moment with me. Sit or rest comfortably, and bring all of your awareness to the breath. Fill the belly, the diaphragm and the lungs. Empty slowly and completely. Letting the thoughts drift by like clouds. Consider closing down the windows of the eyes and placing one hand on the belly and the other on the heart.

It is when we turn inward that a shift occurs. We get out of our busy heads and into our bodies, where the heart lives. Peace is the still, quiet moment within. It is found in full breaths in and out. It is listening to the stillness and opening the heart.

Ask your heart: 
What brings you the most joy? 
Where does it come from? 
Who, what brings a smile to your face? 
Who or what puts a song in your heart? 
What fills your eyes with tears – both happy and sad?

This season as we make preparations to harken the holy season, let us remember the true blessings are wrapped within – so deep, they are often forgotten. So remember to pause, sip in a fresh breath, gently close your eyes and take time to honor the light within.

The light in me honors and sees the divine light within you.