"Breathe new life in me."

All change, all growth, begins with a wish, a prayer, an intention, a longing - a willingness and a desire to be transformed.

There is something in you that longs to be birthed, something that longs to grow. And over the next few weeks, you'll be a midwife to that new life - to nourishing and supporting what longs to be born.

You may long for a change in your habit with sugar, with food, with exercise, with a relationship, or with your self care - and there may be other kindred longings that arise with that longing - greater compassion, greater mercy, resilience, connection, hope, meaning, purpose.

The longings of the heart are so beautiful, and so tender.

It's a paradox that when we open to our longings, we also open to all the forces and feelings that may arise in counter to this. We may feel and experience all the wounds and hurts that we've accrued along the way - and these arise in response to our growth process.

These wounds and worries can arise as fear, anxiety, collapse (that feeling of, "Why bother, this is impossible!"), cynicism, criticism, impatience, anger, and more.

These arisings are not wrong, and are not proof that you're doing anything wrong. Rather, these are normal responses to change, and normal responses when we touch our defenses - all the ways we've tried to protect ourselves and keep ourselves safe.

In today's audio, I invite you to make room for these responses - to use this course as an opportunity to care for these wounds as you support yourself in growing and changing. And I invite you to open the heart to your desire, to what brought you here.

These two forces: your compassion and embrace of the places where you got hurt, and your yearning and desire for growth, are your companions on the journey.