Dear Friday Goddesses,
Once again, we shared such a beautiful, raw and real class this past Friday! We had a small group with Katrina C, Lisa Marie away at workshops, and Jessica tending to her mama’s care.
We explored the energy behind our bodies, both conceptually and kinaesthetically. It is an incredibly powerful experience to allow yourself fall behind your thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. This sensation evokes the witness and observer within each of us. It is a powerful way to view all of the experiences of daily life and is one we will continue to explore in future classes.
We also continued to allow vulnerability and evoke our willingness to see the darkness. I shared an Instagram post from Mooji that I stumbled upon right when I needed it:
And followed this with a Teaching from Pema:
“The Wisdom of No Escape
The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort. How do we practice with difficulty, with our emotions, with the unpredictable encounters of an ordinary day? For those of us with a hunger to know the truth, painful emotions are like flags going up to say, “You’re stuck!” We regard disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, jealousy, and fear as moments that show us where we’re holding back, how we’re shutting down. Such uncomfortable feelings are messages that tell us to perk up and lean into a situation when we’d rather cave in and back away.
When the flag goes up, we have an opportunity: we can stay with our painful emotion instead of spinning out. Staying is how we get the hang of gently catching ourselves when we’re about to let resentment harden into blame, righteousness, or alienation. It’s also how we keep from smoothing things over by talking ourselves into a sense of relief or inspiration. This is easier said than done.
Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum. We don’t interrupt our patterns even slightly. With practice, however, we learn to stay with a broken heart, with a nameless fear, with the desire for revenge. Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears. We can bring ourselves back to the spiritual path countless times each day simply by exercising our willingness to rest in uncertainty of the present moment - over and over again.”
”
And we closed with the perfect message from Kuan Yin:
“VALE OF SHADOWS
A lotus blossoms with deep rich mud into which she plunges her roots and draws great nourishment. From this mud, made of water and earth, growth happens and great beauty is revealed. Your Soul lotus thrives through depth of emotion and aliveness of your body into which she can plant her Self and unfold as a lotus of light.
A PRAYER FOR ASSISSTANCE THROUGH THE VALE OF SHADOWS
I pray to Kuan Yin, beloved spiritual mother, please help me be fearless in the Vale of Shadows, realizing that I am just growing in self-awareness and whatever has grown ugly through lack of love will gleam like a polished jewel through my attention, willingness to love and accept all parts of me and my divinely-inspired creativity in integrating this part of me into my life with more consciousness. Om Mani Padme Hum. May all parts of me be blessed. Om Mani Padme Hum”
I feel like a broken record constantly saying THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU! You each propel me deeper into my truth and allow me to receive guidance, to hear the words I am meant to speak exactly at the right moment...and to allow them to flow.
XOXO
Patti