There is nothing quite like wearing your winter jacket and looking around at the snow covered landscape in April that offers the opportunity to practice the work. Like really really practice; the hard work of “living as though everything is a miracle.”

What’s so amazing or wonderful or breathtaking or, heck, even just plain old fine about watching the miracle of a fresh new tulip, working so hard to find it’s way through the earth, up and out into the light, only to get snuffed out by SNOW! Where’s the miracle there, huh?!! (*angrily pounds at keyboard. I think 6 months of the hardest. winter. ever. that just won’t end and teases us with 15 degree days followed by -10 degrees with punishing winds that affects the brain. That darkens the heart and breaks the spirit…)

Which is exactly why we must do the work even when it’s hard. We must commit to the practice, even when we don’t want to. The practice of patience; of acceptance; of releasing our grip on the expectation that things be the way we want them to be; that things be not what they are. The practice of presence; resting softly in the moment of whatever is, exactly as it is. (*takes a deep deep breath.)

It is April. It is snowing. It is. It is as it is. And as I take a deep breath now (ok, as I take several) I feel my body soften and my fingers return to a much more appropriate pace across the keyboard, I look over my desk and notice the banana peel left over from from earlier snack. A banana….I mean, what an amazing fruit the banana is. How magnificent nature is to come up with something like that? And all the way from Guatemala. Guatemala! 5000 km away and yet here it is. And here I am, having just experienced it’s sweetness and received it’s nutrients.

It’s actually kind of a miracle, isn’t?

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ― Albert Einstein

May this guided meditation will help you remember the miracles that are all around you.

much love,

Carolyn 💞

March 12th. The day the red wing blackbirds returned. Every year I look forward to hearing that particular call and running to the window to look for those distinctive red and yellow shoulder patches against their black bodies. They are one of the first birds to return here in Ontario. They arrive in huge flocks and their symphonic trill belts out: We are here! We are here! And we come bearing gifts: Rebirth, Renewal, Rejoice - Spring! It’s here!

I could feel the energy in my body immediately shifting. My feet so light, as if I was barely touching the Earth. My chest so open, as if my heart was 3 times it’s size. The months spent in icy darkness temporarily forgotten as I let myself be swept away by this blackbird serenade.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before the others arrived. And sure enough, just a few days later, my Merlin Bird ID listed one after the other. To see a long list of birds - not just the usual lone chickadee or crow; to know that such an abundant choir was all around me, even though I couldn’t see them all, reacquainted me with a joy I had feared I’d forgotten.

But that’s all it is, isn’t it. It’s just the forgetting. Forgetting that abundance is all around us, and that, even when it feels like it’s gone, it always return.

May this week’s Guided Meditation help you remember the abundance that is pulsing through everything right now. (And may this little video of Jez enjoying the sounds of the birds as well spark some joy in you too. ☺️)

so much love,

Carolyn 💞

I couldn’t think of anything to say last week. My mind like static: filled with noise and energy and frantic flickering and flailing and yet, filled with nothing.

And then the sun came out. Oh sweet glorious sun! I know you’ve been there all along and yet, I hate to admit it, I was starting to forget.

And then the light returned. Oh sweet glorious light! I know you never stray too far and yet (I hate to admit it) I was starting to worry.

And slowly I felt myself begin to fill, as nothing was replaced by this sun and light and, well, what else can that be called but life. Filled with song and energy, that wasn’t frantic or flailing at all - it was like floating; dancing really.

And then I thought; surely the words will return also.

I pulled out a chair. I turned my face towards the light. Jez and Skye came immediately to stand with me. Their heads above mine. Their breath, eventually, joining mine. (the other way around really.)

Filled with this much life and surrounded by this much love, surely the words would return now.

I waited. We breathed. I waited some more. But still nothing.

Still.

I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Jez and Skye each let out a soft snort that sounded like, “just breathe.” It sounded a lot like, “It’s ok.”

And so my apologies, I hope it’s ok that I can’t think of anything to say right now.

“Breathe like a fallen leaf and think of nothing. Just breathe and let your heart and mind be carried, however briefly, by the spirit you can't quite see.” Mark Nepo

In the meantime I hope this guided meditation below will help open you up to Spring’s warm light and be;

Still.

I hope it will fill you up with nothing

but Love.

Carolyn 💞

The mercilessness of this winter continued throughout the week. Roads were closed. Gas stations ran out of gas and grocery store shelves started to empty; trucks unable to make their deliveries. And with the kids at home - still! - things started to feel eerily pandemic-esque.

That energy of “we just need to make it through the day” pulsing underneath the daily slog of shoveling, blowing, plowing; stuffing hay nets and dragging them through waist deep snow to the horse shelter; the horses - despite their built in 4-wheel drive - no longer able to pass through the 5ft deep drift right in front of their hay hut. And the greatest challenge of all: trying not to grab hold of each others’ throats.

The harshness of these outside conditions offer the perfect reflection of our inner battles. Our times of, ‘I just can’t make it through,’ take hold regardless of the season. I’ve shared how much of 2024 felt like a year long ‘I just can’t’ for a multitude of reasons. With such a harsh winter, 2025 wasn’t feeling much different.

Yet it is precisely when we are pushed up against the great wall of ‘I can’t,’ that we realize maybe the wall isn’t as firm as we believed.

Maybe, if we just keep going, a path will be revealed. No matter how deep the trenches, there is always a way through.

Let this week’s guided meditation above help you find a way through. It helped me a lot this week. I hope it may serve you as well.

much love,

Carolyn 💞

My kids have been sick for weeks.

The snow been falling for weeks.

The deep freeze has persisted for weeks.

The brain fog has continued for weeks.

The tears….

For weeks and weeks I’ve been wrestling with the fact that this new year hasn’t felt very new at all. It’s been one thing after another, as each week just rolls into another. I feel like I haven’t had a second to catch my breath.

So as another week comes to an end, I catch myself;

The only way this next week will be new is if you let it.

Do you let it? Or do you carry yesterday into today? Did you bring the frustrations from last week into this week? I know I certainly did.

At the end of yet another week, filled with weeks and weeks of frustrations from the weeks before, as the sun slips below the horizon…

Jezabelle sticks her nose in my face, knocking me out of my somber state. I feel her warm breath against my cold skin, her snow covered muzzle wets my cheek, blending with my tears; you’d never know they were there moments ago.

You’d never know.

That’s how easily this brand new week can be brand new.

Release the week, the day, the moment before this one.

With a deep breath, what was once there just moments ago can be gone.

If you let it.

And just like that, tears can become horse slobber, can become laughter.

A heavy heart can become light.

Weeks and weeks of struggle can ease.

If you drop the resistance, allow it, let it go.

If you let it, right this very moment can be beautiful.

This meditation below will support you with just that.

Share with me: what weeks and weeks of your “stuff” do you need to let go of in order to embrace a brand new week?

much love,

Carolyn 💞

As we prepare for the 10 thousandth storm to roll in tonight, and as my already shot nervous system non-prepares for yet another potential Snow Day on Monday (we are at 20 now), there isn’t much that’s feeling particularly still about this winter.

Just as soon as one event dies down, that little red, fear-mongering notice of a ‘Weather Advisory’ appears on my phone. With animals that live outside 24/7 and children who need to get to hockey games an hour and a half, to two, to sometimes three hours away, these advisories keep us in a near constant state of terror.

I am no longer just drained, weary, worn-out, sapped - all of the regular kinds of exhausted - I have reached a new depth of what is so aptly called, bone-deep exhausted.

This time no longer feels just intense, overwhelming, challenging, heavy – all the regular kinds of hard - it feels unbearable.

Unbearably bone deep.

The words themselves have a crushing energy.

And yet…

Under the weight and in the depths - where it feels like light cannot possibly exist; it does.

Under unbearable weight; it is there.

Into the depths of deep; it is there.

Within us; no matter how much or how hard or I just can’t; it is there.

And so, as another storm becomes another storm which becomes another school snow day and another missed work day and another this is too much day; there is still a pause inbetween, like the breath, as exhale becomes inhale becomes exhale, there is a little tiny pause, almost undetectable, and yet; it is there.

Even the horses, with all of their size and power, have found difficulty navigating the belly deep snow. Heavy snow fall after heavy snow fall, the paths they carved through their field the day before are gone. the next. Buried. They must use all of that power to carve a new path, to find a new way. No matter how deep, no matter how much it can’t be seen, there is path, there is way, it is there.

May this guided meditation below help you find light in the depths, a pause in the inbetween and a path back to stillness.

What’s keeping you going through the depths or the weight of this season - this time of year or time in your life right now? Reply or comment below, I’d love to know!

much love,

Carolyn 💞

It’s February - now let’s really talk about the new year.

It’s just so easy to do in January, isn’t it? The excitement about everything new - new year, new you, new vision, new life! - is already there. It’s in the air. It’s in every word exchanged. It’s in your body. It feels really good.

But what about when that natural excitement wanes? Like it does right about now, in February. When it’s still bloody freezing and you’re still the same you? Nothing has changed at all. It’s still your same old life.

This is why I kind of resist getting caught up in January’s intoxicating ‘newness.’ I know it’s too easy and the real work is waiting. The real work is to create your own newness now. The work is to be in the energy of all that you want to create this year now. The real work awaits you in February (and March and April…) because it’s no longer done for you. You must do it - you must be it - now. Right now. Today.

So let this Guided Meditation - Your Best Year Yet - support you with that.

And please share with me: How are you feeling about your goals, dreams and intentions as we begin February?

much love,

Carolyn 💞

We survived the polar vortex. And “Blue Monday”. The saddest day of the year, apparently. I've always carried mixed feelings about Blue Monday. On the one hand, it's so refreshing and healing to hear others speak out loud about feeling sad. I mean, even our go-to radio station’s morning host was doling out helpful tips and comforting, near concerned, words like; “Please take care of yourself. Go for a walk, call a friend. Just do whatever you need to do.” It feels reassuring. “They understand! Finally, they understand what that heaviness is like. The one that exists outside the acceptable reasons, like pain and grief and loss. The one that’s just…there.” (By the way, don't you always just wonder who "they" are? These mysterious authorities in charge of such official matters. Is there a special department for Day Naming? How many “theys” are they? Do they sit around a table? Do they use power point or excel sheets? I mean, how do they make sure that International Pet Day doesn’t get double booked with Sibling Day? And just how International are we talking here?)

Yet on the other hand…the idea that you only get a one day allowance for ‘no explanation required’ sadness, can make it worse for us regularly sad folks. “What about all the other days?? Like Blue Tuesday or Saturday? What about entire months? Blue September?? Or what about…what about the years?! What about when you have a particularly hard year, as I did; Blue 2024?

If you happened to read my last post, I spoke about giving myself grace and time to come to a place of, “Woo hoo! It’s-a-brand-new-year-and-I’m-so-excited-and-I-just-can’t-hide-it!” in my own time, without the usual pressure that comes with the first week of January. And it worked. Little by little, I started to get more excited and re-energized as the days went on until, irony of all ironies, it felt like my very own New Years Day, filled with all the accompanying energy and hope, on….Blue Monday! That’s right, on the exact same day as ‘It’s OK to feel Sad’ Day, I felt great!

So maybe it’s a little strange to share a guided meditation called, ‘Don’t Give Up,’ [LISTEN BELOW] given that I’m all pumped up about what this year has to offer and am just getting started with 2025 intentions. (I’m on Day 5 of no news or social media and it’s been absolutely blissful!)

But like the authorities say, this is where people start to lose the motivation that was so easy to generate a few weeks ago. This is where the depth of winter feels like it will end. This is where those brownies you said you wouldn’t eat start to look really enticing. This is where you start hitting the snooze button even though you said you wouldn’t.

So maybe this meditation is exactly what you needed. It’s been a weird week. (So I hear. Though I wouldn’t know a thing about since I’m off the news.)

I needed this message a lot last year.

So whether it’s your own blue monday or purple wednesday. Whether it’s a brand new year or not. Feel sad whenever you need to. I see you. Just don’t ever ever give up on yourself or your dreams.

much love,

Carolyn 💞

January 19th feels a tad awkward to say ‘Happy New Year!” But January 1st didn’t feel so happy, and it certainly didn’t feel very new.

Chronic pain will do that. The pulsing aching, burning, stabbing, shooting, ‘please dear god just cut it off!’ relentless pain in my arm and shoulder, couldn’t give a fig whether was December 31st or January 1st. Or 2nd or 3rd or even 4th, which are all acceptable times to shout from the roof tops, “Woohoo I’m so excited and pumped and energized-it’s a brand new year, a brand new me-everything is going to be different and amazing-I’m filled with so much hope!” and they are decidedly unacceptable and highly inappropriate times to grumble to yourself like a New Years Scrooge, “This sucks and everything is exactly the same and nothing is gonna change and I feel miserable and completely hopeless!”

So I didn’t bother saying anything. And I didn’t judge myself for not feeling how we are expected to feel just because our made up calendar switches to a new year.

Standing with the horses helped me let go of any lingering judgement as they stood there on jan 1st exactly the same as the had Dec 31st. Nothing changed for them. At all. Nature doesn’t give a damn. But in the most loving way possible, because there is no expectation. You never need to be feel anything different than exactly what you feel. Ever.

In that space of loving acceptance and with the practice of patience, I gave myself the permission to come to the ‘Woo Hoo!’ in perfect and right timing for me.

And so….

WOO-FRICKIN-HOO!! I am so excited about the new possibilities for 2025!

So speaking of new and exciting, here is a Guided Meditation that will help you feel into and cultivate the energy of all the exciting success that is waiting for you in this Brand! New! Year!

If we are not living in the expectation of our highest outcome, then we are merely living in the recreation of our past.

I hope you enjoy the listen and the opportunity to cultivate what you want to generate in 2025.

And please do share with me what you’re exciting about creating this year. I’d love to hear from you!

much love,

Carolyn

After being battered by snow for the last couple days, the winds raging and the snow falling sideways, there is return to stillness today as the sun begins to gently poke out again. There is a return to calm. A return to center. A return… There is always a return. Something that is all to easy to forget when we get swept away by worry and anxiety. I’ve been swimming in both lately. If flailing and drowning can be called swimming. But today, there is a sense of peace that returns to my body and I am so grateful.

May this week’s guided meditation help you return as well.

And may Ace, my Yeti Horse, remind you that no matter what you’re facing right now, it is only when you actually face it; turn towards it; surrender to it, that you can find the calm and ease you were looking for when you were trying to run away from it.

“….feel the rhythm of your breath, always moving yet always staying with you. 

Moving through you yet never away from you.

Reaching out yet always returning back.

A sea of questions seeking answers on the shore,

that returns back to find the answers within it.

We look for answers out there, but here, in the present moment,

is where all answers are found.”

December Full Moon Group Meditation coming up! Stay tuned for date and time.

So much Love,

Carolyn 💞

I don’t even know where to begin with sharing everything that’s happened these last two weeks, so I will begin next week. Today is about taking a giant exhale and coming back into my body.

I invite you to do the same.

So without saying much, I will leave you with this short guided meditation to help you quiet your mind as well. It doesn’t take much. It doesn’t need to be a big deal. Just close your eyes, breathe, soften your body, and Be; exactly where you are.

No matter how chaotic things were in the weeks or days or seconds beforehand, nothing else actually matters but this moment.

So, no words today.

Just an invitation: Take 5 minutes - right now in this exact moment - and Be with me.

Many more words, stories and my usual ramblings to follow next week, not to worry. (which I know you’re not at all because, life. But it’s fun to think that you missed hearing from me because I know I certainly missed sharing with you. ☺️)

much love,

Carolyn 💞

But also….

There is nothing quite like the sledgehammer of criticism and judgement that comes crashing down right after the joy of receiving that support - any support really; a paid subscriber; a free subscriber; kind words; a ‘thank you for sharing this helped me so much!’

It’s taken decades to actually allow the kindness and acknowledgement to enter my heart - instead of balking and pushing it away immediately. But it's allowing it to stay that continues to be the problem. It's like there’s a vicious little Pac-Man, with sharp fangs and evil eyes, working its way through the maze-like folds and bends at all times, hunting down and gobbling up any and every crumb of worthiness I may have allowed to settle.

I didn’t exist to the people who were supposed to care that I did, but I guess it’s the fact that they still don’t that keeps this devilish Pac-Man from being satiated. For as long as they continue to walk this earth not giving a damn whether I do or not, I will forever be on my own quest to replant the seeds of worthiness every time they get devoured.

This is the beauty of the present moment though: it does not care how barren the land may be; it doesn’t care about the seeds that were never planted because of the love we never got; it doesn’t care about the seeds that were removed because of the mistakes we made; it doesn’t care about the seeds that never bloomed because of the beliefs we held about ourselves that stopped them from thriving.

All it asks is this: will you stay the loving and devoted gardener and will you plant another seed right now? Eventually, something will grow.

Eventually, Pac-Man will get tired. The console will run out of batteries. The technology will become outdated. The kids won’t care about some stupid game from the 80s. And that’s all our beliefs are: fabricated illusions that we’ve been stuck in for decades that we thought were so real but are really…just a game.

What’s real is this moment. What’s real is the earth beneath your feet and the breath in your body. What’s real is the seed of possibility you hold in your hand. What’s real is the power of choice you hold at all times….

Will you take another deep breath. Will you be exactly where you are right now and will you kneel down and plant another seed.

Please enjoy this week’s guided meditation Breathe and Be Here.

So much love,

Carolyn 💞

This is the perfect opportunity to express how grateful I am that you are here; reading my words, listening to my meditations, receiving the wisdom from my horses and being a part of this beautiful growing community. Your support means the world to me and I am so excited to expand this space as we move forward. I want this little corner to be a place of sanctuary; where you feel held, nourished, inspired and a little less lonely. After all, life is messy, we’re all crazy and no one really knows what they're doing. We all need reminders to slow down, get still; to see the beauty all around us and feel the magic within us. May this space help you remember.

After the madness that came out of my brain in my last post, I thought some energy cleansing would be appropriate. This certainly helped me dust off a lot of the negativity that I had been carrying around. I invite you to do the same in preparation for our upcoming Full Moon Group Meditation - Thursday, October 17th at 10:00 AM ET.

This month’s moon is a fiery one. We are going to be asked to really let go of what has been keeping us stuck lately and we will be offered a big push forward.

What old patterns have been coming up that you just can't seem to get out of? What are you yearning to create that you just can't seem to move towards?

Let's feel into those questions together and use the massive support and power of this October Full Moon to propel us forward. This will be an exciting time of action!

I will begin by sharing a short message of support from the horses. Then we will move into a relaxing guided meditation and then complete with some journalling questions and a mantra for you to sink into after we close.

I would be delighted to have you join me!

Click HERE to register.

In the meantime, may you enjoy this week’s Guided Meditation above – Cleanse Negative Energy.

Much love,

Carolyn 💞

The movie selection came without conflict. It doesn't always. One wants a comedy, while the other wants action. One wants a movie we’ve seen 10,000 times. The other wants something new. But this time, we all agreed, and it was perfect.

The perfect family movie night – a hard-earned treat after a long busy week. Until I went ahead and blew it. He just wanted to talk to me - my son, my 13-year-old son, wanted to talk to me - but… it was 10 pm. I was exhausted. We’d already talked so much that day. I wanted a minute to myself. So I snapped. Then I instantly regretted it.

Although I know full well that regret and guilt come hand-in-hand with motherhood, knowing this never seems to ease the sting of feeling it.

Ugh, what kind of terrible mother are you? You couldn't have given him just 10 minutes? Don’t you know how lucky you are that he wants to talk to you? Don't you know that in the blink of an eye he won't want to talk to you at all? Why did you do that?! And why did you have to go and mess up such a great evening??

Although this level of berating may seem a bit excessive for the crime, regret knows no bounds when we feel like we have f*cked up.

The fact that we do fail so fantastically over and over again as parents, gives us the opportunity to let go over and over again. Letting go never happens just once. It is a constant, constant practice.

Letting go is hard. The past is, well, it's with us all the time. It happened, we were there, we lived through it; it was real. But that’s the thing - it was real. It's not anymore. The only thing that’s real is right now. The only place we can live is right here. But living in the past is so much easier! It runs on habit. It runs on auto pilot. It does the bloody work for us! Easy, sure, but much more devastating and disrespectful to the life we do have now, and the life that we’re so lucky to have left.

Of course, this is not what I’m thinking about after barking at my son and ruining our perfect movie night. But it's all of these little mistakes and mess ups that provide the opportunity to practice so that we can let go of the really big whoppers: wasting 20 years I could have devoted to being a writer. Waiting 10 years to really deal with the pain in my shoulder; now it's gotten so bad I don't know if it’ll ever heal. Not following my intuition when my son was a baby which led to a permanent head tilt; something that could have so easily been corrected with a couple Physio sessions will now affect him for the rest of his life. (That one will haunt me forever.)

But the present moment doesn't care about 20 years ago, 12 years ago or 2 days ago when you yelled at your kid. The present moment is wide-open offering nothing but love and acceptance. Meditation practice isn't about sitting still and peacefully every day: it's about learning to sit in the agitation of life’s messiness and your f*cked up-ness long enough for you to realize that underneath the mess and after all of your mess ups, there is still, always, only, Love.

I hope this week’s guided meditation will help you feel into that Love and remind you that, no matter what you did or didn’t do; said or didn’t say; where you went wrong or didn’t go at all, you are whole and good and beautiful and lovable exactly as you are right now.

Don’t forget to join me for our next Full Moon Group Meditation on Thursday Oct. 17th at 10am ET!

Click HERE TO REGISTER

I would love to practice with you and share energy together as we let go of what needs to be released in October and make room for what’s ready to come next!

much love,

Carolyn 💞

It feels like it’s been one thing after another. The stress of hockey try outs. The frustration of sickness (Yes, again!). The debilitating chronic pain in my arm. The relentless headaches. The deepening heartache as I approach the anniversary of a devastating loss.

Ugh, I just need to get through this, I tell myself. A pathetic attempt at reassurance because I know it’s not true. I’ve lived through too much of “this” to ignore the truth: even when we do get through this, another “this” arrives to take it’s place.

This is life. And all of the bumps – similar to the ones on the roads – are just trying to slow us down. Reminding us; stop trying to get through your life, be in your life.

When we are constantly trying to get through ‘this,’ we all too easily overlook that; that other thing happening alongside what feels so difficult right now.

To ‘trust the process’ isn’t so much about; hold your breath, grit your teeth, hang on tight and this will soon end and then things will be good.

Trust the process means trust the Now. It means taking a deep breath, relaxing your jaw, letting your body soften and seeing that things are also good here .

When I slow down and remember to breathe, these hard times have also included: the grinning smiles on my boys’ faces when they made their rep hockey teams. The most beautiful September with warm summer-like days. The sparkle in my son’s eye after getting his first stylish ‘I'm starting to care about girls’ haircut; watching with awe as he begins to transition out of boyhood. The glee in my other son as he leaps around the living room like he's won the lottery, after getting a new two-piece Jurassic World tracksuit from Walmart; watching with a deeper sense of gratitude that he still remains in the innocence of boyhood.

I’d never want to miss all of that. I want to experience it while it’s here, before it gets replaced by whatever comes next. Paying attention to all the good that is happening now, even though it's also hard, means that no matter what comes next, I can trust this inevitable process to bring so much beauty along with it.

I hope this week’s Guided Meditation will help you trust whatever process you're in right now a little bit more as well.

Reminder: Meditating together makes it even more powerful.

Please join me for our next Full Moon Live Meditation on October 17th at 10 AM Eastern Time.

Click HERE to register.

I hope to see you there!

Some kind words about September’s gathering…

Thank you!! I enjoyed it so very much!! While I had no expectations, you exceeded them. lol Your presence was so calm & soothing and the Horse wisdom you offered was serendipitous.

Mark your calendar and sign up HERE.

Much love,

Carolyn 💞

How are you as we wind our way down to the final week of September? Here, the warmth of summer is holding on, while it’s vibrancy continues to fade. Pockets of red and orange are emerging, while muted green still dominates the landscape. The horses’ coats are beginning to thicken up, while the flies continue to be a relentless annoyance. We are right in the middle of the in between.

End of September means the beginning of hockey in my world. Here we go. Again. Another 6 months consumed by driving on frozen roads and sitting in freezing arenas.

Last year it swallowed me whole and spit me out somewhere in the middle of April, leaving me to wonder; what just happened? And even more; what happened to me?

I lost myself in the hard work of Hockeylife. As much as I love supporting my boys, I know that if I don’t support myself as well this season, it’ll be a losing game for everyone in the end.

I need to get out ahead of the impending chaos, by going deep within the eternal stillness.

Thankfully, it’s always there.

You don't need to work hard at finding peace.

You don't need to work hard at creating it.

You just need to not work, to let go, and let it be there,

as it always is.

I will be leaning even more into my practice moving forward. Using this time of in between to set the intention of what I want the next six months to look like; to feel like.

I hope this week’s meditation - Softening into Stillness –will help you do the same.

In addition, I invite you to join in next months full moon live meditation. We had a wonderful experience last week.

Thank you Carolyn!  That was such a lovely start to the week.  I am so grateful to have been able to participate and share in that energy along with you and the others for this big full moon.  It was much needed and appreciated. Talk about releasing!

Mark your calendar and click on the link below to register for our next Full Moon Live Meditation on October 17th 10:am EDT.

Click HERE TO REGISTER

Have. a beautiful weekend,

Carolyn 💞

It rained all day yesterday. This morning I woke up to the familiar but temporarily forgotten cool sensation on my nose and cheeks. Those damn drafty farmhouse windows. It’s coming. Time to dig out the flannel sheets soon and put ‘replace weather stripping’ back on the To-Do list.

When the tempurature drops and the sun disappears, we get to see just how much our state of being is affected by what’s happening outside of us; by the things we have zero control over, and by how little it takes to alter that state.

Summer is bright and warm and care-free; it’s easy to feel joy and gratitude.

When summer slips away, we must slip back into the practice of cultivating joy and gratitude. The ‘Done for You’ days are closing. It’s going to get harder, a lot harder. We are going to have to DIY our joy in a more intentional way as the sun sets earlier and earlier in the weeks and months ahead.

So here is this week’s Heart Opening Guided Meditation to help you do just that. [Click above]

And what better way to boost that intentional practice than by doing it together!

This is why I really hope you will join me in practice for a September Full Moon Group Meditation. Tuesday, Sept 17th. 10am ET.

Please Click HERE TO REGISTER.

We will feel into the energy of September and make space for how we want to feel and what we want to be available for in the final quarter of 2024. (So fast 2024, why so fast?!) I will share a short horse wisdom message and then guide us through a meditation. We will complete with a mantra to carry forward and a journaling question for you to sink into after you leave.

Here are some kind words about my guided meditations

“Beyond your angelic voice, I 'feel' your generous, sincere intention for each of us to release years of stale, negative energy, 'grow into our Higher Selves', and learn to appreciate the gift of each & every 'now' moment. Thank you for these precious gifts”

“This is so lovely, I really enjoyed it, thank you. I completely softened my whole body and felt so much joy. Awesome, bless you, thank you. Xx”

“Carolyn,  Your meditations are beyond wonderful. Thank you so much!!! And keep up with your creations”

Please do join me Tuesday, Sept. 17th, 10am ET. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

I would love to share this September Full Moon practice with you. 🌕💖

Meanwhile, please enjoy this 9 min Heart Opening Meditation above. I hope it helps open you up for the rest of the weekend.

Sending much love,

Carolyn 💞

I hope this last weekend of summer has been ripe with many magical moments.

As the sun of this season disappears one last time, the dawn of September stirs awake the temporarily fainted pulse of our lifeblood; change.

We know it. We need it. We can’t avoid it. And still, we resist it.

Personally, I am finding this summer particularly difficult to let go of. Perhaps it’s because of the most life-changing two words anyone has ever said to me about parenting. In the sea of countless things I have ever read, heard, watched or experienced in my own 12 years at this job, there’s just something so unsettling about the simplicity yet severity of these two words together: 17 Summers.

‘You get 17 summers. That’s it.’

As we pack up all the beach gear and load up the new backpacks, another summer gets crossed off; with my oldest, we only have 5 left.

Two words. Two blows to the stomach every time I remember them. 17 Summers.

This isn’t the exact introduction I had in mind for this week’s guided meditation, which is about releasing the resistance that gets in the way of what you want.

Yet the name of this game we call life can also be encapsulated in two very simple yet profound words: Let Go.

It’s a never-ending game of surrender. We have to continually release resistance so that what we want doesn’t run away from us, and what we don’t want doesn’t break us.

I custom create these meditations with love in hopes that they may serve you. But first and foremost, I create them because I need them. This one came from a place of reaching towards something I really want (a thriving Substack community! And publishing my first book!), but I had no idea that, listening to it again on the last day of summer, it would be there steadying me through another kind of resistance:

I want more than 5. And I can’t have them. I’ll never get them back. Not ever.

All I can do is Let Go.

I hope this guided meditation [Click Above] may support you in releasing whatever resistance you may be holding as we let go of summer and step into the beginnings of fall.

I appreciate you so much for being here with me.

Love,

Carolyn

P.S. In my efforts towards a thriving Wild Stillness community I am reshaping our monthly group meditations to be held on/around the powerful energy of the full moon. Stay tuned!

Here we are continuing  with the intention of bringing you a guided meditation each weekend -  in addition to my weekly mindful essays -  to help you Exhaaaaale and let go of the unecessary energy you may have gathered through the week.

No doubt, Doubt (haha) was probably in there at some point. When we are running through our days so focused on the physical world - taking action, completing tasks and “making things happen,” it's easy to fall into the illusion that it’s solely our effort that “makes things happen.” With this comes the hefty weight of believing we have to control everything by doing the right thing, the right way, at the right time,  all the time. 

Enter Doubt to whisper in your ear: “But are you sure? But what if you're wrong? But what if you fail? But what if you look like a fool? What then, huh huh huh??!  

But, but, but…what if, what if, what if??!

In the chaos and hectic pace it's easy to forget the unseen work at hand, the support and the love and the guidance that is with us at all times.

After doing so much this week, let this guided meditation help you lean into the confidence and clarity that comes from knowing that you are never alone, that you are always supported and that no matter what you do, the universe has always got your back..

Please drop a comment if you're in the sub stack app, or hit reply and share with me something you have been doubting. I'd love to hear from you!

so much love,

Carolyn

I have so enjoyed bringing you mindful musings and snippets of stillness every Tuesday (-ish) over the last several weeks. This is still a very new endeavour for me: being on Substack, claiming myself as a writer and having the “audacity” to think that sharing my words might bring a little sparkle of some kind or another into your inbox. 

Being in the gentle presence of my horses and listening to the whispers of the landscape around me are how I grapple with the very loud - and not very gentle at all - voices in my head that try to distract me from the truth that I am, that we all are, worthy; loved. A divine being on a bumpy human journey just trying to make sense of it all.

Only in stillness can we really connect to this truth. This is why meditation is so important. And this is why I would love to bring you my guided meditations every weekend (-ish). [Click above to listen]

I have created a library of meditations on YouTube, but the interruptive ads - that I have zero control over; that YouTube makes money off of while I make nothing - have a tendency to cramp the whole ‘getting still’ thing. So I am bringing them here for you to enjoy, noise free.

Resting in uncertainty couldn't be a better title this week as I continue forward on this uncertain path of sharing my words and sprinkles of wisdom on Substack. 

The crazy thing about this bumpy journey as a human being is that uncertainty is one of the very few guarantees. Perhaps we should be a little less afraid of it.

Perhaps this meditation might help. [Click above to listen]

Much love,

Carolyn xo