Monday Mantra :: In and Out

We are in waning moon time, with the end of the week (FriYAY!) bringing us a new moon.  This means it's the perfect time to clean house, both literally and figuratively.  Clear out the clutter from your counters, closets, drawers and the clutter from your thoughts, emotions, and energy. 

What is no longer working for you?  What leaves you feeling uninspired and stuck?  Where in your life could you use some breathing room or a breath of fresh air?

This week's mantra gives you a practice for calling in what you need and for letting go of what you're ready to release.  A way for you to clean the house of your body with your breath: 

On your INHALE, say in your mind and hold the intention: I BREATHE IN LOVE.

On your EXHALE, say in your mind and hold the intention: I BREATHE OUT FEAR.

Continue a few reps, filling in the blanks for what you want to breathe life to and what you want to release.  Here are a few more examples to get you started: 

I breathe in peace and I breathe out stress.
I breathe in calm and I breathe out anxiety.
I breathe in abundance and I breathe out scarcity.
I breathe in energy and I breathe out depletion.

This week's mantra :: I breathe in ______ and I breathe out _________ .  

Monday Mantra :: Grounded

We are constantly surrounded by information at our fingertips.  Articles to scan, social media pages to scroll through, video clips to watch, and a plethora of other distractions or important knowledge to consume and digest.  It's amazing that within seconds we can look something up we need to know or find directions of where we need to go.

With all of this, we very easily start to live up in our minds and miss the connection to our bodies, unless we make a conscious effort. When you are in need of clarity or have the desire to hear your own truth (rather than what google tells you), GROUNDING comes into play.

And grounding can be super simple.  This week, I encourage you to take note of your feet.  Set an alarm on your phone, write it on your calendar, post a reminder to your bathroom mirror, do it when you get out of bed in the morning, when you're eating a meal, and/or before you drive your car.  Do it once a day or do it multiple times a day:

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Feel the bottoms of your feet on the earth.

And say to yourself: I am grounded.

That's it!  Where awareness goes, energy flows.  Just by bringing your awareness to your feet, your energy begins to ground.  The more you practice this, the easier it is to move about the world connected to both your beautiful mind and your beautiful body.  

This week's mantra: I AM Grounded.  

Reflections on the Table

One of the most beautiful things I've seen in this world has been when I get to witness a person on the massage table during a healing session. Whether their head is in my reiki-ing hands, I'm feeling and clearing their chakra energy with esoteric healing, or I’m holding space for the emotions to move through their body with breathwork (or a combo of all three), it always has me bowing down in awe to the beauty of the human body and spirit. Recently, I had the opportunity to be on the other side, to be in the other role, as my body was calling out to get some reiki from one of my healer friends. I was the one to climb up on the table to receive this time. And I was surprised by how hard it was! 

Healing treatment room at Maha Rose Center for Healing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

If you've ever experienced a session before, you know what it feels like to be vulnerable and laid bare so to speak in another’s hands. It takes courage, bravery, and trust. It takes a willingness to let the walls down, take off the mask, and be seen exactly as we are in that moment. I know for me this can be hard when the rest of the time I'm running around trying to look like I've got all my shit together. Trying to seem strong and in control of what life is delivering to me.  At the beginning of the session that day, I found myself bracing my muscles as if to try to hold my own self up, rather than letting my weight sink into the massage table and be supported.  It took a conscious effort for me to relax each muscle, to take deep breaths, and to just.... BE.  To receive.  

 And what I realized as I climbed onto that table: there is a quiet kind of strength needed in order to soften and open and receive, whether it be as simple as accepting a compliment or gesture of kindness. Whether it's a physical gift or an offer for help and assistance. Whether it's a healing session, bodywork, coaching, or intuitive guidance. It takes an inner strength to allow ourselves to be on the other end of "the giving".

And I had to ask myself, why then do we do it??  Why do *I* in particular have a business that asks people to receive when it's also a challenge for us to do sometimes?   It took me some time to contemplate this question.

And my reflection: because the body loves it. The body CRAVES it. Receiving brings balance to the yin and yang. The masculine and feminine. It creates reciprocity.  Flow.  Think the infinity symbol: what flows out also flows back to us.  When we finally stop fighting or resisting and sink into the glory of receiving, it feels SO GOOD. In a healing session, the nervous system relaxes and the body has a chance to restore and heal. Accepting the compliment expands our joy and appreciation for ourselves. Getting help from a friend leaves us feeling supported, connected, loved. And then the effects of that acupuncture, birthday gift, hand written note in the mail, random bouquet of flowers, ripples out in ways we probably don't even see!

And so glorious receivers, I am awed by you.  Inspired by you.  Encouraged by you.  I raise a toast to us all: may we continue to allow ourselves to receive with strength, courage, and vulnerability.

Point to Ponder: in what ways can you soften to receiving?  What are some of your favorite ways to receive?