Yesterday I spoke with Melanie Rose on the podcast and we talked about the spiralic journey of life. I love how Melanie explained it—it was quite like how F. Scott Fitzgerald discusses our "central themes" that we each have in our lives. To put it simply, we each have a few key lessons that we have been incarnated to learn in this lifetime. The spiral imagery comes in as we consider that while we learn such lessons in one season of life, as we de-condition further and become more of our True Selves, we often wind up meeting said lesson again, and this time we take its teachings deeper.

For myself, and many of my 1:1 clients, a key lesson that we've been brought here to learn is to (1) slow down, and (2) trust in ourselves, as well as the divine.

In my own latest rendition of deepening into self-trust, I've been reminded that the most powerful guidance doesn’t come from outside of us.

No tool will ever be wiser than your own inner knowing.

There’s a time for external tools, and I’ve used many. Some were life-saving during certain chapters. But eventually, I received the intuitive hit that I could let go of a large majority of the tools, and not be so consistent (strict) with those I chose to keep in my life. They were meant to guide me back to myself—not take the place of my intuition. When I started letting go of the routines I'd long held onto, I was wobbly. But that wobbliness was part of the process. It was my soul strengthening its own core.

The Sacredness of Your Own Rhythm

We live in a world obsessed with optimization, routines, “should's,” and others’ morning practices. And while it's all well and good to take inspiration, we need to be mindful of when we tip into comparing ourselves, and thereafter pressuring ourselves to be like those we admire. Very few of us thrive on pressure. We all thrive on presence.

Let your rhythm be your own. Let it be sacred.

Personally, some days, I meditate. Some days, I don’t. I eat varying amounts, nearly always at different times. I ebb and flow. But I trust my rhythm now. And that trust has created more peace than ever before.

The funny thing is if I were to look back at the amount I now engage in the practices that serve me, I probably engage with them more now than prior when I was trying to be so consistent every single day. But more importantly than quantity is the energy: now when I meditate, for instance, it is always because my soul truly pulled me to do so, and as a result it serves me better than when it was merely a task to check off my to-do list.

Stillness as a Portal to Truth

Society conditions us to believe that pushing will lead us to success, wellness, our "best self." But for myself and many of my clients, it’s been the stillness that's moved the greatest needle.

Your "best self" (truest self) isn’t found in pushing. It’s revealed in stillness.

When we allow silence to be enough, when we don’t rush to fill space with a forced meditation or workout or whatnot, the divine is finally able to enter, finally able to guide us.

“This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.” — Mary Oliver

Paying Attention Is the Practice

You don’t have to perform wellness. You can live it. Moment by moment, quietly and gently.

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” — Mary Oliver

You can feel the water on your hands while washing them. You can watch the light move across your kitchen floor. You can pause, breathe, and be.

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” — Henry Miller

These small moments are the practice. They bring us home. They remind us that presence isn’t a goal; it’s a way of being.

Coming Home to Yourself

I deeply believe this is what the spiritual journey 2.0 looks like: not more work/knowledge-seeking, but more embodiment. Not following someone else’s steps, but finding your own rhythm—your own way of connecting with the divine.

It might feel unfamiliar at first. It might be quieter than you’re used to. But it will feel like you. And that’s the deepest kind of alignment there is.

If you’re in this space or stepping toward it and want support—coaching, [energy healing](https://mackenziebelcastro.com/reiki/)—I’d love to connect.

With love,
Mackenzie