“I am learning to follow the spirit within me, wherever it wants to take me. Every time I check in, feeling the energy inside me and letting it direct me, I find this is a wonderful way to live.” -Shakti Gawain. [1]

NASA scientists titled this photo, the "Eye of God"

Finding the spirit within is not often as easy as we would like and can be frustrating, especially when we’re new to the process. Checking in, as Shakti puts it and allowing ourselves to be directed can be terrifying to the ego and is the last thing our egoic self-centered minds want us to do. Practicing the mantras, “Take my will and my life and show me how to live” and  “Be you the guide and I the follower,” are especially daunting when we are not sure who or what we are trying to communicate with.  No matter what our beliefs the ‘spirit within’ is probably defined differently for you than it is for me, and that’s OK. God, Buddha, Allah, Higher Power or The Force are merely different names for the universal directing energy inside all of us that wants us to know it enough to “… experience joy, power, love, peace and excitement” and be able to say “… this is a wonderful way to live.”