I didn’t expect this to make me cry 😭

A surprise lesson on receiving

A few days ago, I sat with a local meditation group and my word of the year “Receive” struck me in a way I didn’t expect.

The meditation teacher guided the group of us to first “Focus on the sensations of your face.” So, like the straight-A-aspiring meditator student that I am, I gathered my attention and concentrated on the slight buzz of my lips, the pulsing in my eyebrows, the tension in my jaw.

After a couple of minutes, the teacher said, “Now, instead of focusing, let yourself simply receive the sensations of your face in a passive, receptive way.”

I almost started crying right then.

As someone who has spent so much of her life striving—to do it all right, to climb the next mountain, to get there faster—the permission to just relax, and let the experience come to me, even for something as simply as being aware of my face, still can take me off guard.

There’s something so vulnerable about letting things come to us, rather than tensely striving to go out there and get it. It’s humbling. It forces us to recognize that we’re not always in control.

It asks us to consider that maybe, if we unclench our fists, something precious will simply be placed into our hands. All we have to do is say yes.

Now I want to offer something that I have put my heart into, that I hope you say yes to.

Introducing:

The Bravely Examined Life: a year-long, community-based program designed to help high-achieving women find meaning and identity outside of their accomplishments.

Maybe, like me, you’re tired of striving. Tired of doing everything right and quietly wondering what it’s all for. You worry your life is passing you by while you’re busy holding it together.

Maybe you find yourself asking: Is this really it?

I invite you to take one year to join a community of fellow travelers and learn how to connect more deeply with your body, reimagine your identity, explore your deepest desires, and develop the courage to live them out. My goal is for you to complete the year feeling more grounded, loved, purposeful, and alive to the world.

The members of the beta group have shown up for each other and themselves in ways I couldn’t even anticipate. And most are sticking around for another year—which I think speaks for itself.

We’re now ready to welcome new members to this beautiful Bravely Examined Life community.

To celebrate the launch, if you enroll between Sept. 15th and October 15th, you’ll get 40% off for the entire year-long program.

If you’re curious, apply for a free Get Acquainted Call with me.