The Card That Made Everyone Gasp

It was late March 2020, just as COVID was beginning to change everything.

On the final day of a Conscious Kids certification training I was teaching, I was sitting in a circle with a group of women when someone suggested we pull tarot cards.

I don’t remember exactly which card I chose. I think it may have been the Ten of Swords.

What I do remember is turning it over and watching a few of the women gasp.

Oh-oh. This can’t be good.

The card was interpreted as some kind of ending—a collapse, a dismantling of what had been.

I laughed it off.

I didn’t put much stock in tarot cards, and none of us understood yet how dramatically life was about to change.

Looking back now, though, that moment feels strangely symbolic.

At the time, I was teaching mindfulness to children and families in person at the Himalayan Meditation Center. I loved the group energy, the conversations, and that hard-to-define connection that happens when people are physically together in a room.

Then the center shut down.

Classes moved online. I adapted, like everyone else did, but Zoom never felt quite the same.

I Had No Idea What Was Coming

At the same time, my personal life began unraveling in ways I could never have anticipated.

Over the next few years came a brutal separation, a heartbreaking legal battle, skin cancer, the death of my mother, the ending of close friendships, and other losses—all against the strange, isolating backdrop of the pandemic.

For a long time, I was simply trying to deal with whatever was directly in front of me.

I was angry, hurt, confused, exhausted and deeply disillusioned.

Some of the people I had trusted most responded to difficult circumstances in ways I could not understand. At times, the hostility around me felt relentless.

My mind kept trying to make sense of it all.

It couldn’t.

Everything that had once given me a sense of stability seemed to disappear at once. I felt trapped in circumstances I could not immediately change, cycling through grief, anger, exhaustion and moments of surrender.

I had never felt so challenged.

The One Thing Life Couldn’t Take From Me

And yet, somewhere underneath all of it, I knew there was still one place I could return to:

That which could not be threatened by anything happening outside of me.

So I sat with the heartbreak, fear, anger and confusion. I cried—a lot. I let go of what I could not control. I asked for guidance through what felt like an impossibly thick fog.

In a strange way, life was stripping away everything I had mistaken for solid ground.

What remained was simply being.

Pure essence.

And remembering that brought moments of genuine peace—even while the chaos continued around me.

I also tried, imperfectly, to remain kind and to protect my children as best I could.

But living in survival mode took a toll. My concentration suffered. My energy disappeared. Some days, simply getting through the day felt like enough.

Slowly, though, something began to shift.

At first, it was just a deeper breath.

An awareness of the tension in my body.

Small moments when my nervous system seemed to remember that it was allowed to relax.

Mental clarity began to return.

The emotional waves became less overwhelming.

Little by little, I felt more peace arising from within, and very slowly, I began opening my heart again.

The Shift I Didn’t See Coming

With time, I began to see the pandemic years differently.

They revealed, on a massive scale, what fear and survival mode can bring out in human beings. When we feel threatened, awareness narrows. Compassion can disappear. We react rather than respond.

Understanding that didn’t excuse hurtful behaviour.

But it did help soften some of my anger.

And as that anger loosened, more energy became available.

Healing happened.

Those years stripped away much of what I had once thought mattered so much: roles, plans, expectations, ideas about how life was supposed to unfold—or how other people were supposed to behave.

Underneath all of that, I kept returning to two questions:

Who—or what—am I, really?

And:

What actually matters in the end?

Those questions became the foundation of a much deeper spiritual grounding for me.

I became less interested in appearances, achievement and trying to control life, and much more interested in what is real.

What brings us back into the body.

What helps us stay grounded when life becomes difficult.

What allows us to meet ourselves—and one another—with greater awareness.

Then Something Unexpected Came Back

After what felt like a very long creative winter, inspiration returned like a tsunami.

I wrote.

A lot.

Books, workbooks, stories, programs.

Unplugging from the Game: Remembering the Real You was directly inspired by this raw period of my life. I still find it hard to believe that the novel was later endorsed by Suzanne Giesemann, Dr. Sue Morter, Mary O’Malley and Marci Shimoff—all women whose work had inspired me over the years.

My free YouTube video course, From Striving to Thriving, was also born from what I learned during my rather extensive—and apparently mandatory—enrollment in the school of hard knocks.

Why I’m Returning to the Room

And now, beginning September 27, I’m returning to something I hadn’t realized how much I missed:

Teaching people in a room together.

I’ll be offering two six-week programs at the Edmonton Public Library—an Emotional Resilience Program for Teens and a Mindfulness Program for Adults.

There’s something wonderfully full-circle about it.

I think many of us were changed by the last few years.

They were traumatic in different ways for different people, and I’m not sure we’ve fully processed what happened yet. There is still so much to acknowledge, feel, understand and heal—individually and collectively.

Some things fell apart.

Some things had to be rebuilt.

And sometimes, after enough stripping away, we begin to see more clearly what we want to return to—and what we no longer want to carry forward.

Life also seems to have a way of bringing us back to similar circumstances—giving us another opportunity to respond differently, reclaim our power, and choose greater freedom.

I couldn’t see it at the time, but now I believe everything I went through had a purpose.

It helped me evolve spiritually.

It showed me what I needed to let go of.

And it confirmed something I already knew deep down: that life is always happening for us, not to us.

Teaching in person again doesn’t feel like going back to where I was before the pandemic.

It feels like returning as someone different.

More grounded.

More interested in genuine connection.

More grateful for the simple experience of sitting together in a room.

And more certain than ever that what I learned through those difficult years is meant to be shared.

As for that tarot card?

It did give a surprisingly accurate sense of what was about to unfold—both personally and collectively.

But honestly, I don’t think I’ll be consulting them again anytime soon!

Thanks for reading.

This was a difficult post for me to write, but it felt important to share.

Lise Villeneuve

www.consciouslivingsolutions.com

Share

Leave a comment

This morning, I was just finishing an entirely different Substack post.

It was reflective. Deep. Serious.

And then I heard a BOOM in my utility room.

Little did I know, my spiritual teacher for the day had arrived.

And he had a tail.

At first, I heard scratching. Then jumping. Then more suspicious scrambling sounds coming from inside my furnace.

Thankfully, i…

Read more

There is a lot unfolding in the world right now.

Have you noticed? 😊

More uncertainty. More intensity. More noise. More division. More pressure. More people feeling stretched, overwhelmed, and quietly wondering how to stay steady in the middle of it all. Gosh…

And more than ever, this is bringing us to a critical choice.

We can continue hoping that the out…

Read more

Lately, I’ve had the strong sense that many of us are being asked to grow in ways we didn’t necessarily plan for. How about you?

To stretch.
To adapt.
To let go of the familiar.
To follow deeper guidance, even when it leads us somewhere uncomfortable.

Those of you who know me may already know that anything meaningful I feel called to create usually comes whe…

Read more

Beloved friends,

Happy Easter 🤍
How have you been?

Lately, I’ve been reminded of something so simple… and yet so easy to forget.

Life seems to move in cycles.

There are moments when everything feels clear… grounded… aligned.
And then—almost out of nowhere—it’s as if life taps us on the shoulder…
or sometimes… hits us squarely with a 2×4.

And in those moments, …

Read more

I am not a confrontational person.

At least… that’s what I thought.

I’ve spent years cultivating mindfulness, inner peace, equanimity — all the good spiritual buzzwords. I teach this stuff. I practice this stuff.

And then I went to Jamaica.

The beach at our hotel was small. Beautiful — turquoise water, soft sand, postcard-perfect — but with about fifty chai…

Read more

It is with deep joy that I am sharing this new meditative story with you, for whenever you feel the call to take a pause, go within, and be reminded of the following: our true capacity extends far beyond the limits we’ve unknowingly accepted — and these limits are often created by the mind itself.

As the story unfolds and guides into a …

Read more

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one.

A few days ago, someone who lives in a remote area near Edmonton reached out to me about my book Conscious Kids. They had ordered it on November 29, 2025… and by late January, still had no delivery date.

That alone felt strange.

So I did what any author would do: I ordered the book myself and had it sent di…

Read more

Beloved Friends,

I hope this message finds you well.
This week, I felt guided to write and record a short meditative story. While you’re welcome to simply read the words below, this piece was truly created to be experienced through the audio — allowing the voice, pacing, and music to gently guide you into a deeper inner journey.

Read more

Dear One,

Do you feel the intensity of the light this December?

Have you noticed how different everything feels lately?

For some, this season has brought deep emotional purging.
For others, an unfamiliar lightness—joy rising without a clear reason.
Time itself seems to be accelerating.

Something is loosening.
Something is lifting.
Something ancient is rememberi…

Read more

Before we begin, I’d love to welcome you into my new conscious community forum — a sanctuary for deeper connection.

These days, many of us are scrolling, comparing, reacting, or getting pulled into little fires of division… all while mostly unaware that something extraordinary is happening beneath the noise.

While our attention loops thr…

Read more

Read more

Since the release of my interview with Suzanne Giesemann on YouTube, it truly feels like a dream has come true. So many beautiful souls have been reaching out to connect and share their journeys, and it feels as though I’m being reunited with members of my soul family. 💛

My deepest desire has always been to share my creative gifts in wa…

Read more

After months of anticipation, I took a deep breath and clicked the “Join Zoom Meeting” button.

There she was — appearing right before my eyes.

Suzanne Giesemann.

Not on a pre-recorded YouTube video, like the hundreds I had watched with admiration over the years — but live, in a one-on-one interview with…

Read more

It’s been a little while since my last post — and for good reason. I’ve been immersed in writing, traveling, and bringing through books that feel deeply aligned with my purpose. What began as one burst of inspiration blossomed into four published works this past summer. The joy of this process has made it clear to me that many more are on the way.

In the video above, I share the story of how this flow of creativity began — how surrendering to higher guidance surprised me with a novel, a teen workbook, and more. It’s a reminder of what becomes possible when we open our hearts and minds and let life move through us.

A New Chapter

Writing brings me profound fulfillment, and it feels like the most natural way to serve my purpose: helping humanity remember its powerful, divine, and loving nature.

From here on, I’ll be showing up more consistently — every couple of weeks — not only to share updates, but also to listen.

I’d love your input as I shape the books to come. What would be most helpful for you on your journey of healing and awakening? Are there topics, themes, or questions you’d love to see explored in a future book?

Your requests and recommendations will help guide me. Together, we can co-create resources that truly meet the needs of this moment. You can share your thoughts in the comments or reach out to me directly.

And if you’d like to explore what has already come through, you can find my recent books — Unplugging from the Game, the Teen Workbook, Conscious Kids with Wise Willy, and Awakening One — all on Amazon.

With love and gratitude,
Lise Villeneuve

www.consciouslivingsolutions.com

I hope you’re having a sweet July. Mine continues to be a wild ride!

I don’t usually say things like this lightly, but… something extraordinary has been happening…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve felt swept into a creative current so alive, so electric, I can hardly keep up.

As many of you know, I’ve been immersed in writing a new book — a story that came to…

Read more

We’ve all done it—told ourselves we’re fine, smiled through the pain, stayed busy, stayed strong. But just because we’ve stopped thinking about something doesn’t mean it’s gone.

Our bodies remember what our minds try to forget.
The grief.
The guilt.
The shame.
The things we never spoke about… but never really let go of.

In this week’s section of

Read more

Read more

What if the meaning of your life depends entirely on how you see yourself?

That question has never felt more important to me—especially as a mother.

I wrote Unplugging from the Game and the companion Teen Workbook as a gift to my sweet son, and to teenagers (and grown-ups) everywhere who are silently struggling to make sense of themselves, thei…

Read more