On the journey to deepen our relationship with God, one of the most powerful ways for us to commune with Spirit is through a disciplined spiritual practice. These practices are many and can vary from the simple (but powerful) gift of gratitude to affirmations, deep meditation, contemplation and many more. In any pursuit, a spiritual practice reveals the key that unlocks the gates of heaven and allows us the opportunity to recognize God’s innate qualities on Earth. When we consistently engage in our practice, we demonstrate a deep commitment to our spiritual growth. Commitment to spiritual growth is not an easy path, and it takes more than irregular practice or a Sunday service to see lasting and impactful vibrational changes. Spirit is a way of life; and a powerful way to live that is filled with self-love, self-respect and constant surrender that results in personal freedom and liberation. Disciplined practice allows us to be available to Spirit and supports our alignment with the divine flow of the Universe.
Spiritual practices such as mediation, mindfulness, and prayer have been instrumental for me in cultivating an intimate relationship with God and they have supported me in transitioning from the ego-self into my spiritual-self. The consistency of these, and other, techniques have been most important and continually aid me in remaining focused on my path. Deeper insight is revealed to me the more committed that I become to each practice, and just like the boundless universe, my ability to grow seems infinite. The practices of gratitude and forgiveness allow me to feel lighter, have more energy and less problems. Through mediation I have discovered a willingness to let go of myself and maintain a tremendous amount of focus. Mindfulness supports me in staying centered and has produced a high state of awareness that I find myself using in every moment of every day. Daily blessings of my energy centers and breathwork ignite my shakti and all of these are spiritual states of being, anchored in Truth that generate sensational states of Bliss and Peace that anchor me in the present moment, every moment. I understand this to be what Jesus the Christ spoke of when he said referenced the “Peace of God that surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds.” When our inner divine light is illuminated through our spiritual practices, the light burns away the ego to reveal our true nature which lies deep within our core. Just as a fire does not extinguish itself when you take your attention away from it, a continuously maintained spiritual flame continues to burn as we live our daily lives, as long as we return to the maintenance of it regularly.
A practice can seem one dimensional at first, but over the course of time the practice expands and one realizes that spiritual practice reveals itself in every moment. At any given point in time one has the ability to slip into a practice. With a deep intention being placed behind each practice, we can recognize that it is not necessarily the practices themselves, but their lasting results that are so powerful. Just as the effort of one’s hard work in the gym is not instantaneously apparent, with commitment and dedication over time strength is developed. Therefore, willpower, discipline and intense personal effort are essential aspects of our spiritual growth. Within the Indian scripture of The Bhagavad Ghita, Sri Krishna tells the (spiritual) warrior Arjuna “To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend. But the will is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within.” One’s self-will can either be a distraction fueled by the lower-self ego or an engine of Peace for those who “have conquered themselves, by themselves” through genuine self-discipline.
Therefore, for a strong and healthy spiritual practice we must have a disciplined self-will. A disruption in consistency can easily occur when our egoic, reasoning mind is in control, which usually occurs when we are operating from our subconscious. Self-Discipline has the power to take you beyond your temporary reasoning mind and deliver you to your personal freedom. Self-discipline is like a muscle, the more that you work it out, the stronger it will grow to be. And also like a muscle, it is difficult and counterproductive to lift more than you are ready for. We must start small, with quick and relatively easy things. Then, little by little, over the course of days, weeks, months and years we can continue to add new dimensions to our practice. When I first began to grow my discipline muscle, I started simply by focusing on my breath for 10 deep inhales and 10 deep exhales every morning before I started my car to go to work. I also wrote a weekly intention that I would read to myself each morning upon waking and again at night before bed. I even made it a goal to smile every morning before getting out of my bed. Over time, these practices grew but so did my capacity to lift more self-discipline weight.
Do not think of your discipline(s) as a restriction or renunciation, rather treat your self-discipline as a gift that you are giving to yourself and to the world. It is a gift that will allow you to reveal more of your perfection. Every achievement of your discipline goals should be celebrated as it not only empowers you when you honor the commitment that you have made to yourself but it also is a demonstration of self-love and your willingness to do what it takes for your inner freedom. Our lower-self ego misunderstands “freedom” for doing what it wants, when it wants. This does not reflect our true freedom which is our inner awareness of Universal energy manifesting in, through and as our lives. As you continue with your disciplined spiritual practices, they will begin to transmute from being a conscientious effort into something that is honored. Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith says it beautifully; "the real meaning of discipline comes from being a disciple of something you love." So once real commitment is cultivated, a discipline becomes a blissipline.”
Shortly after we played the Lullaby by Billy Joel music video, Facebook knocked many of you off the livestream. They eventually took the feed down. We are so sorry about that. Lesson learned for us. Because my talk was a two-parter, I wanted to post the talk here so you don’t miss anything. 
Metamorphosis is a sacred moment! It describes the incomprehensible transformation between a precursor life form and its successor. When a caterpillar is prompted to attach itself to a limb and start spinning its chrysalis, it doesn’t know that it will literally dissolve physically and then somehow the molecules in the resulting goo will reshape it into a gorgeous winged being that will touch deeply the hearts of humans whom it will later encounter. 
As beings who have staked most of our learning and experiencing in the physical dimension over however many years we’ve been embodied in this incarnation, we identify all too readily with what we see when we look into the mirror and think back to what we remember from childhood or judge the hidden messages In what we think others are saying and doing when we’re around. 
This morning, I found a meditation written and posted by Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron called, "Staying in the Middle." She wrote, 
A few days ago, our best friend got news that her thirty something son who lives with his wife and kids in another country dropped dead. What!!?? Shocking!!! 
One of the primary shifts of awareness that accompanies spiritual growth in Unity is learning where power lies in Truth. We learn, for example, to trust our ideas and words to create physical manifestation—not what most of us grew up learning, but absolute Truth nevertheless. 
This is the First time in history that all of humanity is fighting a war from the same side, all of us friends sharing a common enemy. 
A crisis gives us the opportunity to know ourselves better. Every time we expérience a crisis, of course, we have changed since the last crisis in our life — so we are getting to know a new self. 
It was beautiful this morning
During these special weeks of "lockdown," I’ve heard some new expressions from people of how they’re feeling—expressions of extreme well-being that used to be very unusual. 
I know my thoughts and words create my experiences. They have incredible power. The more trusting and loving my thoughts are, the higher my frequency of vibration and the more joyful experience I attract from one minute to the next. 
I look within. They’ve grown!
I don’t think I’ve needed to learn so much so fast for decades—probably since I was a toddler learning to propel myself forward on two feet! It is said that learning is one of our soul’s main reason for coming to earth. I probably haven’t felt so vibrantly alive since infancy. 
This afternoon, one of our spiritual groups in Paris met on Zoom. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn what is going on half way across the world, as we are beginning to learn how our awareness is changing over this time. 
One wonderful trend I became aware of over Easter Weekend is how humans everywhere, brilliantly inspired, are taking advantage of the unusual restrictions that prevail right now to invent new ways to have fun together, even when they can’t travel, perhaps as they regularly do—certainly as they might want to do. 
As we start looking forward, after Easter, to being able to think about after the pandemic lockdown, I’ve heard people talk longingly about "getting back to normal." 
Perhaps you, like me, have seen a movie or three about the story of Jesus of Nazareth—or perhaps attended a Christian “Stations of the Cross “ service. Both are ways to focus our minds and hearts in the cosmic emptiness that lies in the middle between the spiritual mileposts of degeneration and regeneration—the process of evolving from one dimension to the next. 
Think back to our topic a few days ago, about the spiritually inclusive nature of the word “I”. Affirmations need to be in the present tense and use the pronoun I—not because you or I (or anyone) has any spiritual Importance as a single embodied being. We don’t. I am the embodied expression of the whole Universe, though—and all good, all flow, is always happening in the Absolute, 5th dimension.
Reflect for a moment on how life was before you started to self-isolate at home (the last 2-6 weeks for most people)? Compare what you expected and thought back then with your expectations now. Can you even remember? To be serious, take the time to list 4-5 expectations that have vanished for you. 
Most humans are reacting most of the time. If we reflect on this process, it becomes clear that energetically, when we react to something, we hold its energy and vibration in our consciousness. We know from the power of ideas and words, that the thoughts and feeling we welcome into our consciousness keep the same energy reproducing in our experience. When we are reacting anxiously to a threat, we are inviting more of that threat to persist in our lives. This vibration and attracting then perpetuates itself in our life. 
“I am a Miracle of Life. I am a Living expression of divine strength and wholeness! “
So, how happy are you managing to be in the midst of Covid 19? 
Bluebird — Waiting
A couple of days ago, a friend sent the beautiful message below to a classmate whose mother had just left the earthly plane. 
Today, I want to put on my hat as a classical homeopathic practitioner. 
Over this weekend, I invite you to join with me in envisioning and enjoying in our imaginations the image of ourselves, of all those we love, and a huge throng of others as well fully accepting their power to live whole, healthy and free. We are all one, and we express that divine oneness with the name God gave to Moses from the Burning Bush in the book of Exodus: “I Am”.
On Sunday, March 20, in my talk, I promised that I would publish this meditation affirming our spiritual powers of Faith, Power, Strength, and Will, all of which we can use to strengthen us in body, mind, and spirit during the present pandemic. We can be safe by using common sense in our actions and also holding in our minds images of strength and power. I invite you to join me every day in saying and thinking the meditation reprinted here:
By experiencing this time of uncertainty we learn about Oneness. A large part of our human genome consists of genes for various micro -organisms – bacteria, viruses, fungi, and many other life forms that are PART OF OUR OWN HUMAN GENES. This oneness with other beings protects us from most potential damage from infection. What an elegant concept! Divine Order! 
Today, I would like to share with you, the prayer of Mooji, a widely known teacher of Advita Vedanta, who grew up in Jamaica and whose present ashram is in Portugal. He is teaching that the current pandemic, though it seems fearsome, is actually the loving gift of the Universe to strengthen humanity and to give us the opportunity to rethink how we are living, so we discover how we are poisoning not only the world around us but also our own lives with our obsession over material success and personal power. 
How many people do you know who aren’t just a little scared right now? The antidote to fear is to replace anxiety producing thoughts by imagining repeatedly what we actually want to see rather than what we fear, even if that’s a challenge. First, we need to remember our good and loving God/ Universe. Then we need to state positively what we want to experience, and deny all power over our minds to any negative ideas. 
