Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are human BEings, not human DOings. In talking with my wellness and therapist friends, I have learned that we are all hearing the same things from clients and would-be clients: "I don't have time", "I'm too busy to..." . It's a pretty loud chorus at present and it has made me sit up and ask what can be done to shift this collective voice & support reclaiming responsibility for our health and well-being. Being busy is addictive and a bit of a badge of honour in some circles. Most of us city dwellers are overstimulated, sleep deprived and facing so many choices that we are not here, now and living this moment with awareness. The levels of anxiety, depression, dissociation, isolation, suicide and disconnection from our body and wisdom is unprecedented. While it may seem morbid to some, I have considered my last breath in this world a lot and I find the research that reveals the top regrets of the dying to be very telling. Those on the precipice off death do not encourage us to do more in order to have the esteem of others or latest or dream ‘X’. On the contrary, their heightened perspective on life encourages us to feel, express, love and play more. How to BE more and Do Less: Do nothing for 10 minutes every day. This is an entry point into meditation. The mind will relentlessly pull you from the peace of presence because it is well practiced, but be patient. It, like a wild horse, can become steadier. Set the intention, trust yourself and commit daily. In this video I offer you a tip on how to move forward with this practice. Not-Doing List. We are so good at writing "To Do" lists that contribute to a feeling of overwhelm (even though the final checkmark is ohhh so satisfying), that I thought it would be interesting to write a "Not Doing" list. Tune in after your 10 minutes of doing nothing and write all the things you do not wish to do and see how it feels. Take it a step further and set an alarm, for example, at 14:13 to just stop in the middle of your day and ask, "what do I need right now?" What is my intuition telling me? This will help you to tune into what your body is trying to communicate, and identify what feelings of safety and flow are present, as well as what is niggling at you and you are avoiding. Enjoy the clarity, focus and calm that comes when you really listen to yourself. What is your heart asking for? How could you nourish yourself more?
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We live in a culture where our goals, our identity, our worth are often tied into what our culture values and other's expectations of us. We may understand this intellectually, that I am not my academic achievements, my athletic prowess, my looks, high paid job, ... but within us lives a child who wants to be seen, witnessed and valued, and who sometimes, without even knowing it, gives their power away to others.
I know this for myself - in my teens I dreamed of going to art school, however without even speaking about it I adopted the way of my parents who both had post-graduate university degrees. In my early 30's I started to revisioned things, doing more art which grew into a greeting card and design company that was represented in over 3000 stores including art galleries and museums in Canada and the USA. I also continued to work in psychology and studying yoga, until 2007 when I sold my design company, moved to Japan and focused exclusively on yoga, lifestyle writing and growing my energy medicine practices. The rest is history. How to Not Care What Others Think We ought to care deeply about ourselves and others, but not about what they think of us. Why? Because we are often wrong and even if we are right - is it worth giving our authority to them? Caring what others think about us bites hard because deep in our subconscious we hold deeply ingrained beliefs that dictate how we interpret our experiences and the world. Adding to that, humans have a negative bias which has helped us to survive, but hasn't necessarily made us happier. And so, until we examine and revision our limiting self-beliefs, our worldview remains biased and untrue. Ask yourself honestly and let your soul speak:
My dedication to breathwork is not only based on my own journey to reconcile and release old and unserving beliefs, but also that which I have witnessed in my clients. What makes it so beautiful in this age of striving and doing, is that by opening our breath we deconstruct and unlearn all that has amassed and constricted our deepest aliveness, so that we can be at home in our bodies and with ourselves. To make authentic shifts and become the authority of our own life we need two things: INTENTION (shared in August's newsletter) and ACTION. That is, we need to be clear and committed to what we want and we must take action on it, otherwise we are just hopeful and dreaming. Breathing is the most readily available resource you have for creating and sustaining your energy, presence and personal authority. It changes our biology, resting the default network that keeps us in our mind and estranged from really feeling. Nevertheless, no matter what you choose to practice, the strength and degree of our growth and evolution lies in our daily routine. In Transformational Breath we encourage a daily breathing practice to open to joy. In kundalini yoga we use 40 day Sadhana's to change a habit and install a new one. In Ayurveda the wisdom of daily routines is at the foundation of creating balance and authentic health. My advice is start somewhere and commit to it. Whether it is yoga once a week, eating an apple a day, daily conscious breathing, walking in nature twice a week. You don't need an App or Instagram ♥ for this - listen to what's working for YOU and commit to it. Live your unique expression and know that not one of the 7 billion people on this earth are like you. Don't conform - be YOU. Intention setting is a powerful tool that is often overlooked. My relationship to intention setting has be nourished and become second nature through my breathwork.
Because intention is different from a wish or affirmation, I wish to elaborate more on it here. A wish can arise from a longing, a desire that feels a little out of reach, something we feel we are not able to actually make happen, but render it to grace, to universe's good will. Like a seed offered to the wind to go on it’s flight, to hopefully land on soil that is nourishing to root and grow into a reality. We can send off many wishes each year, some may come to flourish, some may travel the winds for some time and some may never find a place to grow. Affirmations are short statements designed to retrain your mind/ thought process/actions into behaving differently so that you may better and easily manifest a certain outcome. An intention, on the other hand, is an active deed of creation. It is very specific and it´s power consists of clarity and direction. In order to set an intention, one must already know that it will be achieved, one must commit to making it happen. Many intentions evolve around inviting more abundance, self-care and success into our lives. So in order to set a powerful intention in these fields, we must enable ourselves to feel more self love, more self appreciation and to trust our abilities. We may find that being generous with ourselves is not so easy and when we think of personal success, we may all of a sudden be filled with doubt and worry. We sense a deep underlying fear that we are actually not good enough, not worthy, have not worked hard enough, are not smart enough, are too insignificant, etc. This is where Transformational Breath® is very effective because init addresses both the conscious mind and deep subconscious. It is from the subconscious that we interpret most of experiences within and without (90-99%), and therefore the place we can shift old and entrenched limiting beliefs and integrate traumas that deny the truth of who we are. It only reveals what we are ready to work with. I find it useful to see intentions as actions that you and universe are co-conspiring into creation. Conscious breathing with intention first thing in the morning can set the energy for the day and reinforce every cell in the body with it's expansive truth (eg. I am supported, I am enough, I am loved). In forming an intention, allow yourself to trust your intuition, your gut feeling and commit to it, without hesitation and keep it safe from doubt. Give yourself permission to not second-guess yourself, to rely on a feeling, your feeling. Maybe as we move through the second half of the year, your intention will be simple, it can sum up to acknowledging yourself and your power, to honouring your truth, a commitment to not stand in your own way. Next Breathe Into Being Workshop Sept 11 @ 19:00-21:30. |
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Danielle Satya ParlaHere I share more about what I love: breath, yoga, ayurveda, psychology, energy medicine & Mother Earth. Archives
December 2019
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