Being Enough

 Until I decide I won't, I am penning, these blog posts in support of my ongoing sacred journey course,“Creating a Life of Contentment,"  which began Sept. 15. For one entire year, we'll be traveling together as intimate companions: to relax, let go and rest into Love; to discover the bliss of our own life. I hope you will join me here! You can learn more about the program here. 

Relaxing into Life


We're spending two full weeks talking about "being enough" in our Contentment course.

And yet two weeks seems scarcely enough to scratch the tip of this particular iceberg, a chilling one that seems to keep us caught in patterns of striving and "getting it right." Getting life right. 

Can we really? Get it right?

Sometimes a poet comes along that puts words to our struggle in ways that we can't. Poets seem to view the world through unique lenses of insight and connection, especially about tender topics like this.

One such poet is Danna Faulds and I've been in love with her work for a while now. A yogini at heart, she gives voice to our journeys of awakening and transformation in a unique, passion-filled way.

I was reading some of her poetry this morning, sitting in the sun (as it is unseasonably warm here), listening to the birds chirp at the feeder, watching the flimsiest of white clouds pass by. Within the pages of her book, Go In and In: Poems from the Heart of Yoga, I found a piece titled "Enough." I should not have been surprised to find it there as Danna has an uncanny way of putting her finger on  the spiritual pulse of what really matters.

She wrote in her poem, "Enough"

It's enough to offer love,

no matter how imperfectly

received or given. It's

enough to try and fail at

a difficult task; enough

to fall and rise, stumble,

fall again, sigh, and start

to walk, however slowly,

in the direction the soul

points. It's enough to

seek peace and find pain,

to gain nothing but a

vision of truth, and take

the long route home.

It's enough to feel

temptation, the dance

of the senses, the hot

pull of desire; enough

to call on God, walk

through fire, sleep and

cry and fear or welcome

dying. It's enough to be

and breathe, to feel the

touch of wind on the skin.

It's enough to take the

day as it comes, to watch

the ripples on the lake as

the rock sinks to the

bottom, to see the wild

reflection of the surface

calm into a mirror once

again. It's enough to

hear the voice of fear

and hide—or seek it out

and face the same

or shadows. It's enough

to set out to tame demons

and watch them multiply

instead. It's enough to

be buffetted by the winds

of change and not blown

over. I and you and all

of us, more than enough.

Danna invites us like many wise sages do to relax into our life as it is ...

Can we? Because if we can, I'm pretty sure Contentment would be ours.

Opening Our Heart

Until I decide I won't, I am penning, these blog posts in support of my ongoing sacred journey course,“Creating a Life of Contentment,"  which began Sept. 15. For one entire year, we'll be traveling together as intimate companions: to relax, let go and rest into Love; to discover the bliss of our own life. I hope you will join me here! You can learn more about the program here. 

Opening Our Heart

Sometimes Contentment is just one good stretch away.

I have a favorite practice I'd like to share with you. I use it when I am feeling cranky or sluggish. It's quite energizing.

But mostly I use it—truth be told— if I am beginning to feel a bit closed down. Like a flower that closes its petals at nightfall, for whatever reason, my heart has decided to close in upon itself. 

This "stretch" is a tried and true heart opener and it works wonders when you are feeling not only less than warm toward others, but less kindly to yourself. 

When we think of compassion or love, our thoughts naturally turn toward others. But it is oh, so easy to forget that we are deserving of loving-kindness too.  

So when was the last time you specifically opened your heart to yourself? Do you have a way to do that when you are feeling harsh or judgmental, disappointed in yourself?

Here's my best advice:

Stop what you are doing, stand up, and go outside. 

Stretch your arms out to your sides as if you were an airplane. 

Breathing slowly and evenly, gently arch your body back as if there were an imaginary string connecting your heart to the sky. 

Stay in this position for a minute or two, continuing to gently breathe in and out, for as long as you need to feel relief.

You may want to add a heart-opening mantra like one of these:
 

I am loved, lovable and loving.

I am a good person and basic goodness is my true nature.

I am enough.

Contentment arrives on the wings of self-acceptance.  

Today, spread your wing-arms wide and allow the sky to embrace you as you are. 

You are enough.

Countdown to Contentment ~ Day 23

Loving ourselves and life from where we are ...

I’m counting down to contentment — to the starting date of my new sacred journey course,“Creating a Life of Contentment,"  which begins Sept. 15. For one entire year we will travel together as intimate companions: to relax, let go and rest into Love; to discover the bliss of our own life. You can learn all about it here. 

 

Day 23

The Joy of Doing Nothing

Sometimes you just have to do nothing—absolutely nada—to experience contentment.

I have a sentiment posted on my refrigerator that reminds me of this:

“Nothing to do,

no place to get to,

just this perfect moment.”

(penned by my friend, Mari Gayatri Stein)

When I’m in a bit of a hurry, or the voice of ‘What to do next’ is making itself heard, I can pause, take a breath, and remember to be present. Even stop what I am doing and sit for a while.

As delightful as this sounds, many of us simply cannot give ourselves permission to stop and do nothing.

Doing nothing doesn’t feel useful or productive. It might even whisper ‘lazy, pointless, wasteful’ in our ear, but that’s only the voice of the ego. We can get beyond that. “Thank you for sharing but I think I will take time for me right now.”

We can silence that voice and give ourselves permission to have moments of pure nothingness, because in that sacred void we'll relax, let go, and get back in touch with our true nature—the essence of peace, happiness, love ...

All of which leads back to contentment, of course.

The author M. Scott Peck (The Road Less Traveled) once said,

“I have a very full and busy life and occasionally I am asked, “Scotty, how can you do all that you do?” The most telling reply I can give is,“Because I spend at least two hours a day doing nothing.”

Will you give yourself permission to do nothing for a while today? Resting into the present moment, be satisfied, be well.

  

Let the contentment begin!

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

"The heart is the hub of all sacred places.

Go there and roam in it."

~ Sri Nityananda

A Room of Her Own - I'm Ready, Are You?

Dearest friends,

Welcome! I am so happy you are here with me in this place—a gathering of women—a circle of sisters eager to journey together in a new way. 

I've been belaboring for weeks now (with a healthy case of the jitters) what my first post would be on. I wanted it to be wonderful, evocative, invitational, supportive. I wanted it to be everything.

And because I have taken a "Vow of Transparency," I am going to honestly share with you what I think this pre-blog wiggly feeling inside stuff is all about. I didn't realize it until this morning.

It's about an old pattern that bites me in the butt when I least expect it. I think I'm doing fine; I'm enlightening a little more each day. And wham! One of those deep-seated patterns that I'm sure I've let go of is back with a vengeance.

Mine is perfection.

Yep, that nasty "P" word that plagues most women. It's a preposterous "P" that says we are not enough— that we must be more, do more, get it right, and do it so well that people like us, even applaud us.

How crazy is that?

But it's true, most of us have that disempowering voice whispering to us throughout the day. Subconsciously, we base many of our life choices on what this voice says. Be more, do more...

Case in point. Here I am, eager to make my first post and I'm entertaining feelings of "getting it right." At the same time, I am pushing myself to get my house tidied up because my mother is coming to stay for 3 days.

So the Martha Stewart voice (she's a version of the nasty "P") starts talking to me and, just when I intend to sit down and write this post from a nice, relaxed space, she's telling me to keep moving because Mom is coming and she's pointing out everything that is a mess in my house. Which is completely ridiculous because my mother doesn't give a rip about the condition of my house. She is coming just to be with me—ME!—not my house.

But, as I said, old patterns die hard, and because I am passionate about living an awakened life as my truest self, I take some time to look at that pattern. I sit and breathe and observe. I stop myself from getting sucked in to P's clutches and soothe myself. I enfold myself in compassion and say, "You are enough."

This is what I hope we will do on this site in this "Room of Our Own." We will take a collective Vow of Transparency and be honest—with each other as witness—openhearted about ourselves, our journeys, our challenges as women on the path.

We will take off our masks and move into enoughness.

We will accept each other as we are and encourage one another to embrace our essence: that womanly essence of divine beauty who is holy and whole—Enough.

I'm curious. 

What voice might you be hearing today that keeps you from embracing your enoughness?

I'd love to hear ...



And thank you for being here. My heart is doing the happy dance today because I am back in the company of kindred women. Joy!

Special thanks goes to the gorgeous and talented Caroline of Beautiful Blog Headers and Whimsy Whispers for creating this stunning site for me. I am so very grateful. Thank you, dear heart, you are a gem!

May blessings surround you,
Jan


(Note: If you have arrived at this site from a place other than Awake is Good, my other blog, I suggest you return there to read a bit more about how this blog came to be.)