Transitions are potent, yet vulnerable thresholds. We LOVE to rush through them! Even if we're really excited about something, beginnings can be scary & confronting, make us irritable & even shut down. This WHOLE first week we practice the ritual of arriving: smoothing out our rough edges and sharp corners, so we can extend ourselves and this container for deep transformation some grace. This week is all about setting your intention, meeting yourself in this moment, and practically preparing to begin.

I start almost every group I lead or new 1:1 client with the Blessing for A New Beginning by John O'Donohue. He invites us to: "trust the promise of this opening" and "unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning." This week, we fully commit to daily practice. We start to create the muscle memory for showing up every day for ourselves - to sit quietly, to listen, to embrace stillness, to reflect, and, of course, to connect. Your daily early morning ritual of attention begins this week. And as Mary Oliver reminds us: "Attention is the beginning of devotion." What might you devote yourself to these 40 days (and beyond...)?

This week is all about uncovering and squaring up to what's holding us back. Of course, we can't turn on a dime when it comes to our habits, our blocks, and the things that weigh us down. But we can begin to see them. To name them. And to change them. This week is cloaked in rituals of release and we take our cues from the natural world around us (nature is a wise teacher). The changing colors of the leaves, watching them fall: a vital and necessary stage to the full cycle of growth.

Lighter and brighter now, our fire begins to burn. Emboldened by two weeks of daily practice and what we are remembering about ourselves, our potential, our gifts, and our dreams: WE CLAIM WHAT WE DESIRE in this moment. It is no small thing to say - boldly and vulnerable: this is what I need, this is who I'm becoming, this is what I came here to to do. Scary and brave but is it not scarier to think: "What if I get to the end and I've never let myself go all the way?"

Vocation is something we "can't not do." It's a calling that comes from the inside out. It is unique and special for each of us. A blueprint we carry and an imprint we leave on this world. This week is totally custom and focused on YOU and what you're seeking to cultivate. Whether it's an inner quality, a big move in your work / life / relationships, a dream brought to life -- this week is wrapped around the focus of your own choosing. No more saying "one day when..." or "on the other side of this deadline." This is your time.

Practice is for a lifetime. It's solo, sacred, single-tasking time you set aside every day to come back to yourself. My unsexy promise to you is this: daily practice is like a door wedge - it's a tiny space that you open up for yourself each day. And outside that door is the WHOLE damn world. As Rumi teaches, "patience with small details makes perfect a large work, like the universe." What we do most of the time is what matters. This week prepares you to leave our time together with the tools for a lifetime of practice.