There’s good news in this season of resolutions and self-betterment plans!

Your task is not to become a new, improved, or changed person by spinning out resolution after resolution or embracing the current self-improvement fad. Rather, it is to heal into the present by reclaiming your natural and essential self in all its fullness. In the very beginning, you loved yourself. You came into the world with feelings of omnipotence, not inferiority. You loved your body, expressed its needs, and followed its impulses. You recognized and expressed your feelings. You told the truth. You created plays, musicals, stories, and pictures from your own unique vision of the world. You were full of yourself!

You may doubt that this time ever existed. Allow Monique Wittig’s strong words to remind you of the truth, “There was a time when you walked alone, full of laughter, you bathed bare-bellied. You say you have lost all recollection of it, remember . . . You say there are no words to describe this time, you say it does not exist. But remember. Make an effort to remember. Or, failing that, invent.”

Each IAW self-guided retreat/course invites you to embrace your essential-self by discarding the facades and personas of a lifetime. It will inspire you to celebrate your originality and truth by shedding the conformity of many lifetimes. No longer content with self-improvement schemes that merely require the rearrangement of your exterior life, you’ll heal into the present and experience the transformation of your inner world.

Before you make another body-resolution, sign up for an expensive body-fix, register for a juice fast, or look into the mirror yet again with disgust, imagine a woman who is glad to be alive. A woman who has released body-scrutiny and -criticism. Who celebrates her body with reverence and respect. Imagine yourself as this woman. IAW’s transformational self-guided retreat/course “Love Your Body: The Five Pathways to Body-Love” will remind you of the body-loving instincts of the child you once were, and of how to awaken them in every season of your life.

Before you make another life-resolution, sign up for an expensive life overhaul, decide to end it all, or change careers, imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who trusts her inner sense of what’s right for her. Who takes responsibility for the design and content of her life. Imagine yourself as this woman. “Author Your Own Life: The Five Choices of Authentic Living” will remind you of the creative intelligence you already possess, and how to access it to author your own life and self-understanding.

Before you make another relationship-resolution, say I DO, scream I DON’T, or sign on with the latest matchmaking outfit, imagine a woman who turns toward herself with interest and attention. A woman who turns inward to listen, remember, and replenish. Whose capacity to be available to others deepens as she is available to herself. Imagine yourself as this woman. IAW’s transformational self-guided retreat/course “Relationships from the Inside Out: The Four Ingredients of Conscious Relationship” will remind you of the essential connection between self-love and the love of others, and how to experience your relationships from the inside out.

Before you make another spiritual-resolution, join an ashram or convent, turn your life over to another god or goddess, or turn away from spirituality altogether, imagine a woman who embodies her spirituality. A woman who honors her body as the sacred temple of the spirit of life. Who breathes deeply as a prayer of gratitude for life itself. Imagine yourself as this woman. “Name Your Own Gods: The Five Paths to Conscious Spirituality” will remind you of your birthright of freedom and courage, and how to use this birthright to inspire and design your own spirituality.

Invest in yourself as you enter the New Year with renewed self-love and compassion. Invest $27 in one of our woman-affirming retreats and receive these “pillows of support” to accompany you on your self-guided retreat journey:

• “Home Is Always Waiting” Meditation MP3 to prepare for your retreat.
• “Thirty Daily Meds” in your in-box to inspire you throughout your retreat.
• Membership in IAW’s Members-Only Circle on Facebook to share your retreat-insights.

Before you take another step into the New Year, treat yourself to one of our 6 woman-affirming experiences to infuse 2012 with dynamic self-love and purposeful engagement with the world around you. Visit here for more self-guided retreat details.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’re inspired to take the next step with your book project, visit www.birthabook.com. If you’re ready to author your own life, business, ministry, or self-understanding, visit www.imagineawoman.com for inspiration, opportunities, and support. If you would like to become certified to facilitate our 6 woman-affirming experiences, visit here for certification details.

In honor of Mary and all the Mamas, past, present, and future, who thrust us forth into life, we reach back to the very beginning and remember the Big Mama!

Long ago the Big Mama gave birth to ALL THAT IS. It took her seven days of hard work and seven nights of deep rest. Here’s how it happened—

On the first day, she gave birth to light and darkness. They danced together.

On the second day, she gave birth to land and water. They touched.

On the third day, she gave birth to green growing things. They rooted and took a deep breath.

On the fourth day, she gave birth to land, sea, and air creatures. They walked and flew and swam.

On the fifth day, her creation learned balance and cooperation. She thanked her partner for coaching her labor.

On the sixth day, she celebrated the creativity of all living things.

On the seventh day, she left space for the unknown.

On the seventh and final day the Big Mama left a great big empty space in the universe…for YOU to fill with your ideas and words, poems and stories, businesses and organizations, sounds and songs, daughters and sons, colors and paintings, careers and retirements, movements and dances.

With a deep breath, celebrating the creativity of all living things, imagine 2012 as the space left for you to fill by the Big Mama. Imagine this space as an expansive field. During this holiday season, allow yourself to play in this field of infinite possibility.
*******

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. “The Big Mama” was originally published in her first book, A God Who Looks Like Me: Discovering a Woman-Affirming Spirituality (Ballantine Books, 1995) and will be published as a children’s book in 2011. Visit www.imagineawoman.com to learn more about Patricia’s inspirational books. If you’re inspired to take the next step in 2012 with your own book project, visit www.birthabook.com.

With the support of the Kula for Karma community Penni Feiner, Executive Director of Kula for Karma, traveled to Africa, taught meditation, breath work, chanting, and yoga postures, and offered 100 Rwandan genocide survivors the gift of yellow tee shirts with “Imagine a Woman” poem printed in English on the front side of the tee, and translated into Kinyarwandan, the Rwandan language, on the back.

Because many of the women weren’t able to read or write, the Rwandan translator read the poem out loud. The faces of the women lit up as Gyslaine’s voice moved from stanza to stanza. After the first reading of the poem, the women broke out into song and dance. They sang, “Warakoze Mana, Icyubahiro Ni Icyawe,” which means “Glory be to God. Thank you God. Praise be to God.”

As Penni listened to their song, she became determined to understand its meaning, commit it to memory, and create a chant to offer back to the women she and her team would meet in the days to come.

When back at the guesthouse, Penni grabbed her guitar and started to sing, etching the women’s song into her mind. She invited some of the young children to sing the song into her I Phone in order to perfect her pronunciation.

After working, reworking, and fine-tuning, Penni memorized the women’s song, which became the soul of a new chant to offer the women the next day at their session. As she sang the song/chant the next day, inspired by the women’s own song, the faces of her students glowed. They were delighted and deeply affirmed as they received the gift of their words echoed back to them by a sister from another continent.

What “deep and meaningful” (D&M) gift will you offer those around you during this season of light and generosity? Do you have a song, dance, poem, suggestion, massage, or skill to share with your circle of friends, colleagues, and clients? Do you have time and energy to volunteer at non-profits such as Kula for Karma doing good work in your community?

Be inspired by Penni to do more D&M giving and acting, thinking and doing during the month of December! Share your adventures in giving on our Facebook Fan Page.

Penni Feiner is the Executive Director of Kula for Karma, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that offers therapeutic yoga, meditation instruction, and stress management support services—at no charge—to those who have been challenged by difficult circumstances, including addiction and abuse. Their mantra is: KULA (community) + KARMA (selfless service) = A Better World For Everyone! Visit their website: www.kulaforkarma.org.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International. IAW International was delighted to partner with Kula for Karma on their trip to Rwanda in June 2010. We’re imagining into being more opportunities for the poem to partner with them in service of the world’s women. Join the IAW Global Community of Women at www.imagineawoman.com for inspiration, opportunities, and support.

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life. A woman whose life is her teacher, healer, and challenge. Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace. Imagine yourself as this woman.

I first learned about gratitude as a potential response to life in Alanon, back in the day. When GA, my recovering alcoholic husband,  announced that he wanted a divorce and I discovered that he was involved with a woman he met in AA, I ran to my Alanon sponsor for support. She challenged me to resist the temptation to live in fear of that day 18 months ahead when we would be divorced.

Ginny encouraged me the stay present during every moment of the experience and to maintain a daily gratitude practice of acknowledging the goodness of life even as the world around, and within, me was falling apart. She promised me that if I stayed present, that I would be ready for that far-off day when the “no-fault” divorce would be finalized.

By the time GA and I met at the courthouse to finalize the divorce, I was studying at Princeton Theological Seminary and in love with my new life of study, exploration, and writing. As we embraced after the divorce proceedings, I offered him the blessing of gratitude, “I’m grateful for the gift you gave me. Yes, my world crashed when you left, but it needed to crash. The life I live today is more authentic, joyful, and real. Thank you, and peace be with you.”

I have continued that almost-daily gratitude practice for 20 years and explored the important role gratitude plays in our happiness, healthy adjustment to life’s twists and turns, and physical well-being. I have come to believe that it is a cost-effective way to manage our anxiety and add to our wellness routines!

According to Dr. Robert Emmons and Dr. Michael McCollough, who edited the first scholarly volume devoted to a fundamental human quality of gratitude, there are many emotions and personality traits important to well-being, but a large body of evidence suggests that gratitude is uniquely important.

In their volume, The Psychology of Gratitude (Oxford University Press, 2004), they brought together the work of scholars from a diversity of fields. Their research suggests that grateful people have higher levels of well-being.

These are some of the specific manifestations of well-being inspired by gratitude, gleaned from the Emmons-McCollough research and my own experience:

1. Grateful people are happier and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships.

2. They have higher levels of self-acceptance and greater authority and control of their circumstances, their personal growth, and the purposeful use of their capacities.

3. They have more positive ways of coping with life’s difficulties because they are more likely to seek support from others and grow from the experience.

4. They have fewer negative coping strategies because they are less likely to avoid or deny the problem, blame others for the problem, or cope through substance use.

5. They have fewer experiences of bitterness, resentment, irritation, and envy. Although they may experience these negative reactions initially, grateful people pivot/shift from these more readily and turn toward gratitude as their primary response.

6. They cope better during life transitions. Because they are more grateful before the transition, they are less stressed and depressed during the transition, and more satisfied with their lives after the transition.

7. They sleep better because the quality of their lives is more peaceful.

For the next two weeks, consider ending each day with your own Gratitude Practice. In your journal, list your gratitudes, write a gratitude poem, compose a song expressing your gratitude, or create a collage inspired by each day’s gratitudes.

Email your lists and written gratitudes to us or post them at our IAW International Facebook fan page. We’ll  gather your writings into our gratitude collages through December 1.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’re inspired to take the next step with your book project, visit www.birthabook.com. If you’re ready to author your own life, business, ministry, or self-understanding, visit www.imagineawoman.com for inspiration, opportunities, and support.

Breast, A Noun

A poetic reflection in honor of Breast Awareness Month…

To know anything at all
about our history, our bodies, ourselves,
we must reach beyond
what they told us,
what they taught us,
what they want from us,
we must reach back
to the very beginning.

Before merriam and webster,
who have something to say about everything:
“breast a noun, either of two milk-producing glandular organs
on the front of the chest especially in the human female.”

Before the reversals of christian history:
adam giving birth to the woman,
father god suckling the child,
christ nursing humanity,
the milk-giving goddess agatha claimed as their saint,
her breasts cut off and carried on a platter.

Before the alterations of the hebrew bible:
el shaddai, a name for god,
shaddai meaning breast,
male translators altered the meaning,
their “god of the high places” doesn’t have breasts like mine.

We must reach back to the very beginning
to the place where lovers go
when they suck my breasts
to the source of life/mama mama mama
cried in the silence as their wet lips
surround my nipple, and they suck for dear life.

In the very beginning
long before adam gave birth
and father god sprouted breasts
and christ nursed humanity
and shaddai meant “high places”
and agatha’s breasts were amputated
and my lovers wanted more than I could give
in the very beginning
was the big mama.

From her moon-breasts
flowed the milky way,
the stars and planets,
streams, rivers, and oceans,
all that ebbs and flows,
all that expands and contracts,
returning always to mama’s breast.

To her breasts
pharaohs and kings
returned again and again
hoping to receive immortality
to become infants forever
nursing at mama’s breast.

She came to me early in the morning
the one with breasts like mine
she held me in her arms
as i cried mama mama mama
don’t let them take my breast away on a platter
her nipple found my lips/and i sucked for my dear life.

The breast-less surgeon,
the one they call artist
he cut into my breast
with skill and beauty
and all they took away that day
was a perfectly shaped lump
they left the breast.

She came to me again that night
the one with breasts like mine.
she brought agatha.
agatha brought her platter.
we made an altar in the middle of the forest.
on agatha’s platter we placed her breasts and my lump.
using merriam and webster,
the hebrew scriptures, the christian bible
and photos of lovers who became infants at our breasts
as kindling, we built a fire and toasted marshmallows.

Where two or three women are gathered together
there she is in the midst of them.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the author of five books, and the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’d like to join the IAW Team of Certified Coaches and circle the globe with WomanSpirit visit www.imagineawoman.com. If you’re ready to write your novel, children’s book, anthology, or non-ficton best seller, visit, www.birthAbook.com. “Breast, A Noun” can be found in Patricia’s anthology of poetry and prose Words Made Flesh. It is available for purchase at the Imagine a Woman website.

I walked through downtown Oakland several times a week to volunteer at my church and the YWCA. At the intersection of 13th and 14th Streets I passed a triangular-shaped park. It is only big enough to hold one bench and a shade-offering hundred year old tree. Sitting on the bench was a man with four or five bulging plastic bags at his feet. Whenever I passed by, he was reading a book.

One day I walked into the park, sat on the bench, and introduced myself: “I’m Patricia. What books do you read day and night?” “Mysteries. Been reading since I was three,” he answered. We shared the names of our favorite mystery writers. He refused to share his name. I asked if I could call him “Professor.” He said yes. The next time I brought mysteries from my shelf. He accepted a couple of them. Several he had already read.

As I walked away from him that day, I planned a rescue-mission: I’ll mobilize the church to support him…surely someone has an extra bedroom, we’ll provide a doctor to tend to his eyes, regular meals, canvas satchels to replace his garbage bags. In the midst of my savior-fantasies, a loud no rose from the depths of me with these words: “Do not seek to possess this child of life. His journey is sacred. Do not judge or tamper with it. Simply receive him as you would a beautiful iris in the garden of life. Relax in his presence and enjoy him.”

I told the Professor about my rescue-fantasies. He said, “Why would I want the life of those who rush by this park every day? Only one in a hundred seems satisfied, quiet inside. I’m content to read. I sleep under the eaves in back of the library. They leave books for me there. I find the food I need each day.” We continued our book exchanges and discussions about life’s meaning.

I went away for two months in the summer and when I returned I walked to the park to find the professor. He wasn’t there. I asked folks in the buildings adjacent to the park about him  but no one had seen him for weeks.

Just as the irises in my neighbor’s yard bless my vision for a few months each year, our friendship was for a season. In his company I let go of my “savior-complex” and enjoyed the incredible beauty of the life he had chosen. The Professor taught me to honor the “fitness of things as they are.”

This moment is incredilbly fit as the sum total of all my previous moments, mixed up with my DNA, choices, habits, causes and effects, relationships, stories, desires, and interactions. I may not like this moment, but it is as incredibly fit as the moth struggling within its cocoon.

I may want to “rescue” the moth but to do so would threaten its life. To do so would be to interfere with the moth’s own trustworthy life-process that includes struggle. The moth’s struggle supports its metamorphosis by strengthening its wings and releasing fluids to enhance its coloring.

Like the moth, our life- process is orchestrated by a finely tuned inner timing. In the fullness of time, when a behavior, relationship, circumstance, (or oppressive regime) begins to hamper, press, and squeeze us, we twist and turn until we burst out of the old skin and are freed at a deeper level of our existence.

The trustworthy timing of our inner wisdom leads us to each new evolution, transformation, revolution, opportunity, and understanding of things, when we are individually, or collectively, ready.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the author of five books, and the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’d like to join the IAW Team of Certified Coaches and circle the globe with WomanSpirit visit www.imagineawoman.com. If you’re ready to write your novel, children’s book, anthology, or non-ficton best seller, visit, www.birthAbook.com.

Mama

I took my mother to the beach today.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

In a container, carefully prepared in New Jersey,

where her life ended,

complications due to Alzheimer’s, they said.

In a container, carefully carried to California, where I began,

thrust from my young mother’s womb, many years ago.

I laughed with my mother at the beach today.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Wondered if I’d be sad.

Supposed to be sad, my mother’s dead.

All that’s left are her ashes, cremains they’re called.

Laughter, however, was her final blessing.

Enough tears had been shed.

The wind danced with my mother at the beach today.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

As I held out each handful of cremains to scatter them,

the wind picked my mother up

and danced playfully with her across the beach.

And then gently laid her down to final rest,

one handful at a time.

A little girl kissed my mother at the beach today.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

A little girl picked up a shell.

“Is this your mother?”

“Yes,” I said.

She kissed the shell and gave it to me: “Kiss her.”

A kiss, my final blessing.

I kissed my mother at the beach today.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

“Mama” is an excerpt from Patricia Lynn Reilly’s book Words Made Flesh. Patricia is an author, poet, and photographer. She founded Imagine a Woman International to inspire women to  use their astounding resources and capacities to reorder the worlds they inhabit, one powerful word, image, and action at a time. She is also a Publishing Coach. Patricia and her BAB Team support writers to transform their ideas into books, one word at a time. Visit www.birthAbook.com to learn about the substantial support available to take the next step with your idea, outline, first draft, or completed manuscript.

Mercedes Sterling is on my mind, again. Her story was emailed to me March 2010. At the time Mercedes was 17 years old. (She is now a year older and just entered her first year of college!)

Before her mother Ann’s death, Mercedes and her mom hosted a gathering of “Aunties,” inviting them to become the special women/mothers in Mercedes’ life, in preparation for Ann’s transition.

After Ann’s death, the Aunties gathered with Mercedes and read the “Imagine a Woman,” poem to her, aloud, so she could hear the words in each of their voices. According to one of the Aunties, “Imagine a Women radiated among us.” Mercedes wrote her own response to the poem, and shared it with me:

“When I read the first line of “Imagine a Woman,” I was immediately captivated by its truth. Every verse seemed to speak directly to me and entwine itself into my very being. As I listened to the women around me say the next few verses I began to feel rooted within myself. I felt that someone had finally discovered who women really were and had painted it articulately and beautifully across the page for everyone to see.

I glanced around the table to see the reactions of the many women in my presence. They were nodding, smiling their approval, very absorbed in the poem. Occasional exclamations of excitement erupted followed by murmurs of agreement. I felt connected to the women by our mutual appreciation of the gorgeous work of art.

As the poem progressed I felt a deep realization move within my mind. It stretched itself for the first time, reaching its claws out to grab my attention. The poem was describing none other than myself! With every passing word I felt that it was describing my very essence and existence; everything that I was and everything that I longed to be.

Inspired by Mercedes, let’s bring our daughters, granddaughters and nieces into the circle with us. Let us imagine our young women growing in knowledge and love of themselves. Young women vowing faithfulness to their own lives and capacities. Young women remaining loyal to themselves—regardless.

Imagine an adolescence in which our daughters, granddaughters, and nieces deepen their relationship to their natural vitality, resilience, and sense of self. Imagine a girl-affirming rite of passage, a ceremony of commitment to themselves, culminating with these words of self-blessing:”This is it. This is my life. Nothing to wait for. Nowhere else to go. No one to make it all different. What a relief to have finally landed here…now. Blessed be my life!”

Now it’s your turn. Inspired by Mercedes, share your “Imagine a Woman” story with us here or on the Imagine a Woman International Facebook Fan Page.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’d like to join our Team of Certified Coaches and circle the globe with WomanSpirit, visit here: www.imagineawoman.com/home/programs-services/iaw-certification

Morn

She was awakened
by the clanging of words,
like broken bells~
raging, ranting;
the truth of the Lie
smacking her square in the face.

I have heard that Thirty can do that to a girl-
turn her inside out,
and into a writhing, grimacing, screaming
Woman.
This, a tricky tightrope to walk
when your name is Mommy.

But walk it she did;
teetering, tottering, frittering away
the ordinary moments.
Divinity dictating dailiness.
Poems pulsing. Eros shut away
in some yet-unopened cupboard.

Kneeling nuns and gyrating gypsies
paused for tea and conversation
and conservation of energy and expectation,
mastering delayed gratification…
very much…delayed.

While waking from death is a difficult bit,
resurrection from the roused seems a redundant disaster~
happens faster by necessity, and clocks
ticking wildly.

I have heard Forty can do that to a woman;
turn her upside down, undoing
all she worked so hard to keep
tightly bound and silent.

It’s an enthralling fall to earth;
this giving birth to oneself midlife,
half-life, one’s own midwife.
The blood on your hands is a dead giveaway
that you are not indeed dead after all~

having survived the fall,
survived the fall.
Eve survives the fall
and is renamed,
Morn.

~Cheryl Anne

Our guest blogger is Cheryl Anne. She is a Poet, Spiritual Director of Sheltering Oak, and a founding member of Shekhinah Grove Women’s Circle.  An Imagine A Woman (IAW International) trainee and passionate advocate of Authenticity; she resides in the lovely town of Franklin, Tennessee.

Jean Hauser, skillful therapist and guide, was my first escort into the rich resources of my inner life. I arrived at her office ready to talk about my past. There was a certain safety in my attempts to understand the complexities of childhood with words. She patiently listened to my stories and then asked if I was willing to try a relaxation exercise.

In the silence, she gently invited me to turn inward and descend into my inner life. At times I couldn’t handle the discomfort of the silence, so I retreated into the safety of words again. Over time I became fascinated with what was emerging from the deep places within me. I’d walk into Jean’s office and announce, “No talking today. Take me down!”

Jean did not seek to influence my experience. She used a simple relaxation technique to support my descent. Then she left me alone while I traveled through a magical forest, discovering paths and clearings, encountering snakes and trees, and befriending the richness of my own inner life. Jean sat in the silence as a compassionate witness to the tears and laughter, screams and moans, movements and stillness that accompanied my transformative journey.

Each session became a sacred drama of sorts performed deep within the forest of my being. Sometimes it seemed important to tell her about my adventures. Most of the time it was enough that I had experienced them. During our two years together, I learned to trust my inner life, to discern its intricate design, and to listen to its healing truth. I discovered that the deepest impulse of my being was to heal into the present. As I descended into my own life, I reconnected to this impulse and tapped a reservoir of transformative resources.

I believe that we as women discover the way home to ourselves in a quiet descent into the richness of our own lives, not in the rat-race for equal pay and position, in the adoption of a traditional or feminist persona, or in the ability to articulate the intricacies of our childhoods. In the descent, we reverse the tendency to look outside of ourselves for salvation. In the “deep places,” we reunite with our essential self and reclaim our natural capacities.

Based on this conviction, I created the “Home Is Always Waiting” meditation in the 1990s. In one form or another this meditation is included in each IAW retreat and coaching session, and many members of the IAW International community listen to the Meditation CD daily. Take this moment to re-connect with your natural resources. Home is always waiting. It is as near as a conscious breath, conscious contact with your woman-body, and a descent into the abundant resources of our inner life. Return home often—you have everything you need there.

Gather the Gifts of Your Breath
Return home to your breath. Turn your attention inward by taking a few deep breaths. Become conscious of the breath and its faithful rhythm. Savor the breath as it flows in, through, and around you. On each inhalation, gather yourself from the far corners of your life. Bring your energy and attention “home.” On each exhalation, release the accumulation of the day. Allow sighs, sounds, and yawns to ride on the back of each exhalation to support you to settle into this moment. Breathing in, gather. Breathing out, let go. Home is always waiting. Affirm:
The Breath, from which all life unfolds…
The Breath, in which past, present, and future meet…
I receive the gifts of my Breath.

Gather the Gifts of Your Body
Return home to your body. As you continue to breathe deeply, make conscious contact with your body: move or stretch it, touch or massage it, or imagine the breath reaching into each part of your body. Meet each body sensation with the breath and your own healing, acknowledging touch. If your attention moves away from home, away from this moment, notice the distraction without judgment, and then practice returning home. There will always be distractions. Our life-practice is to return. Breathe again into this moment. Home is always waiting. Affirm:
The Body, from which all life unfolds.
The Body, in which past, present, and future meet.
I receive the gifts of my Body.

Gather the Gifts of Your Inner Life
Return home to your inner life. Escorted by the breath and body, continue your descent. Imagine yourself as a leaf let go of by an autumn tree, a leaf slowly and gradually descending toward the ground, its descent cushioned by the breath of life, a leaf touching the ground in the forest deep within your being. Make conscious contact with the ground of your being through prayer, an expression of openness, a movement, or in the quietness of the breath. Home is always waiting. Affirm:
The ground, from which all life unfolds.
The ground, in which past, present, and future meet.
I receive the gifts of my Inner Life.

Home is always waiting…in tender times and turbulent times, in graceful moments and in awkward situations, in flowing times and in seasons of stagnation, in fullness and in emptiness, in fear and in courage, in trouble and in beauty. Return home often. You  have everything you need there.

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and BAB Coaching and Publication Services. If you’re ready to make peace with your life, body, and relationships, read about our Retreat “The Journey Home” here: http://www.imagineawoman.com/home/programs-services. If you’d like to join our Team of Certified Coaches, visit here: http://www.imagineawoman.com/home/programs-services. To purchase the Home is Always Waiting MP3, visit here for immediate download: http://www.imagineawoman.com/home/products