I am not the kind of person who jumps out of bed excited about the day in every way, especially when I live in a city and the first thing I hear are sirens.

I once met a woman who said that when she hears sirens she feels comforted that help is on the way for someone. 

Wow.

For me, sirens are a gateway of their own kind, leading my mind to the slippery slope of all that is overwhelming in the world. This does not leave me inspired, and it blocks my creativity. Less than bouncy, I have to convince myself to get out of a warm cocoon and greet a day ahead with no guarantees. 

When I was younger, I dealt with this overwhelm with alcohol and a variety of other things that gateway siren euphemisms can lead to. 

My father died without a moment’s notice when I was 17. I hit the bottle hard, I dropped the idea of University and travelled until I found myself working on yachts as a means of seeing more of the world. It’s a hard work/hard play kind of world, the yachting life, even more so back in the day when there were fewer rules. There was no adult around who suggested that maybe I had depression that needed dealing with before it took its toll. 

This is to say that I am not in this ‘embodiment’ business because I’m such a gem at taking care of myself. I’m on this path because there is a force inside of us that pushes us to do better, and when you turn your attention to your body’s impulses instead of your ‘own’, we ignite that force. It is helping me heal all that broken glass that still has shards I find here and there, regardless of my good lifestyle. 

Whatever your reasons may be, or what your past presents you with today, I want to share with you some thoughts to kick-start inspiration: 

1. Discipline is only needed until devotion takes its place. 
2. Devotion harvests creativity and a sense of inner connection that satisfies the soul. 
3. This makes any discipline much easier as to be (almost and sometime entirely) non-existent - see what the circle did there??

Getting out of bed when you don’t want to takes discipline, but the rewards are plentiful. 

And to be clear, this isn’t JUST about when you wake up in the morning - it’s about doing something for yourself that ignites that inner force that will reward you with what I call Neural Nectar. 

I call this time - at any time of day - ‘morning practice’. A better term is ‘Practice of play’. 

This time is for me to do what I want to, and what feels good - not what I feel I”m supposed to do. I choose morning most often, and you may have another time of day that works better for you. 

In the mornings the house is quiet, my mind has barely left the mists of sleep, and this all leaves prime time for harvesting some Neural Nectar. 

Here’s the best part: Neural Nectar is found when you do what you ENJOY - which, in short time, eradicates the need for discipline!

Here are some examples of what you can do in your ‘practice’ of play: 

• Mediation
• Journalling
• Music/voice
• Stretching, yoga etc
• Staring at the ceiling, post stretch or song or meditation
• Visualizing what I want to feel like and do in my day, or in the coming days. 
• Breathwork
• Creative writing
• Dancing or moving to music

What is the thing YOU used to do when you were younger - or that you know you like to do now, but you seem to ‘never find the time’? What will inspire and excite you to spend that invaluable time with yourself? 

If ever at a loss, I opt for music and sound. I am actually amazed at how using sound seems to provide an almost instant access into the realms of my interior peace, (making meditation easy) and it feels like it clears out cobwebs of fatigue, cranky emotions and irritating memories on an internal loop. 

So I discovered that music and sound is what will inspire me most to create the space needed for some inner alchemy. Take a moment to consider what would inspire you the most??

Once I realised my gateway to play, I did some things to encourage this space - not that I do them all the time but they are my good options set up and ready: 

• I joined a choir for the first time in 40 years
• I join local community song circles 
• I go to open mics
• I bought a harmonium and have been learning how to play (but an app on the phone that carries a drone sound is GREAT for humming, which is scientifically proven to offer myriad health benefits)!
• I play guitar so I spend time playing what I like, or learning something that I’d love to play. 

Any of these gateways creates more force to work with the other things I like that may take a bit more encouragement on a given morning. 

What are the things you might do - even one thing to outreach in your week - that will support what YOU enjoy doing? 

All these things are ‘gateways’ to pleasure, and that means you are stimulating your parasympathetic system and chilling out your stressed out ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic system. 

This means you are connecting with your own inner force of guidance, insight, creativity and joy! Ie. Neural Nectar!

If you want some further support and inspiration, you can check out the program ‘Fractal Frequencies’  I created to help inspire others to create a daily ‘practice to play’. As a reward for taking care of yourself by reading this blog on self-care (well done you!) - click here for 10 % off the regular program price in either English or French. 

Take a look at your schedule. Pencil in the practice of playing, singing, moving, writing…create that time for yourself! For me, it’s worth getting up early to change the whole day.

That little step of discipline will open up a world of devotion - to yourself, your craft, your inner guidance and elevate your mood. 

We need calm, joyful, inspired, and creative people in this world and make it a better place. If you hesitate to do it for yourself, please do it for the world!