on the blog
Did you know that a cephalopod has 9 brains? A central brain and one in each of its eight arms. each of those brains functions independently of the other. Meaning each arm forms functions completely separate and without the awareness of the other arms.
Sometimes it feels like that in my mind. Like I have multiple brains all competing for one body, trying to steer me in multiple directions at the same time. Sometimes I am not even aware that this is happening. That the voice of security and the voice of grief are at odds. That my need for control and the reality of uncertainty are not friends. I can easily get lost in the sea of voices swirling around in my mind.
This generally leads to emotional overwhelm, frustration, exhaustion, irritability... no surprises here.
Sometimes it’s not until I experience the symptoms of mindlessness that I remember to be mindful. Once present, the symptoms cannot be ignored.
It’s as if I can hear a voice saying “Hey! a guest has arrived at your doorstep. They are knocking loudly, waiting for you to attend to them, and while you just keep turning your music louder to ignore them, they are growing impatient!” The first step in openly inviting an unpleasant guest is to admit they are present. “Hello shame, It’s nice to see you again.” Admitting that we are sometimes visited by unpleasant guests, that our minds are sometimes frantic with competing voices, needs and desires, and acknowledging their presence, is the only way to move toward acceptance and whole-hearted embrace. Of self. Of reality. Of love. Of others.
Sometimes I like to pretend i’m not visited by unwanted guests. Sometimes their presence disturbs me, and I am afraid of what they’ll say if I give them enough time to speak. But being honest with ourselves about the present moment, whatever our experience, whatever voice we may meet knocking at our door, allows us to move from a place of fear and judgement, to a place of acceptance and compassion.
And the world needs all the acceptance and compassion we can offer. Especially now.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond. | Rumi
Ouch.
That is the word my partner and I use to find resonance with each other when one of us is experiencing a trigger or overwhelming emotion that feels difficult to process.
Acknowledging the pain experienced by the other brings us into a state of compassion through heart resonance and pure presence.
Acknowledging it’s not our responsibility to fix or rescue the other from the current experience, we are free to fully witness and embrace the pain of the other.
Ouch.
I see you. I feel you. I love you. I am with you.
Resting in presence with the suffering of our world & our loved ones requires that we make a home in the presence of our own suffering.
As Rumi writes, we must learn to embrace every emotion, every guest, as a teacher, friend and weary traveler. we must learn to love and accept the parts of ourselves that scream ouch in the dead of night. In the face of overwhelming uncertainty, loss, exhaustion, fear and grief.
Ouch.
I see you. I feel you. I love you. I am with you.
Let’s celebrate interconnection and practice this loving embrace together.
Come & find rest in the pure presence of tender-hearted sisters. Be held and embraced as we share in guided meditation, breath work & conversation.
SHARED WISDOM CIRCLES
THURSDAYS @6P MST
Grief is the great connector. it is the driving force of release—a force that removes the emotional barriers between us and other. let it rip you open. | Kylie McBeath
“Meditation is a state of no-mind.”
Before there is story there is simply sensation.
As humans, we are meaning-making creatures. One way we make meaning of our lives is through Story. Sometimes, however, our narratives become too small, too restrictive. These small narratives limit our ability to see what is real and hinder our ability to navigate life with a sense of ease.
Our human tendency to over-identify with the stories we tell often leaves us trapped in habituated reactions to life. Let's say we have a familiar experience and automatically categorize and label it according to our previous experiences and narratives. To a degree, this is good and healthy. It is a survival mechanism that has worked for millennia. However, when our habituated patterns and restrictive narratives get in the way of our own growth and equanimity in life, it is necessary for us to re-evaluate our stories.
In life we are offered plenty of opportunity to disrupt our patterns. These come in the form of unexpected circumstances, trauma, loss, unmet expectations, discomfort and all manner of left-turns.
These disturbances often arise in the body first as sensation. A tightness in our stomach, a lump in our throat, constriction around our breathing--a sign that something has arisen, and is asking for our attention.
Our tendency as humans is, of course, to begin to make meaning of these sensations. We run on auto-pilot, categorizing certain sensations in our mind as comfortable, pleasurable, familiar, safe, welcomed and others as uncomfortable, dissatisfying, or not-welcomed. All of a sudden being human becomes conceptualized, filtered and lived-out purely in our minds.
The path of feminine wisdom is to move from the mind down
into the heart, which resides in the body.
Before there is story there is simply sensation.
We often shy away from sensations labeled as uncomfortable. But the power of the feminine is the ability to be with what is, in any form. Cultivating our staying power with practices like meditation, breath-work, yoga and contemplative prayer helps us broaden our capacity to be with what is.
From this place of total surrender and acceptance to what is, we can see more clearly what is before us. And from this clear-seeing, we are better able to discern what is most necessary and good. From this place of discernment--inner-knowing or intuition--we navigate the circumstances of life with more ease, more freedom and more stability.
Let’s commit to turning our focus inward and practice being with sensation.
Free of story, free of judgement, free of attachment.
As a society, we are taught to disassociate and disconnect from our bodies. Mind over matter is the mantra of the day. yet wisdom texts across traditions inform us that it is in the body that intuition resides—namely, in our heart and our gut. And as women, we have unique access through our wombs!
Together we’ll explore the many ways we’ve cut ourselves off from the intuition of our bodies, and practice some simple breath work to help us re-establish that vital connection of body, mind and soul. Connecting with our breath allows us the freedom to more easily access the forgotten spaces of our being, where intuition is found.
SHARED WISDOM CIRCLES
THURSDAYS @6P MST
Embodiment: a tangible or physical form of an idea, quality or feeling
Embodied Wisdom: a tangible or physical form of wisdom, divinity made manifest, God immanent, God incarnate
Embodied Feminine Wisdom: a tangible or physical form of grace, ease, joy, compassion, surrender, pleasure & abundance in. all. things.
I spend a lot of time on these trails. Getting out of my head and into my body as I channel my breath and energy into forward motion up this mountain, one stride at a time, brings me home to the nature of my truest, highest, most resonant self.
A self of love.
From this space I more easily and effortlessly navigate challenges off the trail—like loss, trauma, pain, disappointment.
From this place of embodied knowing, I more readily surrender to divine will, in transcendent trust that truly, all shall be well.
Living from this place of freedom allows me more agility, creativity, pleasure & joy in life.
Join us for a conversation on the topic of emotional equanimity, and discover how to navigate the ebb & flow of life with more peace, balance, transcendent trust and embodied knowing.
SHARED WISDOM CIRCLES
THURSDAYS @6P MST
