Cultivating Coherence

Greetings friends! Thanks so much for stopping by. I truly appreciate everyone who reads, comments, or subscribes- it makes the effort of writing feel worthwhile.

As always, the universe is providing me plenty to work with this week. I’m noticing that my internal coherence is… well, not so much coherent.

All of my observations and experiences over the course of this lifetime lead me to believe this is a recipe for maladies of all sorts.

I’m continuing to struggle to meet my chosen deadlines for this blog. My body says “meh”, my spirit says “not now”, and my mind says “just a few more weeks and then we win!”. Winning, btw, means achieving 52 weeks of consecutive posting. There is nothing to “win” but this external marker that my ego has attached great importance to.

I’m not sure why my body isn’t onboard, but I do believe it’s super important to listen and honor this source of wisdom. I’ve tried inquiring what she needs to comply, and “rest” is the answer I get.

And spirit? Well, she’s all for rest and not letting the ego run the show. She’s definitely not interested in performing on demand.

Add to that our entering the darkest time of the year when Nature is urging me to turn inwards, rest and restore, and reevaluate and it’s plain to see that something needs to give.

My mind wants to jump in and figure it all out. My heart suggests that this isn’t the time for figuring things out. It’s a time to rest. Things are best figured out after the rest.

Contrary to popular culture, pushing through, forcing behavior to match outdated or externally imposed rules, and overriding the sovereignty of one’s own soul is never going to lead to lasting success, happiness, or health.

So now what? Well, I’m taking a break from my weekly posting for a short while to honor the solstice and my inner wisdom and to cultivate coherence between body, mind, and spirit.

I’m turning off the auto-renewal feature for those of you who have annual subscriptions as another year-long commitment doesn’t feel aligned with my soul’s journey at this time. And I’m retiring from the new and full moon audio practices.

Typing these words creates a whoosh of relaxation in my body. My ego-mind, however, is freaking out. While I am willing to listen, this is not the part of me I want in charge of making decisions.

Being in touch with my values and desires has been the foundation of this process. Freedom and creativity are extremely important to me, and recognizing that they are not supported by this commitment to complete a full year of weekly posting is a huge step for me.

I imagine this new commitment of sticking to my priorities rather than the socially approved “just do it” mandate will renew my creative spark and that I’ll be back again in a few weeks with gusto.

OK, so I’ve just been out for my walk in the foggy woods and have returned with new insight. I had planned to just polish up the above words and be done with this article, but no. I’m told there is more.

First, my plan is clearly working! Taking the pressure off to produce on schedule has definitely renewed the creative spark.

Second, I’m seeing how this practice of cultivating coherence falls under my Healthy Aging Strategy. The primary goal is to maximize ki/chi/qi/prana/life force. Getting all the parts of myself in alignment minimizes wasted ki. When my head says “go” and my body says “stop”, it’s like driving with the emergency brake on. This push/pull energy is not conducive to good health.

Third, I have instructions to write more about this Healthy Aging Strategy, which I’m looking forward to doing in the near future, when the time is right and inspiration flows.

Thanks for reading to the end! I wasn’t exactly sure where this piece was going and there were some unexpected twists there at the end. I’ve often thought that I could do a better job planning this blog out, but that never works for me. Mostly I’m just taking dictation from my soul and she laughs at the idea of adhering to a plan.

And you? Are you getting a sense of how you might cultivate more inner coherence? It’s so easy to let the mind boss us around, but I’d encourage you to drop in and listen to the less boisterous parts. I’d love to hear what comes up for you if you’re willing to share.