May LIGHT be your ally today and throughout this week.

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I had a person in my life.

Someone I couldn’t simply remove from my world—and honestly, didn’t want to.

I loved them.

But something would happen every single time we were together for too long.

I’d lose myself. I’d get reactive.

And being a Sagittarius, I’d say my truth—loudly, at exactly the wrong moment.
Which would create more conflict.
Which would leave me feeling worse.
Which would start the whole cycle over again.

This went on for years.

Through the Lens of Expansive Living

Then one day, when I felt particularly upset about this relationship, I asked myself:

What is the one thing you can change right now that’s going to change everything?

I sat with it.

And what came back was simple.

This person knocks me off center.

That’s it.

I can’t change them.
I can’t change the situation.
But I can notice when I’m off center—and do something about that.

Because off center, I’m reactive.
And reactive, I’m not who I want to be.

So the question became:

How do I stay in relationship without losing myself?

The answer was even simpler.

See them the right amount. Not more.
Be fully present, fully loving, fully myself—for exactly as long as I can hold my center.

And the moment I feel that familiar tipping point, I step back.

“Thank you, it’s so good to see you.”

And I’m done.

They get to be who they are.
I get to be who I am.

And everything changed.

This is what I want to point to.

Because we often think change comes from fixing the situation.

But more often, it comes from shifting the track we’re on.

When your attention stays on what already happened—the conflict, the pattern, the outcome—you stay on the same track.

And that track keeps generating the same experience.

Not because something is wrong with you. But because where your attention lives shapes what comes next.

Shifting tracks doesn’t require a big overhaul.

It starts with one honest question.

And one small move in a different direction.

Right in the middle of real life.

Try This:

Think of one situation in your life right now.

Something that feels stuck.
Repetitive.
Familiar.

Notice where your attention has been going.
​
The problem.
What keeps happening.
The other person.

And then ask:

What’s the one thing I can change right now that would change everything?

Don’t force the answer.

Let it come.

And when it does—take one small step in that direction.

That’s how you shift tracks.

If you try this, I’d love to know how it went and how you found relief.

Sending your way blessings of steady footing,

Anna

You’re welcome to share in the chat what you notice as you move through your week.

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I just finished watching Love Story, the series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.

Their story ended in fog and darkness—a tragic plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. He was flying at night. No horizon. No clear sense of up or down.

And here’s what got me: when a pilot loses visual reference like that, the body can lie.

Your inner ear—your sense of balance—can tell you that you’re level. That everything is fine. That you should just keep going the way you’re going.

Meanwhile, reality is different. The plane is tilted. You’re heading toward the ocean.

But it feels true in your body that you’re okay.

He trusted that feeling. And it killed him.

I sat there after watching it, feeling the weight of that.

Not because our bodies are wrong.

But because sometimes what feels true in the moment is actually an old survival response—fear flying the plane instead of us.

Through the Lens of Expansive Living

Right now, so much is coming at us.

War. Instability. Fires and floods and financial pressure. A dizzying sense that nothing is solid anymore.

And I keep seeing people contract in response.

Which makes sense, right?

When a lot of energy comes at you—like a strong wind—the instinct is to pull in.

To protect.

To make yourself small and wait it out.

I learned this early. I was yelled at. I was hit. So of course, my body learned to contract. To disappear until it was safe again.

That contraction saved me then.

But here’s the thing: if we stay there now, we start living at the mercy of old fear patterns.

We become victims of global circumstances.

Victims of our own trauma responses.

And just like in that plane, what feels safe in the moment might actually be taking us down.

Your nervous system says: contract. stay small. this is not the time.

But your deeper knowing—the part of you that’s here to expand, to serve, to live fully—is saying something else entirely.

The question is: which one are you listening to?

What Expansion Actually Looks Like

Let me get specific, because this isn’t just philosophy.

In your business:

Contraction says: The economy is uncertain. People aren’t spending. This is not the time to launch that program or raise your prices or invest in support.

Expansion says: This is exactly when your people need you most. This is when clarity and leadership matter. Contracting now means you’ll emerge smaller on the other side.

Keep walking looks like: Launching anyway. Hiring the coach. Showing up consistently even when engagement is down. Making the offer even though your hands are shaking.

In your relationships:

Contraction says: They hurt you. Pull back. Protect yourself. Build walls so it doesn’t happen again.

Expansion says: Shutting down doesn’t keep you safe—it keeps you alone. The risk of staying open is real, but so is the cost of closing.

Keep walking looks like: Having the hard conversation instead of ghosting. Saying what you actually need instead of pretending you’re fine. Staying curious about their perspective even when you’re angry.

In your health:

Contraction says: You’re too busy. You’ll start eating better next month. You’ll deal with that pain after this project wraps. You’ll schedule the appointment when things calm down.

Expansion says: Your body is trying to tell you something. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away—it makes it louder. You can’t serve from empty.

Keep walking looks like: Booking the doctor’s appointment today. Going to bed at a reasonable hour even though your inbox is full. Moving your body even when it’s just a ten-minute walk. Saying no to one thing so you can say yes to taking care of yourself.

In your creative work:

Contraction says: Who are you to write that book? To start that podcast? To put your art out there? You’re not ready. You need more training, more experience, more proof that you won’t fail.

Expansion says: Waiting for permission that will never come is just fear wearing a responsible mask. The work wants to be born through you.

Keep walking looks like: Writing the messy first draft. Hitting publish even though it’s not perfect. Sharing your work before you feel ready. Letting it be seen.

Don’t Stop Now

It’s Passover this week. A story about leaving Egypt.

Most people don’t talk about this part: most didn’t leave.

Most stayed in slavery. Not because it was good. But because it was known.

The unknown meant the desert. No clear path. No guarantee of what was ahead.

Even though leaving meant freedom, it also meant uncertainty.

So, most people chose what was familiar over what was possible.

Only a small number walked into the unknown anyway.

And here we are, in our own version of that moment, with everything going on in the world.

Are you going to be part of the contraction—pulled into the fear, the chaos, the overwhelm?

Or are you going to be one of those who keep walking?

Winston Churchill said it during World War II:

“If you find yourself walking through hell, keep walking.”

Not because it feels natural.

But because stopping in the middle of hell is not the path forward.

Because life is not waiting.

Spring is here.

Birds are chirping.

Trees are budding.

Flowers are opening.

Life is bursting forward whether we’re ready or not.

This is the moment to ask for help. To take a real step forward, even if it goes against your instinct to contract.

Because that instinct may be screaming at you to pull back.

But something deeper is asking you to expand.

To walk.

Try This

Choose one place in your life right now where you feel the pull to contract. To wait. To hold back. To say, “this is not the time.”

Pause.

Notice what the contraction feels like in your body.

And then ask: Is this old fear flying the plane? Or is this my deeper wisdom?

If it’s fear—if it’s the old survival response trying to keep you small—consider doing the opposite.

Not forcefully.

But with awareness.

Take one step toward expansion.

Even if it feels uncomfortable. Even if it feels unfamiliar. Even if part of you wants to stop.

Stay with the step.

Because this is what it means to keep walking.

Not because it feels natural.

But because something deeper in you knows that stopping here is not the path forward.

And when you expand—when you choose to walk instead of contract—you don’t just change your own life.

You change how you show up for everyone you serve.

You become the spacious presence your clients need.

You become the steady ground your community is looking for.

You become living proof that it’s possible to keep walking.

If you try this, I’d love to hear about your experience.

Sending your way blessings of resolve to keep walking,

Anna

There is a way of moving through life
where nothing is separate.

Where what surrounds you
is not inert, not random, not silent,

but alive.

Responsive.
Informational.
In relationship with you.

And your role is not to control it,
or rise above it,

but to enter it.

A Living World

We are not moving through a neutral environment.

We are moving through a conscious universe.

Everything you encounter
is made of consciousness expressing itself in different forms:

Natural elements.
Human-made objects.
Thoughts moving through your mind.
Actions you take or avoid.
Circumstances unfolding around you.
Systems and structures shaping your life.

What appears separate
is not truly separate.

It is part of a living web
of relationships and information.

A web you are already inside of.

A web that is already responding to you.

What Changes When You Begin to Notice

When your awareness refines, something begins to shift.

You start to sense that every situation
has a kind of atmosphere… a field.

Not just what is happening on the surface,
but what is moving underneath it.

From there, new capacities begin to emerge:

You can sense into what is present in a situation
instead of reacting only to what is visible.

You can receive information
that does not come through analysis alone.

You begin to interact with your life
as a living system,
not a set of problems to solve.

And something else becomes possible:

You stop carrying everything alone.

Because you begin to realize
that every moment is already in conversation with you.

Before You Fully Perceive It

You do not need heightened sensitivity
to begin.

Presence comes first.

Just as you can begin speaking with a person
before you fully know them,
you can begin relating to the living web
before you clearly perceive it.

At first, it may feel subtle.
Even imagined.

But with practice, your sensitivity grows.

What once felt abstract
begins to feel tangible.

What once felt like effort
begins to feel like relationship.

The Cycles of Immersive Presence

In the Expansive Living Method™,
this way of relating unfolds in cycles.

Not as a technique to master,
but as a rhythm you begin to inhabit.

Immersive Presence is an orientation for relating to a living world.
It is the space these cycles move within.
A field in which they unfold.

Immersive Intention

This is where you begin.

What do you want to focus on and Shift?

And underneath that, what is the deeper movement?

The deeper intention is always toward wholeness.

Toward integration.

Toward a more complete expression of life.

Immersive Attunement

Here, you step into the ecology of the situation.

You are no longer outside of it, analyzing.

You are inside of it, aware.

Not fixing.
Not controlling.

Listening.
Noticing.

Allowing the different elements to reveal themselves.

What is here?
What is asking for attention?
What feels contracted?
What feels open?

Immersive Engagement

Now the relationship becomes active.

You are no longer only listening.

You are participating.

You begin to interact with what you are sensing,
not from force,
but from relationship.

You might:

Ask permission.
Ask deeper questions.
Offer a blessing.
Sense what the situation needs most.

You begin to explore the living dynamics of the situation:

What is out of balance?
What is asking to move?
What is supporting?
What has been excluded?

You may receive insight.
You may offer insight.

You may shift your attitude.
Or open to a new way of relating.

You are no longer observing the field.

You are in dialogue with it.

Immersive Reflection

After engaging, you pause.

You allow space to see what has shifted.

What became clearer?
What changed, even subtly?
What insight is emerging now that was not available before?

You may sense whether more is needed:

another question,
a deeper understanding,
or a simple blessing.

You begin to notice what actions may be needed in the external world,
without moving into them yet.

This is where meaning begins to organize itself.

You bless the field,
and gently step back into the physical space you are in.

Immersive Action

And then, you move.

But action here is not mechanical.

It is not disconnected doing.

You begin to choose:

What action to take.
How to shift your attitude.
What to say or not say.
Who to reach out to.
What to include that you may have left out before.

It is action that remains in relationship
with the living field you are part of.

Responsive.
Aware.
Connected.

Even as you act,
you are still listening.

What This Makes Possible

When you begin to live this way, something reorganizes.

Your relationship to uncertainty changes.
You don’t rush to resolve it.
You learn to stay with it long enough to sense what is actually needed.

Your relationship to effort changes.
You stop pushing for outcomes,
and begin working with what is present.

Your relationship to yourself changes.
You are no longer someone to fix,
but someone to include in the field of relationship.

This begins to show up in very real ways.

In a conversation, you may pause instead of reacting,
and sense what is happening beneath the words.

With a client, you may stop trying to guide the session,
and listen for what the field is already revealing.

In your own life, you may notice where something feels out of balance,
and respond with a shift in how you are relating, rather than forcing a solution.

This is a different way of holding space.

For yourself.
For others.
For the situations you are part of.

Life is no longer something you are trying to manage.

It becomes something you are in relationship with.

And from that place,
a different kind of intelligence begins to guide you.

Not imposed.
Not constructed.

But emerging from within the living field itself.

Try This

Choose one situation in your life right now.

Instead of trying to figure it out, pause.

Step into it as if it were a living environment.

Begin with attunement:

What is present here beyond the obvious?
What feels supported?
What feels stuck?
What might be asking for your attention?

Then, let the relationship become active.

You might ask a deeper question.
Offer a blessing.
Sense what the situation needs most.

Notice what begins to emerge,
what shifts, even slightly,
what becomes clearer.

Take a moment to reflect:

What is different now?
What are you seeing that you weren’t seeing before?

You may begin to sense what is needed next:

a shift in how you are relating,
a conversation to have,
something to include that you had left out.

But for now, simply acknowledge what has opened.

Bless the field.

And step back into the moment you are in.

If you try this, I’d love to hear what you notice.

Sending your way blessings of presence and a living world that meets you,

Anna

The list that keeps regenerating.

Work deadlines.
Finances to manage.
Emails to answer.
Health to maintain.
Meals, errands, logistics.

Then the relational world.

Showing up for a partner.
Being present with friends.
For some of us, caring for children.
For others, tending to aging parents.
For many, holding space for colleagues or community.

And then there’s the inner work.

Strengthening your confidence.
Healing old wounds.
Trying to be less reactive.
Growing your capacity for peace.
Living your purpose.
Earning a living.
Finding time to rest.

The outer demands of modern life.
And the inner demands of becoming who you are.
It can feel endless.

It can feel like you’re carrying all of it alone.

Through the Lens of Expansive Living

The problem is not that you have a full life.
The problem is the belief that you must manage it all alone.

When life appears inanimate, tasks, problems, responsibilities, everything becomes something to control, optimize, or survive.

But when you begin to engage with a living world, something changes.

Your work is not just pressure.
It is a relationship.

Your body is not a machine.
It is an intelligent partner.

Your confidence is not a flaw to fix.
It is a living ally you can call upon.

Your purpose is not a burden.
It is a collaboration.

One of the core practices of the Expansive Living Method™ is what I call Immersive Presence.

It is the practice of entering the ecology of the situation you are dealing with, or consciously choosing to focus on, recognizing the many elements involved — your body, your thoughts, the people around you, the circumstances themselves — as living allies you can engage with.

Rather than standing outside of life trying to manage or master it, you step into relationship with it.

Instead of treating your life as a series of problems to solve, you begin to engage with it as a living field that you can listen to, dialogue with, and co-create alongside.

Through Immersive Presence, you stop standing outside your life trying to master it.
You step into relationship with it.

Each item on your list becomes something you can listen to, dialogue with, and co-create alongside.

And suddenly, you are not alone with it.
You are part of a living web that responds.

Modern life demands much.
Inner growth demands more.
But a conscious world does not demand — it collaborates.

When you enter into an immersive relationship with your work, your body, your finances, your healing, your calling — they begin to nourish you back.

Try this:

Choose one thing from your list.
Just one.

Instead of managing it, pause and ask:
How are you today?
What do you need from me?
What are you offering me?
Whether it’s your body.
Your business.
Your exhaustion.
Your fear.
Your ambition.

Enter into relationship.
Not control.

Notice what changes when you stop carrying it alone and start collaborating.
If you try this, I’d love to hear what you notice.

Sending your way blessings of presence and a living world that meets you,

Anna

“If you don’t know how to fit in this world,
it is because you are here to help create a new one.”
— Ajit George

If you are reading this, I imagine you might be like me.

Highly sensitive.
Spiritually inclined.
Moved by beauty.
And also deeply affected by the harshness of the world.

There are days when the callousness feels loud.

The aggression.
The cruelty.
The indifference.

And you might quietly wonder:

How was I born into an era like this?
How do I fit here when I feel so much?

It hasn’t always been easy for me.
And it may not have been easy for you either.

But here is what I have come to believe.

What if you were born for this?

Through the Lens of Expansive Living

Our world does not need more harshness.
It does not need more competition, more cruelty, more emotional numbness.
It needs people who feel.
People who are affected by what is happening in the world.

And if you are sensitive, you may also know how overwhelming that can be.
The harshness can feel loud.
At times it can feel almost crushing.

Sensitive people are not here to avoid the harshness of the world.
They are here to notice it, call it out, and offer a different way to relate to one another and to our world.

Sensitivity, grounded in presence, becomes perception.
And perception can offer insight into what is needed.
Into possible guidance.
Into a deeper understanding of one another.

And from understanding, compassion naturally grows.
From that place we begin to pause instead of attack.
To include instead of exclude.
To hold space instead of dominate.

You may not think you have easy access to spiritual wisdom.
Most of us were never taught how to trust it.
But if you are sensitive, if you are affected, if you care, you already have access.

Sensitivity is not fragility.
It is perception.

And perception, grounded in presence, offers insight into what is needed.

Your emotional and spiritual sensitivity is not a liability in these times.
It is medicine.

For your family.
For your clients.
For your colleagues.
For the communities you move through each day.

I invite you to notice

Where are you already holding space?

For a partner.
For a friend.
For a child.
For someone at work.
For yourself.

Instead of asking, “How do I survive this world?”
Try asking,
“Where am I meant to soften it?”

You are not here by accident.
You are here to expand what is possible in human nature…

from cruelty to care,
from indifference to connection,
from reaction to presence.

The world needs your unique gifts and sensitivities.
This is how we shape a world we can all live in.

These times are asking more of us.
To hold space for each other.
For the world.
For all that’s breaking open and aching to be met.

Through the Lens of Expansive Living:

We used to think space-holding belonged only to therapists, coaches, or healers.
But these days?

A daughter holds space for her aging mother’s grief and confusion.
A parent holds space for a child exploring their gender identity.
A friend holds space for another’s burnout.
A teacher holds space for a student’s heartbreak.
A community member holds space for opposing views across the table.
A teenager holds space for a friend carrying the weight of the world.

Holding space is required of each one of us these days.
Not because we’re trained in it, but because life is asking it of us.

Space-holding is no longer just something “helpers” do for others.
It’s something we’re all called to do—for each other, and for the world.

To make room for what is real.
To allow the deeper truths of this moment to move through us—together.

It’s not about having the right words.
It’s about presence.
The kind that says: I may not understand it all, but I won’t turn away.

Take Time to Notice:

Who are you holding space for in your life?
How is it going?

Who holds space for you?
How does it feel?

Try This: To hold someone with greater intention, or to feel more held yourself, focus on the underlying need.

Why? Because when a real need is met, even in a small way, it can feel like something softening inside you, like being seen and safe, all at once.

Explore with the person for which you are holding space what their deeper need might be. Or ask yourself what you are truly longing for underneath the surface.

There are many creative and caring ways to meet a need. There is no need to fixate on one specific solution.

When the need is revealed, open to how it might be met. Then choose the response that feels most fitting for you, for them, and for the moment.

Stay open. Stay creative.

And remember how deeply satisfying it is when a need is met and it hits just the right spot.

What Inspires Me:

What I’m listening to:
Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

​First of all, listening to this song makes me happy. So, I listen to it when I want to shift into a happy or excited-about-life mood.

Second, Natasha wrote it for her younger brother who was struggling, at the time, with finding his way in life. She was holding space for him and sharing her guiding words of love and wisdom.

Third, we are here to co-create a meaningful and magical life for ourselves and our loved ones. This song invites us to do just that.

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips...

Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten...

Deepen Your Journey

If you’re navigating a personal shift, professional transition, or simply feeling the weight of these times, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

There’s a new way of being in a changing world…

Expansive Living™ offers space holders, professionally and personally, a grounded method for partnering with a living world to facilitate meaningful inner and outer shifts.

It is a practical, consciousness-based framework for co-creating with a living Universe—rather than reacting to a chaotic world.

A new way of leading, grounded in embodied presence, conscious collaboration, and relational intelligence.

A new way of holding space during personal and global trying times, where challenge becomes evolutionary invitation, and transformation becomes participatory.

Because leadership is no longer a title.

It is a posture of consciousness.

And we are all being invited into it.

If something in you feels that call,

Step in.

STEP IN

Sending your way blessings of spacious presence and shared humanity,

Anna

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx