Love

The Invitation

/ embracingspirit / 1 Comment

In these uncertain times I find myself longing for what I know and for what brings me a sense of feeling grounded. For many years I come back time and time again to this poem. I share it with those who I know are willing to meet me in the space of vulnerability and see me from the heart of compassion. For me this poem invites me into myself and reveals the truths of who I am, or who I strive to be.

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Labels…and Lupus

/ embracingspirit / 4 Comments

Labels. We all have them.

Most people know me as a yoga teacher. A Pilates teacher. An essential oil guru. A mom and grandmom. A friend (although I strive this year to be a better friend from now on). A fierce entrepreneur with a strong spirit. An advocate. A rock star. A light.

What many don’t know is I am also a woman who has chronic pain and a diagnosis of lupus.

It’s not something I choose to talk a lot about—not because I feel shame— but because I don’t have time to dwell on it, or worry about it, or even hate it.

Instead, I choose to learn from it. I learn from the subtle whispers it speaks to me through aches and pains and unbelievable fatigue. I learn what fear looks like and how I can see those thoughts as just that—thoughts.

I can learn what compassion is on a deeper level, mostly for myself and for those who care about me.

Truth is Lupus sucks. Pain sucks. And being the observer of it and as it relates to my day-to-day, and how it impacts my family, well, it sucks.

I believe I am an amazing woman. I know that I am an excellent yoga teacher and strong advocate of goodness. But, I am also vulnerable and really struggling.

Now you know.

I’ve made radical changes to my schedule and my life, and my comfort now surpasses my need to achieve or exhaust myself working. Instead, I want to feel joy and feel the spirit of being alive. I want to welcome in days where I feel less pain than those days that I do. I want to be present with myself and others.

Lupus or not, I am choosing to live beyond the labels. I just am.

Follow me for more goodness!

The Choice Is Mine

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Life doesn’t always hand you the perfect life; happy marriage, healthy kids, plenty of money, big house and new car, or the body with no pain.

It took me well into my early forties to grasp this. Once I did, that was when I really started LIVING.

No more chasing the external things that I thought would bring me happiness, and instead finding acceptance for what IS.

The marriage that didn’t work out, the daughter with special needs, struggling to make ends meet, and a diagnosis of chronic pain may not be the “ideal” but they sure have taught me how to handle life’s unexpected events. With this understanding and learning to resist the attachment to a so called perfect life, I have come into such a graceful and beautiful outlook on this beautiful life that I have created.

The choice is mine. All mine. And I choose happiness, despite the unexpected stuff that has shown up in my life. It’s all perfectly good.

Love Yourself

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The importance of self love is critical to being the best we can be for others. Boy, has this concept taken me decades! I feel like I am FINALLY coming into a place of self-love. True self love. Not the surface stuff.

Sure, I know I do great work in the world and I make a difference but I am talking about the really hard stuff for most women—physical body love.

Since I have been a heavy woman at one point in my life, I know far too well how easy it is to look in the mirror and feel bad about what I see. Here’s the deal—the inner dialogue we have to ourselves about ourselves, ESPECIALLY related to our bodies has to end!

Over the years I have developed some practices/habits that are key for stoking my inner flame of self-love.

Check them out:

?daily walks—typically without music, podcasts or anything that distracts me from the present moment of pure bliss in nature

?journaling—not the blah blah blah type, but a gratitude and positive affirmation journal

?bubble baths—every single day I lay my bod into a bath infused with Epsom salt and essential oils.

?supplements—I take the highest quality supplements (d?TERRA Life Long Vitality) every day. These provide my body with all the proper key vitamins, minerals and omegas without fillers and other stuff. I also take probiotics daily.

?fermented foods—kombucha, kevita, apple cider vinegar, sauerkraut all support my gut, which we now know effects our entire body

?water—And lots of it. I drink approximately 100oz a day. I add grapefruit, lemon, lime or peppermint essential oils (only the purest though!) Tasty!

?jigsaw puzzles—a great way to unwind and let my mind wander. Plus, it is super relaxing.

I also empower women to find their Self through love and encourage many of these awesome habits. To learn all the ways essential oils can support you, check out this handy guide. Not only do essential oils help my body, mind and spirit, but they have also given me a voice in helping others! You can too!

Santosha: The Path to Contentment

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Contentment is defined as a state of happiness and satisfaction. 

Emotionally it is in the middle of the emotional scale and vibrates at a fairly neutral resonance. It is that space within us where all is okay. It is a feeling that offers neutrality and a sense of ease because there is not the push for more.

When I first began to understand what it meant to live yoga, I wondered if I could I ever really achieve contentment?  The Sanksrit word for contentment is santosha which means to cultivate a sense of being all right with who I am and what I have. And yet, we are humans who have been conditioned to constantly crave and strive for more. Yogi or not, I have dreams and goals so contentment, or santosha, often eludes me. Both on the mat and off the mat.

My work is to balance my dreams with the presence of knowing that all is okay.  I mean REALLY knowing that all is okay.  I can still have my dreams, but right now, in this breath, all is okay.

When we look at this on an emotional level, we see just underneath contentment on the emotional scale is complacency.  And just above it is hope.  So this middle ground of contentment could take you either way, depending on your awareness and your willingness to be, or not to be.

In my life, when faced with a challenge (on the mat or off),  I have three choices.

  1. Stay in contentment. I could recognize that my true self is pure and perfect. I can know that I am whole and good enough, right now.
  2. Slip into complacency. I could get lazy in my efforts and desires.  I could choose to weaken my desires and make excuses as to why it is not worth the effort due to my smugness and perhaps falsely known self-satisfaction.
  3. Rise into hope. I could take a breath and aim for a feeling of expectation and desire for goodness to happen.  I could take in the knowing that dreams and desires are right there waiting to arrive.

I  definitely do not spend much time in complacency. Although I am often vibrating higher in hope, optimism, positive expectation, enthusiasm, passion and ultimately deep appreciation, I am striving to also exist in the space of contentment.

Can I even say strive for contentment?  Kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it??

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Attitude of Gratitude

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Do you have the attitude of gratitude?

Research is now showing strong evidence that cultivating a gratitude practice and living from the space of appreciation can improve your mental (and likely your physical)health.

I know for sure that practicing gratitude increases the goodness! I believe that when I shifted my mindset, my whole life changed. Not only did I lose the extra weight and toxins that I had been carrying, but I also discovered my purpose which lead to adundance in ALL areas of my life. I love jotting down daily moments of abundance everyday—it is in the noticing that we begin to change our brain.

And a fun side note:

? Wild Orange is the Oil of Abundance

? Spikenard is the Oil of Gratitude

Did you also know that both of these essential oils—as well as the emotional state of gratitude—have one of the highest vibrations recorded? Meaning, the more you live in the space of gratitude, the higher your “vibe” is and when we are in the high vibes, we actually draw in MORE goodness.

How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain https://www.mindful.org/gratitude-changes-brain/

Preparing Our Soil

/ embracingspirit / 3 Comments

I think of early March as a time to prepare for growth. To toil the ground and prepare ourselves for deep growth.  I also love spring and the symbolism it represents.  It is during the spring time that we often think of beginnings, newness, and growth.  For some, this is a great time to begin to cultivate your “soil” to soon plant seeds of intention. One way to do this is to write down anything in your life you wish to increase–friendships, health, abundance or joy, are just a few ideas.  Be clear with your visions as this brings life to your “seeds”.

Next, it is so important to prepare your inner “soil” by eliminating and removing the old and now transpired blossoms of last year.  The memories of past that have come and go and no longer as vibrant as they were just a few short months ago. When we invest time in preparing ourselves for a season of growth (no matter what time of year, really) we must start with cleaning up the areas so that we are open to allow space for growth. When we spend time doing this we are investing time into right now.  We are dirtying our hands with the fertile soil that awaits.

As you do this, become aware of the subtle changes in Nature during this time of the year.  You might see the peeking of crocus bulbs emerging from the hardened winter ground.  Watch as the trees begin to grow tiny nubs that will soon break into full leaves.  Listen as the birds start to make song in the early mornings and the air has a scent of newness.  Use all of your senses to experience what is happening around you.

As we connect with Nature we also connect with ourselves. We realize that we too, are ever-changing and growing beings.  We can set the seeds of intention and begin to nurture and cultivate what we wish to have grown in our lives.

This week in my classes we will be exploring cleansing postures to eliminate the old and make space for new.  We will also be looking at ways our bodies can twist and unwind to come fully into the now.

Here is to growing, less pain, more joy and flourishing!  Happy Spring and while you are preparing your soul for growth it is never a bad idea to get your hands dirty in Mother Earth, either.

The Betrayal

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It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. 

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;

if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul;

if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. 

As I continue to read, study and share the beautiful poem The Invitation I dive into a deeper understanding of myself.  This exploration is a way that I continue to peel away the layers and in hope, help others to do the same.

This portion of the poem has always been a bit tricky for me.  The concept of betrayal is ambiguous and yet so powerful when it is looked at squarely in the eye.  I suppose in truth, we have all betrayed someone at some point in our human-ness.  We have also betrayed ourselves.

At this early stage of the new year, many of us our filled with intentions, resolution, goals and plans for a successful year.  Unfortunately, studies prove that most people with lose their focus and within a short time be finished and fall back into their old habits.  Is this a form of betrayal?

What about the ways we so often begin to speak to ourselves in the dark and uncertain moments? The self-talk that diminishes our very light.  Is that betrayal?

So much betrayal; self-sabotaging behaviors, unwillingness to takes risks, staying in relationships way too long, the fulfilling j.o.b., even that late night too much ice cream thing we do.  Isn’t that all betrayal?

I think what this is here to teach us is that betrayal comes in many faces and it is truly up to us to go after what we want.  It is up to us to speak our truth, regardless if it disappoints another.  It is our divine responsibility to listen to the calling of our soul.

Sometimes this feels like our insides are about to be ripped out.  It is often in this intensity we are faced with disappointing another to be true to ourselves.

The work of the soul can be so painful, and yet it is in this knowing that we cannot betray our own light.  We begin to see that in speaking our truth, we ultimately betray no one.

On the mat this week, we will look at betrayal and our choices to have limiting beliefs, negative self-talk and how must learn to speak our truth–first with ourselves, and then with others.

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Wellness Wednesday

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Wellness Wednesday!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. The hustle can now start winding down and a settling in begins to happen.

The week between Christmas and New Years is my favorite week of the year. For me, it is a time of reflection and clearing out mental clutter. I read my journal and review my years goals and accomplishments. I take lots of time to be really grateful for every experience I had in 2018.

In doing this, I make space for new. Once I have reviewed my year, I look ahead and set goals and create dreams for myself. I use a paper planner and a separate journal and start with one WORD. This word becomes my intention and the thread that becomes woven into my years’s tapestry.

For me, this practice is as important as any other wellness habit. Nurturing our spirit is key to wholeness.

How will you close out 2018?

The Fear

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“…it doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive..”

Our age defines how long we have walked this earth but not what we have done with this precious time. Being alive isn’t enough.  Truly living and taking the risks for our dreams and for our longings is our divine responsibility.  Fear is part of being fully alive.

The longing must be larger than the fear. The desires must be more than the risks to look like a fool for your dreams.

Part of facing the fears is that we must also learn to let go and surrender.

Are you willing to surrender the way you have seen yourself and how others may have seen you?  You know, those labels and temporary identifiers that we have inherited over time; mother, friend, employee, father, etc.  Although we value these, their dominance in our lives can sometimes not allow us to live out the other aspects of our lives.  The calling of the soul is not particularly concerned with the day-to-day responsibilities like packing lunches, paying bills and cleaning the house.

All of our deepest desires are our soul’s way of calling us back to simply being who we are.  To move forward with our desires we have to allow ourselves to stumble and to fall. If we are truly awake, we can catch glimpses of profound wisdom that gets lost in the daily experiences and that may lead us back to ourselves.

Think of something you deeply desire. Feel what it will feel like to have this.  Touch that place in your that knows this desire.  Now, look at the fear that takes up space from where you are now and where that destiny is fulfilled. Feel that space filled with fear and identify what it is.

For me, I desire freedom.  I desire connection.  I desire living my purpose.

I fear failing.  I fear letting people down.  I fear loss.  I fear instability.

Are you willing to look like a fool and risk moving through the fears to get your desires? I am and gladly walk alongside anyone willing to do the same. Consider joining me this week in my yoga classes to explore this on the mat.

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