It’s February already! This month's article is out, and covers leaning in, to things like hope, discomfort, and soulful living. Best enjoyed near a natural light source, In a space that is warm and dry (but not stuffy!).
Insight 1: The work lies in slowly building our capacity to compassionately turn towards, and engage with, our discomfort and growing edges.
Any time we attempt to ignore or suppress emotions or experiences that feel threatening, we are unwittingly slowing our own growth and expansion. Inner work, the kind that makes a radical difference to how we operate, demands vulnerability and discomfort. As Jung said - "the gold is in the dark". Turning towards challenge, turning towards our edges, while holding compassion for ourselves and others, shines light on hidden treasures.
Insight 2: We don't stop having needs when they are met, or only start having them when they are not.
We tend to think of our needs as a binary situation (met or unmet) but actually as with all things they exist along a spectrum and on their own timeline and are subject to (sometimes intense!) change and fluctuation. There are plenty that are more obvious and unchanging, like the need for water, and the need for sleep, but even these physical requirements change over a lifetime. Changes in needs show up in all kind of relationships - whether they are romantic, familial, our relationships with our own businesses, careers, and of course our relationships with ourselves. That is not to say that our needs in relation to self do not contain a firm set of fundamentals (self care, compassion etc) but life events can often heighten or indeed unearth some that we may have thought were already met. In this ever shifting landscape of needs, the one thing to remember is that humans are all continuously acting (consciously or not) in an attempt to meet our many varied needs. The more we uncover our own true needs vs the needs we believe we have (inherited from family, society etc) the more peace we can enjoy. Needs can be met in many ways. Healthy , unhealthy, neutral. Meeting our needs healthily generally means honouring and acting on our own values and unique ways of being.
Insight 3: "Hope is to break the cycle, not for any side to win it." - Hanky Shoukry
I found this piece of writing wonderful, so wanted to share. “The cycle of oppression starts with drawing imaginary lines between humans, then deepening them through fear and inequity. Each action creates its reaction; the oppressed becomes a reflection of their oppressor. Action and reaction reinforce each side's beliefs about the other. From this standpoint, it is easy to see that occupation, racism, poverty, extremism, dictatorship, war, and terrorism are nothing but intertwined symptoms of the same cycle. Hope is to break the cycle, not for any side to win it.”
Insight 4: "Dancing, singing, storytelling and silence are the four universal healing salves, and where we have stopped them is where we have experienced the loss of soul." - Gabrielle Roth
We talk about getting our dietary "5 a day", imagine if we were to also promote getting in at least one of these a day too. Healing comes in many forms. Solitude, connection, quiet, music, movement, stillness. If you ran an audit, how often do you put aside even a few minutes to feed your senses and your soul? I hope it is well and often.
P.S...Here are three more ways you can experience my work...
1 - Tailored Resources - simply let me know via email what you are working through and I will send you some helpful pointers and materials
2 - Half day Deep dive - four hours of deeply focused time working through whatever it is you want to bring
3 - Full day immersion - this is a sacred time for magical unfolding, where we get to explore whatever emerges with no limit on where the time takes us
I love to connect - please do leave a comment or share with someone you think this might benefit.
