Sometimes life can be challenging. Maybe you fall and break a bone that will take weeks to heal. Or your website goes offline. Or your insurance company won't answer your calls. You try to apply Rumi's wisdom about welcoming everything as guidance from the divine, but the sheer magnitude of all these annoying issues may undermine your effort.

This is the best time to connect with spirit and the best time to strengthen your spirituality. Adversity builds fortitude.

Adnan provides guidance for these difficult times. In his book “When Life is Loveable and Love is Livable,” he identifies three elements of the complete human being. They are Peace (Islam), Faith (Iman), and Excellence (Ihsan). Cultivate all three in your life and spirit will be your companion.

1. Peace: The Sufi practices of slow movement and breathing, chanting, drumming, dancing, and whirling all promote inner peace. 

Life can bring confusion, fear, and conflict. When this happens, use any of these Sufi practices to return to spirit. Adnan’s drumming tapes are an excellent tonic for the most dire upsets. 

If you are in bed and you don't want to disturb your partner when negativity pounces, slow breathing can shut it down.

Breathe in slow and deep for a count of four,

hold for four counts,

exhale for eight,

hold for four.

And repeat.

The asymmetry of the breathing forces your focus. Its slowness activates your parasympathetic nervous system, causing your body to calm down. Once you are calm, you can try one of the chants to go deeper. Yah Hadi is an Arabic chant that calls for "divine guidance."

If you want to cultivate Peace, avoid activities, people, and social media that trigger anxiety, fear, or complaining.

Adnan said, “When you see an angry man (woman) on the street, cross to the other side.

Do things that uplift you and bring you joy. I, for example. like walking in the cemetery surrounded by trees and graves overlooking the bay.

Creativity is another option. Not only does it occupy my focus, but it also gives a special boost that comes with creating. Watercolor is a favorite. It requires a focused concentration on the object I am painting. If you can shut off the inner critic, creativity will boost your spirit

Peace is one of life's most precious gifts. With consistent practice, we can learn to maintain our equilibrium even in the midst of chaos.

2. Faith Adnan said this is faith -- not in religion, not in political leaders, not even in him -- it is faith in yourself. Faith in yourself arises from having faith in your spirit.

When you have faith in yourself, you trust your intuition and trust you will make the right decisions. Even those decisions that might seem wrong at this moment will always be instructive -- perhaps about making a different choice next time. You will learn, among other things, that inner peace and connection to Spirit is far more important than always making the right choice. So release your failures and keep going.

I have difficult days when negative thoughts and discouragement take over. Years of habit can take time to change. The good news is that our Spiritual practice is evolving us every moment, strengthening our mental and emotional muscles so that we can quickly shift to spirit whenever we need to, with less resistance and drama.

It doesn’t have to be difficult to live in the moment. It is simply a matter of returning to spirit every time we find ourselves off course.

Excellence: When you apply excellence to everything you do, you invite Spirit into your life. Excellence does not mean perfection, it means doing the best you can right now. Whether you are sweeping the floor, doing the laundry, or teaching a class, do everything with excellence. Cultivate gratitude, joy, and spirit in everything you do.

Excellent effort raises your vibration. You feel connected to Spirit. This higher vibrational state attracts higher vibrational outcomes. Expect positive results, and they will arrive. Sometimes, the positive outcome is the excellence of your action itself.

Service: Service is the bonus element. Adnan did not say much about service, but he modeled it in everything he did. When you act in service to others, i.e., help others from a place of spirit, you are helping not only that person, you are helping the whole world. You will find that when you are overflowing with spirit, it is impossible not to share it with others. And when you do, it is multiplied and amplified.

Join me on Tuesday, February 24, at 10:30 am PDT, and activate peace, faith, and excellence, then go out and share this energy with everyone you encounter.

If you do not have the new Zoom link, please send me an email. 

Be brilliant,

Dr. Michelle

Life Transformation Coach

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