Root to Rise
OFF THE MAT
Weekly Thought Offering:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
-Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: A Reflection on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
Weekly Journal Prompts:
The time I shine the most is when…
The people who let me shine are…
The people/places/things that keep me from shining are…
If I shine I am afraid that…
I am ready to shine now because….
Weekly Mantra:
Just by virtue of my being I deserve to shine
I welcome my light
My light is safe, powerful and wondrous
Hello Lovelies,
I can still remember where I was the first time I heard Marianne Williamson speak to the quote above.
IT ROCKED MY WORLD.
Who could possibly be affraid of their light? Afraid of things that feel “good” but then I did a gut check and the ping was so palbable it almost knocked me over. One of those AHHA moments that changes you forever. Of course! If I “want” something and I am not getting it, on a deep level I must not actually want it. Or on the flip side, if I am getting some thing I do not want, on a deep level I must actually really want it.
Because that’s how it works when you are a spark of the divine- you have the power to create, and so you do, with every thought we think , conscious and unconscious we are writing the blueprint that the universe then prints out for us exactly to our specifications. So if you want to know what the sum total of your thoughts are- look at the life that surrounds you- it’s all there.
In my own case I can tell you that I had a cycle of wanting a certain level of reach with my work - and I can also tell you- that the amount of times that I got to a certain place and then stopped advancing is as clear as the day is long. Why? Why did that keep happening?! I could have lamented that forever but instead I woke up to the fact that that lower threshold was actually what I “wanted” . Not because it’s what my highest Self wanted but because I could feel in my bones that there was a wound, a fear of being seen, that came with me from childhood.
It wasn’t safe to be seen. So then as an adult, the programming was still “being seen isn’t safe” and so I made sure I was only seen a little.
This is a big lesson for me in this lifetime. And while I am still working through it- I can tell you that waking up to that pattern has helped me to see it when I am creating it and create a new reality. One that is more in line with the one my higher Self wants for me and one that will allow me to do the work, and be of service the way I was truly meant to!
Where are those patterns for you? What is truly underneath them? This week OFF THE MAT we explore them, bring them to the surface , so we can heal them.
ON THE MAT we explore this in week two of tree pose.
Have you ever been in awe of the fact that a tree is loosing all of her leaves and yet she doesn’t flinch, she continues to grow upwards so confident in the return of her leaves in the spring, so trusting of the process, so rooted in knowing what she can do, that she doesn’t flinch! I want that to be us. I know that IS us!
We grow towards our light, ever onwards, ever upwards.
Rooted in the knowingness that we are loved just by virtue of our being. We are safe to SHINE!
So we are turning on the activity of the legs, rooting firmly into the ground and then we lift the spine off of that base elongating and engaging muscles on a long muscle length against gravity, while balancing- that, my friends, creates long and strong and usable muscles!! And those muscles can do anything!
Just like you!
With great respect and love,
Nicole
Pose: Vrksasana / Tree Pose
Valve: Uneven, uneasy, unstable balance
Physical Focus: finding the strength of the legs so we can lift our branches out of the spine
FLOW: Watch it all or skip ahead to The Flow
Chapter 1- Yogi Chat
Chapter 2- The Flow
Chapter 3- The Recap
