Comfort

Comfort is often thought of as indulgence, and not always in the most positive connotation of the word. When we think of comfort we think of hearty (read fatty) foods that we grew up with, a giant slice of cake or a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Comfort can also be thought of as selfish. Taking time to be comforted or to find comfort is seen as a sign of weakness. We are expected to “shake it off” and only save comfort for limited times of self-indulgence. Over the last few days I’ve begun to redefine “comfort” for myself. Comfort is saying yes to what I need most in the moment.

A lot of emphasis is put on pushing past fear, going for your dreams, and reaching out of your “comfort zone.” While I am a huge proponent of these ideas, and have often spoken on this blog about pushing myself past fear, I also now realize it is perfectly okay not to push myself all the time. Just as with the seasons, there is a time for blossoming and a time for turning inward. I’ve noticed as I’ve decided to consciously find comfort a small voice in my pipes up saying ‘you’re lazy’ or ‘shouldn’t you be pushing yourself harder?’ It has been both a struggle and a comfort to tune that voice out.

Today, let yourself find comfort and enjoy it without feeling guilty.

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Tea for Two-sday (Have a mug with one you love)

I recently began drinking licorice root tea occasionally for its calming effect. The taste is quite strong, and although I’ve always enjoyed licorice as candy I’ve had to get used to it in the form of tea. However, I notice its strong effect and I’ve read of its health benefits. Licorice root tea is not for everyone though. Be sure to make sure it is safe for you to drink as it has some side effects and could interact with some medications. For more information on this tea visit Herb Wisdom.

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Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith

I just bought this book at the recommendation of a friend and I can’t wait to read it! The author, Anodea Judith, goes into lots of description about each chakra, the traumas associated with them, and the types of behavior people exhibit when one or more of their chakras is out of alignment. Has anyone read this and enjoyed it?

 

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Magnetized

Recently I was fiddling around in my purse and began playing with one earring (I always lose one of the pair) which had a magnetic bead on the bottom. I felt it pull into the magnet clip on my purse, and then felt my own hand pull it away. I played with this motion for a few minutes, marveling at the natural simplicity of magnetism. Like magnets, we feel pulled to people, jobs, and situations that will serve our highest purpose in life. However, sometimes a larger hand appears, perhaps the grip of fear, anger, or sadness, and separates this magnetic bond.

There are many magnetic pulls in my life, and I believe that having an understanding both of the innate pull towards these yearnings, as well as respecting the fear which tries to draw me away from them, is the key to realizing them.

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Made by Survivors Jewelry

If you are looking for a gift for someone, or want to get something for yourself, I highly suggest checking out the Made By Survivors Store. They have lots of handmade items made by girls who were rescued from sex-trafficking. The founders, Sarah Symons and John Berger, wanted to provide a way for these girls to obtain a small income, hence the beautiful handmade gifts available on their website. You can read more about the story of this foundation on their website. Here are some pictures of the jewelry the girls create:

 

 

These pieces of jewelry are generally under $100 and benefit a great cause! I bought a pair of earrings for a friend for Christmas, and I’d like to get a necklace for myself.

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A Call to Healing

Do you remember when you first realized that you needed to heal? Have you always known and constantly worked toward healing? Or did it come as a sudden epiphany where you realized that you were ready to let go of your pain? Throughout our lives we hear many calls to heal, and we often ignore them at least for a while. Eye-opening or life-changing events are often calls to heal that have been left ignored for a long period of time, and had to make a huge crash in your life in order to be heard. Sometimes calls are more positive and ask you to reach beyond your current awareness into a deeper understanding of life.

I had spent a lot of time doing self-work, but not spiritual work until last spring. I had worked on bringing up buried emotions and going through my past, but I had not done it from a spiritual perspective. I basically thought it was just me doing this by myself in order to please God, a figure which I could barely begin to conceptualize. However, I suddenly began to have this deep, innate yearning for magic in the world. I felt deep sadness at the pain in me and in the world I saw forming around me, and I wanted miracles, something to help me see beyond what was becoming an increasingly bleak reality. It was then that, by chance, a coworker recommended Donna Eden’s book Energy Medicine, and my whole world opened up. This was it! I re-learned (because deep down I already knew) that everything is energy, and as humans most of us can only see a small portion of reality. In truth, there is much beyond the physical world, that is beautiful, powerful, and healing: magic!

I realized that I had been stuck in the physical realm, and had not paid enough attention to the non-physical, forgetting it in my ignorance and limited beliefs. I urge you, if you ever feel depressed or low, to ask to be shown magic in the world. Your request will truly be answered and it may even help set you on a spiritual path, or deepen your spiritual experiences.

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Leadership Challenges

If you read my recent posts about assuming my own power and taking a position of leadership, you’ll remember that I’ve been focusing my energy on this recently. While I am a leader by my true nature, I often feel more comfortable taking a backseat and letting others make all the decisions. However, I’ve been feeling called to assume my own form of leadership based on a new understanding of its definition: as one who leads with love, consciousness, and awareness of others. As soon as I said yes to this calling I was tested.

There was recently a conflict in the spiritual group I lead and, although momentary, it had a deep effect on the energy of the group and on me. I let it go in that moment because I was unsure how to handle it. I had created a group for positivity, not for conflict! However, I learned so much from this situation. For the past few days I was beating myself up about not confronting the person who had created the conflict, and I worried about what my other group members thought of me. I realize, though, that my number one goal is to let everyone feel like they are in a safe environment, and I must maintain that even if I have to do something that is uncomfortable for me, namely confronting someone about their behavior. While this is difficult, I know that putting my feelings on the table honestly and respectfully will help maintain the integrity of my group and teach me a lesson about how to lead with my heart.

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Inspirational Quotes

Here are some beautiful quotes for this afternoon:

“You can be all of humanity in one person, you can be a whole world” (Thomas Moore)

“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that’s enough for one man’s life (T.S. Eliot)

“There’s always going to be bad stuff out there, but here’s the amazing thing, light trumps darkness every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can’t stick the dark into the light” (Jodi Piccoult)

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Chopra Center Meditation Challenge

Tomorrow begins the next 21 day Chopra Center Meditation Challenge! I love this challenge because even though I do have a daily meditation practice, I get fresh guided meditations delivered each morning for free. I really appreciate the message behind each meditation and the overall change that occurs throughout the three weeks. I first did this over the summer, about a month after I had begun to meditate daily. It helped me keep up the flow and habit, as well as get excited about meditation and what I would learn about myself. I wish you much fun and insight should you decide to take on this challenge!

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Spiritual Partnership

Last night I was watching Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday which I had recorded. She featured Gary Zukav, author of Seat of the Soul, and his wife Linda Francis. They were discussing Zukav’s most recent book Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power. Their insights into the dynamic of a spiritual partnership versus marriage were fascinating to me. Zukav noted that many marriages are not spiritual partnerships because each partner does not work on their individual spiritual growth consciously and then bring this growth to the marriage. Marriage partners often bury feelings or shut each other out rather than try to help the other grow spiritually. A partner will react fearfully when the other is unkind or seems to have lost their way.

Spiritual partnership, they said, is the hardest relationship you can have with someone else, but also the most rewarding. It forces you to face yourself and brings out the parts of you that would rather remain hidden. Spiritual partners take risks all of the time by saying what is real and what is in their hearts even if it means lovingly confronting their partner. Your spiritual partner also does not have to be your spouse, it can be anyone with whom you have this type of relationship.

Do you consider your significant other to be your spiritual partner? In what ways has he or she helped you grow? My fiance and I watched this programming together last night, and we agreed on many counts, but we also decided to take our partnership one step further. We both struggle with making decisions and acting from a place of fear, rather than love. We agreed that we would hold each other accountable for these decisions, and be conscious enough to alert each other when it seems that words or actions are reactions to fear. Labeling our relationship as a spiritual partnership has actually helped us clarify our intentions for our relationship and brought us closer.

For more information about spiritual partnership visit Spiritual Partnership Guidelines at Oprah.com

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