
Relationship Healing Boundary Setting Meditation.pdf |
Jenna Allin |
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The language of our subconscious mind is colors and images.
I can tell how comfortable a client is with accessing, addressing and expressing their true emotions sometimes by their ability, or lack of ability, to picture or imagine certain things throughout our Emotional Clearing and Trauma Recovery session together (where I use gentle guided imagery to help others heal through past traumas which have been holding them back, creating sabotage in their lives or ill physical/mental health). If someone cannot even imagine a beautiful outdoor sanctuary in which to frolic and explore, for example, that is a sign that some level of safety if missing for them in terms of loving and accepting themselves. Their true self - you know, the one with dark shadowy pieces that lurk, bend and weave their ways through our lives, yep, that true self. Or when we get to the part where someone chooses a color from that gorgeous sanctuary to imagine moving through their body as we start the gentle guided meditation session, I can tell a lot by the color they choose. Is it green? Then we will be working on clearing the heart chakra of love and fatherly connection that day. Pink? Something to do with Mom. Is it blue? Then we will be working to clear away the blockages that stop them from speaking their truth, expressing themselves and feeling understood clearly. There are hundreds of more images and meanings that occur in just one session that tell me so much about the healing that is taking place or that is needed that day or in sessions to come. Some people get stuck on a certain part - they cannot picture a scene where their caregiver was responding lovingly to their child self; they have trouble moving color through; or the image they see is a big nasty icepick poking into their side. So, it stands to reason that if the subconscious mind is creating image representations of these past mini- or not-so-mini- traumas and events in our lives, that when we delve into the mind and begin to touch upon, clear away or transform those images that in some way we are communicating with the subconscious mind. We are telling it, commanding it, to move on from the past and to be truly present. When we are truly present we are not responding or reacting to life through the lens of the past. We are responding with the fullness of our authenticity. We are responding to this moment, right here when our child or partner’s anger is really a cry for help and we can see it for what it is, rather than getting pulled into joining their rage or despair. We can see our ego wanting to run, yet again, from the unfamiliar healthiness of a romantic partnership and stop ourselves from taking the old path. We can watch as our old habits of dodging what needs to be addressed and face it head on instead. We can even use imagery to heal things that we cannot access. By picturing ourselves over and over again, for example, releasing the oars of an upstream rowing canoe we are commanding our subconscious mind to find a way to release the struggle and resistance we’ve been engaging in perhaps in work or in an important relationship. So, by using imagery we create a bridge, a connection, we develop the language necessary to get down to the nitty gritty, where all the hidden shadows of our psyche are and we can touch it. We can reach out and speak to the subconscious in ways that create and manifest change and the transformation we seek. By taking a client to the moment of trauma and imagining it playing out differently we are allowing the adult mind, the current wiser and more evolved self, to guide the trapped and stuck parts of ourselves to freedom. We are speaking the language of the subconscious mind and telling it that it is time to move on. Into the here and now, into the present, where the threat it thinks still exists, is no longer an issue. Imagery can create emotions that connect us to new possibilities, new realities, and allow us to step into a truer version of ourselves than we ever knew existed. Imagery can help us become more us. My clients have amazing stories of transformation as we work together. People who they haven’t spoken to for years pop up suddenly, or even reach out to make amends; they change jobs or pursue their dreams in new ways; they find their old patterns and reactions start to slip away and they’re no longer encumbered by the things that used to hold them back; their marriage partners give up addictions without them even asking; they begin accessing new levels of security and stability in their lives. I’ve really heard it all! We have so much more power lying latent within the subconscious mind and imagery can help us tap into this hidden reservoir. ![]() Louise Hay says to use the mantra above "I love the flow of money in and out of my life," every time you pay a bill or give money toward something like purchasing groceries, etc. And this time of year is perfect for that with all the gift buying we're doing! I started practicing this mantra when I was playing Monopoly with my son and let me tell you this.... I NEVER won a game of Monopoly in my life until I started doing this and now I' on a winning streak like never before! LOL. To me I use the Monopoly game as practice for getting my vibration into a place of flow. "WTF does that mean, Jenna!? That sounds like a load of WooWoo VooDoo to me!" you say? Law of Attraction says like attracts like and that if and when we are vibrating at a certain frequency we attract and manifest according to this frequency. Vibrating at a frequency of low energy or drama and guess what you attract? Drama-lovers who ruin your life. Vibrate at a frequency of "walk all over me" and guess what... people who like to take advantage of others find your ass and do just that. Vibrate at a frequency of confidence and success and attract those things into your life. So, try it... when your handing over some cash tune into what feelings and emotions are going on in your mind and body. Worry? Frustration at having to repair the car, again? Disgust at how expensive organic veggies are? Shaking your head at the electric company who just raised their prices? Most of the time we are vibrating at a frequency of resistance and disdain when it comes to shelling out cash. But instead if we feel good about it... ... if we feel in our emotions and in our body that we trust whatever goes out will come back in we're changing the entire frequency of money flow in our lives.
When we change that feeling we change our vibration. When we change our vibration we change what we are attracting and manifesting. When we feel bad as we give over cash we're in a place of resisting. When we are excited to give cash and we can't wait to see where our next cash-flow-surprise is going to come from we are in a place of flow and abundance. The world is a mirror for our vibration and when we start to vibrate at a higher frequency we will begin to manifest more of the things we desire. Right now I LOVE to play Monopoly and even Poker to practice getting into this vibrational frequency of money flow. Each time I'm losing or I have to pay out in the game I just say my mantra. (I used to just say it to myself. Then when I saw how well it was working for me and I could feel my emotions around the flow of money changing and I won a game or two... I started saying it out loud so my son would learn the concept. Now I even sing it in a sing-song and so do my son and husband when their chips are down! LOL) It is especially important to use the mantra when I feel those emotions of disappointment or worry creeping in. I find that just after I change the feelings I'm having in my body and mind I get a stroke of luck and come into a big windfall. Of course the game is just practice for real life and it helps me hone my skills as well as trains by brain to recognize when I'm in that low frequency of manifesting more lack. Which nobody wants! Ok... so your turn. Try this out. Play a few games of Monopoly or poker and write to me, tell me what you experience. Then try it in real life. I can't wait to hear your results! ![]() Jenna, I always seem to be struggling with money. I am looking for a job now while simultaneously trying to get my business up and running off the ground. Any advice on how to call more money into my life. This is something I am working on too! And I have the perfect imagery meditation for you. I have been using this meditation recently and so many things are beginning to shift for me. Part of this imagery came from my good friend and life coach Kate Krizka and I’ve expanded upon it here. Feminine empowerment author Laura Doyle says that our desires are our soul’s marching orders (although this is true for males as well). Imagery meditation is like prayer or commandments for these orders. You are in essence commanding the subconscious mind, Spirit, Universe, Creative Life Force Energy (all of the above and whatever you want to call it) to find a way to make things happen by way of visualization and connecting with the deep sense emotional experience of your desires. Read more about why when we ask the deep psyche a question or give it a command to do something it must answer. Prosperity and Finding Your Calling: a meditation for calling money into your life and for utilizing your creative powers both in new ways. Start this imagery by envisioning yourself as a small seed growing deep in the Earth. A seed with roots that are beginning to form and strongly grasp the soil, taking in the abundance of nutrients available around you, assured in a knowing that shortage is never a problem. The thought doesn't even occur. Get a feel for where you are in this vision: is your seedling one of a lotus flower deep in the heavy mud under the water, or are you a tree in a field or a forest… or perhaps you are the seedling of a beachside or riverbank type of vegetation. Imagine that as this seedling you have the spark of something beautiful and strong that is just beginning to call forth all that you need, in order to to grow stronger, toward you every day. Envision as your brawny roots grow that you are connecting with a robust underground network of magical webs of soul-to-soul connection with other larger plant life around you. An interweb of secret and silent but powerful and ever-growing communication. These connections to the life that surrounds you will help provide you with the advice, knowledge and protection that you will need as you continue to grow. They will be able to tell you when you need to protect yourself, for example, from a disease sweeping the area or when it is safe to make your appearance on the surface. These connections are your tribal affiliations. As a living being you depend on your sangha, or tribe, for your wisdom, knowledge, energy and ultimately all of your success. Now that you are well grounded and establishing your sturdy and sturdy root system, as well as linked and connected spiritually and psychically to the life forms around you (your tribe or divine support team if you will) you have the freedom to grow in a safe and protected loving and nourishing abundantly giving environment that surrounds you. See and feel yourself beginning to unfold your main shoot, stalk or what will be your trunk... up and up. Pushing with slow, steady strength, with a grace and ease, as though effortlessly being lifted and called forth, through the vibrantly alive yielding and fertile soil to break through the surface. Ahh, the freedom and the feel of the sunlight. Imagine for a moment that this growth, this root system you just created, is the lower half of your physical human body. Your legs are your roots, connecting you to Mother Earth and imagine her solid earthiness holding you steady, supporting you as you grow spiritually and in wisdom… as you learn to connect with the life force energy that abounds within and around you. That you are rooted in the decades of life and rhythm, cycles and wisdom that have come before you. As you draw from the nutrients made available for the purpose of your growth... from the wise who have come before you. This is your root chakra - the energy center located at the very base of your spine that is your safety center. Let the solid red energy of this energy center move through you and pulsate through all of your being. Say to yourself I am safe. I am held. I am surrounded by an abundance of the nourishment I need to thrive and make it through to the surface and let my inner light shine. Everything I need is available to me. I trust myself to gain access to it now and at all times. I commit to finding the stillness within me that connects me to all of life, to the creative life force energy within me that opens me to the wild nature of creation that I AM. Bringing your attention again to the vision of yourself as a seed becoming now a sapling, see yourself breaking through the surface where the sunlight shines and calls you forth. Opening your first leaves to the sun to draw into yourself it’s magical fortifying potion of light and love. Imagine now this is your creative chakra, the energy center just below the navel. Your womb of creation if you are female, or your juices of creation if you are male. Allow this orange-chakra energy to spread and make its way through all of your body like your own creative sun shining from your womb-space up and up through the rest of your body, making its creative juices, wisdom and abilities known to you. Whether you consciously know what you are meant to be creating in this world or are still trying to figure that out, this energy here has the innate wisdom of creation, the forces that create life and planets and worlds and it is now coursing through your veins making its way to your heart and your mind, sharing it’s wisdom with you. Its message is that you don’t have to think. You don’t have to know they whys and hows of the creative life force that comes from within you. You simply must trust and follow the passions and interests that arise from within you. One very little small step at a time. Just sit here for a moment feeling this energy of the creative life force within you pumping, flowing and spreading through the rest of your body and mind. Let it in. Allow it. Be in concordance with it. Trust its innate wisdom to move you. To compel you. Give in to its musings and allow yourself to play and revel in this energy. After you've given that vision some time to percolate, then call all of that orange sacral chakra energy forth to your heart center. The heart takes in this creative life force energy and alights it with a bright vibrant green color now as it pulses with every beat of this organ. And the green spreads and makes its way through your entire chest cavity and shoulders… then down through your arms and hands, making its way out through the fingertips where you connect your creative life force energy with the world. See and feel yourself physically or symbolically utilizing your hands and arms to embrace, hold and support others through your craft. See yourself pouring this green energy through your arms and hands out of your heart into the world, crafting and creating amazing services other people love and connect to instantly. They are drawn to this energy coming from within you like moths to a flame. Your light is just shining so brightly now and you are a beacon for those who love and benefit greatly from your services and what you have to give. And the feeling is amazing. It feels so good to give and to create. To be of use and of support to so many who flock to drink from the sweet nectar of your creation. Perhaps if you are in a speaking or communicating profession this energy makes it way through your blue throat chakra and flows through your mouth as a cacophony of beautiful words pours forth from your lips. As if you’re singing the song of God’s angels. And this energy pours out upon your followers like music to their ears and they cannot resist, they can’t help but be drawn to the sounds of your words being delivered to them from the great I AM within you. Just sit and revel for some time in these images and the emotions they evokes. Bringing your love, wisdom, skills and talents to the world. Next see yourself reaching down into the orange sacral chakra of creation, the womb or the juices there and gifting yourself stacks of money, stacks and stacks of money that abundantly flow from this place of creation. Accept these gifts of money you are giving to yourself. You do not have to ask, grovel or beg, you do not have to turn outside of yourself for this money. You find it already within you, it’s just time now to take it and allow yourself to gift it to yourself. And the flow never ends. You are forever taken care of by this creative life force energy that produces an ever-flowing abundance of money for you. Revel in the gratitude for this money, for being so supported and taken care of. Thank Spirit for bringing it to you. Thank yourself for gifting it to you. Revel in the gratitude of being so grounded, rooted and strong. Take in the blissful feelings of being able to contribute and create. Of pouring forth your creations into the world whether those are of physical craft, wisdom, knowledge, speech, writing, song… whatever that is just feel the gratitude of having it to share with others. Others who’s souls have been waiting to find exactly what gifts, skills and talents you have to offer them. Use this imagery often - definitely and absolutely when you wake up in the morning first thing, and when you’re lying in bed at night falling asleep last thing at night, at least every day for two weeks. Set alarms and reminders if you have to, post sticky notes for yourself. Be willing to do whatever it takes to command what you desire to make its presence in your life. Thank you for receiving my gifts of creation. I hope you enjoyed this email and use the imagery to access a new money flow in your life. I can't wait to hear from you about the energy shifts that happen after you use this meditation! Want to receive this meditation recording for free!? When your friend signs up for my mailing list you and they will each receive a free download of this meditation. Send them this email and have them click the link above to be directed to the website where they can be added to the mailing list. Genuinely, Jenna I look forward to your feedback, your questions, your opinions... let me hear them! Reply to this email or fill out the anonymous form here. Jenna,
I have written down what I want to manifest and done affirmations for them... but what I want is still not coming like I want it to. Not only do we need to include mindfulness meditation in our routines for self love, but we also absolutely need to know our truest desires if we want to live a more fulfilling life… and adjust our priorities to suit them. I just listened to a webinar by Candice Oneida, and in it she mentions the desire spectrum where we have no idea what we want on one side, in the middle we have a lot of desires for things and circumstances in our relationships, living space, work and so on. Then way on the other end we have our unconscious desires - the ones we are not even aware of yet that are making a difference in what we manifest in our lives. If I have an unconscious desire for drama (because of it’s familiarity to me) then I will have trouble manifesting healthy, stable relationships and friendships. If I have an unconscious desire to be ill because it was the only way to get the care I needed growing up it will negatively impact my ability to create the healthiest environment for my physical body to thrive in. We have to heal these internal imbalances before we can get out of the ruts in which we’ve found ourselves. Some of them we can easily become aware of, some take years of patience, digging in the psyche and effort using tools of cognitive and behavior modification. Hey, if you thought you’d find any quick fixes you’re inhabiting the wrong planet! Some of these hidden desires we can work with on our own and others we need help with. To begin identifying your true desires on your own do the Why List exercise below. Approaching your desires from the perspective of why they are important to you and what you believe they will bring to your life allows you to get more specific in what you want and also remove the box you’ve been putting yourself in by helping you focus on what is really important. Take the focus away from how this feeling of relief, comfort or love is ‘supposed’ to show up for you and focus instead on the experience that you want your desires to bring you. What ends up happening is that you open yourself to receiving the relief, comfort and love in a way that you hadn’t imagined possible. So use the Why List exercise to stop focusing on how you think circumstances need to appear for your desires to be met and instead focus on why you want it. As you alter the perceptions of the things you thought you wanted you find that gently and gracefully your priorities begin to rearrange themselves to meet your new goals. Perhaps what you thought you wanted was a successful business as a sole entrepreneur, but realized through the Why List exercise that you’re more inclined to desire collaboration and connection with groups of people. You might find in the weeks that follow that you begin making new connections to those with the next steps for you that beautifully bridge your old dreams with your new reality. Also you can say this or something similar to the following prayer every morning as you awaken and every night as you fall asleep. "Please Universe, guide me to knowing my true desires and reorganize my priorities in my life so that I may be most in service to your divine plan.” Let go of your plan and surrender to the Divine agenda for your life, be open to changing where your focus has been to gain a new and fresh perspective. Be aware that you don’t yet know where your priorities are skewed and are holding you back. Trust that by acknowledging that fact you are actually opening up a new level of awareness that is just around the corner for you and will enable you to make the changes you seek. Happy Manifesting! Genuinely, Jenna Why List - An Exercise for Knowing Your True Desires Looking back over the experiences of the past start here:
![]() Jenna, I have been on a journey to end certain addictions in my life for a while now. I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far, I have completely recovered from an opioid and heroin addiction. But now what remains are things like marijuana, TV and coffee. What path would you suggest for healing through my hidden subconscious reasons for these addictions? From what I have seen in the deep hidden psyche of my trauma recovery clients is that addictions are all about control and coping. First let’s touch on control. How do addictions relate to the need for control? Aren’t addictions the opposite of control? I certainly feel like I have lost all of my control when I spiral down into addiction land again, whether that’s with sugary foods, pot use, TV watching, shopping or even the addiction to eat super healthy or drink double my weight in ounces of water a day (yes, addictions show up in EVERY form). When thinking in terms of the Law of Attraction we can recall that the Universe gives you more of what you give your attention to. If I am in a rush for a meeting or appointment I get every damn red light on the way and hit every traffic obstacle known to man. Why? Because even though I might be saying “Please be green! Please be green! Get me there fast! Get me there fast!” My energy and emotions are still fixated on being late. So guess what I get? Red lights, slow traffic and being late. Let's draw the parallel here to addiction. When we grow up in an environment where everything or many things seem completely out of our control - like our living situation, deaths of those close to us, illness or abuse... Or we are simply repeatedly receiving the message that we have absolutely no control over our choices in life... We become subconsciously fixated on the need to gain some sort of control in the chaos. And our inner being is constantly in a state of “Not the chaos! Stop the chaos!” What ends up happening is that because our inner energy is so fixated on chaos, we continue to create more of it. We then develop behavior patterns that give us a false sense of control. One of those is often rebellion.
Doing drugs, taking in too much coffee or television feels like this rebellion. It feels like independence because we probably didn't get to feel what healthy independence felt like growing up and rebellion feels closest to the feeling we're seeking, which is true freedom. This rebellion is our form of control. Because we have such a deep seeded need for control we end up pushing control further and further away from us. How is that? Well, anything in life that we just “have to have it, have to have it,” we will push away from us. Ever notice how as soon as you stop wanting a thing it’s available to you? Like the romantic partnership or the lost remote control. This phenomenon is exactly why. The feeling of “needing” something to be whole or complete means we are attached to it. Being attached to it means we are internally focused on resisting and fighting against the opposite of it. Even though externally it appears we are fighting for what we want. Whatever we resist persists and whatever we fight against the Universe thinks we want more of it. (Unless standing up for a cause with conviction and when energies are in the right place about it... hmm… maybe we need an article on standing up for a cause with the LOA on our side? Sorry - Squirrel! Now back to it...) If you shout “yes” at something the Universe and your subconscious mind think you want it, and conspire to bring it to you. If you shout “no” at something Creation and your psyche know that you’re giving a lot of attention to something - and therefore you must want to create and attract more of it into your life! Shout “yes” get an increase, shout “no” get more of the same. If you’re caught up in addiction and shouting for more freedom and choice in the world it most likely means you're fighting against chaos. Fighting against chaos means you get more of it because your inner self is shouting “No more chaos, no more chaos!” Since the Universe can't interpret negatives, it translates this to mean "More chaos! More chaos!" Growing up most of us aren’t given the Handbook for Healthy Coping. Our family and society tries, and they do the best they can. Maybe you were given a religious text or your support persons had certain practices that helped you sort through the meanings of life’s ups and downs or gave you a sense of purpose, peace, clarity, stability and confidence. But there were bound to be some aspects of life that caused imbalances in your trust or faith that created a need or desire to look outside yourself for approval or ways of managing tension or strain that were not healthy. The ways of coping we witnessed growing up were not always focused on developing genuine self love, cultivating compassion and encouraging grace for moving through the natural difficulties inherent in this life in the Earth School (as Gary Zukav refers to life). We learn to cope with the lack of control we feel over the direction our lives are going, by resorting to unhealthy ways of interacting with the environment and people around us. We learn to manipulate life and people to gain some of this control we’re lacking. We turn to rebellion and escapism because we just can’t take it… or so we believe. We develop beliefs that say “I just don’t have it in me to deal with this.” But that is only because no one got the handbook! So what now? Well, we start with ourselves. We have to write the handbook. We are here in the Earth School to create that handbook. We have to be 100% focused on developing systems, healing mechanisms and coping patterns that serve our evolution. Caroline Myss talks about the difference between the will to just live (like 'not die') and the will to really heal. Theres a difference between simply 'not dying' and being in a state of full health. Did you know that these are two totally different things? Survive and just get by or thrive and excel. When caught up in addictions we need to first commit to doing all that is necessary to heal and thrive, not just simply get by. This means devoting and dedicating time to ourselves for self-love practices. It means embarking on a quest to find what works for us and replace what has been missing all this time. This requires us to drop away all that wasn’t working for us before and all that encourages our addictions
We then have to fill those voids with a dedication to something, or multiple somethings, that are positive, inspiring and uplifting. For me this looks like visiting my local Temple for meditation 1-2 times a week and attending meetings there. It looks like learning a lot about mindfulness and the philosophies found in the Buddhists texts and in the Bible, astrology and the tales of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and others. It looks like following major thought leaders who conveyed their versions of the handbook, so that I can borrow from them and create my own. We weren’t given the proper coping mechanisms that teach us how to deal with life as it comes, how to accept and work with what is there... So... our mind believes that the only way of coping is to control. This comes out in so many forms
Everyone has some of this need for control to some extent. My suggestion is this: begin a journey of mindfulness meditation. Building a dedicated and regular mindfulness practice will give you the backbone to cope. It will help you manage your entire life in new ways. Mindfulness opens your psyche to a whole new world of existence, it’s like an alternate reality that isn't alternate, it's more Truth than any truth you've ever known. Sitting on the cushion (or chair or bed or floor) every day for a set amount of time shows the Universe you are dedicated to you. The activity commands your psyche to let go of believing
Sitting down with yourself in this compassionate, loving way signals faith. "Universe you’ve got this," we say, “I can close my eyes for 5 minutes (or 20 even!) and the whole world will not fall apart.” Start there. Also work with these affirmations by saying them to yourself at night before you go to bed. And if you wanted to add in some imagery with them like imagining color moving through your body as you say them, that's even better! I am willing to release the need for this in my life: (say each one separately, I am willing..., I am willing..., I am willing...)
I reclaim my birthright to:
New conclusion/Updated Belief System:
New decisions about how to live life:
Try noticing where the old beliefs and patterns show up for you like:
When you see them lovingly and compassionately accept that they developed for good reason at a time when you needed them. Then set the intention to be willing to do what it takes to release them. Replace the feeling of loss with one of the positive affirmations from above and you're on your way through and out of the addictive behaviors that used to have control over your life. Happy manifesting! May you be well, may you be happy, may you be peaceful. Genuinely, Jenna ![]() What is the reason you're stressed? Here are 3 reasons why people get stressed, the second two are reasons people usually don't know about until setting the intention to become consciously aware of them.
We also need to watch out for taking on responsibility for how others feel. At a young age we learn to take on responsibility for others' emotions: remember hearing "If you do that I'll get angry at you." Keep in mind that acting and speaking with the highest integrity possible is your only responsibility... not how someone takes it or what their response is. If someone chooses to dwell on the negative or take things personally then that is their choice, and how they respond has nothing to do with you, even if they try and place blame or shame on you. When that happens they are trying to give their power away to someone else and when we take it on we're not only taking away their power but also giving our power away to them. When we take responsibility for someone’s happiness we enable them to continue reaching outside of themselves for their joy and strength. Perhaps they are having an actual loss over not having things go the way they expected and are taking out on you (maybe they need to see this stress assessment article!). When we stop trying to carry the heaviness of others' burdens and only take on what really does belong to us (full self care and a sense of integrity), what we have to carry is much, much lighter!
Candida (yeast) overgrowth in the gut can cause stiff muscles and joints, headaches, migraines, sensitivity to light, constipation, diarrhea, recurring yeast infections and hundreds of other symptoms associated with autoimmune conditions like fibromyalgia, chrone's disease, and IBS, to name a few. Many doctors and nutritionists believe that if everyone stopped eating foods like wheat, dairy and sugar for a just few weeks a majority of the population would find that their bodies functioned much much better! These inflammatory foods could be the cause behind many ailments such as anxiety, depression, arthritis, ADD, acne and more. In conclusion, stress can actually be a good thing in our lives to motivate us to change, if you are feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stressed stop and reflect on what might be the cause. You have more power than you realize to manage and cope with the natural (and sometimes dramatic) ups and downs life. Remember to look at how much you’re taking on, your hidden emotions cropping up from under the surface and your lifestyle habits like eating (or drinking) that may be the cause. Check out some of the journaling and imagery exercises on my blog page to develop a healthy routine for mitigating stress. ![]() If you don't fill up your cup... who will? We only have as much to give as we have given ourselves. As the full moon approaches each month it is a very good time to look back over the past cycle (since last full moon about 28 days ago or so) and take stock of our accomplishments and contributions. I found that this is a lot easier to do in a month where I’ve journaled a lot and recorded some of those accomplishments along the way (maybe your memory is like that of an elephant - lucky you - and you don’t need this type of aid). You could look at your calendar of events, maybe even your work calendar or through your tasks lists you may have. Perhaps just write from memory. The list of accomplishments doesn’t have to be long or arduous, super detailed or lengthy. It can be a simple list of just 5 things. Think of some things from different ... areas of your life like: physical, career, relationships, personal goals, parenting, food, sex, money, travel… And if you find all of your accomplishments are in one area maybe this will wake you up to where you can put your energies for the upcoming cycle! This exercise is powerful because it supports us in moving out of that overly-critical or harsh voice inside that tells us we’ve not done or been enough. And when we get out of that place in our own head, we begin to be under and more loving toward ourselves, we become aware of our needs and desires in new ways and tap into a power source that allows us spread these new levels of awareness and kindness to other people out there in the world. So go head - give yourself the recognition you deserve and the kindness you’re worthy of. Those around you will feel all the more loved for it! Imagery exercise: Imagine the moon filling up gradually throughout the month - filling with the things you’ve done, the sights you’ve seen, things you have accomplished, what touched your heart - the people, the stories, the connections, the tragedies that rocked the world but aligned you or others to a new cause… Invite this full moon of shining light to enter your heart And see in your mind as the day pass over the next cycle moving toward the next new moon (when the moon eventually appears fully devoid of light) this light from the moon spreading out and out from your heart through your arms and hands out into the world and everything you touch Into the people who hug you, through the keyboard as you type, into the art, writing, music and play of your soul, out into your work you do every day Dear Jenna,
Many of the mindfulness meditation programs out there seem to be repetitive, starting with the body scan every time for example. Or when searching for other mindfulness meditations I seem to get bored and crave variety rather than just the same loving kindness meditation followed by watching my breath week in and week out, the same thing. Mindfulness as a Mirror In the more recent years of my work as a trauma recovery and emotional clearing practitioner (and as a trauma survivor, wife, mother, friend, employer, mental illness sufferer and chronic illness recovering human being) I have uncovered the magnificence of mindfulness. Mindfulness is all about cultivating curiosity or beginner's mind. Sometimes cultivating the soil of our minds into fertile ground is harder work than we set out to do. We get bored with the repetition and hard work it takes to grow or expand, to sit on the cushion, again, and again, and again. Utilizing mindfulness meditation we can observe, then, how our mind responds to this particular activity itself. Does the mind want to run and quit? Does it say “This meditation stuff isn’t for me.” Does it engage and commit? Does it judge the work or the self as stupid, incapable or the process as simply “someone else’s cup of tea.” Has it defined meditation as something that is supposed to be enjoyable? (Is a workout really all that enjoyable during the exercising part? Not for me!) Are these perspectives similar to those in your life off the cushion? For sure. How often does your mind resist what’s right in front of you and desire to be somewhere you’re not? Does your mind often want to be somewhere else, other than right where it is? Maybe now that you’re still enough to listen, you can see the patterns of the mind that repeat (and repeat and repeat) in your life. Interesting how we resist the repetitiveness of meditation but aren’t even aware of the repetitiveness of our behaviors!. Breath. Receive the breath. Receive the thoughts that ...come. Then choose again and again to receive the breath. Choose again and again to receive yourself. To receive the Spirit that breaths you. Mindfulness is about, ‘can you bring it back to you?’ Over and over again this: how good can you get at bringing your attention - your kind loving attention - back to yourself? And for my fellow healing practitioners out there: As light workers we need to, it is absolutely imperative, that we do this "bringing it back to ourselves" in big, big ways so that we don’t burn out. And none of us do it enough: spend enough time with ourselves. A few short minutes a day can restore some of what we give and give and give away. I recently followed a yoga video where the entire 30 minutes was one sequence of 8 movements (the sun salutation as it is called) over and over again. She kept saying “stay with me.” I kept wanting to do my own thing. She kept saying to find something different within the sequence to add or do differently like raise the arms in a different way or choose a variation to add to make it different. I kept wanting to go absolutely off course or stop the video and choose another. My response to the challenge she was putting her viewers up to was to rebel. To resist what the teacher, my trusted guide, was prompting me toward. To be in control rather than be guided. This was a representation of how I tend to respond to life. How often am I resisting my marching orders from my Soul, my Spirit, trying to do it my ego's way instead and end up facing the wrong direction? How often am I suffering through the boring meeting again or the drive to work rather than putting joy into my (often repetitive or even mundane) experiences by adding flare, personality or opportunity for growth? I could be listening to motivational or money management podcasts on my way to work every morning. I could study some new networking techniques or conversation starters for my meeting I’m dreading. This way of perceiving the yoga video led me to ask: How often do I follow the urges to quit before I’ve learned the fullness of the lesson life has to offer? Alternatively someone who had simply done the yoga salutation sequence without adding anything, nervous to go off course, could have had a different awareness of how they respond to life’s challenges. But for me it showed how I tend to not trust that the (seemingly boring) repetitive course the Universe has me on is actually better than what I thought I wanted. Instead of refusing to accept the paths lain before me I can choose instead to see the challenges as opportunities or for exploring those rebellious urges that push me to attempt to deny what I’m being offered, like the rebel warrior I am by nature. Meditation, true mindfulness, helps me see how I respond to life by how I respond to IT. Genuinely, Jenna I hate drama! But for some reason it shows up in my life again and again! Help! "I am willing to release the subconscious need and desire for drama in my life." Say this affirmation to yourself daily (if not hourly!) for the next few weeks and see what changes you notice around you. I guarantee that when you start to own your love of drama in this way it will begin to resolve on it's own. If there is something present in your life it's because a part of you wants it there. It just may be hidden so far down you haven't been able to see it. Signs that this need/desire for drama is a part of your mind’s way of distracting you from your own presence and personal self work:
Talking negatively about someone else’s choices - as a parent, with drugs or alcohol, how they drive, what they eat or wear Drama is our subconscious excuse for looking at everything outside of ourselves, in an avoidance of all the feelings, thoughts and weaknesses we ourselves have. Buddha suggests that instead of constantly being outwardly focused we need to turn our attention inward: again and again. Cultivate kind compassionate awareness of our own inner workings. And develop a mindfulness practice that brings us a sense of peaceful wellbeing throughout all of life's, sometimes dramatic, ups and downs. Genuinely, Jenna |
AuthorJenna writes Q&A format letters filled with guidance on incorporating mindfulness, ownership and personal growth in our interactions with the world. Archives
October 2019
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