3. Coming Home to Yourself

Maureen: [00:00:00] Billions of people on planet earth are or have been sheltering in place at home as a result of the Covidien 19 outbreak. In this episode, we talk about how to make the most of this global opportunity. To redefine home in a way that will benefit us greatly now and in the future.

[00:00:18] I’m Maureen  Whitehouse after awakening from a near death experience 20 plus years ago, I discovered I could see through pain, any pain. So for the last two decades, I’ve been helping people come right through their life’s greatest challenges and into a life, literally teeming with miracles.

[00:00:37] Christian: [00:00:37] I’m Christian Camarena. I found Maureen when I was at a low point in searching for some kind of meaning of my life. Straight off the bat, she started talking to me about miracles. Woah, I was not expecting that. I’m kind of the healthy skeptic in this scenario. And I wasn’t sure I believed in all this stuff about miracles, so I questioned everything .And it turns out a true spiritual teacher really loves that shit. I realized I still have a lot to learn, so you might as well stick around and learn right along with me while I ask the real questions.

[00:01:11] And Maureen does what she does best, reveals the miraculous, the marginal, the mundane,  in the everyday messes of life.

[00:01:18] This is miracle Renegade.

[00:01:42] So today we’re on our, I think this is like two and a half weeks in into the pandemic. We’ve been in self isolation for the most part, except for going out, getting groceries and whatnot. I’m feeling that a lot of people, in all facets  of life  had to settle in or adjust to this new way of living.

[00:02:02] I know from my personal experiences, a lot of my living situations have been out of necessity. I had to be in the apartment I lived in because I had nowhere to go, or I was in a relationship that was just really just two roommates. And a lot of people are probably dealing with a lot of personality issues going on between them and how to adjust during this time because you can’t escape.

[00:02:26] Maureen: [00:02:26] Yeah. So in other words, the miraculous perspective of sharing space with people and how you could navigate this way of being the most aware and conscious gracefully. Yeah. So I think to begin this, what I would suggest everybody do right now is just take a breath because this has been intense. These times have been challenging on multiple levels for people.

[00:02:53] And so just staying in your space of peace and ease and relaxation is a challenge for most people to get there. So we want to be really conscious of being ultra kind to ourselves right now where we’re showing up, recognizing that we’re human and so much more. We’re actually Spirits. Great, big, powerful, amazing, awesome, unlimited Spirits in human form right now.

[00:03:17] Then we realize  it’s the human part of us that feels all these vulnerabilities and challenges right now with being human. One part of that is finding the space where you abide and defining that as to what it means to you and how it nurtures you, how it supports you, how it supplies you. And I think people are coming to a place right now where now more than ever before, they’re recognizing the value of home.

[00:03:43] Christian: [00:03:43] Hmm.

[00:03:43] Maureen: [00:03:43] So let’s just stop for a minute and ask yourself this. How do you personally define home? Just  feel that. It’s a bigger question than just defining your physical space. What do you feel deeply inside of you when you think of home?

[00:04:05] Christian: [00:04:05] Yeah. As soon as you asked that question, it was comfort as in not having to explain myself in my own space, like I know where everything is.

[00:04:15] I know the space that I take from day to day. It sounds very selfish, but. That’s what home is to me. Like I can do whatever I want when I want, how I want.

[00:04:26] Yeah. Yeah. So it’s interesting because right now with many people having more people in their space than they ever anticipated at this particular time, in their experience, if you have roommates, then you’re definitely getting to know your roommate better than ever before.

[00:04:40] Maureen: [00:04:40] If you’re both occupying the same space, if you have a family and even an extended family that are occupying the same space. Then you’re recognizing that each person calls that space home, but   might have a completely different idea about what home means to them.

[00:04:57] Christian: [00:04:57] Yeah

[00:04:58] Maureen: [00:04:58] So you know, some people in normal life when there isn’t a pandemic happening and when people aren’t self isolating.

[00:05:05] It’s a different idea. So people might think of work as more their home where they just at the end of the day, come to an apartment and throw their things on the bed and then go make something quick to eat, fall asleep, get up the next day and do it all over again. And they might find their friendships or their feeling of belonging or their deeper resonance with being at an office or at work.

[00:05:28] Other people find home to be everything, every source of comfort. They want to make it be beautiful. They want to make beautiful curtains and decorate it really exquisitely, and they see that as a jump off point into the world. So you can see there are various ways of associating with the spaces that you occupy. But for us, we’re going to use this definition of pretty much what you described there about where it is that you can “Be”, that you feel capable of being yourself, where you can truly feel not judged and not as though you’re performing for anyone. But it’s the space that you occupy when you’re being authentic and true to yourself.

[00:06:13] Christian: [00:06:13] Yeah.

[00:06:14] Maureen: [00:06:14] Now for some people that could be a really tiny space, could be the space that’s only the few moments when they opened their eyes in the morning before they jump into some kind of role or some kind of an identity. Many people don’t ever feel at home, even in their own skin. So this is a real deep look into that, about how can we redefine home for ourselves.

[00:06:38] Something like a pandemic is such an important. Opportunity to be able to see that. Things that we take for granted, things that we do on a day to day basis, even in rote ways, can be seen as reveatory and amazing and powerful, and compel us to awaken to a much deeper, richer existence.

[00:07:04] Christian: [00:07:04] Wow. I’ve taken pieces of that. I’ve tried to. See the opportunities in this and try to benefit myself going on to websites where I can read and learn and, but there are moments where it still doesn’t feel settled. It still doesn’t feel at home.

[00:07:23] Maureen: [00:07:23] So what would you do in the circumstances you’re in then you can tangibly touch right now or think about right now that could feel more home to you personally.

[00:07:35] Christian: [00:07:35] Possibly define boundaries. I’m a very independent person, to be quite honest. I’m an introvert, like fully, like ever since I was young, I’ve always been in my own world kind of deal, but I don’t want to be rude right there. I love the people who are around me. And I don’t want to make them feel like they’re a burden in my life. So it’s a balancing act that I’ve been really working with here.

[00:08:00] Maureen: [00:08:00] Yeah, And so allowing yourself to communicate is key. Hmm. So if you’re looking at life as an opportunity to be able to see yourself in a vaster, more spirited way. Whatever feels high-spirited to you or has a deeper capacity to it is more resonant with the True S elf of you.

[00:08:22] So the physical body that shows up in relationship, whether you’re a parent with little children right now, which is a whole different topic for us to discuss within this. But when you’re as someone who shows up around other people, now you’re getting a chance and an opportunity to notice. Do you change from relationship to relationship or do you maintain a steady home within you?

[00:08:46] Do you change when you go in one room and see someone who’s occupied with something and you go there and you act a certain way, or do you maintain a consistency that’s completely authentic to you? Really important for us to recognize because that’s the only way to feel at home, to be able to be who you are in a way that feels resonant with peace for you, a peace that isn’t contingent on something or fleeting a peace that feels like you can take that time, especially in the mornings when you first wake up and you want to send to yourself on the sense of peace and ease of being able to breathe. A deep breath, a deep grateful breath, just woke up to a new day.

[00:09:33] It doesn’t have to be this amazing, powerful over the top experience that catapults us into this resonance with gratitude. But just the simple, simple things that we can often see as mundane, like waking up this morning with the capacity to breathe and have a place where you can have shelter and warmth and food, and be able to recognize the gift that that is right now.

[00:10:01] And I think more and more people are recognizing how exquisite that gift is, and paying much more attention to the things that they feel grateful for because they could be fleeting or they could be not existing, based on the precarious situation we’re in. So first of all, what you want to do is get in that space where you’re deliberately doing something but deliberately doing nothing more than breathing and being appreciative of that, that you have this breath. And you can follow this breath.

[00:10:32] We’ve talked about this so many times, that your breath is akin to the Soul of you, to the spirit of you. You came in with your first breath into this life. You breathe consistently every day. It’s sustains your life. This it’V the animating force of you. And you’ll leave this life with your last breath.

[00:10:52] So when we really respect that, we can wake up in the morning, take a big deep breath of gratitude. That’s peace right there. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, but just be in that space where you’re not performing for anybody for that little moment. And when you do that, that clicks you in to the Vastness of us.

[00:11:14] All of us. I say us because it’s not just the Vastness of you individually. It’s the peace and the ease and the essence of Spirit. But when we click into that essence of Spirit, we click into what’s universal and everyone’s breathing the same breath, sustaining the same life, even if it’s in a different body, a different culture, a different way of being, a different type of skin, a different orientation in how you approach life. You’re still sustaining life with that same one breath. So that same one breath also, when we relax enough to notice it, it has a fundamental homeostasis to it. It has a fundamental wellbeing to it.

[00:12:02] And why that is is because when we stopped for that brief moment before walking into a day and take that moment to recognize how unbelievably powerful and important this breath is, to really breathe it fully and how fully following that breath all the way through on the inhale, and then follow it all the way through on the exhale and feel how your body thrives on that kind of a connection. When you do that, then you’ve centered yourself in your true home.

[00:12:35] You’ve sentered yourself in that place of peace and ease that is beyond just our physical body. It sustains our physical body and nurtures our physical body, but it’s beyond our physical body and that’s what this virus is showing all of us that we truly are breathing the same breath.

[00:12:56] Christian: [00:12:56] Yeah.

[00:12:56] Maureen: [00:12:56] Or it wouldn’t be a contagion.

[00:12:58] Christian: [00:12:58] That’s a great point. Yeah.

[00:12:59] Maureen: [00:12:59] Now the fundamental homeostasis, what’s true to the spirit of us all is love. That’s the true connection here, that that fundamental homeostasis is love. So when we’re loving ourselves, just briefly staying with ourselves in the morning before we jump to any task or get to something that we think is going to make us be a better person or have a better acumen out in the world, or have the good or bad opinions of other people all taken care of by our actions.

[00:13:30] When we decide that we’re going to be true to our breath and just pay attention to that, we start to get a handle on home.  That it’s the essence of peace. That it’s the truth of us, that we can go anywhere and be at home. So what you were saying, Christian, about making this practical in terms of being in a home with different people that you’re sharing space with. When you’re making it clear that your fundamental approach to life, maintaining an alignment with this peace that’s the breath. So breathe really slow right now. Just feel how that feels in your own body. It just centers you. It makes you feel present and makes you feel available to life. It’s not a grabby kind of thing at all. It’s just a Beingness.

[00:14:21] So when you can embody that, when you go into experiences with other people, no matter what they’re experiencing. And I will tell you this, don’t label anyone during circumstances like this because people might have just read the most horrific headline.

[00:14:37] Christian: [00:14:37] Yeah.

[00:14:37] Maureen: [00:14:37] At any time during the day. You’ll notice it if you can see that the life force seemed to drain out of them, you know, they’re either hyperventilating or they’re trying to catch their breath because this is intense, and in that moment, it’s the most important time for you to be at home.

[00:14:55] Within yourself and establish that baseline of peace as your home and then communicate or leave space. Or do whatever the voice of peace within you prompts you to do this piece that we have that right on our breath that we came into this life with and that we’ll leave this life with this eternal nature of us that isn’t afraid of things that are body oriented.

[00:15:20] That can ride out things like this in a knowing stance that this too shall pass.

[00:15:26] Christian: [00:15:26] Yeah.

[00:15:26] Maureen: [00:15:26] And really, truly, really mean that. It’s not a cavalier kind of thing. It’s much more of a deep-seated knowing. This part of us is the part that we want to arrive in any situation.

[00:15:38] Then we’re feeling at home. And guess what? The people in our lives will start to feel at home.

[00:15:44] Christian: [00:15:44] Yeah.

[00:15:45] Maureen: [00:15:45] One thing you want to do, the only thing that truly shuts off this capacity within everyone, is if you start to judge or assess outside situations while you’re disconnected from this. Because you’re going to be wrong. I’m just going to make this a blanket statement.

[00:15:59] If you judge or assess situations outside of you while you’re disconnected from the truth of you, the peace and ease and this eternal nature of us, this true self of us with a capital S. Then you’re going to be assessing the situation with absolutely no capacity to assess it truly and truthfully.

[00:16:20] Christian: [00:16:20] Yeah, and that’s difficult for me. But how would you take all this information and put it into this brain and this body and then make an assessment? How do, I know that I’m doing the right thing if all my experiences are mine?

[00:16:36] Maureen: [00:16:36] That’s a great question especially when you’re in close quarters with other people. Does it feel peaceful? Does it  truly feel peaceful? And that means what True Peace is – and this is a really important thing for people to know – True Peace by nature of being True Peace… capital T capital P… is a win-win.

[00:16:55] Christian: [00:16:55] Okay.

[00:16:55] Maureen: [00:16:55] Often it feels like stepping back and letting this part of us that is connected to everything that has this sense of deep seated, knowing that feels comfortable and relaxed and knows this too shall pass, that everything will turn out well.

[00:17:11] That this is Grace in the making, that this is a miracle in the making. It has constant inner mantra that’s saying, “And then there’s this, and then there’s this.” So if you read a headline that feels really challenging, and this Voice of Peace interprets that, it’s going to say, and then there’s this… next time, you know better than  to pick up the headlines when you’re feeling disconnected to begin with. Next time you know better that those ideas that are sensational or snippets of truth or the way that news is imparted, it’s always a partial story. It’s never the entire story. We don’t follow someone’s life experience from the time that they say contract the virus all the way through to the other side.

[00:17:59] Christian: [00:17:59] Yeah.

[00:18:00] Maureen: [00:18:00] We’re following snippets of very dramatic circumstances because that’s what headlines typically do, and illuminate. If you’re somebody who knows peace and really has this commitment to the feeling of home that that brings, then you’re going to relate to everyone else in your experience from that home in peace. And you’ll recognize again, if you don’t and you made a mistake and you’re in close quarters with other people, you have this vehicle of a human body, that – the way your Soul and everyone’s Soul sees it – the way the True Self of us sees it, is that we have these vehicles that are called human bodies simply to be able to communicate with each other while we believe are separate from each other, and the more lovingly and respectfully we do that, the more peaceful it is. Because someone can feel the essence of what you’re saying in the same space that it’s coming from if you’re speaking from that Moul space, that space of being at home and being at peace.

[00:19:02] Let’s just go back to the one fundamental Truth here. You have to know, to be someone who’s a Miracle Renegade – to be somebody who really can access the miraculous on a day to day basis – you have to know one thing that’s highly important as a foundation for this, that the reason we came to life is to awaken to the fact that we are Divine,  that life is Eternal.

[00:19:28] We are eternal. This is a very small snippet in time and space where we occupy these specific human bodies and they’re always changing. From the time we’re born, to the time where 80, 90, a hundred years old, you’re going to have a different body that you’re occupying.

[00:19:46] So if you’re calling your body home. It’s not going to feel like home, if you identify with a 16 year old body when you’re 55. And you’re going to try to fix it and change it and do all kinds of things to it, that runs our economy or a materialistic driven society, because we’re looking at the body and how do we keep it safe or keep it comfortable.

[00:20:08] But if you’re a Soul, you’re saying, “How awesome! If I came here simply to garner experience and to notice how I can show up, either seeing an opportunity to love or a call for love, which either way is an opportunity to love, be the love that I am. The more consistently you do that, the more you become a master at what we came here for to awaken to that only love is real. That nothing real can be threatened.

[00:20:40] Christian: [00:20:40] Yeah.

[00:20:41] Maureen: [00:20:41] So while you’re doing that in a family, make this really pertinent to what we’re in the midst of. Say you’re a parent homeschooling now, and you have young children, what you want to notice is that now you’re becoming much more aligned with the day to day life of teachers in classrooms.

[00:20:59] Much more aligned. Can you imagine this was 25 kids instead of one or two or three.

[00:21:05] Christian: [00:21:05] They’re artists!

[00:21:06] Maureen: [00:21:06] They’re artists at life…  to be able to engage kids, to be able to keep kids in line, to be able to foster growth and education and keep people high spirited at the same time keep control. Massive juggling act. And so here they are at home with you now.  And I will tell you this, parents, just so that you know, most kids are thinking what a situation this is. They’re getting to be home quite often, not just with one parent, but two parents and the cats and dogs and pets. It’s for them the happy day that keeps extending itself.

[00:21:44] Christian: [00:21:44] This would have been a dream for me. I hated school.

[00:21:47]Maureen: [00:21:47] Especially as an introvert.

[00:21:48] Christian: [00:21:48] Yeah. I loved being home and I would love to learn around my dog and cat and …

[00:21:53] Maureen: [00:21:53] Yeah, and just be learning from them, which is probably a much more powerful, masterful way to learn. If you notice that most of the yoga poses that are helping people stay sane and centered right now in all these online yoga classes come from animal poses.

[00:22:08] Christian: [00:22:08] That’s really funny.

[00:22:09] Maureen: [00:22:09] Yeah. So you’ll see that when a cat stretches, that feels like the best way to be in your body. And when you do a downward dog, it’s because that’s the way the dog stretches its back. And it’s interesting because they’re the master teachers. They’re the ones that know how to claim a home and really fill it with love.

[00:22:28] See, so what we’re doing here is noticing… when I asked early on, what’s your definition of home? I love it if everyone can see, that the most powerful and happy and engaging and peaceful definition for home is love. It’s where I feel free to show up and love myself really well. Really claim my space, in a way that you honor it and respect it.

[00:22:57] Really love that other people you are around to enjoy your space, yet also let yourself be who you are, in that if you need space, let’s communicate really well and really thoroughly about how it feels most peaceful to us.

[00:23:13] What you want to do, and this is a very important part here, is that you never talk about what isn’t and expect a good outcome.

[00:23:23] Christian: [00:23:23] Yeah.

[00:23:24] Maureen: [00:23:24] You talk about what could be or what you would like or what to do? So parents out there with small kids, if it starts to get messy around the house, or they start leaving things. Instead of focusing on the mess as the problem, what you want to see is the opportunity inherent in it.

[00:23:41] The Spirit of us always sees an opportunity for expansion in every circumstance. So what you want to see is what are the kids missing here? What’s a really important thing that you can teach your own children? And in my case, when I woke up from being asleep and had focused on the messages and focused on what that caused me, how much work that caused me to do. Instead I focused on, ah… teach them, start to finish. Teach them the value of start to finish. How do you show up in a space honoring it? Because .You know, Buddhist monks know this, you tread lightly. When they’re walking in the woods. They try not to even bend the leaf when they’re doing a meditative walk. And when you begin to notice that you have an impact on everything you touch and the impact at best would be love.

[00:24:34] Leave behind more peace then the way you found it, leave behind more love than the way you found it, then you’re going to know that the essence of the Truth of you is really expanding into the space that you’re occupying.

[00:24:46] Christian: [00:24:46] Mmm.

[00:24:48] Maureen: [00:24:48] So first of all, you can’t do that if you’re judging other people. So if you’re judging the mess of the kids, and then that makes you judge the kids, then that’s a really hard stance to come from, to actually have cooperation, reign, and to actually have peace reign.

[00:25:01] What you want to do is step back again. Always connect first and foremost to this Voice of your own best interest. The Voice of your own best interest is the Voice of everyone’s best interest… and just sit down and breathe. If it means taking a time out, if you just have roommates or if you have kids occupying a space or your significant other, occupying the space that you’re in, and it’s much more close quarters than typically, then come together and establish some really powerful, important, loving ground rules for how you’re going to occupy this space together.

[00:25:35] You know, at first I think we can ride out a few days cause it feels like you’re  maybe on holiday, or vacation. Everybody happens to be in the same space, it’s unusual, but it feels like a holiday. Now we’re getting into a couple of weeks of this and then, and don’t know how long it’s going to last.

[00:25:50] So. It’s important right now to start setting some ground rules that both ground, the Spiritual Being of us in your space, in your home.

[00:26:02] So, first of all, what I would say is you have to connect first thing in the morning. So parents who might have kids jump in to wake them up in the bed in the morning you’ve got to establish that this is our quiet time, everybody. Let’s just breathe. And one way to do this, in the Hindu tradition, in the yogic practices, many times people recognize the power of the breath to center us for meditation. And what meditation is, is a time-out for Spirit to emerge. So is sleep  – a time-out for us from being in the waking life where we’re doing so many things and occupying ourselves with so many things.

[00:26:40] When you get that pattern interrupt, where you’re just relaxing and Being in a state that’s not a doing state, that’s really conducive to connecting with peace. So in the Hindu tradition, there’s a way of setting yourself up with your breath to feel more peaceful, and to center your mind in a way that it’s conducive to meditation.

[00:27:02] And I would say, challenge yourself to have your life be a waking meditation, a walking meditation, a touching meditation, a watching the media meditation, make everything a meditation.

[00:27:17] So to signify that you’re really connecting this way, especially as I said, if the kids jump into bed with you and things, and I will tell you, I’ve done this with brand new born babies of my own.

[00:27:27] That you can watch how a baby will follow your breath if you put a baby on your chest and start to breathe deeply, they have very short breaths when they’re brand new. And if you start to breathe deeply, they’ll deepen their breath with you. It’s really powerful. It’s beautiful. And when you have children who might have some angst or anxiety, or you have an extra anxiety yourself, come together every so often just to breathe. Take time out to breathe, and this is what the breath sounds like when you are in that state where you’re having an audible breath that slows you down. It’s called the ujjayi breath in the Hindu tradition, in the yoga tradition, and it sounds like as if you were breathing on a mirror when you go  – Haaaaa  – like that, but your mouth is closed, so it’s like  Mhhhhhhhh.

[00:28:17] And you’re breathing in just as audibly at the back of the throat –  Mhhhhhh. And you’re  breathing out – Mhhhhh .

[00:28:25] Now I know parents who might at times be exasperated with their kids and they have that, Hmphhhhh and the kids get used to that and they know, “Uh oh, we’re in trouble now.”

[00:28:37] Christian: [00:28:37] I heard my chef. My chef would be Hmmmmph.

[00:28:41] Maureen: [00:28:41] Yeah. Well now if you take that and actually use it as a prompt for, we’re going to center ourselves now. And let people know that this is okay. Taking a breath now, stepping back, something got too intense for a moment there. I’m taking a breath.

[00:28:56] And so this ujjayi breath, what’s beautiful about it, it might seem really weird if you came together randomly with other roommates and now you’re occupying the same space and you’re spending all this time together, and they might be completely different than you in their orientation towards work or towards all kinds of things.

[00:29:11] But if you’re occupying the same space and you want it to be peaceful. Anyone knows that breathing deep is going to make them feel good, and if they don’t know that, if they try it even once. They’re going to respect the fact that at least you’re making a stab at getting everybody on the same page. And it’s just breath. There’s no dogma to it. There’s no anything to it that’s scary. It’s just breathing.

[00:29:36] So what I love about this is that when you breathe really deeply and consciously with that ujjayi breath –  and I don’t mean to sound different or strange if you haven’t heard that terminology before, it’s just a way to define this – when you start to breathe this way, and you continue breathing this way –  when you do this, and again, it’s like the exhale that you would if you were going to make steam on a mirror, but your mouth is closed, so your mouth is closed and you’re breathing through your nose and you’re breathing deeply and audibly, and you can feel the breath at the back of your throat.

[00:30:07] Christian: [00:30:07] Okay?

[00:30:07] Maureen: [00:30:07] This is a very healing energy, by the way. This virus first begins and lodges in the throat, so if you start to get used to breathing in a way that feels like you’re bringing this awareness of Spirit, the awareness of the Divinity of you, the awareness of the Whole Healed Self. Our Spirit is completely whole, completely healed, always. And the body’s the vulnerable part of us. So breathe your spirit deliberately into this part of us, and then your communication will be different too, because you’re awakening this whole area that’s meant to express creatively. When we think non-creatively, that’s when we have the challenges and problems in life.

[00:30:48] When you’re communicating with somebody and you’re not thinking in connection with this True Self of us or the Spirit of us and we’re communicating non-creatively –  like how about this or let’s try this  – instead of highlighting the problem. That is not creative. All you’re doing is talking about something that already exists.

[00:31:08] If it already exists, you’re not creating anything. You’re just giving a running commentary on something, like socks on the floor, or you know, a mess in the kitchen.

[00:31:15] Christian: [00:31:15] Yeah, that’s a good point. Cause you would think that by talking about the problem though, aren’t you problems solving it?

[00:31:22] Maureen: [00:31:22] No. You’re highlighting a problem.

[00:31:24] You can say, “Hey, I’m noticing something that doesn’t feel really comfortable or peaceful to me. How about we do this?” Like the kitchen’s a mess right now. How about we put something on the refrigerator so that this is completely non-personal, but that we all choose to do these tasks and we rotate them.

[00:31:45] And that would say, okay, you know, that’s not me assaulting anyone. That’s not me being unkind. That’s not you being unpeaceful about it. That’s just coming up with a creative solution.

[00:31:55] Christian: [00:31:55] Yeah.

[00:31:56]Maureen: [00:31:56] So when you make it objective and you look at it all as, how can this be a win win. And, how can this advance our capacity to evolve and to be more connected with peace and more connected with this aspect of us – the Spirit – that is always oriented towards win-win, that always finds the Ultimate solution – capital U ultimate solution. Then where you’re going to find yourself in a much happier circumstance evolving in your friendships and in your relationships with the people you’re living with.

[00:32:26] So back to this breath. It’s beautiful. And the reason why I want the two of us just to breathe five breaths like this, is so people can hear that what it sounds like is the ocean waves.

[00:32:37] Christian: [00:32:37] Hmmm

[00:32:38] Maureen: [00:32:38] Sounds like the ocean waves when you’re doing it and it’s so calming. It’s like sitting at the seaside and just noticing the Vastness. It takes you out of context with time and space. Remember you came in with your first breath,  you’ll leave with your last ,it’s the eternal aspect of us, and it feels as though you’re part of a vast ocean, but you’re just recognizing that you’re just a wave on the ocean.

[00:33:03] You’re just part of a bigger picture. And this bigger picture for everyone… we came here to awaken to our True Self. So if it takes a pandemic, if it takes things that are challenging in the world to have us come to a place that, “I can’t do this anymore unless I get centered, I just can’t show up to another day with all this angst, or with this challenge in my home, or this place in my life that feels unsettled or unrestful…”

[00:33:29] Then let’s just go to where we can connect first and foremost, and then watch how that spreads out from there. That’s the real contagion –  love, peace, joy, really at best. So, okay, so let’s just start this. Okay, so take a deep inhale, and exhale.

[00:34:01] MAUREEN AND CHRISTIAN BREATHING

[00:34:29] So now you can hear how that’s like waves on the ocean and if you continue this, if you do this just for five, 10 minutes, I promise you, you’re going to walk into the day feeling completely different. You’ll also be wiser in your choices because this is also the connection with the Wisdom within you.

[00:34:56] You’ll feel wiser in your choices about maybe not just picking up your phone immediately and go into the next task, or go into the next headline. You’ll feel, “How can I maintain this peace?”

[00:35:05] And then all it is, is it does take a little bit of vigilance, especially in these challenging times, for us to really commit to this. That if I tasted peace in the morning and then I commit to taste it throughout the day, then even in between, you’re going to really feel when you’ve gotten off that track.

[00:35:25] And then… I want everybody to hear this, no judgment, no guilt. It’s not helpful to feel judgment and guilt if you get off of a peaceful path when you’re in the midst of these kinds of crisis situations. Just do the best you can to go back to your breath. Just go back to the breath, the source of peace of you, the Eternal Nature of you, and let yourself connect to that Home and let yourself feel this… there’s a passage in A Course in Miracles that I think is really beautiful, and I’m just going to say it to everyone who is Miracle Renegade, “Peace is my home. Fear is the stranger here.” So when you start to realize this, now you’re showing up, not only feeling more peaceful in this moment as a human on planet earth right now, which is really, really important today and tomorrow.

[00:36:12] Then the weeks to come while we’re in the midst of this pandemic. But what you’re also doing is doing what you came here to do. You came here to awaken to your eternal nature. You came here to know that you’re always at home – a part of you, the Vastness of you, the Truest Nature of you – is always at home, and that’s not contingent on anything else that’s happening in your world.

[00:36:35] And on any tasks or any actions that anybody else has taken. It’s contingent on what you focus on deliberately while you’re in the midst of challenging situations and in the midst of day to day life,

[00:36:49] Christian: [00:36:49] I want to go back to being unsettled even in this peaceful state. What are some practical ways we can come back to this space that you create for yourself, especially if you’re watching the news or you have a strained relationship with someone, or you’re just feeling claustrophobic? A lot of people, especially in the cities, go out all the time. There’s nowhere to go. So what are some practical ways that we can get back to this space and stay there and continue on? Because this is a great opportunity for us to learn about ourselves.

[00:37:23] Maureen: [00:37:23] Yeah.So first thing is a shift in  perception. Miracles are shifts in perception. The more dramatic the shift, the more powerful and tangible it could be. So if you were seeing your home space as nightmarish for any reason or a challenge for any reason, the shift in perception would be to feel what’s the opportunity here? What’s the gift here?

[00:37:48] Christian: [00:37:48] Hmmmm

[00:37:49]Maureen: [00:37:49] Where am I going to discover a gift here? And when you do that everything has to change. Because if you’re seeing this as problematic or confining or all these other things that we could be labeling this situation as, if you’re seeing it as a gift, now you have to reach into that Creative Self to find it.

[00:38:08] So first thing, one thing that’s conducive to discovering this Creative Self, or this Eternal Nature of us, or this Perpetually Peaceful part of us is Sacred space.

[00:38:19] Now, you said it. How do we get there? Well, establishing that it’s a priority is number one. So saying and letting people know that are in your immediate world, that you’re discovering that you need personal space. That this whole thing about a social distancing is actually a real great prompt, because it’s showing people how important this personal space is. And if you value it and appreciate it, then you can begin to live from the inside out and literally have this space around you that reflects the peaceable part of you within. That, it actually is like a light emanating from you. It’s a feeling emanating from you. And people who come in contact with that, especially kids and animals, they get this, they feel it, and they know, Oh, this is safe Haven here.

[00:39:11] Especially if you do have animals and kids, when you get more peaceful, they’re going to want to be with you more. So you want to establish that there are times when people want to be alone, like you’d like to play alone sometimes, or you like to be in that space on the rug in the sun swatch for a cat, or be in a place where the dog has timeouts and things.

[00:39:32] You want to establish that although you love each other, you don’t have to be on top of each other, and that this space can be a co-existing, a cohabitation that’s highly, highly conducive to connectivity in a deeper way, not just a physical way. So establishing your space as a priority.

[00:39:54] Number two: One way to outwardly show that you’re respectful to this space that you have is order and cleanliness. When we have order around us, it’s more conducive to a flow and more conducive to having there be a capacity to begin and finished things with the sense of completion. So I highly recommend that this is a time for everyone to just take a step back, an assess, do I do things start to finish?

[00:40:26] Now, people might have been in a factory jobs where they’re only doing one part of an assembly kind of process, and then it feels like, okay, I can complete my little part, but you never get a chance to see or feel as though you’re part of that completed, whole project unless you step back and that makes people feel very anxious actually.

[00:40:48] Because the Soul of us is a sense of wholeness. It’s a sense of completion that you feel fullness. Feel those qualities. This is the perfect time to begin a project that you really love, that you committing to – start to finish. And do this in small ways. If you open a box of cereal. Close it up. And put it back in a place that it feels like that’s the space for the cereal box.

[00:41:14] It’s not about getting anal, but it’s about doing things with a sense of completion. You’ll feel so much better when you show up with this orientation towards resonance with spaciousness and completion. Start to finish. So really notice that if you start to do the wash, don’t leave it on the bed or on the couch. And when you go jump to a conference call, let yourself finish. Leave time and space to be working for you. This world of relativity and time and space, let it work for you. Do things start to finish. Leave times dedicated to things that you know you can do it start to finish and you’re going to feel so much more peaceful.

[00:41:54] Because that sense of completion is not scattered or chaotic. There’s enough chaos going on that’s uncontrollable feel how great it feels to do something. Start to finish. It feels like I got this under control.

[00:42:08] Christian: [00:42:08] Yeah.

[00:42:09] Maureen: [00:42:09] The next one, I would say, especially if you’re occupying space with other people, and even if you’re by yourself, notice that the primary mode of operendum in your home should be peace.

[00:42:20] That means don’t utter words indiscriminately that curse your place rather than bless it. Let yourself take this time to really do a verbal cleanse where you choose the words you use, and then that’ll also help you to start to notice the thoughts you think and be more cherishable to yourself about what you deserve to be in the midst of all the time.

[00:42:46] You know, words create. They can make chaos in your life or they can create beauty. So really be cognizant that anything that is in your space is something of beauty, something a piece. You’ll notice it, if you  put on movies, say that are dramatic or violent and the whole room just feels like better clear out this energy.  If that’s a consistent thing in your life, pay attention to that. Don’t expect to feel peaceful if you’re constantly consuming things that are in the world of chaos and challenge.

[00:43:23] Christian: [00:43:23] Yeah.

[00:43:24] Maureen: [00:43:24] So that also means media right now. Be very clear that you’re only bringing peace into your space. If you can, if this is challenging to do right now cause you want to keep up with what’s happening, at least do that in just one place. So then you have the majority of your space is a space dedicated to peace and that you’ll say, I’m going to go off over here. Then you’ll do a lot less than that.

[00:43:48] Christian: [00:43:48] So how would you complete that cycle? .Let’s take media right. So where I start is some headlines. So how do I wrap that up so I can move on with my day?

[00:44:00] Maureen: [00:44:00] I would highly recommend,  after media binge, that you look at the late night TV people, get some laughter in there. Find some of the people who are really being creative on social media now and sending out funny tweets and things that are really hilarious or pictures of people in their homes and the things that people are experiencing. Resonate with people who are showing this vulnerable, funny side of their lives.

[00:44:28] Do anything that has you end on a note that you can say this too shall pass, or this will ultimately come to a place of peace or creativity or resolve because humans are awesome. The other part of this that that will speak to then is how resilient we are, and how amazing we are and how much of the light can be brought out in people when there are times of darkness.

[00:44:51] It’s what we came here for, to show that we are spirit, that we have a Spirited Nature that can transcend and illuminate these challenging situations. We are awesome. And if we forget that and get bogged down in these little challenges, like things that can happen on a day to day basis at home, then you’re going to forget your True Nature that is awesome, creative, unlimited in its potential to find peace and to excel at being a peaceable being. A creative, amazing, awesome, talented, peaceable being. Nothing better on earth and you’re finding out how to do this just in your own home.

[00:45:31] Another thing, this personal space that you’re having now, how many of us default to beauty as a way of navigating that. Just let yourself notice that anything that enhances or enriches your space, you’re putting things on top of spaciousness. And notice we’ve talked about this over and over, how valuable space is.  We forget that without the space, any room that you happen to be in now, any place you happen to be in now listening to this podcast – without the space, it doesn’t exist. It collapses.

[00:46:03] So be cognizant that anything you put on top of space should feel as though there’s a reverence to it, that there’s a capacity to enhance it with beauty and with deliberate intention. To that end, I’d like to say that everyone should have some time right now and to have a creativity date or a play date with yourself.

[00:46:28] If it means going off into a room by yourself, let everyone know that’s what you’re doing. If you need to communicate about this in a way that no one feels off-put or anything, just let people know that I’m having some time with myself right now for a creativity date or a time-out with just me. And then you won’t feel when you’re engaged with other people, you won’t be impatient or irrate. Because now you’re taking time out to resonate with that peaceable part of us, the creative part of us, the true nature of us. You’re going to emerge from that situation a lot more fun to be around. So everyone’s going to want you to have those spaces and those breaks because they’ll know when you come from that you’re just a happier person.

[00:47:09] Christian: [00:47:09] Sounds like a win-win.

[00:47:10] Maureen: [00:47:10] You’re your True Self. Yeah. And then finally. Silence is golden in this circumstance. Again, don’t speak if you don’t have something good to say, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it folks. It really isn’t. And if you can sit with something in silence long enough, even the most challenging thing, the gnarliest thing, the most aggravating thing, if you can sit with it in silence, and that doesn’t mean running in your mind a litany of things that someone’s done that’s not silent.

[00:47:44] That’s just that compulsive dialogue that the ego has with us all the time. If you can sit in silence and just stay with that breath –  in  breath fully, out breath completely.  And just sit with that Silent Self for a little while, you’re going to see, at the very least, “Wow, I’m breathing just fine. I am sitting in this body that’s healthy and well enough to breathe just fine right now. I don’t need a respirator.” If you can’t even just appreciate that. Then you want to spend more quality time with yourself. Silence is golden. Follow your breath while you’re following that breath all the way in,  and then exhaling all the way out and following it with your mind, your mind can’t think. As you’re paying attention to that breath, really pay attention to it, and that is the soul of you. You came in with your first breath, you’ll leave with your last. This whole situation will become nothing but good then.

[00:48:49] You’ll learn to live with yourself in such amazing, beautiful, present, compassionate, whole creative ways. You’ll come out this on the other side saying, “Wow, my actions that I take in the world can be more deliberate and conscious and present just by default. Cause if I could do it there, I can do it everywhere. If I could do it there, I can do it anywhere.”

[00:49:25] Christian: [00:49:25] I’m Christine Camerena

[00:49:26] Maureen: [00:49:26] And I’m Maureen Whitehouse

[00:49:27] Christian: [00:49:27] and this is Miracle Renegade.