How I Became a (Spirit) Junkie

In October of 2015, the day I turned 40, I was celebrating my 40th birthday in the most fabulous way a girl could mark such a milestone:

Glamming it up in Las Vegas.

While I was there, my dad unexpectedly underwent brain surgery after a massive headache landed him in the emergency room and they discovered a quickly growing tumor. My otherwise very healthy, not yet retired, dad. I’ll never forget my 40th birthday because it was the beginning of when my life changed more than it ever has. I spent my time in Las Vegas teetering between breaking down in tears and doing shots of tequila. After I flew home, I was told that my dad had terminal brain cancer. He had a year to live. Give or take.

I had a husband, 3 year old twins, and a busy career that I (thought I) loved. I immediately took a week off work and left my “team” to go be with my mom and dad in another city as my dad recovered from his surgery. The week I was there brought much thought, much late night research, much sadness, anxiety, hope, and fear. Now what do we do? After a long conversation with my husband, we decided the best thing was for me to come home, take a long leave from work, and take the kids to go back and spend 2 months with my parents. My dad would be undergoing extensive chemo and radiation and I wanted to be there. I knew that over the next year, I wanted my 3 year olds to start building a memory of their grandpa.

My husband came with us for the trip back, and it was emotional when he had to leave. I had never been without my co captain in this parenting thing, and he had never been without us. We knew that we would see him at Christmas time, which was 6 weeks away. That 6 weeks would prove to be one of the hardest times of my life. Helping care for my dad, going back and forth to appointments, supporting my mom, and caring for twin 3 year olds would prove to be draining, exhausting, and a huge test of my strengths as a mother and daughter. It was during those days, that I turned to something I had only done semi-regularly up until that point. Meditation. Every morning, before my kids got up, I would sit in meditation for 5 minutes. I was no expert. I just knew that being in silence and being centred in myself was something that had helped me through many difficult times in my life. Infertility, miscarriages, early days with twins. I knew that I needed to turn to this now, again. My Sikh roots have always pushed me in a spiritual direction, but prayer alone wouldn’t bring me the strength and grounding I needed. So I meditated. If you don’t meditate, I am telling you that this is the single most important type of self care you could implement as a mom.

Every day I got better at it, every day I went longer, and before I knew it, I was meditating at odd times of the day when I needed to find some peace so I started doing it while my kids were playing around me. They started copying me so I made it easy for them to take part. I have always been a purposeful and mindful parent. I have always parented with intention. Meditation was one thing I had never intended to introduce to my kids. It just hadn’t occurred to me. But there are many things that happened as a result of my dad getting sick that I never would have dreamed. In those days that I was putting my kids, and then my parents, to bed, only to be sitting alone in the basement for hours by myself, wondering how long we really had and what life would look like once my dad was gone, I accidentally stumbled upon a couple of key online influencers who would play a big role in my near future. One of them was Gabby Bernstein.

I won’t get into the details about who Gabby is or what she does. I will tell you she is a MULTIPLE New York Times bestseller, and she has sat across from Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra, among other amazing leaders, and she is one stylish yogi. She is a meditating maven who has melded the experiences of HER life with her deep desire to make change in the world using her PR savvy and business skills. And she IS changing the world. I instantly resonated with her, read all her books and started following her on social media. As I started to deepen my spiritual practice and get a real feel for what drives ME and how I want to make a difference in this world (questions arising from my sudden realization that life is short and I don’t want to spend it in a job that doesn’t fulfill me in the way I would like), I started to embrace the idea that my “dream” job was, in fact, not my dream job at all. I looked at people like Gabby and thought “I wanna do THAT”. I wanted to take bits and pieces of MY life and my experiences and my unique skills and use those to create a business that would change the world. Gabby was inspiration for me, and the more I got to know her, the more I liked her. Her words guided me through the obstacles in my personal life, and as I started to awaken to some business ideas, she made me feel like I could truly do anything I wanted.

My dad actually didn’t even make it a year. 3 weeks before he passed away in August of 2016, I quit my job. I had started to get a feel for what I wanted to do but really had no idea what I was doing. Only that I knew I could do anything I put my mind to. And because of Gabby, I knew there was no choice but to pursue my dreams. I would figure it out somehow. Over the last year, I have slowly stepped into my truth. My strengths. My passions. I have deepened my meditation practice and my kids are little meditating minis. Other than the desperate sadness that sometimes hits me at the reminder that my dad has died, I am actually the happiest I have EVER been.

I recently had the chance to meet Gabby in real life. I coughed up the dough, left my family for 4 days to go to New York City, and attended her Spirit Junkie Masterclass. This epic business/spiritual “retreat” met every expectation I had. And I have invested THOUSANDS of dollars on business courses in the last year, so I have high expectations. I walked away feeling confident that I am on the right path, with tools to ensure I stay on it. I am now part of a fabulous Spirit Junkie community that makes me feel like I’m HOME.

I am now addicted to mindfulness and meditation. Addicted to the high of deepening my desire to change the world and make money while doing it. MY way.

Somewhere out there is a woman. A mom. Or a mom to be. Someone who knows there is more to her life than being a mom. More to life than working in a job you hate. Someone who is teetering on the edge of an idea but she isn’t sure if she can do it. Or she is starting out and looking for guidance but all the “business coaches” and courses are not resonating with her. Somewhere out there is a woman who wants to heal the world in SOME way. But she doesn’t know what that is yet. She needs a push. A sign. A nudge. Then she needs guidance. She needs someone to tell her what to do. How to do it. That her strengths are needed in this world. But she needs to learn it in a way that is aligned with her spiritual side.

Is that woman you? Maybe you are a teacher. A yoga instructor. A health coach. A lawyer. A chiropractor. If you have a desire to run a heart centred business, you might need a little Gabby in your life too. When I heard her latest news and had the opportunity to partner with her as an affiliate (if you purchase through my link I may earn a referral fee), I couldn’t pass it up. I have never taken on affiliates because it is so important to me to truly believe in anything I vouch for. But this is a no brainer.

Gabby Bernstein has announced she is offering her Spirit Junkie Masterclass as a digital course. A take from anywhere, do it in your pyjamas and not have to worry about flights and hotels, online course. Hallelujah! Now I don’t have to convince my friends to get time off and book flights and arrange for childcare! This is truly the most awesome opportunity for anyone who is in this chapter of their life.

(THE ENROLMENT FOR THIS COURSE IS NOW CLOSED. GO to www.gabbybernstein.com to keep up with Gabby and get pulled into her super fabulous spiritual vortex).