Meditation For Self Love And Acceptance
Hi friends! Turn on your favorite meditation music, make yourself comfortable, and settle in for some truth and nourishment! You can lay down in savasana with palms up. You can rest your right hand on your belly, and the left hand on your heart. Or, you can find yourself in a seated position.
Let me know how your experience with this meditation goes, or if you have suggestions and ideas for my next one. :) Enjoy!
"I’m Not Racist, But…"
I’m not racist,
but I used to be.
I’m not racist, but unfortunately I am racially and culturally ignorant. Recognizing the difference means I try to keep my ears more open and my mouth more shut.
I grew up in a predominantly white town. Any given year, there were (I think) fewer than ten kids belonging to racial minorities in the whole high school.
Except for the Mexican students. We had quite few Mexican students, but they didn’t seem like regular students. They kept to themselves. Looking back I guess the real separation was based solely on language and culture. We all tend to find comfort and community in what seems familiar.
I was an ESL aid for a few semesters. I never thought I was racist. I chose to be an aid in that class, but…
There was a but.
I was different.
This was the first experience in my life where I was the minority. It felt weird at first.
I was there to help with language related homework, but soon many of my peers were patiently helping me with my Spanish homework. Over time friendships grew and I always looked forward to that class. It was fun. It was comfortable. I liked the way the language barrier kept me present in conversation. I had to focus harder to communicate in simpler ways, and that somehow made the connections more sweet.
One day we were having a party in class and I was blown away by everyone’s efforts to make me feel included. I told the group how thankful I was to be so warmly included, and I’ll never forget what Cesar said back to me,
“Of course we want to include you. We all know what it feels like to be the different one.”
I’m so glad he said that to me. He humanized both of us in that moment. Now that I’m thinking about it, that might be the single most important thing anyone said to me in high school.
After that party I felt like they were my friends, but there was an invisible line I didn’t know how to cross. Most of these students ate lunch down the hall from me. Sometimes they’d walk by me and smile, and I’d smile and wave back.
But:
They never invited me to eat with them.
I never asked if I could join them.
I never asked them to join me.
What I failed to realize is that outside of that one classroom where I was the minority, I was not the minority.
I should have offered my friends the same warmth and inclusion that they offered me, but I didn’t. At the time, I didn’t know how. I didn’t know that my non-action was an action. "They kept to themselves" because I didn't invite them into my other social circles.
There are countless ways I can muddle this story with my own insecurities and social anxieties, but I know deep down that I should have done better.
A few years ago, a younger sibling described her parallel experience to me. We were both overwhelmed with guilt for going along with the social rules we were familiar with rather than acting unabashedly from a place of love and humanness.
Acknowledging our shortcomings is the gift that will allow us to behave more responsibly moving forward.
I am still probably racist.
Not consciously, and definitely from a place of ignorance rather than aggression, but I am guilty. Ignorance is not an excuse, or something to brag about. There is so much about culture, religion, and politics that I simply don’t know. Pretending to know would be a lie, and when you live in a lie you have to hustle harder to defend that lie.
I choose love. I choose to learn. I choose openness. I choose compassion.
Change in this country and on Earth, will not happen if we all refuse to own our ugly moments. The thing about ignorance is that by definition, you don’t know something. So as you learn, acknowledge your history of ignorance. Your past does not define you. The present moment does.
So choose to learn daily. Choose to connect better with yourself in order to connect with the people around you. Choose to forgive your past as you move forward.
Think of those moments where you've felt different, and choose not to make anyone else feel that way.
Choose inclusion. We are all human, and deserving of love.
Thank you for reading! Identify? Like my message? Please share. :)
Make good choices :)
Through Myself, To My Self - Reclined Hero
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken." ~CS Lewis
"Having courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage means we face our fears. We are able to say, 'I have fallen, but I will get up.'" ~Maya Angelou
"Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change." ~Brene Brown
It's no small wonder this posture is called Reclined Hero. This posture is a brave display of vulnerability. No one over the age of seven, and in their right mind, would throw themselves into such a shape without great care. It takes a certain amount of time and a purposeful set of steps to get into -- and out of. Once you're in, you're vulnerable - physically and energetically.
To be vulnerable is to be courageous. Somehow in our society, we've lost touch with that concept. To be vulnerable in this posture is to sit in stillness with an open heart, while completely defenseless to outside elements. Our culture doesn't teach us this. Our culture trains us to avoid this at all costs:
To always be busy.
To always have background noise.
To always have an escape plan.
To buy your way out of discomfort.
To invest in the latest.
To peacock bigger.
To speak first.
To be strongest.
To fake it until you make it.
These are not all horrible or entirely damaging rules, but they aren't genuine to Self constructs either. You cannot be your Self if you're busy being several other things on the way.
There is no "on the way." There is here, and there is now.
The reclined hero is reminder to settle into the moment:
To choose stillness.
To chose quiet.
To create freedom from the inside out.
To own my feelings.
To invest in who I already am.
To know I am enough as I am.
To listen with intent to understand.
To know I have the strength I need.
To know that I am not, what I am not.
There is so much instability and ugliness happening not just in this country, but in the entire world. If we are all afraid to sit with ourselves and our own personal battles, how will we ever find peace? There will be no change in this world without transformation within each of us.
We can all always become better, and the solution is the most simple thing.
The solution is to simply be you. To simply be love.
Not kind, not generous, not something else -- you don't even have to create it. You just have to be love, and the rest will take care of itself.
That is vulnerable.
That is courage.
That is heroic.
"The best way out is always through." ~Robert Frost
I'm learning more and more, that the way to reach the things I've been grabbing for, is to simply be myself. To work through my feelings with a willingness to feel and an earnest desire to learn, to grow, and to expand.
Through myself, to my Self.
Thanks for reading, make quiet choices. :)
What do you think??? Lmk!
Be Calm, Eat Better
Enjoying a chomp are we? If so, I encourage you to partake in the coming exercise. If not, another time will do. Sit down with your food before you, and take a deep relaxing breath. Hold a bite up and smell it. Let yourself salivate for it. Close your eyes, and visualize where that bite came from. What’s in it? Who nourished the soil that your plant food called home? Who made sure there was grass for the cows to eat? Who gathered the crop or butchered the animal? Who brought it to the store or farmers market where you laid your claim? Who prepared the plate you have now? Thank each of these people for their good intention. Thank God.
In my class for nutritional therapy last spring, a speaker on food and spirituality led us through a similar thought process. I was raised to pray over my food, and for the first time, I understood why. Stopping to think about the life of my food and the intentions of those involved in getting it to me, so I can nourish my body accordingly, provoked a great revelation! I finally felt truly thankful for my food. I also had a good sense of conviction considering the snack in my lap was a too sweet coconut yogurt from who knows where. There were countless people and machines involved in the production of my little delight. I didn’t know who to thank, and doubted that their intentions had anything to do with the well being of the food or the consumer. Have you ever thought about this before? A farmer who has chosen to go out of their way and farm organically and sustainably likely understands and cares about the nutritional value of the food produced. A farmer, whose crop will be sold to a large corporation, has no choice but to care mostly about mass production. The documentaries, Food Inc. and King Corn are excellent sources to learn more about conventionally produced food sources. I challenge you to educate yourself on where your food comes from. Allow your habits to be changed so that you can be at peace with your food as it enters your body.
You must be in a parasympathetic state to digest your food. I remember learning this in middle school science class, so chances are you’ve heard it as well. I imagine that you too, passed it off as another silly fact we had to remember to pass a quiz. It had no real meaning to me, just empty words. Well, I am happy to announce that I now understand the importance of the parasympathetic state in the digestive process. Remember learning about adrenaline and fight or flight mode? It stuck out to me, it sounds fun right? I’m a recovering adrenaline junky. A stint without insurance put a damper on my wild side. Anyway, when your body is in fight or flight mode things like digestion are put on the backburner, while survival becomes top priority. In caveman days, this selective energy was more helpful than modern humans have found it to be. Largely, due to the unfortunate truth that most Americans live in a constant state of adrenal stimulation. Eating on the go has become normal, and necessary, for the accomplishment of daily tasks. Our lives have become so crowded that we don’t have time to truly enjoy our meals. How sad! One of my favorite verses in the Bible is, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). You don’t have to share my faith to understand what this means. Stop and relax; you can’t do it all. How many of us are out in the world trying to accomplish everything? Full time school, full time work, full time relationships, exercising, and finally, squeezing in feedings. How often do you get a chance to just, be still? Almost never right? Or, maybe just before you fall asleep?
If this sounds too familiar, I encourage you to make a very strong effort to take more time for yourself to be still. If at no other time, stop and enjoy your meals. I’ll be sharing more on the importance of high quality food in the near future. For now though, try building an atmosphere at meal times that allows relaxation for proper digestion.
Thanks for reading. Make good choices. :)
Occupy yourself, A Person's a Person No Matter How Small
First posted 10/2011
I've been inspired by the reaction of the "Occupy Wall Street," movement. I love seeing my peers take action. Though, as many have criticized, there is a lack of focus. In my opinion this is good and bad. For the beginning stage of what is hopefully the revolution of our time, it's ok to be unfocused. Soon though, we must find focus. We must cultivate inspiration, drive, and action, individually, to give to the overall goal. Change for our country's well being. Change for the people.
How do we do this? Ask yourself what you want. Maybe even write it down. Do you want to reverse global warming? Do you want to see cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and other major health problems disintegrate? Do you want to see more money in your local economy? Do you want Corporate America to stop controlling our lives? I want all of these things.
The answer lies, not in a miraculous leader, but ourselves, united. An easy start, is switching to a local credit union. If you don't like what big banks are doing to you, stop funding them. Buy local, this may be more expensive, but if local businesses are making more money, they will start hiring. Also, this reduces your carbon footprint. Buy whole foods. Processed foods come from large companies that want to make money, not a well nourished nation. Also, their carbon footprint along with their consumer's, is astronomical. The longer we buy into the marketing of corporate food companies, the sicker, weaker, and more compliant we'll become.
There is a sense of priority that we as a people must evaluate. Are we willing to give up the luxuries of these companies, so we can see the corporate empire fall? Could we, as a nation, cancel our cell phone plans? Could we all bike or take public transportation, leaving oil companies with the smallest sales they've ever seen? Could we buy only second hand, or fair-trade clothing? Can you imagine the voice in that silence? It would be difficult, but I think we'd survive. In the process of giving up things of the corporate world, I think we'll find freedom in our local community.
As a nutritional therapist and massage therapist, people are always trying to get a deal from me. When you don't wince at your phone bill, which is double the price of your neighbor's trade, but you want them to cut a deal, what does that say about your economical interests? We must change our attitudes. Buy the jewelry that your friend makes, pay full price for a massage from someone you know, opt for the ten dollar play or concert in the local theater rather than fandango. There are so many ways to keep your money local. So many ways to change the world with your dollar. What are you doing? What else can you change? Will you do it today? Occupy yourself. Or, as Dr. Suess said it in Horton Hears a Who, 'This," cried the Mayor, "is your town's darkest hour! The time for all Whos who have blood that is red to come to the aid of their country" he said. "We've GOT to make noises in greater amounts! So open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!" Thanks for reading, make good choices. :)
Knowledge is power. Feed your brain:
When Dairy Didn't Love Me Back
Growing up I consumed milk and cheese as though I alone had to save a dying industry. It wasn't dying, and I didn't have to save it, but that was beside the point. Papa Murphy's was my family's staple dinner. I have three brothers and three sisters. We lived a typical survival of the fittest lifestyle.
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