Today – feeling amazed recognizing that knowledge already known, yet buried deep in subconscious, can be uncovered by spending a mere fraction of the day in purposeful silence. I’d been feeling a little lost lately, not knowing which road to turn down next. Having made a big decision to alter the course of my life and having taken a year of first steps in that direction, and then reaching the first milestone and not knowing how or where to move next.

This morning in my first few minutes of meditation, I uncovered an important fact that I had long forgotten. First a little background – as I work to design a wellness program, I’ve been somewhat disheartened thinking that I need credentials in the area of nutrition for the diet portion of my program.

The uncovered fact: While for years I’ve told everyone that my first degree was in Hotel and Restaurant Management, the thought comes to me that this is not exactly true. This instead, was my major.

Minutes later I’m digging in the files in my basement, looking for a transcript or anything to prove this out. I find one of my very first resumes, and low and behold in the education section it shows the true title of my degree: Nutrition and Food Science. As I let this realization sink in, at the same time I began to recognize that this journey began much longer ago than I previously thought.

It hit me square on that I’ve been on this path for many, many years – perhaps even as a child. It’s beautiful when you see how the stars were aligning along the way and you didn’t even realize it. I’m passionate about inspiring people to create the life they desire and supporting them to live a happy, healthy life in the process. Just a few of the many milestones linked together today:

• One of my first written goals as an adolescent: I will be active and able to do everything I want at age 100

• Blessed with a mother that loves to cook and try recipes from all over the world and a family that loves to travel and learn about other cultures

• Obtaining my first degree in Nutrition and Food Science and then a second one in Accounting

• Finding yoga early in my life and fantastic teachers when I was ready for them

• Struggling through the challenges of the wife of an addict and then a single parent, so that I could later help others overcome life challenges of their own

• Spending years learning a multitude of exercises to alter personal consciousness and using these tools on a regular basis to improve my life

• Over the years, meditation has helped me unlock countless insights and ideas that have helped light my path forward. If my intention is to find insight during meditation, I purposefully choose what I would like to achieve from these moments of silence.  Commonly this includes one of the following:

  • Answers to a question or a problem

  • Insights on how I might help a friend or loved one

  • Ideas for something I’d like to write about or accomplish

  For me, the key to accessing this information is to choose to fully believe and expect that the information will come within the space of time I have allotted to meditate. And 9 times out of 10 it does. And it never ceases to amaze me, despite how often this happens. Super cool!!!

Helpful Tips:

• Find a quiet place, free from distraction.

• Consciously give yourself permission to set aside (for the moment) any unrelated thoughts that arise.

• Silently state your intention, question, etc., and then humbly visualize an open path from the crown of the head upwards.

• Wait, silently, patiently knowing the information will soon come.

• Begin with a defined amount of time. I use the Chakra Chime App and set it to alert me when my time is up.