Mantra “I am rooted in strength, I choose my path, and I trust the calm within me.”

Topic 1 -The Foundation We Stand On – How Our Environment Shapes Us

Metaphor: The Tree and the Soil
Imagine a young tree trying to grow. If it’s planted in rich, nourishing soil, with access to sunlight and clean water, it will thrive. But if it’s placed in toxic soil, full of pollutants and decay, it will struggle. The leaves may wither, its growth will be stunted, and eventually, disease can take over.

We are no different. The environments we live in—physically, emotionally, and mentally—determine how we grow, heal, and flourish. A person cannot thrive in a space that poisons them, just as a tree cannot grow strong in soil that lacks nutrients.

Reflection: The Spaces That Shape Us
We often think of health as something individual—something that exists within us. But our well-being is deeply connected to where we are and who we are with.

Physically Toxic Environments – Pollution, unhealthy food, or chronic stress wear us down.
Emotionally Toxic Environments – Constant negativity, criticism, or unhealthy relationships drain our energy.
Mentally Toxic Environments – Fear, gossip, and self-doubt keep us stuck in smallness.

Just like a tree cannot change its soil, we cannot heal if we stay in the place that made us sick. Sometimes, growth requires changing our environment first.

Call to Action: Evaluating Your Foundation
Ask yourself: Is the environment you’re in helping you grow or holding you back?

Are the people around you lifting you up or weighing you down?
Is your space supporting your well-being, or is it filled with stress and negativity?
Are you nourishing your mind with hope and possibility, or with fear and limitation?

We become a reflection of the spaces we inhabit. If you want to thrive, you must plant yourself in healthy soil—physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Supporting Quotes:
“You can’t heal in the same environment that made you sick.” – Unknown
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn
“If you don’t like where you are, move. You are not a tree.” – Jim Rohn
“Surround yourself only with people who will lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey

Topic 2 – The Power of Presence – Choosing Your Door

Metaphor: Three Doors, Three Choices
Imagine standing in a room that feels unbearable—maybe it’s too small, too dark, or too loud. You don’t want to stay, but simply wishing it were different won’t change anything.

In front of you are three doors:

The first door leads out – Some situations cannot be fixed, and the best choice is to walk away.
The second door leads to a toolbox – Change is possible if you’re willing to put in the effort.
The third door disappears when you stop resisting – If neither leaving nor changing is an option, acceptance is the path to peace.

One thing is certain: Standing still, complaining about the room, will not make it better. You must pick a door, and once you do, peace comes from fully embracing that choice.

Reflection: Owning Our Choices
Life constantly presents us with discomfort. We resist, complain, or feel trapped. But Eckhart Tolle reminds us: we always have three choices.

Remove yourself – If a situation is truly harmful or unfixable, stepping away may be the best choice.
Change it – If you have the ability to improve it, take action, even in small ways.
Accept it fully – If neither leaving nor changing is an option, surrender is the only way to peace.

Call to Action: What Door Will You Choose?
Ask yourself: Are you standing in a room you don’t like, refusing to open a door? What choice have you been avoiding?

The power to move forward is always within us, but we must choose—and accept what comes with that choice.

Supporting Quotes:
“Be where you are; otherwise, you will miss your life.” – Buddha
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor Frankl
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti

Topic 3 – Climbing the Mountain – Building a Strong Foundation

Metaphor: The Three Builders
Three people set out to build their homes.

The first, eager to finish quickly, built on sand—the work was fast, but the foundation was weak.
The second, wanting an easier route, built on soft earth, thinking it was “good enough.”
The third, though it took more time and effort, built on solid rock.

When storms arrived, the first house crumbled instantly. The second held for a time but eventually collapsed. Only the house on rock remained standing.

Our lives are no different. If we neglect our foundation—our basic needs, safety, and well-being—our progress will always be fragile.

Reflection: Strengthening Your Base
Maslow’s hierarchy reminds us that growth builds upon a strong foundation.

Basic Needs (The Rock Foundation) – Food, water, shelter.
Safety & Security (The Reinforcement) – Stability, financial security, health.
Love & Belonging (The Walls & Roof) – Relationships and community.
Self-Esteem & Achievement (The Structure & Details) – Confidence and purpose.
Self-Actualization (The Sky Above) – The freedom to expand and grow.

Call to Action: Strengthen Your Foundation
Ask yourself: Are you building your life on rock, or are you balancing on something unstable?

The higher we want to climb in life, the stronger our base must be. What part of your foundation needs tending?

Supporting Quotes:
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.” – Dolly Parton
“You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation.” – Gordon B. Hinckley
“What a man can be, he must be.” – Abraham Maslow

Topic 4 – Finding the Depths Within

Metaphor: The Ocean and the Storm
When the ocean is stormy, it feels like the entire sea is in chaos. But if you dive deep, just below the surface, you’ll find stillness. No matter how rough the storm above, the depths remain calm.

We live most of our lives stuck on the surface, tossed by stress, emotions, and distractions. But beneath all of that noise is a part of us that is always calm.

Call to Action: Trust the Depths
Ask yourself: What storm am I facing in my life?

Remember a time when a storm felt endless—but it passed.

The waves may feel powerful, but you are not the storm. You are the ocean. Dive deep.

Supporting Quotes:
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” – Dan Millman
“The mind is like water. When it is turbulent, it is difficult to see. When it is calm, everything becomes clear.” – Prasad Mahes
“Silence is not empty. It is full of answers.” – Unknown
“You are not the drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi
“In the silence of the mind, the body rises.” – Unknown

The Restless Monkey

Once, long ago, a man received an extraordinary gift from a master—a magical monkey that could do anything he asked. Overjoyed, the man wasted no time putting the monkey to work.

“Build me a palace!” he commanded. In an instant, the monkey completed it. “Fetch me treasures!”—done in a flash. Every task, no matter how grand, was finished in the blink of an eye. The man was thrilled!

But when night fell, his excitement turned to exhaustion. Just as he laid down to sleep, the monkey appeared at his side. “What next? What now? Give me more work!” it chattered, restless and eager. No matter how many tasks the man assigned, the monkey would return in moments, demanding more.

Days turned to weeks, and the man grew weary. He couldn’t eat, couldn’t rest—the monkey’s relentless energy was draining him. Desperate, he ran back to the master.

“Help me! I can’t live like this! How do I control the monkey?”

The master smiled and led the man to the shore. The waves rolled in and out, endless and unceasing. He turned to the man and said, “Give the monkey this task—have it count every wave in the ocean.”

The man hurried home and relayed the command. The monkey ran straight to the water’s edge, eyes locked on the waves. “One, two, three… wait, was that the same wave? No! I must start over!”

Again and again, the monkey tried, losing track every time. Was that wave new, or part of the last one? Was the tide changing the count? He leapt and spun, frantic to keep up.

Finally, the man, now free of the monkey’s constant demands, climbed into bed and fell into the deepest sleep of his life.

What is Self-Realization?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that explains how humans prioritize their needs in a five-tier pyramid. The lowest level of the pyramid consists of the basic physiological needs, such as food, water, and shelter. The next level is the safety needs, which include security, stability, and protection. The third level is the social needs, which involve love, belonging, and friendship. The fourth level is the esteem needs, which relate to self-respect, recognition, and achievement. The highest level is the self-actualization needs, which refer to the fulfillment of one’s potential, creativity, and growth.

Maslow proposed that people must satisfy their lower-level needs before they can pursue their higher-level needs. He also suggested that only a few people reach the stage of self-actualization, but everyone can have moments of peak experiences that transcend their ordinary limitations. Maslow’s theory has been widely applied in various fields, such as education, counseling, management, and health care. However, it has also been criticized for being too simplistic, culturally biased, and lacking empirical support.

Self-actualization, in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. The only step left is transcendence.

“Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.” – Abraham Maslow

“Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

What is Self-Realization?

Self-realization is liberating knowledge of the true Self, in Sanskrit Purusha or atman (soul). Atman, (Sanskrit: “self,” “breath”) one of the most basic concepts in Hinduism, the universal self, identical with the eternal core of the personality that after death either transmigrates to a new life or attains release (moksha) from the bonds of existence.

Often we must hit rock bottom and experience that “Dark night of the soul” as things have to fall away before they come together as self-realization.

If in the middle of the ocean, suddenly we see the waves begin to grow and grow. All of a sudden, you are surrounded by 40-foot swells. You start to believe that the entire ocean is like this, but if you took a cross section of the ocean, you would notice that the stormy water is only on the surface and going down a mile deep, it is and has always been calm.

Our active surface mind is like the surface of the ocean. The “gota, gota, gota” mind. I gota pick this up, I gota rush to work. Deep within the mind is a level of the mind that is already calm, like the deep ocean. It is our source for pure consciousness, unbounded creativity and clarity. During our day to day activities, we lose access to this level of our mind and are stuck on the surface. Meditation allows us to gain access to these calm waters within us and explore our true self-realization. “In the silence of the mind, the body rises.”

“If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Happiness lies ahead. Meditation is key.” – The Buddha

“It is our imagination that allows our thoughts to be infinite.” – David Scott

“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.” – Rumi.

“It is ridiculous to think that somebody else can make you happy or unhappy.” – The Buddha

“Why try getting others to like us, when we don’t like ourselves?” – David Scott

“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.”

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Dalai Lama

“Worrying about a problem sucks the vital energy out of us that we could be using to solve the problem.” – David Scott

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau

“I failed my way to success.” – Thomas Edison

“A real person is never perfect and a real person is never real. We’re all a little raw and messy. No one has it all together, all the time. If they pretend to, they are just not real; no one’s perfect. Vulnerability is not weakness; it is the highest form of strength. It’s honesty and that is what connects us.”

Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it. –Salvador Dali

“It is better to travel well than to arrive.” – The Buddha

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” -Buddha

“You can not heal yourself in the place that made you sick. If you are in a chemically toxic environment, you can become physically sick, even cancer. In the same way, if you are in an emotionally toxic environment, you can become emotionally sick and suffer form anxiety and even autoimmune diseases.

I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down. –Abraham Lincoln

Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible. –Albert Einstein

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one more responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin (maybe)

“No we don’t need wings to fly, only courage.”

“If you forget yourself, you become the universe.” Hakuin Ekaku

“Love will not save you. But it will hold your hand when you save yourself. And in a world that sometimes seems void of goodness, in a world that sometimes feels too heavy to bear, I think that is all we are really searching for. Someone by our side. Someone who grounds us. Someone who will quietly hug us for 20 minutes straight while we figure it all out. I think that is all everyone really needs. Someone who sees them. Someone who stays.” ❤ -Bianca Sparacino

“The tongue like a sharp knife… Kills without drawing blood.” – The Buddha

“If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”

“If you are willing to look at another person’s behavior toward you as a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves rather than a statement about your value as a person, then you will, over a period of time cease to react at all.”

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” – The Buddha

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.” – The Buddha

The evolution of our consciousness, teaches us to take a pause between stimulus and response… Just a millisecond pause can make a huge difference in being “right” or in being “kind.” “It only takes seconds to hurt someone, but it could take years to repair the damage.”

“There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle. Be that candle” – The Buddha

“The habits you created to survive will no longer serve you when it’s time to thrive. Get out of survivor mode. New habits, new life.”

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa

“The more often we see the things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.”― Joseph B. Wirthlin

“Not everyone you lose in life is a loss. Sometimes in order to find peace, you have to let go of the connection with the people, places, and things that create drama in your life but do not make you stronger.”

“Self-transformation commences with a period of self-questioning. Questions lead to more questions, bewilderment leads to new discoveries, and growing personal awareness leads to transformation in how a person lives. Purposeful modification of the self only commences with revising our mind’s internal functions. Revamped internal functions eventually alter how we view our external environment.” – Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls