Something shifted for me decades ago when presented with the idea that our souls had made agreements with many other souls to meet in this lifetime so we could experience something that would help us on our path to enlightenment.

How does it feel to contemplate that you chose your family – your parents, siblings, children?

What about those who have graced your life with encouragement, acceptance, love? How did you grow from that?

Now what about the petty tyrants whose presence you likely would have preferred not to encounter?

Why do you think your souls pre-arranged such conflicts, mis-treatment, challenges?

What have been the gifts hidden under the layers of pain & suffering?

It was only decades after being bullied in elementary school that I recognized that those challenging years offered me a crucial choice between peer pressure and following my already strong sense of Self, my intuition.

I chose the latter and am who I am today because of that defining yet painful chapter of my life.

It took years to heal the wounds, but I now focus on the gifts of that time and am grateful for them.

Would I want to go through that again? No way! But I don’t feel I need to.

It’s time for other teachers, other experiences along the continuing Path.

While volunteering at Ananda Village for 2 months last spring, I was blessed with many welcoming, heart-warming encounters.

You would expect people living in a spiritual community to have a higher vibration.

But people are people. Everyone is on a Path and has both good and bad days.

In that environment, I was even more aware of both love in action and calls for love.

I sometimes felt triggered and I triggered others. Luckily, our common goals made it easier to discuss such things.

For example, it was much easier for me to shine my Light and radiate love & joy when surrounded by the beauty of the Crystal Hermitage Garden, following creative inspiration with my camera, or at the morning breakfast shift – being a morning person.

Late at night, however, past my usual bedtime, it took a lot more work to be people vs. task-oriented.

I apologized more than once for my irritation and task-master tendencies when all I wanted to do was get the kitchen duties done so I could go to bed, knowing I had to get up early again the next day.

Overall, despite being an introvert, I was pleased with what I brought to my roommates, karma yogi team and community at large.

By the time I left, I could imagine signing-up as a karma yogi for a few months every year. Not bad since the whole experience was a stretch of my comfort zones that had me squirm in fear when intuitively guided to go.

How about you? What kind of impact are you having on the lives of those around you?

How can your self-awareness help you be more of the light & love that you were always meant to be on others’ Paths?

One of the greatest blessings of this karma yogi experience was being around so many loving people, when I’m used to a more hermit lifestyle back in Newfoundland.

Meeting Ram and Denise (featured in the video above) is a great example of that.

I didn’t get to know them well. We may have crossed paths only 4-5 times in 2 months.

But their impact was heart-felt. Their light shone bright, providing a beautiful model for how I’d like to be more of in the world.

During my first Sunday service at the Temple of Light, Ram was to the left of me in the same pew. His singing went straight to my soul, enhancing the spiritual experience.

He introduced me to his wife Denise and their welcoming smiles always felt so genuine.

Then, one day, Denise invited me to drop by their home inside the Vana Deva Sanctuary. I’ll admit, I felt awkward just knocking on their door – perhaps because this kind of “unannounced interruption” isn’t something I’d enjoy.

Inballah, one of my fellow karma yogis, gave me a ride after one of our shifts. We soon felt right at home and delighted to be there.

Ram & Denise gave us a private concert and tour of their garden. When I asked if I could film it, they didn’t hesitate to say yes.

The results are not only in the video above but in my heart.

And this is only one of the many examples of the beautiful encounters I had during my 2 months.

Some people and circumstances bring out the best in us. I was obviously ready for this kind of experience since my soul guided me there.

I’m aware that my own joy, openness and giving attitude contributed to what I was experiencing at Ananda Village. We get what we give.

I wouldn’t consider myself someone with the greatest people skills, but I can only hope that all the examples of love and authenticity I experience are helping me be more of that myself.

How about you? Who inspires you to be more of your True Self without the layers of fear and conditioning that may keep you small?

Remember. You are the gift.

Thank you for being you – in your good days and more challenging ones.

Now go back to the top of the page  if you haven’t watched the video yet and enjoy your visit to Ram & Denise’s home too.

Introspection is key on the path to self-realization. Without awareness, how will we know what changes we need to make on our transformational journeys?

Self-study before falling asleep is very beneficial (much more than Netflix!, which is my bad habit). Take a few moments in bed to review your day. Were your thoughts and actions in alignment with your Higher Self?

Sometimes, a longer session out of your ordinary environment, especially in nature, can be such a gift.

A change of scenery can help you to retreat, reassess, and re-engage in what truly matters to you.

You might choose a weekend group retreat with workshops, like the one I taught at this past weekend.

Or you may prefer a self-guided personal retreat at a cabin in the woods for a week, like the one I’m leaving for on Thursday?

How about a 2-month intensive one like my March & April karma yoga experience at Ananda Village in California (where I shot the video above)?

Whether nightly, at the end/start of your week, or for a longer period of time, regular self-study can bring you back to your Self. And oh! how that feels good.

How many wellness or spirituality workshops have you attended, techniques you’ve learned, or books you’ve read that you believed you’d implement into your life but didn’t? Or not to the extent you felt would benefit you at the time?

Maybe you did integrate them …but only for a while or until the next workshop or book.

Why?

In these modern times, it’s so easy to let good things slip.

Life is busy. Practices take time.

Distractions abound. Our attention and energy is drawn in every direction.

Money is necessary. Earning a living can so quickly take precedent over living a life.

Will power can be weak. Self-discipline can easily turn into giving up, beating ourselves up for not implementing something, or becoming so rigid that nothing we do will be good for us, leaving us forever feeling like we’re not good enough. So why bother…?

So even if you resonated with a philosophy or were passionate about the practices, it’s not easy to create and keep new habits.

As Paramhansa Yogananda ,author of “Autobiography of a Yogi” and guru to those at Ananda Village, says:

“Environment is stronger than will power.”

While I was at Ananda Village, I thrived on the sacred routines and practices.

My intentions as I left ashram life on May 1st were good. But I’d get to them later, as I had a 1-week stop in Calgary for heart-warming visits with family and friends.

I could’ve fit in a shorter routine than our 4 hours of yoga & meditation, but chose not to. Instead, in my free time before, after, or in between social visits, I enjoyed reading one of the many books I brought back from Ananda Village. That too was great!

Once home in Newfoundland, I got busy settling back in and catching up on running my soulpreneur business – being a full time artist and lightworker.

After a slow start, I’m now doing my 1 hour 45-minute energization/yoga/meditation routine most days of the week. My goal is still to do it once a day, but sometimes something else “gets in the way”… including myself.

I’m enjoying my books, nature walks with friends/ my camera/ the neighbour’s dog, and focusing on healthy eating.

On Sundays, when at home, I continue to attend the Ananda Village Sunday Service online or the one from Ananda Assisi, where I was last summer. But if I missed it Live, I haven’t gone back to the recording at the end of the day, choosing a movie instead.

Yup! I’ve way too easily slipped back into my Netflix habit. I love movies! When my energy crashes after a long day, it’s so easy to lie down to enjoy a good film … (or a bad one if I can’t find a good one.) The problem is that it can too easily turn into 2 or 3 or more…. There’s a difference between enjoying a good flick and binge-watching in what I call cocoon-mode.

I’ve always done everything intensively – painting marathons, long focused concentrated projects, blog-writing, movie days, etc. That’s why I loved having a solid 2-month karma yoga experience. All in and fully present.

After a few weeks back home, I felt the energy shifting. My daily introspection revealed a lot that I’m doing right. But it’s also revealed that:

• My physical energy levels aren’t as high, and although I know what would lift them, I often choose otherwise.
• When a big art-acquisition project fell through, I dipped into disbelief, disillusionment, and financial fear (for a day), even if on some level I knew that if it didn’t happen, it was obviously not meant to be. What a great opportunity to see I need a lot more practice in becoming even-minded and cheerful no matter what. Yogananda says even-mindedness the most important condition for happiness.
• My thoughts and words in those times didn’t reflect the deeper truths I’m often so connected to – listening to myself talk to my Papa on the phone about it didn’t feel right. I was just perpetuating the little-self pity party.

Basically, I’m not consistently making the healthy choices that I loved making at the ashram…

So, it’s time to retreat, reassess, and re-engage.

Know thyself! I do. That’s why, 1.5 months after my return from a 2-month California ashram experience, I’m going on another retreat. This time, it’s self-directed and for a week.

Some may say that as a single solopreneur who’s been away from income-earning for months, that doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do.

But could anything be smarter than taking a week to step back from what’s happening to reconnect to God/Nature, recalibrate the inner compass, practice the habits I want to integrate more fully into my lifestyle and seek Guidance for the journey ahead?

If the same old same old doesn’t work, a change of scenery for more intensive introspection and to raise my vibration yet again can help reset life.

It was amazing being a part of the Body Mind Spirit retreat on the weekend, leading and witnessing 35 beautiful souls as they did this for themselves. I always come home with my cup full. In between my workshops and meditations, I did participate in 3 other leaders’ workshops. Fantastic. But I’m hungry for more.

So I’m heading to the Tree of Life Retreat Sustainability Project and Retreat Centre, not far from the city of St. John’s, where I live. This is where I was inspired to create my first documentary – a project that naturally emerged from a weekend at the Airbnb on location.

Before I left for California, I worked on several testimonial videos for their upcoming fundraising campaign. Part of my payment was to spend a week in the cabin there.

I’ll be a few days off-grid on my own and a few days with two close friends to also offer them the opportunity to retreat and regroup.

Daily yoga and meditation. Daily nature walks & contemplations. Reading. Journaling. Simple living and vegetarian cooking. Asking for Guidance and opening to intuition.

To attune my will with the will of God/Source, I have to tune in. And for me, nature is one of the best places to do that. It’s great in little bits and pieces, but a good dose is even better.

As always, I share my process with you as I can only inspire through what inspires me.

Perhaps my story will help you realize you need time away from your routines to make different choices in your lifestyle. It could stimulate creative ideas through bartering or karma yoga opportunities if finances don’t presently allow it.

Is it time to retreat, reassess and re-engage? Know that if you’ve read all the way to the end, it’s for a reason. Enjoy discovering what that is, through your own introspective process.

Namaste.

Dominique

P.S. The video “Sacred Stillness” (top of page) is one of the ones I created at Ananda Village to share my experience there. The Expanding Light Retreat across from the Temple of Light is where I lived & volunteered for 2 months. At the end, you get a glimpse at their weekly purification ceremony, which precedes their Sunday Service.

“The fire ceremony is but a symbol of the true fire ritual which takes place within each of us through our spiritual practices. In this ceremony, we offer up all of our desires, attachments, and past karma to be transmuted and purified. 

The fire ceremony includes the chanting of two ancient mantras: the Gayatri Mantra which is for enlightenment and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra which is for liberation.

During the Gayatri Mantra, the ghee is offered into the fire, representing our devotion and longing to know God. During the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, rice is dropped into the fire, representing our past karma, which will be transformed and offered up to the Divine.”

You’ve heard me say all this before:

• Follow your bliss.
• Tune into your intuition by paying attention with childlike curiosity and wonder to what awakens your spirit.
• Ask and you shall receive.
• Take one inspired action at a time to see where it takes you.

I’m so glad I did!

The first thing I noticed as my taxi from Sacramento turned into Ananda Village in the Sierra foothills of California were the donkeys and goats. I craned my neck as we climbed the road past them.

The grin on my face told me it wouldn’t take long to come back to that spot to commune with them. I didn’t even have to do that!

It turns out that the Mowing Team’s fenced-in territory extended right below my bedroom window, where I could see them making their way to and from their various chomping grounds.

Soon after, I met Virani Ramsden, aka the goat lady, and Ian Allen, one of her WWOOFers (an international volunteer program separate from my karma yoga one – World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms).

Needless to say, I asked if I could come to the milking barn for a visit. 

Next thing I knew, I had sore smile muscles and over a hundred clips for what became the video above.

What fun! The 12 hours I spent on the video were more than I’d spent at the milking barn, but I got as much fun creating the video.

On an aside, I do believe that I’ve had such a hard time appealing my “under age” ban on my video editing app because Divine Mother wanted me to do more yoga and meditation instead of spending all my free time … and sleep time … creating videos.  But that’s another story.

The point is, if you’re curious about something, follow through!

For me, asking to come to the milking barn after feeling such joy at just spotting the goats and donkeys on my way in led to some beautiful opportunities and connections. It helped me become a part of the village. For that, I am so grateful.

So many villagers told me after watching the video that they didn’t know what the inside of the barn looked like. They weren’t aware that Virani had acquired equipment to help her do the milking. They got an education and a few chuckles too.

I remember when I worked at the National Capital Commission and later taught English as a Second Language at the University of Ottawa. I organized so many activities that had me discovering my hometown in many new ways.

It’s so easy for locals to take things for granted or simply be unimpressed by what tourists travel the world to see.

Don’t you find that you get to know places you visit much better than your own hometown? Maybe that’s why I’ve been inspired to move so many times in my life. I love discovering new places.

It’s kept my childlike curiosity and wonder alive.

But now that I’ve lived 13 years in the same city, I’ll admit, I don’t nearly do as much tourism and culture as I used to. It’s true, my attention is often more on my inner world than the outer world, but again, that’s another story.

The challenge is not to become blasé about where we’re at – inwardly or outwardly. Challenge yourself to see the world with new eyes… including the people around you.

After all, nothing in life is constant but change itself.

No one wakes up in the morning exactly as they were the day before. This is just as true with nature, cultural programming, or relationships.

So why not wake up like children do – open, curious and in the flow of the evolving mystery of every day. Let’s not get blasé about life.

If you’re curious about something, follow that impulse. Take inspired action. And see where it takes you. Remember to wear the right boots!