When your practice begins to carry you

I wanted to write to you today about doing the hard thing -

It’s not the sexiest subject. I get it. I can see it in the way eyes glaze over, how minds drift toward what's for lunch. Discipline doesn’t give you that dopamine hit. It doesn’t sparkle with the novelty of the next big hack or trend. It’s not rebellious or edgy.

But stay with me for a few minutes - I promise there's gold here.

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time immersed in the study of Flow States and Peak Performance. When people first hear those terms, they get excited. There’s a buzz. Words like hack, bio-optimize, and shortcut get tossed around, as if the goal is to cheat the system, or trick the body and mind into transformation.

But when you boil it all down, there’s a truth that can't be bypassed:
To get to Flow, you must first commit to Form.

And Form means practice. Discipline. Devotion. It means choosing to show up for something that will shape you over time.

That shaping always requires focus, energy, and a deeper understanding of your why.

When you're looking for a hack, the higher-frequency virtue of devotion rarely fits into the conversation. But it should.

Because the reality is this:
If you want to transform - physically, emotionally, mentally, energetically, spiritually - there has to be change. A shift in how you think, move, show up, nourish, rest, speak, pray. A shift in how you honour your time, your body, your gifts.

And it might not be just one thing that works, but a constellation of consistent practices, woven together like a tapestry.

I’ve been listening to Ram Dass again recently, and each time, I hear something that lands exactly where I need it. So I want to share one of his statements with you now.

So let’s talk about mantras.
Repetition. Rhythm. Sound. Intention.

To the rational mind, this sounds boring, repetitive, a bit pointless, maybe. But something magical happens when you give yourself to the practice.

I’ve had moments of deep joy, open-hearted laughter, and pure bliss just from sitting with a single mantra, over and over, breath by breath.

It’s not just the words themselves, but the form - the cadence, the repetition, the devotion - that unlocks the transformation.
Form creates flow. Always.

Ram Dass said: “At some point, after repetition, I stop doing the mantra… and the mantra starts doing me.”

That’s the moment when effort becomes momentum. When the groove in the snow is deep enough for the ski to glide. You don’t have to force it anymore - the energy of the practice begins to carry you.

I find that thought so comforting. And honestly? Exciting. That I can build something into my life - a ritual, a rhythm, a way of being - and it starts to move me forward without struggle.
That my meditation becomes a living meditation.
That my strength training builds not just muscles, but resilience in every part of me.
That I can dance, sing, walk, pray, and my life will begin to flow in harmony with that movement.

And yes, I forget too.
There are days I want to skip the practice, to let it slide. I have to pause and remember why I started, and why I continue to choose this way.

Why I meditate. Why I move.
Why I nourish myself with foods that feel good.
Why I invest in the relationships that light me up.

Each of these, when done regularly, becomes a kind of mantra, a rhythm that runs in the background. And when they become strong enough, they do you. They tune your life to a deeper harmony. You can feel it. You can hear it.

And so, in these current days - especially now, in retrograde season, with all its calls to reflect and refine- let this be your meditation:

• Instead of chasing the hack, how could I go deeper into my why, and find grace in the practice?

• Instead of seeing self-care as a chore, could I view it as reverence? A way to honour my spirit and body?

• Could commitment be re-framed as devotion?

• What practices do I want to become so second-nature that they feel like breathing, dancing, praying?

I wish I could tell you that starting is the easiest part. It isn’t. You’ll meet resistance, the inner tantrum, the urge to avoid.
But once you move through that - deeper into your heart - the practice stops feeling like a burden, and starts to become a blessing.

You’ll stop looking for false highs and start choosing the practices that elevate your reality. You’ll look forward to what grounds you and grows you.

Do the mantra… and let the mantra do you.

Sending you blessings for devotion, honour, and a deep love of self.