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The universe continues to unfold in each moment
Let it
You don’t have to control or hold on to anything
Just take time to pause and listen to your inner wisdom
Trust it’s soft voice
Mistakes and challenges have helped you grow into who you are today
Embrace whatever happens, knowing that you will continue to learn and grow
Nothing has gone wrong
Life continues in its highs and lows
Don’t take it personally
We are all in this together
” In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.
It will be a permanent Self, rooted in awareness and creativity.
Once you have captured this you have captured the world.”
~ Deepak Chopra
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Life is a journey of letting go in order to discover what really matters. Yet we find ourselves clinging to the past and the very things that bring suffering and hold us back.
Letting go is a part of the natural rhythm of life.
Letting go:
Of every exhalation
Of the day as we fall asleep
Of our children as they grow up and leave home
Of things that no longer serve us
Of a past that weighs us down
Of relationships that no longer nurture us
Of roles that we have outgrown
Of over thinking
Of our habits and conditioning
Of “me” “I” and “mine” as we experience our connection to something more than our little self.
Trust in your ability to let go and embrace it fully with an open mind and heart.
In taking these courageous steps every day we come to know our true permanent Self and move towards real freedom.
Namaste
“Acceptance of the unacceptable is the greatest source of grace in this world.”
Eckhart Tolle
Isn’t it funny how certain quotes and wisdom show up just when we need them the most? I recall, some time ago when I had a hard time accepting how things were. I had unexpected news that meant my vision for the future was no longer possible. What I thought was “for sure” became “no way”.
There was shock and uncertainty; concerns about others; a sense of loss and sadness; a letting go of a future dream; and lots of turbulent emotions. So much was out of my control and I really struggled because I couldn’t accept it. There was no grace here folks!
So, what is grace … and how do we find it when life throws us unexpected challenges or dashes our dreams? When we find ourselves in life’s lows?
I appreciate these words of wisdom from Adyshanti’s “Falling into Grace”.
“Grace is something that comes to us when we somehow find ourselves completely available, when we become open hearted and open minded, and are willing to entertain the possibility that we may not know what we think we know.
In this gap of not knowing, in the suspension of any conclusion, a whole other element of life and reality can rush in. This is what I call grace. It’s that moment of “ah-ha” – a moment of recognition when we realize something that previously we never could quite imagine.
… Somehow the difficult situations in our lives have a way of opening our hearts and minds the most. Its the challenging moments that often offer the greatest opportunities for growth and the transformation of consciousness.”
Finding grace and opening up to accept what is, comes when we fully embrace everything that is alive in us in that moment.
Some people choose to divert their mind into positive thinking to counteract the negative feelings. I’m not a believer of this, as all feelings and emotions are a part of who we are as human beings. I spent a big part of my life looking for the positive and denying the negative … while the deepest part of me was aching. Embracing all part of ourselves is the key to our personal growth and evolution as spiritual beings.
Here are guidelines I discovered from a variety of spiritual teachers and psychotherapists:
✳ Name what is happening. Be as factual as you can.
✳ What stories are you telling myself about this unacceptable moment?
✳ What are you feeling in your body. What emotions are coming up? Embrace your whole body experience.
✳ Make space for whatever comes up.
✳ Notice how the mind jumps in with judgments and negative thoughts. Make space for these too.
✳ Embrace everything that is alive in you. Let yourself feel.
✳ Notice if there is a part of you that wants the pain to go away – to fix it rather than accepting it.
✳ Embrace it all and let it in. This is a part of you.
✳ Let yourself become a vulnerable feeling being.
✳ Be open and fully alive to the experience.
✳ Breathe into it and allow the life energy to flow through you.
✳ And in this place of spaciousness and letting go, notice how grace appears.
Compassionate acceptance of the unknown opens our hearts and lets grace in.
Its fun to look back and find the right advice on my blog. Enjoy this re-post!
Angry people are in a triggered reactive state.
The ability to listen or think logically diminishes with the rise of strong emotions.
The animal or limbic brain takes over control from the reasoning pre-frontal cortex.
Evidence also shows that when we grip our jaw, we are less able to listen through our ears.
Be careful of those buts.
Wait until the person has calmed down before trying to use reason.
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“Conscious deceleration” is a term I came across in a report from The Future Laboratory which identifies macro trends and new directions in the Health and Wellness industry.
The bottom line is: We are being bombarded with new ways to achieve fitness goals and to be less anxious. A recent study by researchers at Yale and Oxford found that too much exercise is worse for mental well being than no exercise at all. People, especially Millennials, are getting burned out trying to avoid burn out. Everyone is getting more stressed out about how to de-stress!
The pendulum has swung too far and we are out of balance.
We must consciously slow down and create some calm in our every day. We need to take time to pause as a counter balance to the busyness and constant demand for our attention.
Having a regular practice of mindful breathing, yoga and meditation are ways to consciously decelerate and can become a haven in the world we live in.
Research is now being done about how music and vibrations can recreate the same calm state of mind as regular gentle yoga and meditation. You may want to experience crystal singing bowls at 432Hz or listen to binaural acoustics that induce a Theta mind state. Its already here and more in coming.
What was once rooted in the sacred past of yoga and meditation is now being developed using new technology to reduce stress and bring more peace into our lives.
May you Find Your Middle Ground in this new decade and beyond.
Namaste
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Every Step is Holy
By Danna Faulds
The journey from the known
to unknown, from the
unreal to the real, is rarely
revealed in advance.
The potholes, detours,
false starts, and quick retreats
are each honorable,
and even needed in the bigger
scheme, in the forest that can’t
be seen between the trees.
It took years for me to realize
that the very twists and turns
and shadows I labeled “problems”
were really sacred ground
grace disguised as obstacles,
the whole pass a pilgrimage,
mysteries baring themselves
before me all along the way.
Grace disguised as obstacles as we step together through our lives of potholes and detours… walking each other home.
Being there for our selves and others on this journey is the ultimate in grace.
Namaste
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~
Find your Middle Ground is about stepping away from stressful days and anxious minds, and taking time to pause.
When we are mindful of the present moment and simply allow it to be, we open a door to our natural state of being – accepting, loving, peaceful, kind and content. There is room for fear here. Most of us are so distracted and moving so fast that we get caught up in the world of “doing” or worrying about what we should be doing next.
Too much doing and thinking disconnects us from our sense of “being”and who we really are.
I write about finding this place of connection, contentment and peace in the highs and lows of life. I call it our Middle Ground.
Namaste
