Join Us for A Pillar of Light: The Living Art of Being Divine & Human
Upcoming Retreat
Dates: Thursday March 12th, 4:30pm through lunchtime/1:00pm on Sunday March 15th
Location: Vajra Vidya Retreat Center, Crestone, CO. 81131
This retreat is about bridging the worlds, learning how to walk in this life with an open heart and an awakening mind, living in harmony with what is, and gently closing the gap between being an embodied human and a being of light and presence. The practices will be about enjoying and caring for this raw and beautiful experience of being human, arriving at the doorway of your own goodness and wellness from the inside of yourself, and walking through the world with an upright presence and an open, tender heart.
Together we will explore what it means to be a pillar of light in this world, present as a divine human being in this life. And how to tend your human life while cultivating your awakened capacity.
“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can take in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, sends up flares, builds signal fires, and helps proper matters catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times—to be fierce and to show mercy toward others—are acts of immense bravery and necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
There can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours—they are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.”
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés
All who feel called to walk a sincere path of presence and wisdom are welcome, no matter your level of experience. This retreat includes meditation practices, training in presence and working with the mind, opening the heart, and space for questions, exploration, and opening to your own wisdom within a supportive container.
We will be held in a field of silence to support deep inward listening, with teachings and shared inquiry gently woven throughout our time together.
“Wherever I stand, may I be the soul of that place.”
Rumi
Pricing:
$680 per person for private room with shared bath and 3 meals a day
$710 per person for private room with private bath and 3 meals a day
$545 per person for commuter option with 3 meals a day
$215 for zoom participants
Sliding Scale is available for those experiencing financial hardship. A limited number of reduced rate spots are available to help make participation possible for this who might not otherwise be able to join.
New Year Reflection
This past year, two simple and potent teachings have been transforming how I move through my days. I want to share them with you at this turning of the year, because I have found them deeply helpful as tools for presence, intention, and looking honestly at what you are creating in life.
My teacher Adyashanti says, “Self talk is the only self you will ever have.” I hear this as an invitation to notice how our inner dialogue shapes not only what we think is happening, but who we believe we are. The story we tell ourselves becomes the life we live.
Buddhist wisdom has echoed this for thousands of years. You do not exist in the way you think you do. Your experience of reality is shaped through conditioning, beliefs, perception, and the meaning you make of things. How you treat yourself, the thoughts you follow, and what you hold to be true is what creates your life. and what we hold to be true about ourselves is what creates our experience of life.
What kind of self is your self talk creating?
Is it healthy, helpful, kind, and true?
What kind of self are you investing in in your inner world, and what kinds of patterns is that self talk creating in your life?
The second pointer that has helped me relax and open in a profound way is trusting the power of intention.
I listened to Caroline Myss give a talk where she shared that she had just completed listening to over 200 accounts of near death experiences. She said that without exception, every single person described being shown in their life review that intention is one of the most powerful forces in our life.
Intention is the engine of the train of our life, and our choices are actually just the caboose. They arise from our intention. This softened a lifelong tension I carried about needing to make the right decision, as if that alone would determine my life. Instead, I now lean into holding my intention in the highest light I can, trusting that it will guide me, even when the next step is not yet clear.
“Where your attention goes, your life grows.” - Adyashanti
Introspective Prompts
Below are some of the prompts I passed around the table with friends during our New Year’s Eve gathering. Each person chose one from the wooden chalice my grandfather carved long ago, written on small slips of paper, and let it guide their sharing. It was deeply moving to witness people I love pause, soften, and reflect with such tenderness on the year behind them, the intentions forming in their hearts, and the prayers they are breathing into the year to come. Their answers taught me so much, about them and about myself, and were deeply inspiring.
I hope you find these helpful and illuminating as you cross the threshold of this past year into 2026.
Take a breath. Let your heart and your inner knowing answer first.
• What are you practicing now that you weren’t capable of a year ago?
• What surprised you about yourself in 2025?
• What is one practice, habit, or small ritual that quietly changed you this year?
• What have you shed this year, even if it was painful?
• What inner pattern became visible to you this year?
• Where did you notice yourself responding instead of reacting?
• What do you trust now that you didn’t before?
• What are you grateful for that you didn’t know to ask for?
• What do you want to carry into the next cycle, and what must stay behind?
• What connections supported you the most this past year?
• What prayer or intention do you want spoken aloud as the year turns?
Opening the Door
For most of my career my practice has been full, often with a very long waiting list, and I’ve spent years signaling to my beloved patients and colleagues not to refer people because my calendar and waiting list simply could not hold more. Over time, many people understandably gave up because the wait was so long. Life has changed, I am working more, and my capacity has expanded. I now have room to welcome a limited number of new people into care through one-on-one sessions, and I am genuinely happy to receive your referrals again.
If you would like to refer someone, please have them reach out through my website or email me directly, and I will personally follow up.
Already Enough: Resourcing From Your Grounded Heart
Guided Meditation on Insight Timer by Elizabeth Astor
This meditation is a practice of coming back into your body, reconnecting with the earth and with the deep well of wellbeing that is already here. From that grounded foundation, we open the heart in connection with the higher self, so that your resourcing comes from something real and steady inside you.
This practice is especially for the times you feel exhausted or emptied out. Together, we remember and feel in a very visceral way that you are already enough. You are not a problem to be solved.
You will be invited to rest in your opening heart and loving awareness, to hold your experience in kindness instead of criticism, and to let yourself fill up with wellness. As you fill to overflowing, you become more available for your own life, and for the world you care so much about.
About Seeds of Light
Seeds of Light is the blog of Elizabeth Astor, LAc, MSOM, CHom.
Elizabeth works as a Medical Intuitive, Meditation Teacher, Mind-Body-Spirit Specialist, Acupuncturist, Herbalist and Homeopath in Boulder, CO. She offers private sessions, which include a blend of her medical, soul evolution, and energy healing skill sets. Elizabeth has been asked to teach meditation and the spiritual awakening path by her teacher Sharon Landrith, and has been confirmed as a teacher in the lineage of Adyashanti. Elizabeth teaches the heart opening path of meditation and aligning ourselves to the light within, as well as intuition practices for individuals and health care providers, in local groups, retreats and internationally online.
Visit www.elizabethastor.com to learn more about Elizabeth, and her upcoming events, guided meditations, and teachings.