On being rooted in times of change 

Life can change in an instant. One phone call. A conversation. An unexpected event... And suddenly the ground beneath our feet no longer feels as steady as it once did. This is the nature of life. Nothing remains fixed for long. Everything is moving, changing, evolving. Life is not certainty, it is constant change.

Sometimes the mind naturally tries to regain stability by reaching for control. True stability is not found in controlling life. It is found in becoming more deeply rooted within the essence of our Being, as everything changes around us. And learning how to flow, move and dance with change from a place of centeredness, presence, compassion, wisdom, and power. 

Think of the oak tree. It survives storms not because it tries to control the wind, but because it is deeply rooted into the earth. 

Our meditation practice roots us into something far deeper than the constantly changing relative surface layers of life. It roots us into the source of our Being. Into the field of pure awareness. Into that silent, unchanging, steady part of ourselves that exists underneath all of the movement, noise, emotion, thinking, uncertainty, and external change.

And this is such a beautiful thing to experience directly, if even for a second in a meditation, we can access that field. Over time, through regular consistent meditation, we begin to realise that while thoughts, emotions, circumstances, and all the seasons of life may continuously change, there is also a deeper part of us that remains unchanging underneath it all. 

Still. Aware. Present. Pure consciousness. Witnessing it all. 

The source of the mind itself arises from this field of pure consciousness, or pure awareness is another term. Being. And the more deeply we establish ourselves in Being through practice, the less pulled around we become by every external fluctuation happening around us. 

This does not mean life suddenly becomes 'perfect' or free from challenge of course. But something subtle starts shifting internally. We stop gripping so tightly. We can experience more capacity to meet uncertainty without immediately collapsing into fear or overwhelm. We can feel greater inner stability amidst outer instability. 

I remember in the early years of my meditation practice noticing that situations which previously would have completely thrown me emotionally still affected me, of course, but there was also something deeper holding me underneath it all. Almost like an anchor, or a rootedness, internally. A steadiness that had not been there before. A faster recovery from a tough experience. And this is one of the great gifts of meditation. 

Not that life stops moving or changing unexpectedly. Not that we don’t feel immense pain or grief at times. But that the roots we have cultivated within hold us strongly through it all. 

Lastly, sometimes the deepest peace comes not from certainty about the future, but from being fully connected with ourselves, and those we are interacting with, in the present moment. Meeting the moment. Feeling the aliveness of it all. Complete presence with what is. Living our lives from that rooted place within our beings helps us to meet all that life brings from a place of real authenticity and aliveness. There is such beauty in that. The process is the goal.

Meditation helps us access exactly that. It roots us into the Self, into our deepest Being, so we can dance through the storms and sunshine of life... and all that life brings.

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If you’d like to learn Vedic Meditation with me, which is taught in person only (it is not permitted to be taught online), over four sessions, I’ll be teaching public courses in Dublin this summer, and also in Co. Clare. Feel free to reach out with any questions. I am also offering private courses where I can travel to you and teach from your home wherever you are based, for individuals, couples, or groups who wish to learn with me, at times that best suit your schedule. I also offer one to one supportive mentorship sessions for people who have learned to meditate with me.
 
If I can support you in any way, reach out anytime.

My gratitude to you all always, mind yourselves,

Susan

Acting on what is most important 

A question for you to feel into... What is the most important thing in your life you know you need to act on right now?
 
You may remember from your meditation training four powerful words that are jewels of the practice: Establish Being, Perform Action.

The Sanskrit term for this is: योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि - yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. 
 
Establish Being (meditate), Perform Action (bring ourselves fully into the world). Dancing in and out of these states daily is what generates integration, and awakens deeper states of awareness. Our meditation practice supports us to be more ourselves, in the world.

Every single time we meditate, we become more rooted and established in the essence of our being. From that place, the invitation is to bring all that we are into the world through the actions we feel called to take. 

So, a short invitation for you this week. What is the most important thing in your life that you know in your heart you need to tend to right now?

When you sit with that question, what action arises? What is one action you could take this week to honour what truly matters to you?

Notice what feels right in your heart, your body, your being. It may feel a little uncomfortable or even scary, but often that is a sign you are moving in a meaningful direction. Growth and expansion rarely live inside our comfort zone.

I invite you to honour what matters most to you this week. Take the action you know you need to. For your life, for your joy, for your wellbeing. For you.
 

Overthinking 

A note on overthinking...

The mind is such a fascinating thing. It can solve problems brilliantly, create beauty and art, imagine possibilities, and help us navigate the practicalities of day to day life.

But when the mind becomes overstimulated or stressed, it can also become relentless. We can find ourselves caught in cycles of overthinking that carry a restless, mentally busy quality to them. It can look like repeatedly analysing situations, worrying about the future, constantly trying to predict outcomes, replaying old conversations, looping in indecision, or endlessly mentally problem solving. Over time, it can begin to feel mentally exhausting, almost like becoming trapped within the constant activity of our own mind.

What I find beautiful is that our meditation practice does not ask us to fight the mind or force it into silence. Our practice is deeply sophisticated and, at its heart, an act of love for the mind. The mantra (mind-vehicle), gently draws our awareness inward toward the source of thought itself, into Being. And in that process, the mind is given the opportunity to settle naturally into quieter more coherent states, much like mud settling to the bottom of a glass of water when left undisturbed.

There is such wisdom in that. Meditation offers us deep surrender, letting go, acceptance, gently allowing ourselves to be where we are without resistance. From that place, we can begin creating the conditions in which the nervous system and mind can naturally reorganise, recalibrate, and restore themselves, which they do remarkably intelligently when given the space and the right conditions to do so.

I remember when I first learned to meditate, one of the biggest shifts over the years of practice was not that my thoughts disappeared, but that I no longer felt completely entangled in every thought. There was more space around them. And in that space came perspective. And more calm. Sometimes even humour, when you can witness the thoughts playing out in real time. You can observe your thoughts from a deeper place of awareness within you. These deeper states of awareness are accessed in meditation.

A friend of mine who meditates rang me the other day and when I asked him how he was he said, “I am witnessing some seriously crazy ass, gnarly thoughts in my mind right now. Everything and everyone is irritating me,” and then he just started roaring laughing at the whole thing. We both had a good laugh, as this is the beauty of awareness. The moment we can observe or witness our thoughts, we begin to realise that we are not our thoughts, because there is already a deeper part of us aware of them. A sense of spaciousness begins to emerge around the activity of the mind.

Over time this can be incredibly liberating. We become less entangled in patterns of overthinking, less pulled into every passing mental storm. And this shift happens very naturally through consistent meditation. It is not something we force. It arises spontaneously as a byproduct of the practice.

This is important, especially in a world that constantly pulls our attention outward and keeps the mind stimulated almost every waking moment. The mind was never designed to absorb this level of information continuously without consequence.

And so... know that our meditation technique gently interrupts cycles of overthinking. We still think, of course. We still plan and reflect and discern. But the mind becomes a tool we use rather than a place we are trapped inside.

And what a relief that can be.
 
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