It is said that every living thing, animals, flowers, even the angels, all want to be human - because humans have choice. Like the diverse flowers that make up a garden, we can push our roots deep into the rich, nourishing loam of this generous earth, growing in strength up towards the light, unfolding ourselves in full bloom. But we can also choose to grow in the shade despite needing full sun, placing ourselves where we think we should be rather than where we are most encouraged and naturally inclined to grow. We might choose to bow before, or even hide behind more showy plants, and some people even choose to wither, brown, dry up, or rot.

If you were a flower wouldn't your greatest privilege, joy and service be to shine your glory and make beautiful the world? Why would you choose anything less?

This is what it is to be fully alive. So, what makes you come alive?

You know the feel of aliveness - that tingling excitement, quickening of pace, lightness of being, sparkle in the eye? You know the way the world looks shinier, people seem kinder, nature is more beautiful, and even traffic seems to flow more gracefully as cars pause to let you pass?

On the other hand, there is that great Beatles song, “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…” which so perfectly captures the mechanical, uninspired way so many people begin their days. Millions of lives on automatic pilot, spent in a blur and a rush without any real experience of the juice of life. How often are any of us here but not really here? What can we do to come more fully alive?

“I dwell in possibility.” ~ Emily Dickenson Adhering to the possibility that our lives can change radically at any given moment can require so much faith. But once you are a clear vessel, with sabotaging energies cleared out of your mind-body system, your life will effortlessly swing into right alignment where intentions happen naturally, and the juice of life is sweet, abundant nectar.

I had the experience of radical life change. Before I took the Core Dynamics course, I was overworked in a job I didn’t like, not stable in my relationship, restless with my living environment and my finances were tricky, to say the least. Within a month, even a week, of taking this course, everything changed. I now have work that I absolutely love, am blissfully married, enjoy living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and experience abundance on every level of being.

But the change is so much more than external or material. I feel nourished by life and supported in all ways. I feel a deep, quiet presence, an inner stability, and peace all the time. Where I once could get flustered, or frustrated, I now just feel calm, and trust that everything is perfect. I notice beauty in things I once considered unjust or wrong and take pleasure in the things that once made me impatient – like waiting for a bus, or a government official! I have the added bonus of a daily yoga practice that has progressed considerably, and a stepson with whom mutual affections continue to deepen.

“Don't worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” ~ Robert Thurman, Director of Tibet House, NYC

Whatever it is that makes you feel fully alive, that gives you energy, that nourishes you, that is what you are here it do, and to be. When we take the risk of our life and, stepping into the unknown, embrace our passion, the road amazingly rises up to meet us. By allowing ourselves to live our true nature we create harmony. By expressing that uniqueness into the world we become like a harmonic strand of music that attunes to supporting harmonies and makes a song.