At this time of year, we usually take the time to pause and honor our mothers—the women who birthed us, raised us, and shaped us.

I'm fortunate that my wonderful mother is still with us — and I've just enjoyed a Mother's Day lunch with her at the Hilton in Sedona, Arizona. That's where I took this picture of the marvelous bronze statue that sits in the entrance way -- Hopi Woman by sculptor, Martha Pettigrew. I've seen it several times before but today, its round, soft shapes that hold a sturdy power resonated so with this month's newsletter topic swirling in my mind that I stopped and said, "This is the image I was looking for!"

Against the backdrop of the last several months here in the US, I’m feeling called to shift the focus from a personal celebration of my own mother to something deeper, something larger  — to the feminine field  — the great mothering energy in the universe.

Growing up, I spent my early years in awe of my father and his wonderful capacity to think and act in a clear, rational way. He was a charismatic speaker and leader, and I believed that his strong, benevolent masculine presence was the ultimate example of how to be. My mother, a good minister’s wife, always deferred to his wishes and I knew I could not emulate her, so I modeled myself after him.

Reflecting back, I did not realize there was any other way to be in the world. Unknowingly, I was blind to my feminine side. To me, power had to do with one’s capacity to take action, direct, set goals and move forward actively.

In my twenties, as I began to explore bodywork and therapeutic healing, I had an incredible session in which I re-experienced my own birth.

During this transformative experience, I found myself enveloped by this warm energetic oceanic presence. I got to experience the feeling of resting on the soft belly of a huge and powerful mother, her nurturing vitality completely surrounding me.

This was different from anything I had previously defined as strength. Initially I was overwhelmed by the intensity of the sensations rippling through me. All around me was this infinite sense of palpable softness—there was nothing hard to push against or resist, and yet it felt far more potent than anything I had ever encountered.

In that moment, I realized that I had mistakenly believed that the focused thrust of male energy defined power for me. It was the only model I knew. I could not remember ever feeling this wide diffuse kind of energy emanating from anyone, male or female, in my life. Even the successful women I knew used left-brained masculine energy to exercise control in their worlds.

When I finally understood the strength and power in the soft, mothering energy that I had not appreciated until then, everything changed for me.

This experience has had ramifications in every area of my life, and will, I am sure, continue to inform me for the rest of my life.

This is what I want to honor this May: the great mothering energy of the universe. This is not about a holiday card or bouquet of flowers.

This is about what it means to nourish life at its root – at its source. About tending to the deeper needs of our bodies, our communities, and our planet.

In a world that feels very masculine, fractured, chaotic, and spinning out of control — we don’t just need more information or more speed.

We need more connection. We need the soft, powerful feminine.

If you have taken my Healing the Pelvic Core workshop, you’ll know that I always quote Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations in the opening lecture.

He said, “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.”

He was right. And I would add: the empowerment of the feminine field — in all of us — is what brings us back home to ourselves.

Whether you identify as a woman or not, we all hold the capacity for nurturing, grounding, holding, healing, and restoring.

These are not luxuries. They are survival skills for our time.

And when we cultivate these qualities, everything changes:

• Our nervous systems begin to settle.

• Our relationships soften and deepen.

• Our purpose becomes clearer.

• We begin to know — at a soul level — what is ours to do.

This is the foundation of all my work — whether through Healing From the Core, my live meditations, or the Healing the Pelvic Core workshop.

It begins with grounding. With filling. With listening.

And from there, we rise.