Life is inherently full of ups and downs. Good times and hard ones. Things that go our way and others that don’t.
The desire to have certainty and to feel a sense of control is a natural human response to stress, challenges, and the unknown. But living a Spirit-led life means developing a relationship of trust with your higher power. And, inherent in a relationship of trust, is releasing control and surrendering to the flow of life.
This often feels easier said than done.
The irony is that when we develop trust and faith in spite of our outer conditions, we can experience more peace and less stress and pain in our lives. Trusting the Universe won’t take away all of your challenges, but it will allow you to move through life with a sense of groundedness and ease.
What does it mean to trust the Universe?
Before we can talk about how to trust the Universe and why it’s important, we have to define what trust means. We have to decide what exactly we trust the Universe to do and not do.
Trust is defined as the belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of. So what can we rely on the Universe for? Where in our lives can we find evidence of the truth, ability, and strength of the Universe?
For me, I have trust that my higher power (the Universe, Spirit, God, etc.) will never harm me and that we have a relationship that is safe and loving. This doesn’t mean the Universe will relieve me of all of my suffering or stop anything bad from happening to me.
Instead, it means that I can trust the Universe to help me navigate my suffering and challenges. That I can trust it to give me exactly what I need, even when it isn’t exactly what I want. This is what I know I can reliably trust the Universe to do.
How to start trusting the Universe
Do you trust the reliability of the Universe? If you struggle with trust, sometimes it helps to start by just entertaining the idea of it.
By simply being willing to set your distrust temporarily aside. Think of it like an experiment. Can you spend 30 days assuming the Universe has your back and just see what happens?
In order to begin developing a trusting relationship with your higher power and learning how to let go, you have to give it a chance!
Start by writing down the ways in which you trust the Universe (or the ways in which you would like to). Take inventory of your current relationship with Spirit and ask yourself if you are letting your own WILLfulness get in the way. Often when we can’t trust, it’s because we’re being willful.
Are you willing to surrender your will to the power of the Universe? This is where releasing control comes in.
Accepting the fact that we’re not in control can be scary, but on the other side of this surrender is so much more peace and freedom.
A prayer for trusting the Universe
In order to let go and trust the Universe, we have to get out of our own way.
Meditation and prayer offer us a path to make this possible. If I’m struggling with trust and a desire to control, I like to use this prayer and meditate on it:
This prayer helps me meditate on the sense of the Universe working through me as if it is a great artist and I am the paintbrush.
Using Meditation to help trust the Universe
When it comes to practical steps and spiritual tools to help you trust the Universe, meditation is the absolute best. Meditation helps us quiet the chatter of our minds and tune out the outer world to get in touch with our highest selves.
Meditation helps silence thoughts of stress, overwhelm, doubt, and fear so we can reach a place of trust. I love using guided meditation for anxiety, and to help quiet the mind and learn to trust yourself and the Universe.
There are many forms of meditation you can use to strengthen your relationship with Spirit and find trust, but guided visual journeys are especially helpful for bypassing the subconscious mind and overcoming thoughts and beliefs standing in the way of a feeling of deep trust.
This guided meditation album is specifically formulated with 70 minutes of inspiring and healing meditations to help you trust the Universe and yourself. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to strengthen their trust in the Universe.
On a recent episode of my new podcast, INSIDE THE WOONIVERSE, I had the pleasure of talking to Gabby Bernstein – spiritual teacher and New York Times Bestselling author. Gabby literally wrote the book on trusting the Universe in her book, The Universe Has Your Back.
In this episode, Gabby shares some great insight about our relationship to the Universe and how to feel connected to Spirit. Click here to listen to the episode…
Developing your trust in the Universe
At the end of the day, it’s so important to keep in mind that your relationship to the Universe is just that, a relationship. And just like every relationship, it can change and evolve with time.
With intention and practice, you can turn your relationship with your higher power into one of beautiful trust and faith. A meditation practice and a willingness to put aside your distrust for a little while is the perfect place to start.
How do you trust the Universe?
What steps do you take to strengthen your trust in the Universe? Leave a comment and let me know what you currently do or what you plan to do. I love reading your thoughtful and inspiring comments!
Exactly what I needed to hear!
Thank you:)
awesome! what was your favorite takeaway form this, Diane? 💗
Laid off from a job that I loved so When I got up in the morning , “I heard the Universe has your back ” and then I received your e-mail Wow Synchronicity…
And I do own the book “The Universe has your back “by Gabby
It’s the timing of your e-mail and it’s message 🙂
that’s so wonderful! glad that you’re paying attention to the signs! 💖💖
Hello my good friend, I am a Buddhist member and I do my morning Gongyo prayers every day to surrender myself and put my trust in this Universe we are lucky to experience life in. I also work with your collection of Oracle Cards too.
I witness everyday the great results of my daily outcome with the people around me. My feelings are “Sh–” did I do that? followed by a smile. Thank you Colette for this share.
thank YOU for sharing that with me, Susan! that made me smile too! 😉💜
I am meditating every day now. I enjoy the guided meditations the best. My stress & anxiety has come way down thanks to my daily meditation practice. Thanks Collette for guiding & helping me!! Lots of love ❤️
love that! what’s your favorite guided meditation, Kathryn? 💗
I say the Serenity Prayer 🙌🏼🥰. I mean, yes, I have a consistent meditation practice as well, but when I find myself getting consistently anxious over an outcome I want to happen, Serenity Prayer it is.
love that! thank you for sharing this with us, Kathy! 💗
By taking time to journal and write poetry, walks in nature, have awe in sunrises and sunsets and seeing the green of spring I feel the universe and my guides sharing my journey no matter what. Through my rougher moments being able to say this is not what I choose right now but I am okay and will be even better. I will survive and thrive if I give up the control I never had
“this is not what I choose right now but I am okay and will be even better” this is such an awesome affirmation! loving your energy! 💖💖💖
Im cracking. Ar age 49, being a Spiritual junky since I was 16, this is a bit scary. I think only hope, with all the drama and trauma in my life at this moment, that I will come out as happy and connected to my Self as you two are. Blessings to you both.
take your time and trust the Universe, Jacqueline! you are not alone in this! sending you so much love right now! 💖💖
Thank you for sharing and it definitely is harder said then done at times. The surrendering is the challenge for me because it feels like everything will fall apart but that is when I need to have faith in the Universe. Also not feeling like I need to have all the answers and “fix it” all myself – trusting the Universe loves and supports me is an everyday challenge.
oh yes! it can be hard to do BUT know that the Universe is open to welcoming you with open arms! you just have to take the first step, Caroline! 💖💖💖
Whenever I’m lost ,I ask my guides to take over and show me a solution
And they never fail to amaze me.💗
Thankyou collette as your my daily reminder to always trust
love that you’re not afraid to ask for help, Nik! 💖💖
Thank you for this beautiful prayer 🙏. One of the hardest things for me to do was give up control..thy will be done. I’m better at it now. You have been a valuable teacher in this regard. Much gratitude to you 🤗. And love ❤️
you’re welcome! glad that you found your way to this blog! definitely take your time, it might not be easy but you CAN do it! 💞💞💞
Several weeks ago I started a daily meditation practice, I prefer guided meditations best as I have a monkey mind. I am currently using the 2 free weeks on Hay House Audio and love your Healing Meditation Journey and several of the Kyle Gray meditations, especially starting the day with angels. I had been feeling quite low and am feeling more positive and optimistic since starting the daily meditating. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us.
glad that the meditations have been helpful, Tara! keep on going! 💞💞
I have a beautiful altar and I have been meditating every morning for 10 months. It is the best part of my day. I am in Oracle school and has transformed my life. Thank you for all the guidance and I love all the podcast. Beautiful.
that makes me so happy, Anita! what changes have you noticed in your daily life? 💗
I’ve just recently become a member and I’ve been so happy with what i’ve been learning and i’ve finally found where I was meant to be. This right here was exactly what I needed to see (again) I read it briefly the other day and acknowledge it, but there was a situation today and when I got in I saw it again. So yes Spirit I know your with me and I trust you. Thank you for being “in my face” when I need you to be
“i’ve been learning and i’ve finally found where I was meant to be” hearing you say this makes me so happy, Kelly! and great job on on putting in the work! so proud of you! 💖💖💖
I replenish myself with meditation every day also spend time every day quietly listening to the songs of the many birds in my yard. I’m always humbled by the wonder of how they communicate & how great is the Divine.
that sounds so lovely, Geri! 💖💖💖
I’ve been flexing my trust muscles this week as inner child work is presenting itself in a deeper way during meditation. Encouraged by your interview with Gabby and sparked by a curriculum of self love, I’m experiencing integration and honoring of all kinds of memories with more neutrality. When I used your Get On Your Bird meditation, a beautiful white swan picked me up, we flew above the issues of the day and I experienced a shift in perspective. I can witness and release the feelings while embracing my innocence, wonder and adventurous Spirit. It’s time to be healed! YAY!
Thank you Colette, Mavens and CBR community!
yay! you are so loved, Kate! 💖💖💖
Colette,
I’m writing this in the echoes of the Angels & Oracles event with you and Kyle Gray. While I meant to write about my experience earlier my attention has been divided by numerous things: a seemingly dead-end job, witnessing the terrible events in Ukraine and how it seems to be mirroring events of history (it has been said that history doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, but it often rhymes!), ongoing injustices in my country, and the continuing pandemic. While there have been similar events in the past like the ones, I have listed right now it seems that they are all happening at the same time. I have written in your blog in the past that I believe the trials in our life are like a college course: if you fail the course you get to take it over again, especially if you need it to graduate. Each time you retake the course you have to repay the tuition and it may be monetarily, physically, mentally, and/or emotionally.
I remember in one of your circle sessions shortly after the beginning of the hostilities in Ukraine that as you meditated and prayed on the matter an angel appeared to you and conveyed the message: TRUST. Given the implications if things spiral out of control and escalate it is a difficult task to trust and to let go, so this is why this blog entry is so timely. Over the past decade or so we have witnessed the nature of humans when others are in need. From the hurricanes and earthquakes in the Caribbean to refugees fleeing disasters and conflicts in their own countries. Many of these things went out of mind with the renewal of each news cycle. Then we were hit with a pandemic and the whole world stopped and all of the deficiencies in society were exposed. Health care is disproportionately distributed, education resources are unequal, and many jobs that we rely on for the lifestyle that is maintained are taken for granted, we witnessed a man suffocated by those meant to serve and protect, and then on top of that we are observing the annihilation of an entire country for no reason other than their existence. Oh, and while all of these things are going on we are exerting a change in the climate of the planet we all live on. It seems that each time the Universe keeps turning up the volume to see if we will listen. Out of all of these events I have learned four things that seem to be true: 1. The capacity of human beings to inflict suffering on one another is appalling; 2. Tyranny among humans is universal and ANYONE can be preyed upon; 3. In the face of tyranny people will fight back; 4. Allies are essential.
Given seeing these things it’s been very difficult for me to trust, but why would an angel come to you and give you that message if it weren’t a true solution? Who are we supposed to trust? With the list above it’s hard to trust other human beings right now. As I have been going through all of these things, I have formed a relationship with a woman in Ukraine. At the time I had met Julia online the events that are happening now weren’t even imaginable. There was the fighting in Donbas and Crimea but nothing on the scale there is today. People were still visiting the country and life was going on as normal. As I continued to correspond with Julia (I started called her Jules) we piqued each other’s interest: I liked the way she looked at things and for some reason she liked the way I looked at things. I had planned to take a trip to visit her a few months after we had met. The timing had to be coordinated because her work took her all over the country. While she enjoys fashion and city life, she would often go to the country just to get away and meditate. In her free time, she would tell me of stories of her visiting an orphanage taking toys and clothes to the children in need. She would also talk of rescuing abandoned pets that she would take to animal shelters. She sent me a photo of two little dogs that she had bundled up and are sitting on her lap. I thought to myself, “I don’t know why this woman has been brought to my life, but I’m not worthy!” While I did think like this, I knew that she had been brought into my life for a reason, perhaps to teach me about the compassion she has for others that for her seems to come naturally. When we finally agreed on a time to meet that is when COVID started and for two years the prospects of a visit anytime soon were unlikely. As the veil of COVID looked like it was lifting the clouds of war started to gather. I tried to warn her to prepare to leave and list the possible exits from the country. While I can have that Daffy Duck energy at times, she has the calming reassurance that everything would be okay. No one in Ukraine, it seemed, believed that Russia would attack on such a scale. After all, Russian was spoken widely in many parts of the country, commerce was done across the border every day, and many people in Russia had relatives in Ukraine. When I saw the first bombs hit I tried to reach Jules, but nothing was heard. As has been shown the Ukrainian people are very resourceful and I imagined her helping with getting families and pets to the border, or maybe caring for children who were at the refugee centers while their mothers took time to relax and process the events. Maybe she was caring for the pets that were trying to escape the war like the people were. I figured that she would be using those skills that she told me about, but I still worried. One week past and then two. There were pictures being shown of the events in country and I watched to see if maybe I could see her but then hoping that I wouldn’t because of the horrendous things that were happening to families and people just trying to get to safety.
It was about that time that I saw the Angels and Oracles event. With everything happening around me I didn’t think too much of it, but then I remember Oraclepalooza last summer that I didn’t sign up for until the last minute and it was the most fulfilling event I had been to in a long time. When you and Kyle signed on were wearing your usual infectious smile and Kyle had an upbeat and positive tone. Having been to a few of your events I was expecting the wisdom of the messages delivered in a down to earth manner, but Kyle had a delivery as maybe someone you would meet every day and not expect that wisdom from, like the neighborhood barber or a delivery man. The cliché is, “It’s not what you say but how you say it”, and people can be more receptive to messages depending on how they’re delivered. With both of your deliveries at least for me the messages were well received and just what I needed at the time. As the event continued, I received many cledons from those being read. I liked the woman who asked about her “party cannon” and which way to shoot it. I also remember one woman was told to “write a book”. With the entries that I have made on your blogs I probably have enough material for a book or two, but I digress. I had my hand up for a reading, not expecting to be chosen, but apparently the Universe wanted me to get a direct message about my Jules. By the time I was brought to stage that was the only question I had left that wasn’t addressed in cledons. When you asked me about my question I asked you if Julia was okay. While of course I wanted to know what were the prospects for romance I would just be happy to know that she was okay. When you started to describe the events going on in her life and that she was at a crossroads and things were “exploding” around her you probably didn’t realize that it was in the literal sense, until I told you that she was in Ukraine. I didn’t know if you would eventually ask the question given the messages you were receiving but I decided to offer it up so that the context was clear. It was to my relief that you told me that she was okay and that she would have to decide if she wanted to enter into a field of community service, something that she is well suited for. I was happy to receive the message but I was still a bit concerned because I still hadn’t heard from her. While you assured me that I would I was still seeing the raw photos of death and despair coming out of country. About a week later, my prayers were answered; I heard from Jules! While I recognized that she was a bit “busy” over the past few weeks she assured me that she was okay. She was doing the very things that I imagined her doing: caring for refugees and animals. She had some choice words for Pootin, but I won’t repeat those here 😛 I had written here several letters over the weeks when I didn’t hear from her so she told me that she was elated to be able to sit and read those as an escape (and yes, some were as long as this one 😛 ). I know that people have things that are important to them. Some value their jewels, but no one can value their jewels as much as I value my Jules. 🙂
You and Kyle had given messages of hope during the A&O event and I thank you for the work you both do. After the event I did see angel numbers frequently, mainly 11:11 and 1:11, like in your last blog. I also experienced heightened perception, something I had written about before. I will be sitting at my desk or doing a task and a line from a song or a movie or TV show would pop into my head, and shortly after, withing 30-45 minutes I would see that show or hear that song playing somewhere. Before when it happened I would write down what the song/movie/phrase was, but since it hasn’t happened in a while I neglected to do so this time. If I hear them again I will do so. I also listened to a sermon from my parent’s church. The pastor was talking about the Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives and the power of prayer. The sermon was about “trusting” that your prayers are heard and answered in a way that is best for you, but not always the way you want. I started to detect a distinct pattern between your angel’s message of “Trust”, your personal message of trust when it comes to Jules, and this message of trust that came from the pastor. As mentioned before, many times it’s not what you say but how you say it, and to hear the message in many different forms I will learn to trust, to “let go and let God”, “Thy will be done”, and how many other forms of the message I’ve heard over the last few weeks. I plan to use your meditations as well as the Serenity prayer: God, grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot change…Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference. As with many of us it’s hard to let go, but I think eventually we will be shown that we’re not really as in control of things on this planet as we think we are and while it will come as a shock to some it’s something that us in the Woo Crew knew all along.
Again, sorry for this being as long as it is. Like I said before, it just comes out. I don’t know if I’m channeling this stuff but when it comes out, it comes out. I’m just so glad that I have a forum that I can go to that I can share it with when it does. Thank you for the work that you do, and I hope that all of the Woo Crew feel my gratitude!
Best wishes,
Eric
big love Eric its always a pleasure to read your thoughts.. they will help so many xoxo
One my favorite personal affirmations is: “I am wonderful, I am beautiful, the Universe loves me and it always has my back.” Thanks to Gabby for that last bit. It’s easier to trust when I KNOW I’m well loved…something I didn’t have for most of my life.
well I’m glad that you know NOW that you are so loved, Valerie! don’t let anyone make you think that you are not! 💖💖💖💖
Thank you for this. I have been on this path for over 2 years now . I struggle with trust in the Universe. Every time I see a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel I seem to think the darn tunnel gets further away. Yes its all for my good Yes its to allow me to grow. Yes if I just breathe it will be ok. But some days are harder than others. That relax and allow & just trust can be challenging. Thanks
oh yes, absolutely! some days can be harder than others! but always remind yourself of why you’re doing this. you are SO loved, Laura! 💖