8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC
Please Stay Connected!
  • Welcome
  • Coaching
  • HeartMath
    • Creating Coherence with Heart
    • WeAddHeart
    • HeartMath for Kids
    • HeartMath Products
  • Business
  • Workshops
    • WeAddHeart
    • Habits Made Easy
    • Mindfulness & Meditation
    • Peaceful Path Sangha
  • Everyday Ease
    • Everyday Ease Videos
  • Resources
    • M&M Recordings & Videos
  • Calendar
  • Blog

An Interesting Thing Happened on the Way to Walking 

9/28/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
     When on retreat at the monastery, we live as a community. Each of us works in groups doing small jobs that, when summed together, help support the function of the larger whole. In the Plum Village tradition these jobs are called working meditation. Working is a meditation because, when we attend to it, we attend to it fully. It is a way to practice mindfulness, bringing honor and respect to the work as a reflection of our care for the larger community.
     During this past retreat, my groups was on dish washing duty - making sure that the dish washing area was set up so that retreatants could wash their dishes after eating. There were four tables set up for this, each one with four buckets of water - one warm and soapy and three for progressive rinsing. Since it was spread over a large area of the grounds, the hose from the main building was not able to reach the fourth table.
     On one particular day there was a gap in the schedule between the end of the Dharma talk and walking meditation. While waiting for walking meditation to begin, I noticed that a fellow working meditator was beginning to fill the washing buckets at Table 1. I gladly went over to help and, knowing that the hose didn't reach Table 4, brought those empty buckets over to be filled. With so much sitting and being out of my daily exercise routine, I was looking forward to moving some muscles by carrying the full buckets of water back to Table 4. And I wasn't concerned that the water would get cool while we did walking meditation before lunch since the dish washing area was in full sun and it had been a consistent sunny, 90+ hot and humid for days.
     I was so happy waiting for the buckets to be filled, standing and watching my breath and feeling the not-yet-blistering sun. While standing, a Sister came over and began rearranging the extra empty buckets I had brought over from Table 4. When I told her what I was doing, she looked at me and told me that it was OK and to put them back. I reassured her it was no problem for me to bring the full buckets over to Table 4 and that I was just helping out before walking meditation. She again requested, with the sweet insistence that only a monastic can, to bring the empty buckets to Table 4 and that "we will move full buckets from Table 3 and, in that way, will conserve our energy".

                                            I felt like I was hit with a sharp dart... pang... deflated.

     Even though her words were encouraging and I knew she was just being thoughtful in looking out for my welfare, my inner child was deeply touched. I felt taken aback, not quite reprimanded, but hurt in a very soft and tender place.
     After returning the empty buckets to Table 4 and with the Sister's encouragement, I quietly walked over to where walking meditation was starting. Tears began to well in my eyes and my throat was so closed that I couldn't join in singing the walking gatha songs. I knew there was so much more to this simple interaction and held on desperately within myself to find what that was. I didn't want to start balling but did let the tears come. I had no fear about doing this, knowing that the monastery is a safe place to be as you are and to be held by the larger community. Searching for the next best step, I invited my inner child to hold my hand as I walked with the group of 200 others, allowed gentle tears to caress my face as I took one step... one step... one step.
     Breathing into my body and feeling it relax a bit, I let myself settle and see what was there. The sister was right and hers was a genuine concern, especially as the weather had been so hot the past few days. I quietly thanked her. More breath. "I wanted to help, though." said my inner child's voice. "Was I not needed? Did I not belong?" More breath as I held my pain with gentle awareness and glad for the gift of being able to touch these tender seeds. I held myself like a mother holds a hurt child, not seeking answers but just being there to comfort the pain and for the child to be seen. It was a very old pain.
     I continued to walk to rest of that meditation with my inner child in one hand and Thay, my Oma, and all my other guides and supports in the other. It was very nurturing and, in the end, brought me to ask myself, like the buckets of water, what things in my life am I carrying that I don't need to? Might there be an easier and less strenuous way to arrive at the same, if not better, results? Conversely, what am I not putting effort into that could use the attention and how can I best divert resources to something that is more meaningful? Basically, where am I mismanaging my energies and how does that play out in my life?
     As I've come back home off retreat, I'm taking a look around at where and how I am spending my time. As someone in the support services, it's easy to get lost doing things that you think will be of benefit or over- extending your services beyond the Oxygen Mask (i.e. taking care of yourself). Balance in all segments of life is the Middle Way and one that creates freedom alongside diligent effort. It's certainly a practice for me and, in the meantime, I continue to have gratitude to the Sister for bringing it to my attention once again.
     So what about you? Where do you find that you are wasting efforts, energy, or time? How does that impact your life and how you care for yourself? If you could change or improve one thing as this season of change is upon us, what would that be? Share with me if you'd like. I'd love to hear your inspiration for transition.

Love and peace to you!
Shanti

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

0 Comments

It's a Miracle!

9/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
     “The Miracle of Mindfulness”… the miracle of showing up for your life as it is right now… noticing what’s there… in all of it’s many forms… with deep awareness and acceptance.
     You hear me say (or write) variations of this quite frequently but what is mindfulness really? While there are thousands of studies quantifying the beneficial impacts that mindfulness has on the physical and mental body, work productivity, concentration, relationships of all kinds, and overall health, and while we cognitively understand mindfulness to be present to this moment, again, what is it really?
     Stepping away from the view that it is a tool that will help us achieve greater goodness, we must, if we are to truly understand mindfulness, realize first and foremost that it’s an embodied practice. It is a state of being, not a performance enhancement too or a therapeutic technique.
     Recently I spent six days at Blue Cliff Monastery in New York with 400+ practitioners living as many moments as we were able to in mindfulness. I say “as many as” since, no matter the strength of our practice, there seems to be an ebb and flow in and out of this practice of presence. “The Miracle of Mindfulness” was the retreat’s theme, celebrating the publication of this titled book by my teacher and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh 40 years earlier. Out of the 400 retreatants, about one-third were brand new to a retreat in the Plum Village tradition, a tradition which emphasizes integrating mindfulness into everyday normal activities and occurrences. Each moment of life is an opportunity and a gift so why not show up and be more fully aware of them?
     The retreat day begins and ends in silence - an opportunity to connect with the voice inside - and in between we are fed with nurturing practices such as mindful meals, sitting and walking meditation, working meditation, Dharma talks (teachings), and sharing from the heart. Each step along the way is an opportunity to recognize our wholesome and unwholesome mental formations (ideas, thoughts, judgments, labels), i.e. discursions that typically hold us back from an open view of possibility. As we mostly seeking to control and reformulate our surroundings, there’s a continual backdrop of mind chatter that works to unconsciously sort and categorize our experiences, pulling or pushing our mental and physical resources into all sorts of directions in an attempt to make life more to our liking. In the retreat setting we are gifted with a slower pace, making it easier to notice this habituated mind activity and to create attitudes of openness and curiosity, awakening us to the many details we miss as we busily go about our day. We have an opportunity to notice our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sensations of all kinds, all aspects of ourselves that are lost in the commotion of mind and body multitasking.
     There is so much depth to the simplest of things - drinking tea or coffee, walking, bathing, picking up things, noticing a landscape, eating chocolate. How is your moment of life when you are sipping your tea in the bright sunshine? Noticing… what responsibilities are weighing heavily on your shoulders and in between your "should" blades? Can we soften our body just a smidgen and return to the tangy flavor of our tea, drinking in the refreshing elements of Nature in the tea leaves and rain clouds? How are we now?
     Each time we let ourselves open to experience what is in front of us, we capture a part of ourselves that we would otherwise have missed. We get to know what’s underneath and behind the busyness that has become our habit and, for that wonderful moment, notice the Self that is noticing the self. As we bring more and more awareness to ourselves and our experience, even if it contains pain or uncomfortableness, we can begin the journey of taking care of our true selves (behind the roles and ego) more fully. This awareness of self is the first step in healing the pains and points of suffering. From this place, understanding and then reconciliation may arrive. In this way, mindfulness is a miracle for, with the simplest of attention, we can gift ourselves the preciousness of our life.
     So try this on. For a few minutes right now, stop what you are doing and bring awareness to your breathing. You’ve been doing it all day long and it’s been supporting every action you’ve taken. As you pay attention to it, don’t do anything different to it - just leave it as it is. Now also sense your body with the breath, noticing the subtle movements of it as you breathe in and out. Staying here for a few minutes, let everything else settle down - your mind, your thoughts, your to-do’s. The only thing to do in this moment is to pay attention to yourself, breathing. Stay here and rest. Open to being and breathing. What’s there that you may have missed before? What miracle of mindfulness is yours?

Love and peace to you!
Shanti

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

0 Comments

June 08th, 2015

6/8/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
A pendulum swings wide and equal to each side. Drifting from the core center, a tremendous amount of energy can be expended when we are at either extreme. And while momentum can keep things going in either direction, symbolically extremes can be dangerous… at the very least highly disruptive.

The Middle Way, balance in all things, helps to regulate energies and create ease and harmony. There is a smooth continuum when we swing not far from our center point. The energy that we use to produce results is directed and efficient as we are not engaged in the struggle of opposites and discursiveness in getting things done, rambling from one course to another. This is true for all aspects of our life.

Take your relationship with food, for example. If you are in balance, you’ll eat when your body tells you it’s time to eat (not by the clock), when you receive signals that more energy is needed. In this way, you’ll more easily maintain health. To do otherwise is to waste lots of energy eating too much, too little, or the wrong foods. Maintaining this balance, this Middle Way, with food is key to success and happiness.

Want to learn more? Join us tonight for MEAL - Mindful Eating for Awakened Living.

Peace,
Shanti

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

0 Comments

Controlling the Weather

3/2/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
     Happy month of March - official Spring is on its way. Yeah!! I know this winter has felt pretty rough for folks and, from what I've seen, the external weather has taken a toll on people's internal weather. Lack of energy and enthusiasm, a sense of isolation and hibernation, feeling ungrounded with a frozen connection to Earth, and constriction in creativity and positive expressions. It feels like it will never end but hang on, it will. Soon enough the thaw will be here, both inside and out.
     Changing our internal weather report is not always easy. There's no doubt that we are influenced by the external, whether it's a storm of snow, stress, or misguided communication. The external doesn't need to be determinant, however. We can open the curtains on a cloudy day, guiding our internal sun to shine and brighten our Light.
     "What part of me is being touched here?" is a great question to ask when we are feeling frustrated, afraid, misunderstood, or otherwise triggered. Instead of looking to rearrange the world to make us more comfortable and "solve the problem", can we instead come to know the part of us that is uncomfortable? Isn't that really what's calling out to us?
     Underneath the body wrangled in an emotional whirlwind, how did the storm get brewed up in the first place? What is the source seed of our tender spot? Usually it's a fear of some sort. When we get to know this, our simple act of awareness lifts the mayhem energy around it. We now know what is seeking support. This awareness alone creates an empowering perspective. With witness consciousness, we can see ourselves from a bigger perspective in relationship to our triggering event and all the ways we became uncomfortable. This type of awareness puts our higher self back in control of our experience, providing the framework of insights that switch us away from being a reactive participant. We don't need to run away to change the situation. Witness consciousness allows us to stand sturdy when the storm wind blow hard.
     Our mind is the creator of our life experiences. How we internalize the external world determines the weather of our day. Granted, poop happens but its up to each and every one of us to decide if we're going to compost it or step in it. It's messy business cleaning up poop from our soles but composting it for soul flowers is fantastic.
     Want more? Train your mind with one of the mindfulness classes and/or join my Complaint-Free March Facebook event. Either one will surely make your internal sun shine bright and keep you seeking the good.

With many blessings for peaceful days,
Shanti


Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Certified
Practitioner Eden Energy Medicine
Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
603.228.9007

0 Comments

Love Expands in Community

2/3/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
     Woohoo!! I am SO excited!! I'm just getting back from Phoenix, Arizona (no, not see see the Pats win - what a crazy game!) where I finished an intensive two year Eden Energy Medicine (EEM) certification program. It's been an amazing journey meeting fantastic and fabulous practitioners from all over the world, creating my energy tribe, and gaining lots of confidence in helping others take care of themselves in a new way.
     If you haven't heard of it, EEM works with the body's physical, energetic, and emotional systems through the use of ancient techniques most familiar to us as in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and kinesiology. In non-invasive and gentle ways, it helps you rebalance and harmonize back to your original self. Whether the desire is to support overall health or related to a specific concern like pain, reoccurring illness or life scheme, anxiety, or poor sleep, EEM is a great toolset. It's quite amazing how subtle energies flow and I agree with a common response of "wow, that was really cool". I hope you'll take advantage of this new addition to 8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC. Many of you have already experienced the power of this work and I am grateful for your love and trust.
     After Phoenix I spent some amazing days in Sedona with three of my best energy buds, embracing the energy of this special place and getting even more connected to these lovely ladies. Shopping for crystals, hiking the terrain, doing Tai Chi at the vortexes in Boynton Canyon, and going horseback riding were some of our adventures but, most importantly, was just spending time with one another.
     It's interesting that, beyond the desire to bring forth this energy work, each one of us is coming from a different place in our lives and has a completely different rhythm energy of how we approach the world. As well, four females in one room for five days every three months...there's bound to be some major issues, yet really there weren't. We've always been able to love and support one another, to see the gifts that each offers, and to appreciate the awarenesses that are created when we don't necessarily mesh in the moment. It's also been quite lovely to see how each one of us has strengthened over these past two years as we've shared and practiced this energy medicine with one another. Our systems are cleaner and clearer, allowing each one of us to be more solid and grounded in our true essence. It's been really quite wonderful.
     Reflecting on this 'tribe', I look around my life and see others that have come together as well. My Sangha of Buddhists and mindfulness practitioners, my kids and family, and the close friends that I cherish deeply. I also have the group of supporters who took care of my house while I was gone; plowing my driveway, checking my house daily for mechanical disruptions, transporting me to and from the airport, and checking in with me on a regular basis. It's wonderful to have these communities, especially for me where my beginning life felt isolated and alone, invisible.
     Who are the tribes in your life? How are you taken care of and supported, not in a co-dependent way but in a shared and nurtured way, where your authentic self is safe to grow and develop? While I love my time alone, community is a vital part of my personal joy. It keeps me vibrant and feeling alive. We are social beings and sharing this humanity is an important piece in getting to know ourselves. Our essence is reflected back when we are with others. And in return, we offer a bit of ourselves to provide companionship, caring, and presence for another.
     Your tribe doesn't have to be large or distinct. It can be made up of your neighbors, a pet, part of a community service network, or coworkers. It can be one person who you can rely on to be there at 2:00am should the need arise.
     As we enter the month of Love (our calendar's way of opening us up during the cold of winter), seek out your community and reconnect if the dark days have kept you sheltered and inside. Notice the blessings they provide in simply being there and take care to nurture them back as you've been nurtured. Take note of how you've become a better being because of them and offer lots of gratitude. I know I've been graced with your presence and am deeply grateful for this tribe.
     And always feel invited to gather in community at 8 limbs Holistic Health. Classes, workshops, and events are always happening so feel free to join and create more tribe energy. It brings joy and supports all of us when you do.

With many blessings for peaceful days,
Shanti

P.S. For more about Eden Energy Medicine, see here or here to check out upcoming public classes. You can also schedule personal sessions to address your particular issues and needs; call 603-228-9007 or email me.

0 Comments

    Author - Shanti Douglas

    I hope you enjoy the sharing here. Please feel free to comment and share. Gratitude for taking the time to read and feel free to SUBSCRIBE by clicking "RSS Feed" below. Peace!!

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    8 Limbs Holistic Health
    Acceptance
    Change Management
    Community
    Daily Energy Routine
    Eden Energy Medicine
    Eyes
    Feeling
    Food Safety
    Four Agreements
    Fundies
    Genetically Modified Organism
    GMO
    Gratitude
    Habits
    Happiness
    Healing
    Healthy Living
    HeartMath
    Life Coaching
    Loving Kindness
    Masaru Emoto
    Meditation
    Mind
    Mindful Minute
    Mindfulness
    Neurolymphatic Reflex Points
    Optimize Coaching
    Peaceful Living
    Present Moment Awareness
    Resistance
    Restorative Circles
    Right View
    SAD Seasonal Affectice Disorder
    Self Love
    Shanti Douglas
    Sleep
    Stress Management
    Thich Nhat Hanh
    Transformation
    Triple Warmer Smoothie
    Try It On Tuesday
    YouTube

Shanti Douglas: Mindfulness, Optimize, & HeartMath® Certified Trainer and Coach
8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC         603.228.9007         Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
Photos used under Creative Commons from Todd Baker << technowannabe, kaibara87, Alois Staudacher, kevin dooley, r.nial.bradshaw, mayeesherr. (in West Bengal!), Virtual EyeSee, Sera Photography, Spirit-Fire, zaphad1, freestock.ca ♡ dare to share beauty, vintagefaerie, ▓▒░ TORLEY ░▒▓, lundyd, Koshyk, VIVOBAREFOOT, Dendroica cerulea, Maik Meid, striatic, Viri G, opensourceway, symphony of love, Daily Dose Of Champions