That intense, warm intuitive feeling in the depths of your gut is angel communication. Pay close attention to these details from the Divine.
The language of the Divine is unmistakable and speaks not through loud demands, but through a gentle tap on the shoulder, feelings, or synchronicities that resonate deeply within…
Follow your spiritual compass.
Love,
Wendy
There are times, especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving when I find myself solo today due to illness, that I need to sit in stillness as I reflect, as I feel, and as I process all that I have lost, and all that is my new normal.
My pain is only mine to carry, but all of your loving messages on this day reminds me I’m not alone in this confusing, and sometimes frightening world. It’s a gentle reminder that I am worthy of love, even when I feel broken and alone.
Thank you for being here energetically today…
not as my protector, but as a loving companion. Please continue to hold my hand energetically until I find my way. Please allow me to continue to “feel” every piece as I sit in this vulnerable and safe space. This will help me to remember my strength and resilience as I continue to search my soul. So much has been lost, and much has been gained. Perspective.
Today I give thanks for each of you and your loving support which has been the most precious gift of giving. And I smiled with each loving message this morning, and with each bite of my solo Thanksgiving feast which I prepared.
I am resting in pieces, one by one, taking baby steps back to myself in my rebirth and homecoming.
I am taking only the next action that resonates with me on a blank canvas in the rain.
Love,
Wendy
Life is not to be lived with so many restrictions imposed by others who inflict their irrational and skewed words and behaviors in order to manipulate one’s personal choices in daily living. “They” are living with limited visions and abilities that are born of fear and greed.
The moment you submit is the moment you give away your power.
Design your own personal safe space that aligns with what you feel in your soul to be your truth…your inner knowing.
Generate a flow of ease and grace that is built on the foundation of love and an open space where all are free to express, to be heard, and to be respected.
Stand up for yourself. Live in harmony with your own personal values, morals and boundaries that protect your peace, wellness and safe space.
Honor your soul.
Honor your space.
Honor your truth.
Before your health and wellness are compromised…honor yourself.
Love, Wendy
I am at a breaking point and something has to give.
Living, working, and playing in the confines of a chronically toxic environment promotes inflammation on a cellular level and promotes dis-ease. The only solution is to change the environment.
Now.
Life moves forward whether we are well, or living with disease.
In wellness or in suffering, the journey continues. We have the opportunity to choose which road we take.
Time to do something for my mental, physical and spiritual wellness that is empowering for me…and for you.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
I internalized so much of the damaging critiques that I was given by those who were tasked to be my caretakers, yet they didn’t know how to love.
Some are so very deep in my psyche that no matter how much time passes and no matter how much inner work that I do, I will never be able to rid myself fully of the damage.
As I look back now, I realize they didn’t even love themselves.
When we are devoid of self love and connection, we are unable to offer love and connection to others.
I will not let my spirit die.
I am walking through the door that has been opened for me to reclaim my wellness, my joy and my life.
Time to do something for my heart that is empowering for me, for you, for us.
Love, Wendy
When I feel depleted, I have nothing to share…I cannot fill your cup.
If I need time, for whatever the reason, it’s not about you. I’m not abandoning you, I’m just making myself a priority today where I offer to myself a moment of grace.
I am worthy of rest and wellness.
Love, Wendy
Find your inner strength and resolve to allow your mind to steer you towards wellness, recognizing that true resilience comes from within with every opportunity that affords you to practice navigating with a clear mind and healthy body, not from the fleeting relief of external substances. External situations, no matter how challenging, should never dictate your choices or push you towards unhealthy coping mechanisms.
By recognizing and nurturing your inner clarity, you have the opportunity to make healthy practices a lifestyle. Try grounding yourself in healthier ways to manage stress—such as mindfulness, exercise, organic foods, loving connections, and self-reflection where you empower yourself to face life’s challenges and adversity, disappointments and hardships with awareness, grace and stability.
In choosing wellness over temporary escapes, you honor your body and mind, building lasting strength, and a sense of agency that no external circumstance can take away. Remember, the power to heal and grow always resides within you when you practice daily self care, self respect and self preservation.
As it states in my book, Write Pray Recover:A Journey To Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care, “Self care is the actions that we take to achieve wellness, and wellness is where we stand in our power.”
Take care of yourself for yourself, and to demonstrate to others how you expect to be treated. By honoring your own needs and setting clear boundaries, you show others that you value yourself and deserve to be treated with kindness and consideration.
And perhaps, you will encourage those observing your agency and practices to set their own standards a little higher.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
Our mental health is on a continuum and on any given day, for any given reason, at any given time we move along that continuum and we must be armed with a variety of tools at our disposal as we move along the continuum.
Movement along the continuum could relate to biological factors, environmental factors and even how we practice daily self-care.
Self care is one of the most effective ways in managing our symptoms and to stay ahead of our symptoms. This is especially true when we are aware of our body/mind connection and recognize the symptoms in the early stage of escalation. With this information, we can intervene immediately, and/or ask for support.
We all have mental health.
Our relationship to self driven by self care, self respect and self preservation above all else is the foundation of wellness.
Wellness becomes not just an outcome, but a living practice grounded in our ability to honor and protect the integrity of who we are, and how we experience life.
Love,
Wendy
Live your life in your truth confidently, and with conviction. Take the time to explore who you are, and even when your circumstances change around you, continue to be that person. Continue to stand firmly in your truth…your power, regardless of the circumstances or opinions.
This is the inner work that guides you, and builds character, strength and self awareness. It leads to healthy living through choosing healthy practices and loving relationships.
When we are rooted in self-discovery and personal growth, and we recognize the positive ripple effect it can have on others, we create a space of empowerment…
For everyone.
My reflection:
Being on my own for so many years has given me the opportunity, time after time, for self discovery and exploration.
And just when I think I “get it,” I am given another opportunity to go deeper and to learn even more.
Being a lifelong spiritual student is not for the faint hearted. However, it creates such a deep sense of self and connection to Spirit that builds resilience.
When I look back on my 12+ years of recovery from substance use disorder and mental health disorders, and I recognize where I am in the present moment and how I arrived here, I am in awe of how I have embraced the lessons and have empowered myself to become the woman, mom, grandmother, and friend who I admire, who I depend upon, solely, and most importantly, who I love.
There have been so many times where I became so filled with anxiety and felt hopeless, but when I pause and reflect, it reminds me of the many times before that one where I felt the same way and used my knowledge and experiences to help me take another step forward.
I speak up. I advocate for myself. I live my life as me, for me.
Love and blessings,
Wendy
AWARENESS OF SELF, OTHERS, AND SPIRIT
As we practice awareness of ourselves and others through spiritually aligned actions, especially when we are met with conflict, it is helpful to remember these four suggestions in arriving at a mutually beneficial and constructive resolution:
1. Do not react.
2. Listen without judgement of others, and practice non-judgement of ourselves.
3. BREATHE…Observe your feelings and emotions, allow them to pass through you and, if warranted, take a timeout.
4. Respond with respect, sincerely validate all feelings, and state a clear intention of a positive outcome that will be beneficial to both parties.
Recently, I created these four steps as a way to remind myself of how to practice implementing spiritually aligned actions, at a glance. My friend and colleague, and the author of the foreword to this book, David Rahman and I disagreed on his initial draft to be used.
In an email David sent me the draft, and as a teacher, I could see a few places that, in my opinion, needed to be edited for clarity of meaning. I edited the foreword, and sent it back for David’s approval. David sent it back immediately and said that he was not okay with some of the edits as he felt that it changed the meaning of what he was trying to convey.
Immediately, I felt old triggers sneak in. As a child and young adult, I was never heard and my feelings had to be kept quiet. Whenever I wanted to discuss or share my feelings, I was told to “get out of my sight or I’ll break your neck!” So, I was allowing my past traumatic experiences to bleed into this present situation, and David had not said or done anything remotely similar to my childhood experience that warranted the rush of feelings that surfaced! My heart began to race, my head got a tight feeling, and I felt hot all over. Without thinking or breathing, or allowing myself the space to understand David’s words, or to offer validation of what he was feeling, I sent the email right back to him and said, “Then maybe we shouldn’t use your foreword.” I was literally in a fight/flight mindset. I had hundreds of irrational thoughts swirling around in my mind that, looking back, had absolutely nothing to do with the present situation. So, having an old behavior mindset (we all falter, but it’s how quickly we recover that counts!) was my way of “being heard.” What happens with trauma is it leaves an emotional, behavioral and mental imprint. So, when something feels the same as that traumatic painful experience, it activates your thought patterns linked to the initial trauma. This makes you think, act, react and feel in the same way you did when it first happened even though it is a different experience. David emailed back and said, “Okay, we won’t use it.”
The moment that I read his words, it was as if Spirit embraced all of me and suggested I reach out to David coming from a humble, loving, and spiritually aligned action. I felt an immediate calm. I texted David and asked if we could have a conversation, and he said, “Of course!” David and I are close friends in addition to being colleagues, and I admire him in his own right as a man and as a business man who helps thousands around the world who are living with mental health challenges to “reset their mindset,” and I value his friendship. So, we were going to FaceTime in an hour (David lives in the U.K. and we FaceTime a few times a week). Before then, I wanted to write down, as a reminder, my spiritually aligned action(s) that would offer an outcome we could both be excited about, and that would act as a reminder to myself to remain present throughout our dialogue.
The four steps listed above came pouring onto the paper immediately. I knew Spirit was speaking through me as I wrote it down and placed it in front of me on my bed next to my laptop where I would soon FaceTime with David.
As I allowed David to explain why he was feeling that some of the edits were not edits he could live with, I could feel my anger/anxiety escalating and I could hear intrusive thoughts yelling at him, “You’re not right! I’m a teacher!” Trauma is hard to tame, but not impossible, and because I wrote down the steps I wanted to follow and had it within view, I kept saying to myself, “David has the right to feel how he is feeling, and I must validate his feelings as I would like my feelings to be validated. I listened to his words with an intermittent reminder to myself to come back to the present, and that this situation is the present and in no way linked to, or reflective of my past trauma.
We spoke and negotiated for about an hour, and the result is the eloquent and heartfelt foreword that we agreed upon.
When we are aware of our trauma and how it can pop up without warning, and we are willing to heal it, and we are connected to the Universe/God/Spirit, we can create magnificent and permanent change.
Write Pray Recover 