Anniversaries and Awakenings

July has been a booming month of anniversaries for me and with each anniversary came a present or awakening in body, mind, and spirit.   I celebrated my sixteenth year with Arbonne and I remember that I started my yoga practice that day too.  It was also my two-year anniversary of moving to northern California and reconnecting with my former husband.  And it was the four-year anniversary of my “spiritual awakening.”

BODY

In my thirties, forties, and fifties,  I thought yoga was for sissies.  I wanted something hard core with results I could see right away.  I found Bikram Yoga and it proved to be a “killer” workout and the perfect introduction to the world of yoga.  Coincidentally, the day I started yoga was also the day I became an Arbonne independent consultant.

If you’re unfamiliar with Arbonne, it is an awesome health and wellness company with vegan nutritional and personal care products.  I learned the importance of what you put on your skin and in your mouth.  Today my team of Stanford doctors attribute my speedy healing from my recent surgeries to the strength and stamina gained from my yoga practice and sixteen years of very clean eating.  Below is the poster that was on the back wall of the yoga studio that I would read every time I was in a backbend.

MIND

Little did I know when I moved from Southern  California to Northern California that I would have a blow your “mind” experience, but I have.   I have had excellent teachers in my partner, my students, and my colleagues and customers at the metaphysical book store where I am happily employed part-time.  The Northern California crew has taught me about mindfulness or re-introduced me to it (When the student is ready; the teacher appears.) and my consciousness has grown because of it.

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.  By practicing being in the present moment, I have slowly been able to get out of my head, stop over-thinking everything, forgive myself, and experience snippets of personal freedom.  (I am a work in progress.)

New neural pathways are being created to rewire my brain, which is reprogramming my mind.  Google defines “mind” as the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.  The brain is an organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull of vertebrates, functioning as the coordinating center of sensation and intellectual and nervous activity.

If you’re not familiar with neural pathways, I’m listening to a fascinating book right now by Dr. Shad Helmstetter called The Power of Neuroplasticity.  I highly recommend it.  Unlike the scary title, it is very simple to understand. Neural pathways, comprised of neurons connected by dendrites, are created in the brain based on our habits and behaviors. The number of dendrites increases with the frequency a behavior is performed. By repetition, repetition, repetition of the good stuff, we can change the way we think.  I am celebrating my two years of progress!

SPIRIT

Four years ago this month, I would not have believed that a tragic death could cause a “radical awakening” in my life, but it most certainly did.  While reading the newspaper this week, I came upon this quote by Kate McGahan, a hospice counselor, that resonated with me more than anything in the over 100 books I have read on the subject in the past four years.  This is the quote, “Grief will not let you go until you satisfy what it came to teach you.”  Profound.

Grief taught me to look at myself and my own mortality.  It has caused me to change how I think about death and life, and to lose my fear of dying altogether.  It has shown me how to find meaning in my life and the lives of those who pass on to another realm.  It has taught me that death is not an ending, just a new beginning.  Grief and death have changed the trajectory of my life.  In September I will graduate from my grief education training program and be of service to those working to find their own “gift in the grief.”

And…my blog wouldn’t be complete without a book review.  Here’s how you can have your own awakening!  Though I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Shefali touts in her book, A Radical Awakening, I feel it is a book every woman should read to raise her consciousness and self-love.  And then I think she should give it to her daughters.  I wish I had her book 50 years ago!  Below is what Amazon has to say.

“The New York Times bestselling author and renowned clinical psychologist teaches women how to transcend their fears and illusions, break free from societal expectations, and rediscover the person they were always meant to be: fully present, conscious, and fulfilled.

A Radical Awakening lays out a path for women to discover their inner truth and powers to help heal others and the planet.  Dr. Shefali helps women uncover the purpose that already exists within them and harness the power of authenticity in every area of their lives. The result is an eloquent and inspiring, practical and accessible book, backed with real-life examples and personal stories, that unlocks the extraordinary power necessary to awaken the conscious self.”

ALOHA

Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher and reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, can close us out with his words of wisdom below.  Ironically I came upon this picture of me and Lao Tzu’s “twin” on Facebook.  It was in the “six years ago today” feed and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities.  I was in Hilo, Hawaii at a farmer’s market.  With that, I will say “aloha” until next month and wish you a month of awakenings!