I suppose I began my self-healing journey when I was 27 years old (over 12 years ago), after I had a trippy few weeks in Mexico where I ended up drunk underneath a car in a Mexican jail, and found myself back in hospital in Canada.

That was the end trail of freedom without limits gone awry. I had lost my way and it took me another decade to find it again in a most profound way.

I began travelling 20 years ago after leaving an abusive relationship. At first it was to run and wander and then it was to heal and find the answers to the questions from deep within. I travelled to over 50 countries and it was only after finding the medicine of Yoga that the answers began to come with the lands and people i visited and thus I began to heal my deeply gashed soul.

After all this time travelling, meeting so many people, learning about many philosophies, these 14 Yogic/Natural principles poured out of me as the most essential keys that brought me back to my center and helped me find peace within.

I hope these principles will help anyone who has left home looking for answers and needing to find their way back home, the center within.

The Principles:

1. Our Body, The Temple: Connect mind with body.

2. Clarity Of Heart and Mind: Discover the electric magic when the heart and mind aligns.

3. Turn Worry into Imagination: “Worrying is like praying for what you don’t want.” Begin to imagine other vistas.

4. Find What You Love and Become Dedicated—As a great Yogi, Pratabhi Jois said, practice, practice, practice, all is coming.

5. Adjust Life by Intuition: Feel your life and adjust by what doesn’t feel right.

6. Trust Synchronicity: It is all around us, and it is the magic of the moment.

7. Align with Nature: We are nature… Discover it within.

8. Being True: Become attune to your inner voice.

9. Compassion for Oneself: Only once you feel compassion for yourself will you have compassion for other beings around you.

10. Contentment in the Moment: Stay present and consciously plant seeds for the next moment.

11. Study This Deeper Nature: What are you made of?

12. A Time for Bliss: We are dancing particles of Bliss!

13. Celebrate Your Existence: Every single of us are existing uniquely only in this present moment.

14. Breathe from the Bones: Breathe deeply from the center of your bones.

These principles came after much searching and seeking.

It is my greatest hope that what I have found may help any lost soul, like I once was. Somehow these principles summarized my journey into spirit. They flowed out of me into a small book called Breathing from the Bones and they come from my journey into spirit.

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Apprentice Editor: Kathryn Muyskens / Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Pixoto