9/5/2015 0 Comments Between Shadow and LightLast week the power went out in our neighborhood: no one called it in because they felt someone else would have or that the power company knew automatically that it was out. Turns out neither of these things were true as I found out when I called it in. This left me rather furious and angry at the laziness of society these days and I began writing a blog about how apathetic everyone seems to have become and how no one takes responsibility for anything. It was a pretty irate and accusatory blog with a lot of fiery language. Luckily {with a little help from Robert Bly’s “A Little Book On The Human Shadow”} I was reminded that, often times when our anger comes up and we place it on others, that projection can be there as an opportunity to allow it to reflect back for us to see it within ourselves—if we choose to. So I spent the morning asking myself, when do I get apathetic? When do I not do such easy, simple things {Like call the power company! Sorry, focusing back on myself…}? When do I not take responsibility for things? {I think I have a great example of that right here with all this anger that I was feeling and blaming on everyone else in society for not stepping up.} Wow, that’s quite humbling. There are lots of instances where I pretend not to see a need or say someone else will take care of that. And sometimes the seemingly easiest of tasks are ones that I can come up with silly excuses to get out of or keep putting off. Yikes! It’s funny how being really honest can turn things around on us like that. So now I’m hunting for those recent moments of apathy and avoidance and taking them head on. Part of my message from that inciting blog, that I believe is still relevant, is that if we aren’t capable of handling the little things in life, how are we supposed to be responsible when something larger shows up on the horizon. Sometimes we are and sometimes we aren’t—individually or as a society. But, once again, I’m reminded that I am only responsible for my decisions and actions, and not anyone else’s. You can go through life playing only in the light, but you have an invitation to also play in the shadow to uncover the more of who you are. The choice is yours and there is no right or wrong, no better or worse decision, just a personal one for you to decide on your own. It doesn’t matter where you play, but please do call the power company when the lights go out. Otherwise, we may all just be sitting in the dark forever. Maybe, on second thought, that would actually be a good thing.
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I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say, 'My mind is so busy, I couldn't possibly meditate.' That's the exact reason to meditate! How else would you expect to create a change in the behavior of your mind? I think it was my teacher Sally Kempton who said that meditation is the process for cleansing our minds. We brush our teeth and wash our bodies to clean them and meditation is what does that for our minds. So for those of us with busy minds {um, that's just about all of us}, the practice of meditation is creating a change in our pattern to just let our minds run amuck. The cool thing about the practice is that after a while you will actually start to notice your thoughts. And you will notice that you have the same thoughts over and over and over and over - day after day after day after day. The art of meditation is seeing that. It's gaining that awareness, because awareness is the first key that you need in order to do something different. That awareness opens you to choice. So eventually when you are 'thought' composing that email for the twentieth time that you need to write or having a conversation in your head with your boss about a stressful situation at work instead of just having the conversation - you can choose to stop that in-your-head conversation. I clearly remembering during one of my meditations when I was on a thought train winding myself through the places I've been and meeting up with folks from my past and BAM in stepped my awareness. And there I was with the thoughts AND the awareness of the thoughts. I had a choice to make. I could keep going with the thought train on the journey through my mind OR I could return to my meditation practice. This is where YOU are headed. You will get there, just keep making the choice to take your seat each day. After a while, your awareness will begin to win and your mind will settle down and stop being such a distraction for you. And then a really cool thing will happen, that awareness will begin to pop up for you outside your meditation practice. All of a sudden you will catch yourself having the same thought again, take note of it, and stop the cycle. Meditation will help you begin to win the war even outside your practice. It's a process - it will take time to unwind your mind. Want some assistance getting there? Join us for Motivate To Meditate or sign up for private mediation sessions! Check out these other blogs on meditation: The Secret Benefit Of Meditation Use Meditation To Stop Unwanted Thoughts And Calm Your Mind What I Learned From Teaching Meditation At The Huffington Post Oasis 12/17/2014 1 Comment India StrongIt's been almost exactly a year since I went to India. I haven't written much about my experience because it's a pretty impossible thing to do. How do you put into words all those happy faces, the welcoming souls, the beautiful colors, the noise, the crowds, the mazes that are streets, those speeding cars, buses, auto-rickshaws, bicycles. It's not a place that you can stand still. And She's not a place that stands still. Moment by moment She is changing, shifting, realigning. It's a dance like nothing else I've ever seen or experienced. When I left for India, I wasn't well. I'd just had my worst bout of vertigo that I'll ever have - spending a week in bed unable to set the world straight. My goal, my determination, was that I would make it onto that plane and get to India. The one thing I knew was that I was going. Even as I dragged my suitcase through the airport, the world moved around me. And I experienced it as a bobble head. My journey through India was moment by moment; one foot in front of the other. Take in only what you can handle; nothing more, nothing less. It was a limited view of the world, but sometimes you have to build walls around you just to get by. And sometimes those views help you understand things in ways you hadn't before. All these fears came up. You know the kind. The ones that stop you from doing what you really want to do. The ones that keep holding you back. The ones that don't let you speak up, reach out, move along when you really want too. I learned to block out what wasn't necessary for me to take in or respond to. I let things move through me. I learned to decipher other people's fears from my own. I learned to fully stand on my own two feet. I saw how the negative thoughts make us feel weak when we are truly strong. I learned that I was stronger than I ever imagined. India Strong. I am way stronger then I ever thought I was. I learned that all those things I've been afraid of don't matter, aren't real, or that I can handle them. And She didn't mind - She works on you however you come - raveling and unraveling you every day and then again each night. I was part of her dance. By the end of the trip, I was worn down and ready to go. But since the moment I walked into my door, I've had a deep longing to be back. I want to go back to see what I missed. To see what has changed. I want to go back because I have changed. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know I will return. She lives inside you and She calls you back. |
AuthorJenn White, Yoga Educator, Meditation Teacher, and Owner of Embodied Bliss, began her journey of yoga and meditation in 2004 while recovering from a back injury. Feeling lost, restless and seeking something more from life, she found her path through meditation. Archives
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