How to stay peaceful during the holiday season.

The title of this blog post just popped into my head, on a day when I am not feeling particularly content, which tells me that a) I am relying on my own will and b) God always has a better plan in mind. I am going to write this blog to feel at peace. I know it.

The holiday season can be super triggering for people (myself included) It is packed with social gatherings, food, alcohol, sugar, shopping, you name it, it's around - any sort of stimulus that you can think of is present over the holiday season. The holidays are like life on steroids. I have never been someone who absolutely loves Christmas time, I've tried, but it just isn't authentic for me. To be honest, I find it to be rather exhausting. I am however, still very grateful for the opportunity to give and receive Love.

To remain peaceful around the holidays I believe that first and foremost it is important to remember why you are actually celebrating. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other cultural or religious holiday, what does it mean for you? For me, this time of year it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and his teachings of Love, kindness, compassion, faith and trust, just to name a few. It is a time to celebrate Love.

When I ground myself and remember my reasons, I am filled with joy and the desire to share that joy and love with my family and friends. It is particularly beneficial to step up my daily prayer and meditation practice when times are crazy busy and the holiday seasons seems overwhelming. Taking a few silent moments to yourself to connect with your Higher Power during family gatherings, or even if you're feeling lonely at home, will remind you that the Power of Love is within you and your Soul always knows what to do moving forward.

Lesson 48 from 'A Course in Miracles' teaches that 'there is nothing to fear' and tells us, as I stated above, that when fear is present, it is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength. If we can bring ourselves back to this awareness, it allows room for us to acknowledge God and let His strength take the place of our weakness.

When I get to this place of connectivity, I find it much easier to suit up and show up and to do the other things I need to do to ensure that I am taking the best care of myself that I possibly can during this time of year.

Which brings me to my next point, how we treat our bodies.

Gabrielle Bernstein shared a story in her "Finally Full" course about how she was at a party and cupcakes were being passed around, she politely declined and people were very confused as to why she wasn't eating a delicious cupcake. She simply stated that she loves herself too much to eat the cupcake. This really resonated with me. I believe that when we cultivate self-love and nurture our spiritual connection, it is harder and harder to justify eating things that we know are not the best for us. As someone who has struggled with eating issues all my life, I am finally at a place where I understand what it means to love myself too much to ingest food that is not good for my physical or emotional well being (side note: be kind yet unapologetic when people try to convince you to eat something you know you do not want to eat) Nourishing your body with foods that feel right for you during this time of year is a key factor to your peace of mind.

It is also so important to get enough rest. In terms of sleep and downtime. Sleep is a spiritual practice. I cannot stress that enough! When I am over tired (like I am today) it is easy for my brain to take fear and run with it, it is also easier to eat like shit! So it really is essential to make sure you prioritize sleep this holiday season. (and I vow to take my own advice!!)

I think it all boils down to being mindful and loving this holiday season, slow down to enjoy the moments with family and friends and remain present. Remembering who you are and the reason for the celebration. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and I encourage you to take what resonates from this blog post and leave the rest :)

How are you planning on staying peaceful this holiday season? I would love to hear!!

Sending you all tons of love and light during this special time of year.

Blessings,

Kylie

Allow yourself to be guided.

I don't know about you guys, but I KNOW I am being guided. When I look back on my life, to days ago, weeks ago, months ago, even years ago ... everything has come together the way it was supposed to in order to make me exactly who I am today, in this moment.

Have you ever gone through a break up for example, and wondered why it was happening, only to look back a few months later and have it make perfect sense? I have. And I have similar experiences in all areas of my life, which is why I always say that 'faith is trusting in advance, what will only make sense in reverse'

Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing some intense soul searching and I am not going to lie, I have been REALLY uncomfortable about 80% of the time. This discomfort however, has absolutely no power over me due to the fact that I have complete and utter faith in God's plan for my life. (If the word 'God' trips you out, then feel free to call it the Universe, the Angels, Mother Nature, whatever you feel like, the key to peace is being connected to a 'Higher Power' - that is where the beauty comes from!)

A Course In Miracles says, "if you knew Who walks beside you on this path that you have chosen, fear would be impossible" and I could not agree more. I believe that we all have it in us to tap into this sense of inner knowing, to allow ourselves to be protected and guided and to ultimately be at peace no matter what is going on around us.

So, HOW do we get to this spot? For me, it's through a DAILY spiritual practice. Which is acknowledging and being grateful for God's presense in my life through prayer, listening for His guidance through meditation, discovering MY part through journaling and then taking the appropriate action in relation to what I've learned as a result of said prayer, meditation and journaling.

This is work is very simple but it is not easy, it requires the willingness to remain vigilant to your peace of mind, which can become exhausting!! Trust me, I've been there. There have been times when I resent the fact that I have to pray, meditate and journal everyday, so I stop, and I am QUICKLY reminded why I choose to live a spiritually centred life, it is absolutely in my best interest to nurture my connection with God on a daily basis. The alternative is suffering.

'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional' - think about that. Why choose suffering?

We all capable of being at peace, we all capable of living from a place of love, love is our birthright. The power is within us, are you willing to take action?

This is my favourite morning prayer:

"God, I surrender this day to you.
Please use me for your Divine purposes.
I ask only that my heart be open to give love, and to recieve love.
May the rest unfold according to Your will"

Amen.

Love, Kylie

How to stay spiritual when things don't go your way.

Let's be honest, anyone can live from a place of LOVE when things are going great. It doesn't take much effort to flow through life with unconditional acceptance and surrender when everything is going your way. It's when things are less than stellar that we are put to the test. It's at that time when we are called to practice what we preach in terms of our spirituality, to dig deep and figure out a way to move through life, with Grace and dignity and while causing the least amount of harm to ourselves in the process.

I was listening to Pastor Daniel Egan from New York City speak last weekend and he said that God never promised to take away pain, pain is STRUCTURED into life. I love that, it's actually structured into life. That makes me instantly feel better, doesn't it?? The pain that we all experience is the price we pay for this beautiful life. We ALL experience painful situations and we ALL experience feelings that are uncomfortable. Feelings are fickle, selfish and unpredictable, and most importantly, they are not facts. Painful situations and feelings both pass, so the question is, what can we do to move through adversity? How do we stay spiritual when things don't go our way?

My experience tells me that first and foremost, instead of meeting anger and pain with self-destructive thoughts and behaviours (as I have done in the past) it is when I am experiencing these feelings that I am called to LOVE myself MORE. This will look different for us all, but it's of the utmost importance to HONOUR yourself and LOVE yourself through the pain. For me, this means making sure I eat heathfully, exercise daily and get enough sleep. I also surround myself with people who uplift me and who are on a spiritual path that I admire. A helpful tool that I use to remind myself to do this, is to think of myself as a child. If "little Kylie" is hurting, I most certainly would not do anything to contribute to that hurt. I would nurture her and care for her. You get the point.

Secondly, practice deep breathing. As often as you need to. While I am moving through a difficult time in my life, my breath is one of my best friends. Practicing deep breathing allows me to connect to God, it allows me to ground myself back in the present moment, affirm my trust and carry on. I practice deep breathing morning, noon and night, whenever I feel overwhelmed or like I can't go on. Luckily for us, we take breathing with us everywhere we go, so this is a great tool to add to your tool kit (and it really helps!)

Last but certainly not least, stay connected. Staying connected to God and to the people that LOVE and support you through painful times is vital. The cornerstone of my spiritual practice is (obviously) my connection to God. My trust in God is what allows me to carry on, with the belief that everything is happening for my greatest good. God doesn't remove people from our lives, for example, to punish us. He does it to protect us. Staying connected to God through prayer, journaling and meditation is key to peace of mind.

Note: Try not to make any decisions when you're angry. Do what you need to do but don't make decisions from a place of emotion. I often find that I am not thinking clearly when I am irritated, or in any sort of pain, so it is important for me to sit back and allow things to happen, be a peaceful observer of my life and once I am feeling better, I can make an informed decision from a place of LOVE as to where I need to go or what I need to do moving forward.

Tie a knot at the end of the rope and HOLD ON. This too shall pass.

"With God, all things are possible"

Love, Kylie

Feelings pt. 2

I want to revisit the topic of feelings. In my last post I focused on the importance of feeling our painful feelings, as we need to feel them in order to heal them. Running away from the darkness does not make it go away, it keeps us stuck! That being said, because of our little friend we like to call fear, there are plenty of positive, happy feelings that we also want to run from, and for some people (myself included) being happy can be just as uncomfortable (at first!)

To feel can be defined as "to be aware of" or "to experience" - so by definition, it seems to me that feeling is an action word. Yes, our feelings come up in the form of emotions but in order to move through anything, we need to take action.

I think it is important to also point out that feelings aren't facts. In my opinion, our feelings arise from the deep rooted beliefs that we have about ourselves and the world, which are generally untrue. They are beliefs that we ourselves have cultivated and affirmed over the years, which therefore (to me) means they are definitely not of God.

That being said, we need to step out of our comfort zones and enjoy all of the exciting experiences that God presents us with. Situations that can be catagorized as amazing and exciting can feel terrifying and that's okay, as long as we don't allow the fear to get in the way of the action we need to take.

I don't know about you, but anytime I am about to take action in the direction of my dreams, I experience fear.

New job - fear.

New relationship - fear.

Going back to school - fear.

This is when it's important to become a peaceful observer of your thoughts, shed light on that old fear based belief system, acknowledge it and move forward with the positive exprience anyway in order to grow, change and find joy. Having faith and trust that God has a reason for me to be exactly where I am gives me the courage to do this work.

We can't expect to be living our best lives if we are unwilling to take appropriate action in the direction of our dreams. God brings us to each situation, yes, but we are responsible for ultimately making it happen!

Unless you are in mortal danger, fear is an indicator showing you where to go!

So, being scared to let your guard down in that new relationship, for example, is an indicator that that's exactly what you need to do.

Trust the process.

You're learning.

Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

Go get it!

Sending tons of love,

Kylie

Feelings.

"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Concious breathing is my anchor"
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Mastin Kipp rocks it in the opening of his new book by saying;

"For Grace to unfurl in your life, you need to shake your foundations so the soil loosens, allowing devastating catastrophes to become wondrous opportunities"

After seeing Mastin lecture on Saturday night, and hearing his emphasis on the importance of feeling our feelings (which I agree with, wholeheartedly) I couldn't help but wonder, how have I been avoiding my feelings?

As human beings, we all have experience in facing painful situations. These situations will vary from person to person, some we will be able to relate to, and others not, but no matter what the situation may be, we all experience the same feelings at one point or another in our lives. Sadness, anger, hurt and hopelessness are just some of those "icky" feelings that we tend to run away from. We mask them with distractions, relationships and our careers, we stuff them down with drugs, alcohol, food or shopping, we do anything to not feel these feelings. In my opinion, this inability to handle life on life's terms is one of the root causes of addiction. 

Addiction can be defined as;

"the continued repetition of behaviour despite adverse consequences".

Of course it is easy to see the adverse consequences related to excessive drug and alcohol use, but remove the substance, whatever it may be (which is actually just the addicted persons solution to their life problem, not the problem itself) and what you are left with is the actual issue. The issue is the inability to handle life on life's terms. It is a lack of confidence in oneself to move through life successfully. It is a lack of love, and that lack of love is really damaging to our souls.

I use the term 'addicted' to describe the escape because we continue to repeat a behaviour (for the sake of this blog: running away) despite the adverse consequences. (Adverse can be defined as "preventing success or development; harmful; unfavourable") By constantly running from our feelings and not facing them, we are preventing our own development.

I do believe that there is a Power greater than ourselves that is guiding our every move, this Power brings us to each situation with purpose. I choose to call this Power, God, but you may refer to it as whatever you like.

My expeirnece has been that when I surrender and allow God to enter my life, I am given the strength and courage I need to take action. (I invite God in through prayer and meditation)

My experience has also been that when I remain open, I learn to identify the patterns and situations that cause me pain and then I have a choice to do things differently.

Magical.

Feelings won't kill you. When we acknowledge them, we allow them to pass through us.

That's the goal, angels. Feel those feelings that you've been running from.

Give yourself the space to allow whatever is meant to come.

Get rid of all your favourite distractions!

You can do it!

What actions are you going to take?

Faith is trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

PS: Please, PLEASE, make sure to have compassion for yourself on this journey, don't beat yourself up if you discover you've been running away - trust that you've been doing the best that you can with what you have.

As always, take what resonates and leave the rest :)

Love, Kylie

The truth will set you free

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:31-32

Amen, Jesus!!

What is this truth that Jesus speaks of? I think it's Love. I think the truth is living in alignment with your spirit, which is made up of love. It's who we are at the core of our being. I live in alignment with my spirit by honouring my authentic self. I ask God/the Universe to guide me and I follow my intuition.   

The truth is not found in taking the easy way out. Following your truth can be very difficult at first. In my experience, God's will starts out hard and gets easy, whereas MY will starts out easy and gets hard.

That's when faith and trust in God's plan comes into play. When we can trust that something of value is being worked out within us, even if we can't see or comprehend the end result, that's faith. Clarity does not come until we have learned the lesson that God wants to teach us. The more and more that I trust God's plan is better than mine, the more I am exercising my faith and it becomes easier to just rely on God, rather than question Him.

One of my favourite quotes from A Course In Miracles is as follows:

"What could you not accept, if you but knew, that all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?"

When I surrender and live in alignment, I am one with God. When I am one with God, I am allowing the truth to set me free.

Short and sweet today because it really is that simple.

I honour my truth, which in turn allows me to honour yours.

With Love,

Kylie

The Universe always has your back!

The key to serenity is trusting that the Universe has your back!

It really doesn't get simpler than that, loves!

Although, sometimes when everything seems to be going "wrong" and sadness sets in, it is pretty hard to accept that it's all part of the plan, right? At least it can be for me.

I pride myself on living a God-centered life. I love prayer, meditation, journaling and positive affirmations and these practices are part of my daily routine. That doesn't mean everything is perfect though and it definitely doesn't mean that I am immune to sadness. When sadness creeps in, it often comes as quite a shock, I really am used to flowing peacefully with the Universe these days - so when a bout of sadness hits me (like it has over the last couple of days) or when I am going through some discomfort, I can get so thrown off and caught up in it - which ultimately makes it worse.

What I have learned over the years (and from my most recent experience) is that sometimes I need to experience discomfort in order to grow and change, and that I need to go through sadness so I can know what authentic happiness feels like. I truly believe in my heart that we are being Divinely Guided at all times, so practicing unconditional acceptance of the range of beautiful emotions we can feel as human beings is the only option for me if I want to maintain peace in my life.

I don't come to these conclusions on my own, and I don't get through hard times on my own. I come to these conclusions and I get through hard times with the beautiful people that God places in my life on a daily basis. A Course In Miracles teaches me that every encounter is a holy encounter, so as long as I am open-minded enough to recieve the gifts that others have to give me and to learn the lessons and to embrace them, then each and every single person that I encounter throughout the day is my teacher.

Amazing!

If I am stuck in my ego mind, as I am when I am living in a place of sadness and pain, I am more often than not judging these beautiful souls that God is strategically placing in my life, and this is not pretty. Last night I had the chance to do things differently, I did the exact opposite of everything my ego (fear) wanted me to do and I was blessed with the ability to see everyone that I encountered through the eyes of Love aka the eyes of God. And I learned. I am so grateful for the lessons I learned!!

Today I feel enlightened. I feel the power of God within me, by choosing to see Love instead of fear, I can continue to change my life.

I am grateful for the journey, and I am grateful that I remain teachable. There's nothing more destructive than a closed-mind.

The key to serenity really is trusting that the Universe has your back. Always. Can we do this? I think we can.

Here's to experiencing serenity even in the darkest places, and trusting that we'll always be brought back to the Light.

Love,

Kylie