Follow the Whispers of Your Heart
Written by friend of Pacific Essences Mitra Atma
“This place is killing you.”
The inner voice spoke clearly and lovingly. I sat in my favourite chair by the window as I watched the icy fog blow across the bleak valley in March 2025. The scene was a reflection of my innerscape. Additionally, my body was thawing and hurting from a walk that once again left me more sore with my injury than before I went for the walk.
Almost four years earlier, I had relocated to Newfoundland. I felt called for a few years to return to the place I was born and it seemed to be a sound choice for my retirement as well. There were celebrations with family, moments of closeness and a few deep connections. Yet whenever I tried to do my soul work, major disruptions would arise, preventing the work. I tried to find my people. I showed up and the communities I encountered felt closed and cautious. I hosted one yoga workshop that was luminous and well-received. Still, my soul ached.
In February 2025, I went to Vancouver Island to sit once more within the community that had sustained me for over fifteen years. I returned to Newfoundland held by the warmth that comes from being truly seen and cared for, only to be met with an emotional winter. The contrast was stark. I immediately got clear on where I stood with my partner and ended the relationship. In the space that followed, a whisper was calling me home to the west coast. I resisted - the resources required seemed formidable, already depleted from the move across the country only four years earlier. I feared for the impact on my retirement.
Newfoundland, for all its beauty, is not gentle on a body with a movement impairment. On that icy March day, I drove to Cape Spear, seeking bare land that rolled easily rather than challenged me. Hours later, as I sat in my favourite chair, the inner voice spoke, “This place is killing you.” No fear, only clarity and love. My heart was clearly calling me home. I felt the energy of love and truth in every cell of my being. As we say in Kundalini Yoga, “Ang sang, Wahe Guru”.
At first I shared this with no one. I began looking at Vancouver Island houses for sale online, farther north where prices somewhat softened. I fretted still about my resources and retirement, the future. Maybe the fourth or fifth day of looking at listings, the inner voice spoke clearly again, “Look in Sooke!” I did - and the possibilities opened!
Anxiety surfaced, along with a quiet shame that the move to Newfoundland was a failure. Still, beneath it all ran a deeper current of trust. Friends on the west coast appeared like angels in moments when help was needed. Timelines bent to bring me back to this beautiful island where I have healed so many wounds, and became a healer myself.
I made an offer on a house that initially fell through. The spring weather in Newfoundland remained icy and uninviting. My house was almost packed up when I made another offer on the house I desired - with the housing market on southern Vancouver Island, this was nothing short of a miracle! Even my realtor was shaking her head, saying, “This house waited for you!”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Universe!” I felt like a woman overboard who was just thrown a life preserver. My friends were so excited. The anxiety was replaced by gratitude and joy. I stayed with one of my friends - a safe place to land with my pets - and steadied my heart once again. Less than a week later, on July 5, I took possession of my new home.
My home is now on the Sooke River, with the limbs of the ancient forest reaching and bending over my backyard. It feels like they bless me with every breath of air. I receive everyday miracles. I know, for possibly the first time in my life, I am home. I belong.
My friend, I implore you, please follow the whispers of your heart. It may not feel courageous in the moment. In fact, it may feel outrageous! You do not become brave by being fearless; you become courageous by leaning into the fear, and following the inner compass. Trusting the guidance and the process will prepare the soil in the garden of your heart, the synchronicities will sprout when alignment happens and the garden of the heart will blossom into anything beyond your wildest imagination in flowers of good will, community, joy, gratitude, love, humility, presence, bliss and beauty. It is a self-reflection of your beautiful authenticity, your true self.
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Mitra Atma is a retired Canadian veteran who weaves together Ayurveda, yoga, mindfulness, and energy medicine to support healing, clarity, and reconnection to the self. She is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counsellor and Panchakarma Bodyworker, an Ayurvedic and Kundalini Yoga Teacher, a Re-Write Your Life Certified Coach, and a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher.
Away from her practice, Mitra feels most at home on forested ocean paths, walking slowly and listening deeply, with her pug-tzu Prem padding happily beside her.