From "what's next?" to "what's NOW?"
Each month I begin my Love Letter transmissions with an “alchemical attunement”, aimed to inspire a shift in perspective. May we see all our challenges as GOLD, so that we can expand into our highest potential on the wings of gratitude for all that we’ve been through thus far.
Blessed July, beloved 🌻
This month, as we officially move into the height of the hot, sexy, dripping nectar that is summer, I invite us to embrace the season and take it all in.
Archetypally speaking, this is a season of basking, celebrating, rejoicing, steeping, harvesting, feasting upon the fruits of our emotional, mental, spiritual and physical labors.
In this spirit: this months alchemy invites us to slow our roll on the ever pressing question of what’s next? and get curious about what happens when we replace "what’s next" with "what's NOW?"
Yesterday morning I was blessed to have a morning watercolor date with my friend Anna Brones. I was describing a process I've been chewing on about differnt phases of creativity evolution in our bodies of work and murmured the phrase what’s next, and she cheekily said, "it sounds more like you're talking about what’s now."
So often as a modern species of human, we're ever absorbed in the future. Wondering what tomorrow will bring, looking at our goals as we plan our accomplishments and achievements that might be reached by the end of the next quarter.
We have become a people who live in the THEN.
So for this moment, right now, this breath, right now...
Pause with me.
Inhale slowly, deeply, down into your belly, into the core of your being. Notice the pause at the top of your inhalation. Feel the ecstatic relief as you exhale, releasing what was stagnant. Notice the pause at the end of the exhale.
I noticed that the gap at the end of my exhale is longer than the gap that naturally occurs at the end of my inhale.
What do you notice, when you pay attention to the gap between the inhale in the exhale?
This is all absurdly basic, right?
I know.
Decades of yoga and mindfulness practice sometimes trick me into the illusion that I don’t have time for this shit. I don’t have time to notice the gap in between my breaths. But when I do, guess what occurs?
Spaciousness.
Spaciousness has been a big, big, big, big big teacher and theme for me in the last year. I see spaciousness as a balm to our frenetic, hurried, frantic, noisy existence as humans who are way too attached to our screens and de-vices, startlingly removed from simple things like the gap between our inhale and exhale.
So play with me. Let’s bask in the now, and allow the then to recede. It will be here soon enough.
For now, let’s pick some ripe fruit off the tree of presence, letting the juices drip messily down our chins.
Let’s feast on the now.
✨ Alchemical Prompts
📝 What are your three biggest wins or victories from the last 90 days?
📝 What is the single most impactful action you’ve taken recently that has landed you exactly where you are today, whether pleasureful or painful? Make a connection.
📝 Bring to mind the biggest pain point in your life right now— chances are it’s pretty obvious. Now I invite you to notice everything that’s not that. Make a list of neutral and delightful things outside of that one thing that probably draws an imbalanced ratio of your attention on a regular basis.
✨ Alchemical Practice
Sing a song!
There aren’t many practices more effective at lifting my mood, boosting my frequency, and settling my nervous system than singing. Depending on the song, it can also become a mindfulness practice, especially if you are learning a new melody or lyrics that take you to the edge of your comfort zone. It’s lovely to know a song so well that you can sing it without even thinking— but for today, I invite you to learn a new song. It can be simple or complicated, in your native tongue or another language.
Here’s a few suggestions for you: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
In The Four Fold Way, my #1 recommended spiritual guidebook, summer is the season of the voice. The medicine of song is innately connected to the season of summer, bursting in its full expression of life. Let this season's energies woo your vocal expression to emerge in new ways.
✨ Alchemical Mantra
To liberate my voice is to liberate my heart— and the only time to sing the praise of life is NOW.
Please hit reply and let me know how this alchemical transmission lands for you, dear one.
I’m only an email away, and I’ll love to hear from you, Kate.
In your corner singing,
Ps.
Also, heads up: later this month I'll be launching the biggest sale ever on my signature singing course, HeartSong, along with some juicy bonuses.
Stay tuned!