The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice --

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

detemined to do

the only thing you could do --

determined to save

the only life you could save.

~ Mary Oliver

Being Present on a Rainy Day

Today is a perfect day for writing. It is cold and rainy outside and there’s no place else I’d rather be than where I am right now; in my sofa wrapped in a blanket. What about this moment feels so right? For one, hearing the rain drops right outside my window. In speaking to my coach earlier this week, I shared with her that it had been down pouring and thundering the entire morning. She replied that in times like these, the weather helps us slow down and take necessary quiet time indoors. It is so true and Mother Nature can be our greatest reminder for us to simply slow down. And that is exactly what I intend to do today.  

Weather like this always puts me in a pensive mood to settle in and gather my thoughts so that I can make sense of them. To be quite honest, this is not a stretch for me as I always find myself in my head and lost in thought.  I can be in my head a lot and the one thing that I lose from spending so much time there is feeling. I forget to feel the ground underneath me and create space between me and my thoughts by being with my own breath.

Breath; it is an internal reminder, a ticking clock of sorts that serve to remind us in each moment to slow down and be present.

Why do so many of us turn away from being present? Why is the present moment such a scary place to be? I coach a lot of clients about staying present and cultivating a mindset of self-awareness in everything you do. So much of who we are, the good and the not so good, reveals itself to us once we’re paying attention. A lot of us like to see what’s on the surface and shy away from discovering the deeper layers of ourselves. We are afraid that if we find something we don’t like that means we need to do something about it. Oftentimes the idea of taking responsibility for ourselves and our lives comes at a greater cost: interrupting our comfort zone and stepping outside of it to an unknown place. It is the fear of the unknown that keeps us in our pain.

The thing I’ve learned in my own experiences with self-awareness is that if you don’t acknowledge the pain you may never know what it’s like to feel your own power. To recognize pain is to recognize your own power in undoing the pain. When I say power, I’m not talking about asserting any excessive force and control to undo the pain; that only brings on more pain. But when you acknowlege what you see, observe it's influence over you and decide that is not what you want for youself, you regain your sense of power. It is the power that can only be found in the present moment. It’s not in the past and it’s not waiting for you in some distant future, it is in the here and now. The power of acknowledging your fears and separating yourself from them lies in bringing your attention to the present moment and deciding who you are and what you want for yourself.

What do you see when you return to the present moment? How can you use the rainy days to reconnect with yourself? Share your comments below!

3 Ways To Meditate (or commit to any practice) Daily

22 days ago, I sat down on a cushion in front of my alter space at home, closed my eyes for 10 minutes, and meditated.  I have done this every single day since then. Meditation has become part of my morning practice that is now as routine as brushing my teeth.  I feel pretty kick-ass about what I’ve accomplished in the last 22 days but what was bugging me was, how did I actually do it. I can honestly say that at the start, I did not set a goal of meditating for the next 22 days; actually I hardly gave it much thought. So after weeks of meditation, when it finally dawned on me that I had created a regular practice, I wanted to explore what helped make it such a success. Here’s what I came up with.

1. Commit To The Moment

As I mentioned, when I started out, I did not set a future goal of meditating daily but rather I made a choice each day to sit down at the cushion. Once I gave my mind the instruction, the rest of my body went into action. Sometimes making a future goal to do something everyday for a specified amount of time can put you in your head too much. If you’re a thinker like me, you’re more likely to begin strategizing and planning on how you’re going to succeed at the goal before you've even begun. Doing this can be a bit overwhelming and stressful because you’re so worried about the ‘how’ that you lose track of the ‘what’. If you use the present moment to make a choice and take action without thinking about the next day and the day after that, you realize that the present moment is all you really need to get it done.

2. Know Your ‘Why’

Why would I spend 5, 7, or even 10 minutes meditating every day? I could use that time for something else couldn’t I? I have found myself spending the same amount of time on Facebook or watching television but what I get from those experiences aren't as fulfilling to me as time spent clearing my mind and replenishing myself. Life is about experiences and how we spend them. That’s why spending quality time with good friends and family or going out for quiet walks in nature leave us feeling fueled and revitalized. The experience nourishes our soul on a deeper level. Ultimately dedicating yourself to something that has purpose and significance to you will motivate and keep you on track.

3. Enjoy the Process

Coming to my meditation cushion every day was a challenge but was also very fun. I learned that meditating in peace isn’t always the experience you’ll have. I can illustrate that with a quick story. One morning as I sat down to meditate, a construction worker decided to clang his equipment right outside my window. Naturally, it was distracting and made me want to end my practice short.  I got up in a huff frustrated at being inconvenienced by all the noise. Then I thought to myself, wait a second, isn’t this why I am meditating? To be at peace even amidst the chaos? I smiled to myself, let out a laugh and sat back down to continue my meditation. The construction worker soon finished what he was doing and all was quiet again. If I had allowed myself to get angry and end my practice short, that probably would’ve set the tone for the rest of my day and I would miss out on the lesson of reminding myself not to take things so seriously.

I tell that story to remind us to learn to use every inconvenience or set back as an opportunity to laugh at ourselves, stay playful at heart, and find joy in the process.

So remember, Commit to the Moment, Know Your ‘Why’, and Enjoy The Process.  These are my keys to sustaining a great meditation practice but really can be applied to many other tasks as well. One might use these same concepts for going meatless, paying off debt, or learning a new craft.  The possibilities are endless!

What could you use this three step process for in your life? Share your answers in the comments!

Tapestry of Life | An Excerpt from Unbinding The Heart

"To me synchronicity is the manifestation in the physical world of connections that are forming in the invisible world all the time. It is the energy that sustains the cosmos, moves the atoms, and breathes in our cells, making itself known to us so we remember that the Divine is always at work within us and for us. It is proof that we are made from more than the flesh and bones of our dense materiality -- that we are part of a larger, unseen picture. The philosopher William James observed that we are like islands in the sea, separated on the surface but connected in the deep. We are all in the dance together. And when our hearts are open, we allow love to move through us in this dance of life, love transforms our steps so that each one is perfect".

Excerpt from the book Unbinding The Heart, by Agapi Stassinopoulos.

Travel Light

What would it mean for you to travel light and free yourself of all the unnecessary baggage that weighs you down? What could be possible if you put down the fears and checked your doubts at the door?

Scan your life for heavy burdens you might be carrying around. You may see them in the form of toxic people around you, clutter in the home, or that nagging voice inside that keeps you playing small.

What would be different if you just traveled light?

With Love & Light,

Ariane