I’ve been writing a podcast episode on the origins of the Mindful Mandala cards, and in the writing, recording, and editing of telling this amazing story, I have come to see just how bold I was to take on a seemingly impossible task.
In 1998, I bought a hundred-year-old schoolhouse and began StillPoint Schoolhouse. I was 48 years old, with enough knowledge and experience in the holistic arts and sciences to develop a lifestyle I could teach and use to inspire people to live long, healthy lives.
At the time, it was a bold move. I taped Goethe’s quote to a wall to remind me that, “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
Twenty years and thousands of hours teaching and living the practice, I sold my home and yoga studio, gathered my two small dogs and cat, and went to live in an old stone house down a long dirt road. My life had been relentlessly and passionately devoted to teaching the 8-Limb path of Yoga, nutritional wellness, vegetarian cooking classes, and writing books.
I now felt called to create a method my students could use to ease their mental suffering, a tool to assist in finding some clarity and peace during meditation practice.
I knew that unless we can understand and manage our brain’s incessant negative chatter, the human species will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. So I set out to discover a way through the mental minefield.
The Universe responds to bold actions, and this was another leap into the unknown. The results became the Mindful Mandala cards, Your Guide to Resolving Life’s Challenges.
I remember when I bought the schoolhouse. It had a white picket fence on two acres off an old country road abutting a cornfield. It was just big enough that I could fit nine people in the living room for yoga, and eight students in the kitchen was a tight squeeze for cooking classes. Upstairs were two rooms, one my bedroom, the other my office, and these wonderful dormer windows, where I could sit and look out on my garden.
One night, I was outside watching the rising full moon, and thinking, “What am I doing here in this cornfield?” I was just beginning my business, and going through money like crazy. The voice I’ve learned to trust came loud and clear. “Be bold.” It said, “Do the work. Show up and do the work, with love, with honesty, with integrity, and all will be well.”
So, that’s what I did.
The school grew. The work deepened. Lives were changed, not just mine, but those who came, learned, and then, as teachers, carried the wisdom out into the world.
Boldness has magic. I know this because I lived it.
Take it from an old wize woman, if there’s something you want, act boldly, and those unseen forces will come to your aid.
In service to your highest good,
Delia
If this reflection resonates with you, the Mindful Mandala cards offer a simple way to continue exploring your emotional landscape through daily contemplation and awareness.
I remember your Stillpoint schoolhouse. I thought it so charming and lovely.
Here! Here!