To begin is bold.

It is no small thing.

The beginning of things takes time — which is why we spend our whole first week of 40 EM gradually arriving in practice.

However this has gone so far for you, it’s all good. Which means, if you’ve been hitting a rhythm with practice already, amazing. If you need a new start, today is your day.

Here in 40 EM, we practice everything with a generous amount of GRACE (aka just not being so damn hard on ourselves all the time).

If we’ve begun things together before (coaching sessions, podcast episodes, classes, training, retreats, lunch :), you’ve probably heard me share these borrowed words.

And I will share them again and again and again.

From Irish poet John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, for all of us today: 

For a New Beginning —

“In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the grey promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at once with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be at home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”

It’s now official, we have begun.

Today’s 10-minute meditation is a somatic practice that brings us into our body. Take good care of yourself as you practice this. It’s offered as away to begin with a grounded and sturdy sense of embodiment.

Your reflection is Week 2’s Questionnaire, linked below. Get your favorite mug of something warm and settle in for an extra 20 or 30 minutes with this one!

I’ll see you right back here tomorrow morning,

Cath

PS — This John O’Donohue blessing has been a favorite (in like a “gut punch” kind of favorite way 🤣 )of 40 EM alum for 5 years. Feel free to share below in the comments, which line jumped out at you most.