Reflection Ritual 2014/2015

I believe that every individual should take time at the end of a year to perform reflection rituals to honor past experiences, achievements and lessons learned over the previous annual cycle. I like to imagine myself waving bye to the previous year with tears and smiles as if I’m about to cross over a threshold at an airport check-in station, excitedly also preparing to embark on a new adventurous journey ahead…..I am filled with hope and a sense of ‘anything is possible’ wonderment about where we’re heading next even as I sense tremendous gratitude and peace about where we've been already and perhaps sadness too for what we may be unknowingly leaving behind also.

Happy Son in Dubai! PEACE!!! <3

I am convinced over the last few years that each year gets even better than the one prior! There is greater enlightenment awaiting us with every step! 2014 is no exception! It wasn't all smiles and laughs by any means….yet every experience was profound and I always knew that I was fittingly exactly where I was meant to be every step of the way.

Key experiences and lessons this year included acceptance of what is…..from the pain of seeing loved ones suffer from aging and sickness ….to …seeing a soul family inspiration-ally cope in extraordinary ways united in dealing with difficult stages of life,….to learning to let go of what was not meant to be,…to seeing the miraculous healing powers of forgiveness,….to experiencing continuous amazing transitions….. personally from my move to a new home, a new town and mostly from watching my son find peace and blossom at his new school especially after struggling for so many years with his parents’ separation/divorce. One universal message remained unwaivering in my psyche…..the knowledge that we are never alone and that love envelops us…..always gently smiling and welcoming us to tune in!

GRATEFUL! BIG TIME! THANK YOU 2014! & WISHING EVERYONE A PHENOMENALLY MAGICAL YEAR AHEAD!!! PEACE! LOVE! HAPPINESS!!!

CHEERS & WELCOME 2015!!

How does one share an entire year in pictures! So many fabulous memories to choose from that I am incredibly grateful for! Here are some random ones (not necessarily in chronological order for the year) I will treasure forever from my life in 2014!

Thanks for sharing this amazing life journey together!!! XOXO

Although 2014 didn't leave time enough for us to walk the same continent together I continue to be eternally grateful for my soul-mate sister who is always right beside me every step of the way through all our laughs, tears and 'AHA!' moments!

First Car Camping Trip- March 2014

Another long awaited family reunion in Dubai 

A continuously expanding soul family = Several Heart Warming & Fun Gatherings-=Thank Goodness!! 

Family Day at the pool- Dubai

First visit to MEXICO!!! YAY!!!

Jumping Into & Swimming in Cenotes! More bucket list items down!!! 

Finding a new friend and soul sister to share new adventures with @ Chichen Itza!! <3

Grateful to my soul family for celebrating another birthday with me and making it extra special

Pure Love, Pure Bliss-=More Family to love!!!

More celebrations on and off the trails :-)

Hike & Meditation with great friends = Best 4th of July Ever!!!

Thankful for spending more time with this lovely soul sister! 

Best office Party Ever!! 1920's Themed at National Building Museum in D.C!! 

Thanksgiving with Soul Family is becoming a fabulous tradition! <3

A Magical Morning in November on the most spiritual lake I know!!

There were many amazing experiences in nature -countless gorgeous hikes, jumping into surreal cenotes in the Mexican jungles, swimming in the oceans bordering Mexico, Dubai or even locally etc..there were indeed many adventures along the way....- all year long......and thank goodness there were many new bonds of friendship created and older bonds of friendship strengthened....every step of the way.....leaving incredibly priceless memories to treasure for life!!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC LIFE IT IS!! <3

Holiday Reminiscing!!!

The Holiday season didn't always feel as cheery for me as it does this year! YAY!!! Grateful!!

For many years the holidays left me feeling too nostalgic…even sad and lost…as it resurfaced memories from India of Christmas’ spent with my beloved now-deceased grandma and with  my dear brother, my ultra-fun aunts and uncles- all of whom I had gotten separated from over three decades ago. 

Then in 2008- Christmas brought new anxiety with a phone call that changed everything! I learned that my mother suddenly passed away unexpectedly but worse that it had already been at least three days since her death but none of us had even realized it. The entire family was shocked, shaken and devastated!

I spent that Christmas Eve and the following day in a haze flying back to India alone, leaving my young son behind with his dad in Montreal. I hadn’t been back to India in decades! I wasn’t going to make it to the funeral but all of me just knew that it was time to go ….to that long awaited reunion with my family. You see I had spent too many delusional years believing that I was all alone and that all the ties and connections from my past were forever lost in time and space… believing this stupid saying that ‘there is no going back!’ But that’s so WRONG! The past, the present and the future-are all tied together and very much tangible within us! That reunion with my family in 2008 was the beginning to discovering all that matters-for me!

Now lo-and-behold- here we are at the end of 2014 and I can’t be more grateful or more in awe of where life has carried me since….or the peace and joy that I finally find in everything and everyone. Somehow something so tragic led me to a life I love and appreciate completely! It’s mind blowing, understanding all the blessings that are granted to each of us daily. It’s an amazing universe! An incredible world!-And OH-MY-GOSH! Indeed a precious gift of a life!

My holiday season feels very different this year! My heart feels…blatantly….unapologetically cheery!? Almost! I caught myself feeling a bit guilty for it….especially given the horrors in the news..…asking if it’s ok to feel this? It seems I cannot help sensing a profound sense of love, peace and joy in the universe all around us and it is superseding any and all pain and sadness…which I do understand also exists in varying degrees and times throughout all our lives..….But thank goodness there is this understanding too that it’s not only ok but actually important even to honor and celebrate life in all its glory! The holidays are meant for this!

So- I have learned that the holidays can be tricky….until you make peace with all that truly matters!

For this holiday season-I wish the following for everyone everywhere….I hope you feel like a child watching jaw-dropping fireworks for the first time,…..like you’re dancing to beautiful music that lifts up your spirit all the way to the sun, the moon and the stars,….I hope your heart sings like a poet falling in love….to the many harmonious beats of the universe….and that you find yourself whistling tunes aloud without reason when you wake up each magical day…..I pray that each of us shares and spreads the grandiose feelings of love, peace and joy that is meant to mark the beauty of this season….and that you can capture and preserve it inside you for now and for always! HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON EVERYONE!!! Sending you all fantastic vibes!! CHEERS!!! <3

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! <3

Healing Affirmations!

We all know that the right affirmations can be freeing and healing in incredibly magical ways so I try to practice it regularly.

Gratitude Affirmations! Those are my go-to ones and my list is endless! Thank Goodness!! No pun intended but you see the pattern-right? Lol! Whether I credit it to my nature or nurture it’s somehow always there….perhaps it’s because my life experiences as a female began in India and then the Middle East before migrating off to the US in my late teens….so I don’t take much for granted….whether being able to go out of the house without covering up head to toe, or having a career, or driving, or being able to say what I’m thinking, or even having the right to hold on to my beliefs...(let aside the many billions of other blessings that we experience with every breath every day).

However I recently stumbled upon an entirely new category of affirmations which overnight lifted a veil of darkness and pain inside me that I wasn't even aware of holding on to. Naturally I feel inspired to add this to my blog to share with everyone!  Perhaps everyone should try it!!!? These are- Forgiveness Affirmations!!

It happened a few nights ago as I was going through a random habitual gratitude list in preparation of hopefully falling into a deep slumber…when a brilliant thought snuck in somehow that I should create a forgiveness affirmations list….and even as I thought this I was telling myself that I have no one to forgive…no one I am holding grudges against….but an inner deeper voice pushed further by saying ‘but if I had people to forgive who would I forgive and why’ so I went with it. I started with ‘I forgive.…( A)… for (something)… and I wish (him/her) the best of everything sincerely deeply always’….and to my horror there was indeed a list!!! _ And worse!! My heart could barely create a sincere wish for these people on my covert list. So I tried to say it aloud to hear myself repeat the thought and OMG! Horror of horrors! I was almost choking over the sentences….making me realize that I was indeed still harboring residual anger, pain and issues around a few individuals from my past. Who knew!!! So I worked on it…repeating the affirmations softly aloud to myself over and over until it sounded natural and felt completely sincere. I finally fell into a deep restful sleep for the night.

Voila! The next morning as I was driving to work it dawned on me that I felt happier and freer than imaginable! My energy had shifted in some incredibly powerful way! As if there was an entire river inside me that was blocked and suddenly was blissfully rushing off to join the ocean. I felt almost elated! Incredible!!! Something so simple and TaDA!! Profound healing!!

So-is it possible that you too have wounds so deeply forgotten scaring your soul and holding you back in ways you didn’t even know? See- I believe that we all process experiences in very similar ways (remember my 'rainbow spectrum of emotions' analogy from a previous post?)…..and more importantly I believe that we can learn from each other….so I share hoping this helps someone else find their bliss with a simple exercise like practicing forgiveness or gratitude affirmations….or perhaps creating a whole new category….anything....just as long as it swiftly delivers for you too peace, happiness and healing! 

P.S. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to ALL!!! <3  
(& Yes- I did take these pictures of Lake Drummond...recently in November 2014. :-)