leaning into your life
Writer, Speaker, Explorer. Sharing the insights of my spiritual journey.
I want to live a life that is deliberate and purposeful. I want to lean into my life. Follow my journey as I explore learning, changing, and challenges.
About the Author: Gary Merel
Writer, Speaker, Explorer
I’ve lived many lives in one lifetime, husband, father, householder, healer, seeker. I spent years living in a yoga ashram, immersed in disciplined spiritual practice, and later studied with shamans and indigenous healers throughout South America. My path has never been casual. It has been a series of deep commitments to growth, service, and awakening.
For 25 years, I practiced as a functional medicine practitioner at Ann Arbor Holistic Health while also working as a certified life coach. In 2022, I stepped away from clinical work to focus fully on transformation, helping others live with clarity, intention, and alignment. My work is grounded, practical, and informed by decades of lived experience.
Now, in what I see as the last third of my life, I feel the urgency and privilege of being fully engaged. It’s easy to drift into the inertia of aging, to settle into comfort. I’m not interested in that. I’m drawn to the edge where allowing and achieving meet—the place where surrender and vision create something larger than either alone.
This chapter is an exploration: of what I’ve lived, what I’m learning, and what still calls me forward. As a cancer survivor, I no longer take time for granted. Life is uncertain and precious. I’m here to lean in fully—and to invite others to do the same.
Recent Posts
- Don’t Look Away, Each Moment Is Precious
Cycling matters to me. It is exercise, challenge, freedom and community. It has introduced me to people I might never otherwise have known. Recently, two of those people reminded me of something I would rather not… Read more: Don’t Look Away, Each Moment Is Precious - I’m Not Asking For Permission
I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m no longer asking for permission to be who I am. Authenticity isn’t about getting everyone to understand me, approve of me, or agree with me. It’s about… Read more: I’m Not Asking For Permission - Running For My life!
I’ve been asking myself a simple question lately: Is this really a five-alarm fire? At this point in my life, I’ve learned that too many of the battles I’ve fought never needed to be fought at… Read more: Running For My life! - I’ve Run Our Of Time
I have no time to waste. I’m 72 years old, and I know I’m living in the last third of my life. That awareness has become one of my greatest gifts. We often hear people say… Read more: I’ve Run Our Of Time - You’re Watering The Wrong Things!
Why haven’t you created the life you say you want? It’s probably not because you lack intelligence, talent, or opportunity. More often, it’s because your energy has been invested somewhere else. You don’t create your life… Read more: You’re Watering The Wrong Things! - No One Is Coming To Save Me
Not long ago, I found myself sitting alone at a coffee shop waiting for someone who never showed up. I had made these plans several weeks ago and had recently confirmed the meeting. As the minutes… Read more: No One Is Coming To Save Me - I Versus We
Most people begin life focused on one thing: survival. As children, that is exactly what we are supposed to do. We need attention, affection, safety, encouragement, food, guidance, and reassurance that we matter. Healthy development begins… Read more: I Versus We - Can Your Really Trust Your Gut?
There comes a moment in life when what once worked no longer fits. The pressure builds quietly at first. A career that drains rather than inspires. Financial stress that never quite lets you rest. A marriage… Read more: Can Your Really Trust Your Gut? - Life Is Lived Forward But Understood Backwards
Life rarely unfolds the way we imagined it would. We make decisions based on the information, beliefs, and conditioning we carry at the time. Education, marriage, career, money, family, religion, politics — most of it is… Read more: Life Is Lived Forward But Understood Backwards