Devotion in Motion
Serving at the altar of love
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A song I’ve really been enjoying this week:
Devotion in Motion
“All the work you have to do is in the privacy of your own heart.” - Ram Dass
Around ten years ago, a yearning stirred within me: a desire for connection, for friendships across the globe, for the wisdom found in diverse stories. I longed to learn from every walk of life.
Back then I could feel myself discovering a new version of myself. I was rooted deeply in personal development, philosophy, and spirituality. Something that was previously foreign to me. No one in my family was really into it. So, my soul craved connection from others walking a similar path.
Eventually, this yearning led me to meeting Michael.
I “randomly” met him in 2023 during a paint therapy workshop I did in San Diego (highly recommend if you’re ever there, you can read about my experience here). He’s since become a dear friend. He’s an artist, shaman, and a wise soul with 70 years of life experience. Earlier this week, he reminded me of a profound story from the Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit story depicting the tale of Lord Ram and his devoted follower, Hanuman.
Lord Ram asked Hanuman, “What are you, a monkey or a man?”
Hanuman bowed his head and replied, “When I do not know who I am, I serve You; when I do know who I am, I am You.”
The journey from duality to unity.
We mostly experience our lives as separate—from each other and from life itself. Yet, I've noticed how effortlessly love blossoms in my carefully cultivated friendships, or the beautiful resonance that expands within a shared sacred space (whether with coaching clients or during a medicine ceremony). The illusion of separation dissolves gracefully. I am just here and now.
I’ve realized that the presence of love is the absence of separation.
What connections or spaces make you feel like that?
I’ve been reflecting on how certain individuals enter our lives as catalysts for transformation, reshaping our very essence. My relationship with Hannah which began in 2022 is an example of that (you can read our love story here). As time goes by, I feel our connection as an opportunity to serve at the altar of love itself.
I experience her as a vehicle through which I can be devoted to love. I think the biggest lesson has been consciously choosing to lean into each other, to lean into love, again and again, especially when things feel tough and we feel triggered. Moments when I want to blow up and run away.
That has become the ultimate ceremony.
If you’ve read our story then you know there were no immediate fireworks between us. I see now that true, lasting connection requires a gradual attunement. As the yogis teach, to sustain a high vibration requires the body to be sufficiently prepared. Otherwise, the surge of energy is like a garden hose trying to channel the ocean, or a lightbulb receiving too much power, and exploding. You cannot sustain bliss until you have earned the right to experience it. In other words, have you done the work to hold a consistent high vibration?
Working with the medicine in various forms these last few years has given me a glimpse of the joy that an expanded heart brings, but the work has continued well after the ceremony. As Ram Dass’s guru Maharaj-ji famously put it, the medicine will only take you to the room with Christ for a short while, but you can’t stay there. It’s a day pass. The inner work to integrate the experience continues long after you have left the retreat space.
Love has gradually turned its dial in our hearts, slowly and steadily.
It’s not something you just feel all the time. You have to do the work to get there.
For me, medicine ceremonies have been a tool to help me see with my heart more clearly. It serves as a mirror, revealing what no longer serves me, allowing me to step into my truest self. Removing the distortions that separate me from love.
The ceremonial space is not an escape; it's a preparation for life. Life itself is the most potent ceremony, the daily altar where courage is required to navigate its fluctuations. True wisdom comes from the direct experience of life itself.
An important question to contemplate:
What are you devoted to?
We’re all devoted to something, be it limiting patterns that destroy us or pursuits that elevate us.
This union with Hannah is a portal for mutual healing. Hannah and I have helped each other heal deep-seated wounds of rejection in a variety of ways. Anger, guilt. shame, sadness. While some may choose devotion to destructive patterns, I choose devotion to a connection that reflects a deeper truth. We are devoted to helping each other heal our distortions so we can be truer, freer, purer versions of ourselves. Unfortunately I know many people who choose to stay devoted to destructive relationships which depletes their energy and closes off their heart.
Partnerships are powerful mirrors, revealing where we need to work on ourselves. Though I am devoted to doing the inner work, I recognise that the work on myself continues in a new way in my relationship. I can only do so much myself. To be close to someone is scary. For them to see your wounds and vulnerability. I want to be perfect. I don’t want there to be any mistakes. But therein lays my work. To let myself be fully seen for the imperfect human I actually am. My relationship with Hannah has shown me the outdated beliefs I clung to, clearing space for love to flow freely.
Any friction we've experienced stems from a sense of separation.
In other words, when I am busy being little old me stuck in the story I think is true about little old me.
When two people meet, it’s not really people coming together, it’s a collection of stories coming together. Within our stories we’ve had tragedy and triumph that shapes us. So then it is inevitable that unknowingly we will step on landmines, without meaning to. But, how we go about navigating those situations speaks to the quality of the relationship more than anything else.
I know we’ve come together for a purpose larger than ourselves, and it would be selfish to retreat into the comfort of my old stories. Love desires to flow freely, without labels or limitations. All distortions must be cleared to experience the expansive nature of life. Our union is a contribution to uplifting our vibrations and those we touch.
What beliefs are we devoted to?
We may express devotion in places of worship, yet mistreat those closest to us. This reveals a limited understanding of God, for God is life, and life is God. The altar of life is the tapestry of daily experiences, each person a unique expression of the divine. My devotion to how I treat myself, Hannah, and all other souls I encounter speaks more to the level of my devotion than getting on my knees and bowing in a temple.
The world is my temple.
The temple of life.
I am seeing more and more that my journey of life is about serving love. In the process of doing so, I discover all the layers that have been programmed into me to keep me from loving myself and others fully, wholly, unconditionally. Like peeling back a layer of an onion, I get to the end only to find there is nothing there. The only thing that really exists is love.
We are love.
A forgotten truth we have to keep coming back to.
Service to love.
To take the words of Hanuman:
When I don’t know who I am, I serve Her.
When I know who I am, I am Her.
With love,
V
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Working with me
If you’re wanting to do any of the following then reach out to me:
live with more courage,
discover and speak your truth confidently,
understand your emotions and your patterns,
set boundaries with family members and others,
deepen your relationship to yourself and your partner
Beautiful my love. So honoured to be walking by your side. Love you xx
Incredible wisdom here