A Gentle Pause for Healing Our Kindred Spirits: What the Walk for Peace Taught Me About Being Mindful

In this episode, I’m sharing a heartfelt update and a gentle intention.

Lately, I’ve been feeling a deep inner shift—away from constant doing and toward simply being. That quiet pull has led me to pause and listen more closely to what this season of life is asking of me. Inspired by mindfulness and the peaceful teachings being shared through the walk for peace with the venerable monks, I’ve made the intentional decision to place the podcast on a temporary hiatus.

This is not an ending, but a conscious pause.

While the podcast itself will rest for a time, Healing Our Kindred Spirits continues through original guided mindfulness meditations—offerings that feel nourishing, grounding, and aligned with where I am right now.

In this episode, I speak openly about honoring inner guidance, allowing life to evolve, and trusting the quiet spaces where healing often happens. If you’ve ever felt called to slow down, reassess, or simply breathe into where you are, this conversation is for you.

Thank you for being here, for listening, and for walking alongside me—gently, mindfully, and with intention.

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Transcript

Sensing An Inner Shift

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, kindred spirits. This is Donna Gaudet, and I'm really glad you're here with me today. This episode feels a little different, uh, not heavy, but just honest. It comes from a place of listening to your intuition and to your soul, and listening to something quieter than an obligation, quieter than momentum, but very, very real. If you've ever felt a subtle shift inside, a sense that something you love is changing, or that the way you've been showing up no longer feels aligned, this conversation is for you. There are moments in life when nothing is it's wrong, and yet something is different. The work still matters, the commitment still holds meaning, the people you serve still matter deeply. And yet there's a voice inside that begins to whisper, something is shifting. There's more. It's not about wanting more, it's just something is shifting within you. Not loudly, not dramatically, just enough to get your attention. And for many of us, that's where the discomfort begins. Because we're taught to push through, aren't we? To stay consistent, to honor commitments, even when our inner landscape has changed. We're taught that stopping means quitting, that resting means failing, and that changing direction means giving up. But what if that isn't true? What if that's just something we tell ourselves? I meditate daily as well as practice mindfulness meditation. And that's probably a word you've been hearing a lot lately, especially if you've been following the uh walk for peace. Uh mindfulness has been coming up quite a bit. And because it is usually when I am meditating that I get my best intuitive, I like to call nudges. I listen to them, I journal them, and I do pay attention to them. And lately I've sensed a pattern. And like many people who've been watching the monks walk for peace, it's watching it step by step, slow, intentional, unrushed, seeing them persevere, seeing what they say, seeing how they behave, seeing their mentality.

Mindfulness And The Walk For Peace

SPEAKER_00 2:15

And what struck me wasn't just the message of peace, it was the pace. There was no forcing, no proving, no promoting except for peace, no urgency to arrive, just a presence. And something in me, something in me softened because I realized how often we keep walking a path simply because we've already started it. I think many of us have done that. You started out, you had an idea, you make a commitment to it, you just keep going. Put your nose to the grindstone and just keep going. But even when our body and our spirit or even our heart is asking us for something gentler, it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It just means sometimes something shifts inside of you, either as an opening, a deeper meaning, it could be different for everyone. For me, it was a very subtle shift of remembering something, and it was a feeling that gave me peace. Because sometimes the most peaceful act isn't continuing forward, it's pausing long enough to ask, what do I need now? Where am I being called? That's mindfulness. When you can sit in that moment when you're having those thoughts, don't run from them, don't shut them out, don't push them away, but sit there with them. Just sit there. That's mindfulness. Over the last past several weeks, I felt a deep inner shift happening in my life, a gentle pulling away from constant doing and an invitation into more being. And I've learned sometimes the most important thing we can do is listen when that

Pace Over Push

SPEAKER_00 4:10

voice or that intuition shows up. And because of that, I've decided to press pause on the full-length podcast episodes for a few months so I can focus on some things in my life that need care and attention. I will, however, continue to write and record my original guided meditations and post those. They take considerably less time than writing and researching a full episode, which in all reality can take roughly around 20 hours per episode between research, writing, rewriting, recording, and sometimes re-recording, editing, and promoting. And it's still a love of passion for me, but something is shifting inside of me right now that needs, I need to follow, I need to follow that intuition. And if that's ever happened to you, I know you know what I mean. When you know, you know. Many of you have reached out to tell me how much these simple 8 to 12 minute original guided meditations have helped you. And that warms my heart. And I will continue them. And if I feel guided to release anything else, I will be sure to give you a heads up. I don't have a particular schedule to when I will release them, but if you follow or subscribe, you will get them as soon as they are released. And I am making a commitment to you to let you know that I will continue those. It'll either be one a week, one every other week. It depends how time allows to be able for me to devote to that. Also, following our page on social media will ensure that you'll know as well because all episodes will always be available to listen or download wherever you're getting them. Now, nothing is changing. The website, everything is staying the same. Episodes will still be

Choosing A Pause From Full Episodes

SPEAKER_00 6:00

there. It's just that I'm not going to be doing any full-length episodes for the next several months. And there's a quiet kind of courage required to admit this. You can be deeply committed to something and still need to step back from it. And you can love what you've created and still feel called somewhere else, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of a burning calling that you just need to follow that. Because no matter how much you try to quiet it, the more quieter you want it to become, the more louder it becomes. You can still be of service to others and realize that it's time to be of service to yourself. And this isn't about abandoning purpose, it's about honoring evolution. And we talked about this in the episode, remembering your why. And yet the guilt can be loud, can't it? It's the voice that says, You said you do this, people are counting on you, you should be grateful, just push through. But beneath all of that is another voice. The one that says, I'm tired, I need care. I've got stuff going on in my life that I need to really focus on so I'm not distracted. And I need to honor that voice that is encouraging me to be more mindful, to practice peace, to do less and be more. Because that voice isn't selfish, it's wise. And I want to be very clear about this. Changing direction and anything, whether what I'm doing or what you need to do in your life, doesn't require an apology. Because rest doesn't need justification. And listening to your inner guidance doesn't mean you failed. It means you're paying attention, it means you're honoring the season you're in now,

Guided Meditations Continue

SPEAKER_00 7:50

not the one you were in when you first made the commitment. We all know that anything can change in a moment, and that matters because a life lived in alignment isn't static. It breathes, it shifts, and it even evolves. So if you're listening and feeling that pull, that knowing that something in your life is asking for space, for rest, or even for reimagining, I want you to hear this clearly. You're allowed to pause, you're allowed to change your mind, you're allowed to follow that. That what feels true right now. You don't have to burn it all down. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone. You don't have to know exactly what comes next. What you have to do is just listen to what your inner guidance is telling you or showing you. This isn't an ending. It's a listening moment, a breath, a recalibration, a turning inward. And wherever this next path leads, whether it circles back, branches out, or opens into something entirely new, trust that honoring yourself is never the wrong choice. I look forward to where these next few months of self-discovery or rediscovery take me and look forward to connecting with you through social media. I will still be active on there. And as always, you can reach me at healing our kindred spirits at gmail.com. And as a reminder, just be gentle with yourself. Don't force anything. And if you're getting the nudge or the intuition or the guidance to take a different path or to see where it leads, honor that. Don't push it away, just honor

Courage To Honor Change

SPEAKER_00 9:40

that process because you'll regret it if you don't. And may you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace. Thank you.