The Devotion of Returning Inward

On the quiet work of clearing blocks, creating connection, and remembering we are Source

This morning I woke up at 4 am and sat in meditation. The house was still, the air cool, and I found myself reflecting on the harvest from yesterday: the abundance in my garden, the conversations with friends, the small moments that stitched the day together. As I settled into my seat, I let a simple practice take over: sending love to the people in my life. One by one, faces came to mind, and I offered a quiet blessing. It did not feel like an achievement or a technique, just an honest gesture. In that stillness, I ended up connecting with dear friends who were also early risers, and I was moved to write these words before the sun came up.

I share this because I know how easy it is to live as if we are cut off from the very source of our lives. I have seen it in myself, and I have seen it in leaders and executives whose brilliance on paper is undermined by an inner scarcity: not a lack of money or resources, but a lack of perspective, creativity, and connection. The mind loops the same strategies, the heart closes a little more, and life feels smaller even as the responsibilities grow. I recognize it because I have lived it.

What devotion asks of us is surprisingly simple. It asks us to stop and remember that we are not just consumers of experience, but creators of it. That we are not separate from source, but participants in it. For me, devotion looks like a hand on the heart and a pause before the day begins. It is not grand, but it changes everything. In that moment, I can ask myself what experience I long for today. Not in terms of productivity or outcomes, but in terms of feeling: more joy, more serendipity, more ease, more wonder. The act of naming those qualities shifts something inside me, and life has a way of responding in kind.

It still feels uncomfortable at times to speak the language of creation out loud. It can feel naïve, even indulgent. Yet every time I return to the practice, I remember that reality is porous and responsive. The energy I bring is the energy that returns. When I orient toward connection, opportunities to connect show up. When I orient toward wonder, the ordinary feels alive again.

These past weeks of self-care and intentional practice, of fasting, of yoga and qigong, and of sitting in complete darkness, have reminded me that the miraculous does not arrive from somewhere else. It reveals itself when I allow myself to tune back to the frequency of my own being. It is always here, waiting for me to notice.

This is the heart of the Last 5 Percent. For high achievers, the final edge is rarely about learning more strategies or pushing harder. It is about softening into the practices that reconnect us with what is already here. It is about unblocking the places inside that have grown rigid, so that creativity and connection can flow again. The paradox is that the very part of us that got us this far often resists the practices that will carry us home.

So I write this as an invitation. Before the day sweeps you into its demands, try pausing. Place a hand on your heart. Ask yourself what you want to feel more of. Say it out loud. Let it guide you. Not because the words are magic, but because the act of remembering is.

Again and again, I find that when I live from this place, the world responds differently. Not always easily, but always faithfully. And when I forget, the practice is waiting for me to begin again.

Thank you for walking this path with me. I hope your practice, however simple, brings you closer to the magic already woven into your life.

From the heart,

Shasheen

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If you’ve read all the way down here, thank you. I don’t take it for granted.

Part of what I’m learning is that we heal in relationship, not in isolation. So if anything in this piece landed for you—if it made you pause, smile, or feel a little less alone—I’d be grateful if you tapped the ❤️, left a comment, or passed it along.

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