Loto Journal
An evolving exploration of consciousness, spirituality, relationship, and what it means to flourish together.
Through personal storytelling and curious inquiry, we explore consciousness and the Self, contemplative spirituality and mysticism, psychology and somatic healing, creativity and relationship, and our connection with nature and the living world. Along the way, our Founder, Jennifer, shares letters from her travels as a digital nomad, exploring the people, places, traditions, and sacred landscapes that continue to shape her journey.
Reader’s Note: In an attempt to bring a conscious sense of responsibility to our language (where inclusivity and equality matter), in our Loto Wellness Collective blog content, except for direct quotes, the pronouns often used for God are They/Them in reference to Great Spirit, the I AM, the Universe. Also, we have taken the liberty of capitalizing the term “True Self” or “Self” so you will know that we are not referring to the “false self” (psychological egoic self), but the foundational Self that we are in God, Imago Dei.
Learning to Receive
Am I willing to need other people—and am I willing to let them contribute to my life?
At the Threshold of Renewal
Learning How to Eat, PRAY, Love—Part 2
Mothering
As the tears came, so did the truth: even grown women need mothering.
Wisdom of the Forest Dweller
North Americans spend over 93 percent of their waking hours indoors or in cars (and the other 7 percent is spent walking between buildings and cars). And while there is an extraordinary exuberance and diversity of wild plant and animal life dwelling in our midst, still the urban environment is inhospitable to the majority of species on our shared planet. Regular—or any—experience of deep wilderness is missing from most of our modern lives. Without such contact, our radiant mental and physical intelligences are being diminished.
The Slow Path Back to God: Why Contemplation Still Matters
Contemplative prayer flips that whole dynamic. It’s less “Lord, do something” and more “Lord, show me what is already true.” It’s less striving, more surrender. Less performance, more Presence. Less noise, more spaciousness.
The Returning: The Way of the Ascetic
The Ascetic pathway is for those who encounter the Divine not through abundance, but through simplicity. Not through stimulation, but through stillness. Not through addition, but through the sacred work of subtraction.
Finding My True Self
From a depth psychology standpoint, these perspective shifts have helped me to die to my false self, my egocentric way of living, sleepwalking through my life on auto-pilot. My experiences with these medicines have helped me spiritually awaken to my True Self and engage with the indwelling Holy Spirit in new life-giving ways.
Walking in the Way: The Desert Mothers and Fathers
The Desert Fathers and Mothers were early Christian mystics and ascetics in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, who lived in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Arabia, renouncing the world to follow God's call. “Desert Mother” is a feminist theological neologism that compares these women to the Desert Fathers.
Meditation & Contemplative Prayer: Learning to Be Present
At Loto, we approach contemplative practice as an invitation into presence rather than an attempt to achieve a particular spiritual state. Meditation does not require eliminating our thoughts, escaping the body, or becoming perfectly calm.
Instead, we practice noticing.
We notice the breath.
The body.
Our thoughts and emotions.
The world around us.
The Sacred moving within and through it all.
Contemplative practice can create space between stimulus and response, deepen our capacity for awareness, and help us become more present to our lived experience. For those who understand meditation as spiritual practice, it can also become a way of listening—of becoming increasingly receptive to Wisdom, Love, God, Life, or however we name the Mystery beyond ourselves.
The invitation is not to escape the present moment—It is to become more fully available to it.
Contributors & Collaborators
Loto Living and Loto Journal, would not be possible without the ongoing support and generous contributions from an incredible team of contributors, collaborators, and our Desert Mothers.