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Let's Play Ball!!

5/18/2015

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     My dog is a ball obsessed. Plain and simple, not much else matters. Balls are higher on her list than being patted and loved, food, and even me. :(
     I brought her to the ocean for the first time the other day; she's from Louisiana so she's had little experience. When we got there, the ocean was like a sheet of glass, barely a ripple beyond a gentle caressing of water to sand. Still, Suki was pretty timid, taking several minutes to get close enough to touch one of the slow receding "waves". For me, it felt fantastic to get my feet in the moist sand and water. Her preference was definitely the dry stuff and, to my great amusement, at one point when she wasn't looking, a whisper of wave water came to shore and inadvertently touched her paw. She jumped in the air like someone afraid of spiders. All that was needed to complete her reaction was a high-pitched yelp.
     As a rescue, her history isn't certain to me and I wanted to ease her into the beach experience so that we could have fun and enjoy it. I coo'd and consoled her so she'd get comfortable, reassuring her the whole time that it was fine. Even so, she wasn't convinced...until I found the magic switch. All I needed was a ball to change her relationship with the ocean - a good old yellow-green tennis ball! One throw into the water and she was back in her joy realm, having a blast playing fetch and eventually dripping wet from paw to tail. What fun!
     Suki is a real inspiration. She brought to mind how many times we are afraid to move past our fear, even if it's a relatively small one like moving out of our comfort zone into new scenery. For many of us this happens too often and it can leave us feeling small, squelched, agitated, and unhappy. It's a real restriction of life when we know there's something beyond this but can't get to it. I know for me, the frozenness of winter has had a hard time dissolving as I've felt stuck, blocked, and in my own way too often lately.
     When we engage with the fear mind, we tell ourselves all the reasons why things won't work out or we dramatize all the bad things that may result. Our imagination is very active, going in all sorts of directions and, while we think we might be being proactive in planning and strategizing with these thoughts and projections, we're actually closing out possibilities. Smallness arises. Most of the things that our mind comes up with aren't even true yet we let them guide our life's actions. When we become trapped by our thoughts and our fears of potential negative outcome, our life caves in before it's even begun. That's a pretty scary place to live from.
     Suki can teach us a lot. She worked past her fears by engaging with something that was much more important to her. Her focus and attention went to that which she really wanted to do, that she loved. She maintained her inspiration by connecting with that part of herself that felt truly alive, embracing how she really wanted to feel (free and full of fun). Once she was activated in the joy and thrill of her favorite thing, nothing else really mattered. If the waves would have gotten any bigger, she would have simply swam with them, not jumping back like the ocean was full of spiders.
     All in all, I'm a pretty big risk taker and have taken a lot of chances in my life, including how I got to where I am right now. There are even several times I've jumped into the water without really checking the depth and safety of what was beyond yet I've somehow always landed on my feet. It's that lioness / cat part of me, I guess, and trusting the bigger energies to be there. I'm also aware, however, that momentum is a factor in moving forward. To get unstuck, we must get up and do something different, take a chance, even a small one, and then keep moving forward. With sights and senses on what we love to do more than anything, our inspiration and aspiration, it's easy to access the strength to let go of the silly don't-do-it mind. Focusing on the YES piece, the play / fun / joy / love piece, automatically releases the fear factor. Accessing that part of our soul can be a simple switch of the mind. We can decide what to turn on and off and, as Wayne Dyer would say, "Don't believe everything you think."
     So the next time you get stuck in your fear box, maybe take your inner dog to the ocean and see what shows up. Let the water wash away any mindset that's constricting your joy and let yourself be loose and free. Go play ball! It's much more fun anyways.

Peace,
Shanti

Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Eden Energy Medicine
Certified Practitioner
8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC

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AHHHH!!!   SERIOUSLY??
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WOOHOO!!!    MORE PLEASE!!!
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Come Alive!! Planting Our Seeds

5/11/2015

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   Ahhhh.... the beauty of Spring. Earth unfolding, flowers blooming, birds making their way back to create nests of goodness. Even the squirrels seem no worse for their wear over the long, harsh winter. Embracing the sunshine and the fresh air, life is good!
     As I walk in my backyard, I notice so many buds emerging. Daffodils, tulips, forsythia, Snuffy (my willow tree), and of course the vibrant green grass peaking out past last year's residue. Life is expanding and beginning a new exploration. I find my inner nature matching that of our great Mother's; bringing creativity to my mindfulness practice, developing new offerings, and approaching the standard with new eyes. The new energy of Spring is unfolding into my day and my outlook as I'm noticing potentials I hadn't seen before in the frozen tundra of winter. So happy the melt is on!
     As life expands, I'm noticing a lot of seeds inside emerging, ones that have been dormant for quite some time. Connection, love, creativity, risk-taking, and patience. These are seeds I would like to water so they may bloom more vibrantly in my life. I also notice seeds I'd prefer not to water such as feeling scattered, spending time in dream-states, and the tension of being caught by a habit. These may happily wither away.
     Each one of us has seeds - seeds of every emotion and style of being. Out of habit we water our seeds, which then govern what we think, feel, say, and act. We are aware of many of these seeds but, without a healthy mindfulness and reflective practice, many more are not in the realm of our awareness. They lie underneath, deep in our unconscious, yet impact much of our day to day living. My teacher Thich Nhat Hanh talks about these seeds as Mind Consciousness and Store Consciousness, Mind residing in the realm of awareness and Store sitting below ready to blossom any time they are watered.
     Feeling empowered to create change in our life takes effort and is done so by consciously watering only the seeds that transform with benefit. For those that we wish to wither, we let them go and don't water them. This means that we don't pluck them, try to move them, or shine a light of attention on them, even if that attention is meant to reduce their impact such as "Stop doing that" or "Go away". We gently place them down and turn to watering the seeds that are beneficial.
     While this might sound pretty clear cut, our habit energies make change challenging and not so easy. If we've watered the seed of anger since we were a child, for instance, that seed has deep roots and a good foothold in both our Mind and Store consciousness. It will take a greater amount of effort and diligence to wither that seed with lots of beneficial watering of patience, ease, and presence. When anger rises, instead of offering it the water of even more anger with added criticism ("Why are you still doing that", "I hate it when I'm mad!"), we offer our anger compassion and understanding. With mindfulness in our moments (especially our habit trigger moments), we are more able to slow our reactions, notice the anger rising, see the roots being watered, and switch to a response of love and understanding. With this type of attention, changing our relationship to our anger and the circumstances that water it are possible. Transformation is possible.
     As you notice the buds blossoming outside and around you, notice as well the buds blossoming inside. Take special care to water the beneficial seeds, allowing the less beneficial ones to provide compost for a healthier soil. And to learn more on how you can transform your seeds to goodness, please reach out for a free consultation.

Peace,
Shanti

Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Certified Eden Energy Medicine Practitioner
8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC

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    Author - Shanti Douglas

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