These last two weeks have been a time of challenges as well as discoveries. I was glad to see the back of 2008, because it presented us with a number of difficulties that I would rather assign to the dustbin, never to be seen again. Sadly, it would seem I have dragged most of them into 2009 with me, and a couple more have arrived.

I was healing very well after my gallbladder operation, but now a permanent ache has returned to my right side. The spirits appear to be silent on the matter, for now. And my husband was made redundant from his work last week, which under the current economic circumstances is stressful, to say the least.

So here I am, just beginning to find a little peace deep inside and tentatively practising identifying with that. I'm just about managing to let that peace permeate through my body and my life, and discovering how to do that. And now the universe is giving me an opportunity to put it all into practice. But I have to say, I'm a touch annoyed at the universe's sense of timing. I could have done with a little bit more time on flat roads with training wheels.

But that's life, I guess. Changes and challenging times are to be expected, and that's no different for people on a spiritual path. I now really need my new-found sense of peace, just to stay sane, and that motivates me to stay faithful to my three moments of spiritual practice a day. And most of the time I can find that place inside myself that is spirit and rest with it.

I ended my last post with a question: if I identify with the part of me that is a fragment of Spirit, how do I balance that with being awake and aware in my body? Some time last week, the answer came. The part of me that is spirit isn't separate from my body. It's not as though my spirit is contained, or even trapped, somewhere inside my body. Spirit permeates every part of me, is alive in every cell. As long as I am alive in a human body, they are two sides of the same coin. Some teachers say that the physical part of us is just a denser form of the same energy that is Everything. So there is no contradiction, no tension. My spirit belongs with my body, and my body with my spirit.

In fact, when I feel my spirit, the part of me that is peace, permeating all of me - my whole body including the parts that ache or feel tense - I instantly feel more awake and aware. And it is also easier to keep my awareness  there for longer periods of time. It all becomes a lot less difficult to achieve.

Which doesn't mean that it's easy. I don't find it at all easy to keep my attention on my spirit and identify with it. More often than not, my attention slides. Long ago my teacher Caitlin said that trying to do something like this is like learning to play the violin. You only get really good at it through hours and hours of practice every day. So that's what I'm trying to do: to just practice as often as I remember.

Of course, regular set moments of practice help there. They bring me back to the place of peace and give me an opportunity to take my attention back home. I really hope that, after some time, it'll just become a habit, something I don't have to think about. An accomplished violinist doesn't have to think about where to put their fingers to make a particular note. They can concentrate on expressing themselves. I hope to get there one day. How long does it take to become an accomplished violinist?