If there was ever a time to grow practices that help us become more comfortable with uncertainty, it’s now. As we stand on this threshold of transition in our human and global history, we all feel the teetering, the crumbling of what we’ve known as we stand in this wild, uncertain liminal stage wondering what will be and become.
And we know that when the outer world is shaky, our inner world can follow suit. We know, as highly sensitive people prone to anxiety, that we’re experts at creating our own maelstrom of terror even when our personal outer worlds are safe and sound.
Intrusive thoughts can bring us to our knees.
Health anxiety, about ourselves or our children (and even our pets), can pull the rug out from beneath our psyches.
Relationship anxiety can turn our worlds upside down and inside out until we’re left shaking and wondering: Where is our ground? What is the stillpoint? Something, someone please help me.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my years of being a devotee of the inner world it’s that well-being and the ability to reel ourselves back in from the compelling lure of an intrusive thought or any fear-spiral depends on one thing: connection – connection to Self, others, and the invisible world, which, for many people, is experienced most directly in nature. Many of my other courses focus on growing connection to self and others; Grace Through Uncertainty is a 30-day roadmap for growing personal and meaningful practices that can help root and ground you through the twists and turns of this life.
Grace Through Uncertainty is one of my favorite courses to lead. It was born from a terrifying health scare in 2016 that warranted multiple doctor visits and ultimately a CT-scan (I tell the full story in the course), and it was because of the daily practices that I was already firmly rooted in that I was able to navigate those terrifying weeks with some grace. Those practices have become more deeply entwined into my being since that scary summer, and not at a day passes when I don’t feel grateful for them.
When worry about my health sneaks in, it’s the practices that offer a life boat.
When worry about my kids’ health shows up, it’s the rituals that rise up like stepping stones.
When my fear of death says hello, it’s the moment of presence that bring me back to the present moment.
When worry about the world pierces my soul, it’s my relationship with the natural world that catches me in a hammock of okay-ness.
Some of the practices have shapeshifted over the years, as I’m a firm believer that spiritual practices must be flexible to meet the changing seasons of our lives. But many have become so deeply entwined into my being that they don’t feel like practices at all; they’re my very breath:
They’re the prayers of gratitude that run through my soul even before I realize l’m fully awake.
They’re the songs of praise I sing quietly in bed before my feet touch the ground, and sometimes still sing to my sons (if they let me :)).
They’re the moments I pause on the patio to receive the goodness of the sun and imagine that it’s alighting my central column.
These prayers, songs, practices, moments of presence, and rituals comprise the trunk and roots and crown of my being. Alongside the steadfast love of human others, they’re how I remain steady amidst these stormy seas that sailboat Earth is trying to navigate, and the inner worries that can take hold at times as a sensitive human prone to anxiety
Let me be clear that learning how to find more comfort or grace through uncertainty doesn’t mean that we don’t feel scared, unhinged, disoriented, and angry at times. We need to feel the full range of our emotions when the world is on fire.
What it does mean is that we have a still point to come back to, places in our inner and outer worlds that remind us that we’re held, safe, and not alone. Growing regular and meaningful practices during less stressful times allows us to draw upon them, like water from a well, when we need them. As I mentioned, it’s what got me through the 2016 health scare while continuing along in my regular life feeling mostly steady and intact. They’re what have helped hundreds of people who have taken the Grace Through Uncertainty course find more tolerance for uncertainty and discover the wells of well-being that are waiting to be accessed within.
Are you ready to join the next live round where we’ll be dipping into these sacred waters together, held in the web of community and receiving guidance from me through the calls and forum? The next live round will start on July 9th, 2022, and I look forward to meeting you there.
