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Surrender to Sukha: How a No‑Itinerary Trip Rewrote My Idea of Safety

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Picture: Mexico April 2024


Sukha found me when I loosened my grip. I went to Mexico with no itinerary, just a prayer to feel cared for and safe. Sukha answered in a beachside sign, a kind Seahawks fan driver, and a locals‑only adventure that softened my whole body.


I didn’t choose the name Sukha. Sukha chose me.

The first time I heard it, it was a YouTube video with a dog named Sukha. The word felt simple, sweet, effortless. Cute galore I thought so I tucked it away.

Months later, my daughter and I took a trip to Mexico. For the first time in my life, I decided to surrender the plan. No color‑coded calendar, no minute‑by‑minute schedule, just a list titled: It would be fun if… At the top? Feel cared for. Feel safe. Find miracles.


On our first day, we wandered along the beach and there it was: a restaurant called Sukha. I laughed at the wink from the Universe. After our lunch outside, a taxi pulled up. The driver, a local who happens to be a Seahawks fan, perfect, I thought, for a Washingtonian far from home.

“Would you be open to being our driver while we're here?” I asked, “I want you to surprise us. Take us where the locals vacation.”

He smiled, nodded, and just like that, we handed our itinerary to life.

What followed were days stitched with ordinary magic: sunrise, a beachside restaurant where we were the only tourists, beautiful heart rocks ( we got a thing for heart rocks!)

In one of the days, he took us where we can shop, another wink from the Universe: a tiny boutique named Pachamama, the very name I’d been whispering the week before for Mother Nature. I’d been wanting a copalera (a small clay burner for copal resin) for months; the owner and I hit it off and at the end of our connection, she smiled and gifted me one. It felt like the earth saying, I see you. Keep trusting. We carried it like a little altar in a paper bag the rest of the day.


What Sukha Means to Me


What “Sukha” means: From Sanskrit (also Pāli), sukha refers to ease, well‑being, and genuine happiness, often contrasted with duḥkha/dukkha, suffering or stress. A common etymology is su (“good, easy”) + kha (“space/axle‑hole”), the sense of a smooth, unhindered ride.


In my body, Sukha is the felt sense of ease, the exhale after a long hold. It’s being guided rather than muscling through. It’s sweetness, safety, and the quiet confidence that you’re being held while you move.

This trip gave me three simple teachings:

1) Surrender is an active choice. Letting go wasn’t passive; it was me choosing trust over control. I named what I needed, care and safety and fun and allowed the Universe to meet me there.

2) Safety can look like support. Sometimes safety arrives as a kind driver with local wisdom, a shared language of sports, or a small-town boutique owner gifting you what you've been wishing for. Safety isn’t the absence of risk; it’s the presence of support.

3) Wonder multiplies when we don’t over‑script.When I stopped project managing every step, delight and miracles had room to surprise us.


Sukha is the hum between “I’m taken care of” and “I’m still free.”


A PEACE™ Micro‑Practice: Let Life Lead (5 minutes)

P — Prepare Place one hand on your heart, one on your belly. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, out for 6. Say softly: I am safe to soften.

E — Explore Name what you want to feel today (e.g., cared for, energized, seen).

A — Analyze Notice where you’re gripping, calendar, conversation, outcome. Ask: What if I trusted here for the next hour?

C — Commit. Choose one micro‑action of surrender: leave a buffer in your schedule, let a loved one choose the café, or ask someone local for their favorite spot.

E — Embody. Walk as if you are guided. Shoulders down, breath low. Whisper: I am held while I move.


Reflection Prompts

  • Where in my life am I gripping the itinerary?

  • What feeling do I want to be surprised by this week?

  • Who or what became my “local guide” when I asked for support?

  • What’s one way I can let life lead for 30 minutes today?

  • What named desire recently arrived as a gift or sign (like the Pachamama copalera)?


Why This Matters for My Work

Radiating Sukha isn’t a slogan; it’s a promise. My work is to build containers where people feel both safe and free, held enough to soften, spacious enough to surprise themselves. Whether it’s a journal, 20‑minute recode or a longer journey, the invitation is the same: loosen your grip, tell the truth about what you need, and let life meet you there.


A Gentle Invitation

If your nervous system is asking for care and your soul is craving ease, start here:

  • Journal with the prompts above. Then pick one micro‑action of surrender and let yourself be surprised.

  • Explore the Sacred REALM™ Journal , 30 days of poetry, prompts, affirmations, and energetic recodes, offering a little bit of everything to support your healing journey.


With love and sukha,

Abigail



 
 
 

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