1,000 Awakenings #7 with Lisa Miller

I first met Lisa when she wandered into my yoga studio and signed herself and her daughter up for private yoga sessions. Her daughter didn’t stick around but Lisa did. She even decided to embark on a yoga teacher training with me.

I’ve always been inspired by Lisa and her commitment to learning, her love of play, her wicked sense of humor, and how healing doesn’t always have to be this painful and arduous process. Lisa is deeply engaged in this party called Life. She invites all of us to lean in and take an active role of leading in all areas of life.

I trust that you’ll enjoy getting to know this wise and witty woman who I adore so much. Sharon

What does it mean to you to live an awakened life?

To be aware of the peaks AND pits while I’m living them, and to know how transient each of those experiences are. To not walk blindly through everyday miracles. To focus on the big picture and try as much as I can to NOT sweat the small stuff. To tell people I love, that I love them. To love people, animals, and this planet, while in a human body, inhabiting it. To look up! To love this quirky, strong, vulnerable, soft, magical human body. To continue to cultivate a relationship with Higher Power.

What put you on the path of awakening?

Those life peaks and pits, and noticing how quickly they can change. Emerging from childhood trauma with wisdom, perspective, and grit.

In my 20’s I read Marlo Morgan’s, Mutant Message Down Under, a true story of an American woman’s “walk about” with Aboriginal elders in the Australian Outback—it moved me deeply, was so strange, and yet it felt so familiar… It was a few years later that I would witness an energy healing session for a suicidal friend—that CHANGED me deeply: I needed to understand the meaning of “metaphysical” and read everything I could, and became certified in hands-on-healing techniques myself. I learned and FELT how everything is energy—from toasters, to plants, to human cells, to thoughts and beliefs.

In 2000, I began study and apprenticeship with a renowned Medicine Woman who is still my beloved mentor today.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone about deepening their connection to themselves and their spirituality?

I would say this: Whatever creative outlet it is that you love to spend time doing, enjoying, being with, is THE very place of the expansion of your spirit. That is where you will always find, explore, feel, and come to know more intimately, the depth of your own soul. That is where Creator finds it easier to connect with and communicate with you.

If you could wave a magic wand and everyone on planet earth would wake up with one quality or ability, what would that be?

A fascination with the miracle of being a spiritual being living a human experience—because then, not only would each of us come closer to seeing ourselves (more of the day) with more clarity, value, and Light, we would see each other more dimensionally too.

What’s the biggest difference in yourself from your pre-awakened state and your current awakened state?

Age and maturity. And I’m now smart enough to know that I don’t know anything.

What would constitute a perfect day to you? Can you describe it for us?

Fresh trees and green-grass air, bird song, delicious fresh food (including chocolate, of course), family laughing and telling stories (and every one is in a good mood ALL day), a massage, making art, feeling useful in service in my dharma, making exciting plans, laughing and making others laugh (did I mention laughter?), feeling happy to be alive.

Do you have a favorite book you can recommend to readers?

Since I just mentioned Mutant Message Down Under, I’d love to recommend it here. Tell me how and if it resonated with you, dear reader.

Also, the one I just wrote: The Heart of Leadership for Women: Cultivating a Sacred Space. It’s a love letter to and from the call to lead. Though it’s written with a bad-ass feminine voice (you heard me!), readers of every gender will appreciate it because we all embody both feminine and masculine sensibilities. And heart.

What’s the best way for folks to connect with you? Include website and/or social handles or any other ways of connecting.

You can visit my website and connect with me on Facebook.

Tell us a little about yourself…

I live in Kentucky; I’m a mind-body health specialist with an integrative career of two decades as a facilitator and teacher in: Indigenous energy medicine, interfaith chaplaincy, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, as the founder and former CEO of a non-profit for healthy body image, and, as the spouse of a recovering politician.

Humor and a light-heart are essential life ingredients. And ice cream. I make art, write, and watch A LOT of good and bad television.