A fill in the blank exercise for this weekend…

There are so many ways to define yourself and you can intentionally choose what you’d like to see follow the words I AM as you create your own truth by putting these words on replay in your mind.  Aim to say whatever positive affirmation you choose 108 times each day until you feel them as your truth and after if you’d like.

I AM … enough.

I AM … so lucky!

I AM … surrounded by supportive and caring people.

I AM … full of intuitive wisdom.

These are suggestions to get you rolling in the direction of whatever matches you at this moment, but trust yourself to know what words are in the highest expression of you.

 

How was today?  What are two things that happened in your life today that you feel good about?  Write those down if it feels like a positive reinforcement or talk about them if that’s more accessible to you and your style.  Thinking about this is great but it will be even more rooted if it’s put to screen, paper, or person.  Play those two things up and feel good about them as you turn your attention to one thing from today that you’d like to improve.  If you’re someone who comes up with a multitude of things to improve, pare it down to only one; that is enough for any given moment.

Let yourself gently focus on change and how that may look and feel if you move forward with this improvement.  How will your life look if you don’t move forward with the area that you want to improve? How important is it to change?  What are the benefits of taking a step toward the improvement tomorrow, or the next day, or next week?  How can you envision the first active step and set an attainable goal?

 

What can you do today to appreciate yourself and honor your soul?

What would bring you joy and nourishment?
How can you carve out time for exploring the aspects of yourself that call to be noticed, heard, and lived?  How can you allow unseen parts of yourself to come forward?

Photograph – Rachael King

Satya is a Sanskrit word that means truth.  It is a virtue applying to one’s thoughts, speech, and action.  In upholding Satya, we may be faced with coming across differently than our culture dictates as polite or desirable / acceptable to honor ourselves and what is true to our individual nature as well as what is true to Ahimsa.  The idea of Ahimsa is to do no harm, to view others as the self and us all as a whole; causing harm to another is also causing harm to self.  Being untruthful or disingenuous to play into cultural expectations of niceties is a falsehood and energy drainer that is harmful to the overall vibration of humanity.  With Satya being naturally tied to Ahimsa, it also means that our words, thoughts, and actions should do no harm through unkindness or violence.  Perhaps there are times when Satya is silent and unsmiling to show no harm in a mean word and also no harm in a false niceness — to sit right at the middle of those in a neutral place.

How would your honest presentation look to the world if you stepped outside of societal conditioning?  What aspects of your life feel true to you and what feels off, if anything?  Are there masks that you’re wearing to feel loved or valued?  How are your relationships lining up with your truest expression?  How can you shed any false beliefs or storylines that keep you from being fully inline with your truth?

photograph by Cindy Weaver, Santa Fe, NM

An idea to lighten the approach to your weekend:

How would your weekend look if you made it a goal to approach everything with curiosity?  How would this change your waking up, your meals, your interactions or your lack of interactions, and any other activity or bit of happenstance that comes your way?

Curiosity can help you to be more accepting and less judging.  When you can take a view that is outside of your mind working to categorize and judge based on past experience, you open yourself to new ideas and possibilities.

Stay curious about whatever shows up and remember that in curiosity we allow ourselves to un-know things so that we can open to knowing them in a new light.  You may be surprised at how this changes so many things!

 

 

 

 

“ Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another, which both attracts and heals.” – J. Isham

Dirgha or 3 part breath is a breathing exercise that you can do in any setting and time to feel centered. It’s calming and restorative.

Imagine the mid body as a container divided into 3 sections: naval, rib cage, and heart center up through the collar bones.  Even though divided into 3 sections, the breath you take in and release will be one continuous action of inhale with a pause followed by one continuous exhale.  The breath  stays steady while the mind does the visual work to guide the breath deep into the physical body with quiet awareness. Controlling the inhalation and exhalation in this way will work to create a gentle focus and ease.

Guided Script:

Breathe deep into the naval and lower back behind the naval center.  Continue filling with air into the ribcage and intercostal muscles of the back.  Let the breath fill your heart center and lift into the collar bones while your shoulders stay at ease and relaxed.  Pause for a moment.  Release the breath gently and slowly from the naval area first, on a slow steady stream.  Release from the ribcage slowly and gently. Let the breath release from the chest, upper back and collar bones.

Repeat as desired.

 

 

One of the wonderful things about being mindfully aware of your present moment is that you get to be selective too!  Once you’re aware of where you are, what you’re doing, and what’s running through your mind, you can pause and select what is going to be next in your experience.  Let’s say you bring yourself into your present moment with a deep breath into the low belly and realize that you’ve been doing something on autopilot.  That will be the moment you can choose to stay with your action or thoughts.  In the decision to stay present, you are then able to choose the nature of your thinking and acting.  Is the thought or action helpful?  Is it positive?  Is it productive?  Could it be more of any of those: more helpful, more positive, or more productive?

Be awake to the moment before you.
Be awake to your life.

Affirmations for this practice:

I choose to be awake.  I choose to be aware. 

I choose to breathe deeply and notice myself deeply.  I choose to breathe deeply and notice others deeply.

I choose to be selective in my thoughts and actions, allowing more positive thoughts to come forward and be highlighted.

“There are only two responses to the world, fear or love. Your life depends on which one you choose.” – Deepak Chopra

My guys were visiting baby chicks the other day.  Their first attempt to hold them was a fury of ‘fast grabbing’, excitement and not much success.  They quickly realized as everything ran away from them in fear and REACTION that if they simply lay a gentle open palm the chicks were instantly fearless and curious, seeking food.  Within seconds they each had a chick to hold and the chicks were not stressed or scared and came to them easily after that.

And so….today, is your attempt fast and desperately grabbing?

Is your palm gently open?