86 🌿 Finding Your Middle Way: A Soulful Path to Balance in a Chaotic World

In a world that often feels too loud, fast, or heavy, there is a quiet path calling your name. 

It's not paved with perfection. It doesn’t require a Himalayan retreat or the right shade of meditation cushion. It begins right where you are — in the middle of your very human, very sacred life.

This is the Middle Way.

Rooted in Buddhist philosophy, the Middle Way was the path the Buddha discovered after experiencing both extreme luxury and extreme deprivation. He found enlightenment not through extremes but through balance — through the middle. Not too much. Not too little. A way of living that honors both spirit and form, soul and schedule, heart and habit.

And what I’ve come to realize, after decades of intuitive work and a few deeply humbling personal lessons, is this:

We each have our own Middle Way.

It’s not something you achieve once and hold on to forever. It’s a rhythm. A returning. A practice. And right now, it might just be the medicine your soul craves.

Step 1: Mindfulness — The Gentle Art of Noticing

Mindfulness isn’t just for meditation mats or yoga retreats. It lives in the grocery store aisle, how we breathe between conversations, and how we chew our food or walk down the street.

One of my favorite ways to practice mindfulness is simply by noticing. Pausing. Breathing. Even when I’m dodging carts at the market, I let myself slow down and laugh a little — especially when my inner 12-year-old decides she’s on an obstacle course.

Mindfulness doesn’t have to be grand. It just has to be real.

Step 2: Letting Go — Because You Don’t Have to Carry It Anymore

There’s an old Buddhist story about two monks encountering a woman who needs help crossing a river. One monk picks her up and carries her across, even though it breaks a vow. The other monk is horrified and can’t stop talking about it. Eventually, the first monk says, “I set her down at the edge of the river. Why are you still carrying her?”

That story has stayed with me through many years.

There are things we carry that we were meant to set down — anger, expectations, guilt, stories that no longer match who we are. Your Middle Way begins to open when you gently place them down. You don’t need to carry everything anymore.

Step 3: Simplicity — Creating Space for the Sacred

Here’s a personal share: I recently moved from a large shared home into 500 square feet with someone I’ve known for 25 years. Let’s just say we had… a few chairs. Twenty-two to be exact. Most of them his. (I called him a cute little packrat — with love, of course.)

As we let go of the excess, a sense of peace returned. Simplicity, I’ve learned, isn’t just about clearing space — it’s about making room for your soul to stretch out and breathe.

I’ve always had this knowing when it comes to things and chairs, as the example––I can only sit in one chair at a time. 

Ask yourself: If a fire came, what would you want to save? What would you gladly leave behind? That’s hard as I think of the people who have lost so much in fires, floods, and heavy rains. Save your life, first and foremost. Prayers to all of them…

Step 4: Compassion — The Soft Power of the Heart

If the world needs anything right now, it’s compassion — especially the kind that starts with you.

When we cultivate compassion, we create a safe, nurturing home inside ourselves. That’s where your intuition blooms. That’s where clarity lives.

Even a few moments of Loving-Kindness Meditation or placing your hand over your heart and whispering, “You’re doing your best,” can shift your entire energy field.

Step 5: Consistency and Adaptability — The Dance of Devotion

Your Middle Way isn’t rigid. It’s rhythmic. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to keep showing up.

Pick one practice. One small daily return to yourself — even if it’s a breath, a moment with a cup of tea, or checking in with your heart at the end of the day.

And when life changes, bend with it. The most spiritually grounded people I know aren’t stiff — they’re fluid. Their devotion isn’t to control but to stay in a relationship with what’s real.

A Final Blessing

You don’t have to do this all at once. Start where you are. Maybe today, you breathe a little more deeply. Maybe tomorrow, you can donate that extra chair. Perhaps this weekend, you will find the space to forgive someone — maybe even yourself.

The Middle Way is already within you.

May it rise to meet your feet.
May balance be your birthright.
And may peace — true peace — find its home in you.

With love,
Laura