Freshly home from a Dr. Joe Dispenza's Advanced Follow Up retreat in Nashville, I share my awe, wonder, and the rigorous logistics of participating in this meditation intensive.

Our tendency to pair nature’s flavors and fruits has a lot to teach us.

We have the opportunity to shape our experiences, our bodies, and our future by thought alone. How clean is your thinking?

As Seda tended the needs for integrity, spirituality and community within her own heart, she found the strength and courage to seek and experience them in her outer world too.

Under pressure, parts of us break down and fall away, and often the sugars rise up.

I do love a smooth ride. But the bumps in the road? That’s where the learning’s at. A last-minute scramble spurs excitement, a story, and a memory to savor.

Returning from an event that did not go as I'd hoped, I give myself empathy, feeling my feelings all the way through, uncombined with thoughts. Then I inquire into the needs beneath them.

Voluptuous and purple brown, the last of the season’s eggplant are hardy and firm to the tooth. They soften and their bitterness retreats with a salting, which also draws out excess water. Delectable grilled, and these are truly the last. The frost is nearly upon us.

This interview offers insights not only into survival, but into how every one of us can work with our fear by fostering joy at every opportunity.

How do you preserve summer’s bounty? In jars, art, dance, or other forms? And when are you most likely to seek its nourishment in the dark months?

Neither of us had “time” to get together last night, yet this is the trick of summer. When the sun goes down, it’s gone. If we do not harvest, we do not receive. Out of our imaginations, inspired by the gifts of Mother Earth, Nancy and I made time. We gathered abundance, we found each other, we found ourselves.

Using practices from the Core Alignment with Joy series, Lavinia primes herself for discovery, connection, and more as she prepares to meet a new family. After months in the Joy Collective weekly, Lavinia reports finding freedom and flow in her work and greater connection and meaning in her life.

Such is the natural rhythm of things — some collect the windfall while others move on for a meal. We all have our seasons.

Out of the chaos, clarity emerges. Persistence is fantastic — and perhaps it could be easier. I could have let some things go, closed a few windows.

Taking time to imagine the best case scenario and joyfully FEELING through my plan for the day pays off twice.

Slowly, I develop an ear for my animal family. I begin to hear, see, and sense how I can support their well being. The more I place my attention on them, the more I recognize their kinship to me.

After reawakening my passion with a foray into making fresh fruit shrubs, I return to the office for a productive evening. We do our best work when we feel excited and alive. Period.

Is there someone dear to you who is growing and changing in ways that provide an opportunity for welcome shift in your relationship?

Looking to our natural world for cues, we can deepen our practice of joy. By embracing that which at first appears to be disease, we deepen our awareness of and focus on that which is whole and thriving within us and in the world around us.