How to Foster Grace and Inspiration in Your Life

Here is a tiny sampling of some of my moments of grace:

* At the age of 8, King, the horse I was riding, ran away with me. I wasn't too concerned as I figured he'd tire eventually or stop at the end of the fenced pasture. We came to the fence and I thought he would stop or jump it and prepared myself for that. Instead he turned on a dime and raced down the length of the fence. I, however, kept going straight. I went between the second and third strands of a barbed-wire fence. Any one who knows about barbed-wire, knows how quickly it can disfigure an animal or human. The fence shredded my pants, turning them into shorts, and tore a chunk out of my leg which eventually needed over 50 stitches. Where was grace? It somehow surrounded me as I flew through the fence protecting my face and vital organs, even though I landed sitting up on the other side of the fence. I was also never in pain from the wound.

* In my 20s, I suffered a time of deep unhappiness and depression. I was absolutely miserable. Although I had no sense of a Divine Source or higher spiritual being, I sat down and prayed-meditated, asking for help. Something responded and I felt a wave of peace wash over me. The circumstances of my life didn't change externally, but I now had an inner reference point of grace and peace which sustained me throughout many times of adversity.

* Before remarrying for the second time in my thirties, I went through a couple of weeks of severe panic attacks. What, if after getting married, everything changed for the worse? What if I had to go through a divorce again? I couldn't bare the thought of being trapped in a marriage gone wrong. My fiance's response was perfect%u2026.we didn't have to get married, if I wasn't ready. I kept giving myself permission to bail if I needed to, even at the last moment. Still the panic attacks persisted. When we got our marriage license application we were told we had up to 3 months after the ceremony to get it registered and if we didn't, it would null and void the marriage. Whew%u2026an escape clause! With my 3 month guarantee in place, I proceeded to get married. During the ceremony, my husband and I looked into each other's eyes as we said our vows, and grace entered again. I felt peace wash over me and heard and knew that everything would be okay. We registered our marriage license the next day.

These are just a few examples of the way grace has affected my life. Before exploring how to invite grace more fully into your life, let's explore what grace is.

Grace is a quality or vibration just as love is. In fact love is very much a part of grace. The dictionary describes grace as infinite love, goodness, favor and mercy and that doesn't need to be merited. It's "free" for anyone regardless of your circumstances or if you've earned it.

Grace can come from within, such as in a moment of personal/spiritual growth. This internal grace is described by Jung as becoming one with the Self, a term that he coined to express when all aspects of oneself including conscious and unconscious, personalities and complexes are united into one cohesive unit. In a state of grace, all these inner aspects are no longer at war, or in conflict or tension with each other.

This form of grace can occur when a state of acute personal suffering suddenly shifts focus from a personal story to a universal story. My life is unique to me, yet since the beginning of the birth of humanity, humans have been experiencing the same responses to all that life brings. Identifying with that can shift me into a state of grace.

This inner state of grace also occurs when you choose to surrender opposing and conflicting elements that can't seem to find resolution. Surrendering allows the body/mind/spirit to switch into holding both the yin and the yang of life in a bigger whole, instead of the see-saw of duality. Internal grace is the result or indicator of having done your personal/spiritual work.

Grace also comes in the form of an external blessing. This concept has been presented by many different cultures and traditions for countless eons. Shamans and certain healing traditions use the form of initiations and ceremonies to create a graced state of increased power. Miraculous healing is very much a state of grace. Crystalline Consciousness Technique is a subtle energy work that uses activations, a form of intended grace that rapidly changes the energy of an individual and allows access to fields of information that weren't available before.

External grace is when the Divine extends you unconditional love AND you respond back with unconditional love.

There are three forms of inspiration: Creative Inspiration, arising from the sexual/creative energy center loves movement, play and fun. Intuitive Inspiration arising from the 3rd eye energy center loves inspiring stories both visual and oral as well as music, art and beauty. Divine Inspiration (as in divine guidance) arising from the heart energy center loves conscious breathwork and meditation.

Grace because of it's unique vibrational state and unifying components, encompasses all three forms of inspiration. In a beautiful harmonic dance one form of inspiration can lead to another and another (because inspiration is like a virus) and that can leap you into a state of grace. Or entering a state of grace will bring all forms of inspiration. It's a chicken or egg relationship.

Grace is not an act of a human-like God who decides that someone is going to win the grace lottery today.

It is a vibrational energy that is all around us and within us, like the air that we breathe. We only need to tune into it and be open to receiving it and it is there. We are loved every minute of our existence. If our mind tunes into that and allows that in then, we are in grace.

Besides love, inspiration and beauty, grace also has right timing. When the timing of our inner components is in perfect harmony with the natural rhythms around us, grace is ever present. We enter a state where answers come easy, creativity thrives and we feel connected to a greater whole.

There are two parts to fostering grace. One is to be present to it and to train your senses to observe grace all around you. The second is to be able to receive grace, for it always comes to us if we open and invite it in. Lack of self-worth or negative beliefs systems about receiving will stop grace from entering into your conscious awareness.