|
Hello, dear ones. Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Resourcing the Revolution newsletter.
I've been sitting on getting this thing up and launched since the summer (spring?) of this year, and I keep running into the same recurring theme:
What do I actually want to do with this space? What transformations do I want to guide, in part, through the written word?
And the answer…
Um. Dunno?
That's a pretty big oversimplification, but the overarching theme of being uncertain has been top-of-mind this year as I've been neck-deep in reimagining my work.
My tendency, as well, is to err on the side of perfectionism and to want to have everything figured out before I put anything into the light. Hello, unhelpful behavior!
So instead of continuing to spin my wheels in silence, I've decided it's time to work out loud. Because if I've learned nothing over the past years, it's that ideas don't do squat if you sit on them and hide them in the dark.
Not for me. Not for you!
Whether it's an unsent draft or ideas bouncing around in the space between your ears, it's often the most helpful thing to put them out in the world.
Let them bounce off of the world outside your head. Interact with other people. And see what happens.
So, let's get down to it. What DO you do when you're uncertain of your next best step(s)?
I've gathered some of my favorite resources and practices here, intending for something to spark for you (and maybe even for me).
|
|
|
Quote of the Month: On Practice
We’ll begin with a quote that I come back to again and again, from my teacher, Britt B Steele.
Practice is the thing we do when we don’t know what to do.
When all else seems to evade us and we think, perhaps, nothing is going to make a difference, we practice. We do not practice to avoid the world or pretend it away. We practice so we know what it is we can do to make even the slightest of a difference in both the outer and inner world.
Practice stills the outside pressures and noise and fears. It brings us back to our truest and most potent essence and gives us a clear open channel of seeing, hearing, sensing and feeling what it is that “I” (not you) but “I” must do to bring the universe into balance.
And then, we take this practice out into the world. And we do it today, tomorrow, the next day, and again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
It is the only way.
|
|
|
Idea of the Month: How to Practice
For context, Britt is specifically speaking about yoga and Ayurvedic practices. But I believe the concept can be opened up to anything else that brings us back to center.
For some, it's yoga and meditation. For others, it's finding the zen of running or swimming. You might even find moments of presence in the soapy water of washing the dishes!
Recently, I've found my practice on the yoga mat, meditation cushion, or out in the glory of Mother Nature.
Enjoying the sacred silence of autumn as the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to blaze their last glorious colors before releasing to the ground.
This month, I invite you to move your body. Not too much, not too little. Preferably in nature.
Keep it simple. Find the types of movement that fill you up, inspire you to get moving, or provide much-needed grounding amid chaos.
And repeat. Every day, if you can.
|
|
|
Photo of the Month: The Trees Practice, Too
There's nothing like sitting under the branches of a grandmother tree, hearing the wind rustling her leaves and watching the world around you as it seems to slow down.
Sitting at the entrance to our land, this beautiful soul has welcomed us home for decades, her roots binding her to the earth while she imperceptibly inches toward the sky.
She "practices" just by being. And by her enduring growth and attunement to the seasons.
Can we learn from her steady presence?
|
|
|
Practice of the Month: Pranayama
4-7-8 Breathing (Relaxing Breath)
Pioneered by Dr Andrew Weil, the name of this breath pretty much covers how to practice it.
Your breathing is a huge key to controlling what goes on in both your body and your mind. Dr Weil claims that it fosters almost immediate relaxation in the body (and even that it can help you fall asleep within 60 seconds — as with most things, individual results may vary).
How to do it:
Step 1: Sit in a comfortable upright position. Place the tip of your tongue on the ridge directly behind your top front teeth.
Step 2: Exhale fully through an open mouth, allowing the breath to make a sound. (You'll be exhaling around your tongue, which may feel weird initially, but go with it.)
Step 3: Close your mouth and inhale through your nose for a count of four.
Step 4: Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Step 5: Open your mouth and exhale audibly for a count of eight (still exhaling around your tongue).
Step 6: Repeat the cycle three more times (for a total of four breaths).
Then close your eyes and return the breath to normal. You may notice that even after just a few of these breaths, your heart rate slows and your body starts to feel more relaxed.
|
|
|
Post of the Month: Do You Practice Relaxing?
There's a slightly ridiculous amount of content on my website that doesn't see the light of day much anymore. So, each month I'll pull something "out of the vault" that's both helpful and related to the month's theme.
This month, I stumbled on a post I wrote shortly after returning from a beach/yoga retreat in 2018. (It feels especially fitting since I'm heading back to Mexico next week to spend a couple of weeks with my teacher.)
We’ll be able to relax when we practice relaxing.
I hope to find myself back home in November at least a little bit more relaxed… and with a clearer idea of what I'm (really) here to do!
It's time to practice.
|
|
|
Mindset of the Month: Practicing Quiet
Humans, bless our hearts, have this tendency to spin up faster and more intensely even as nature herself is releasing into the darkening days of autumn. Preparing herself for the dark winter where the old is composted, broken down into nourishment for the coming spring.
And here we are, deciding that the darkness is to be ignored, repelled, cast out. Rather than taking nature's cue to slow down, we run ourselves ragged through the holiday season, then decide to take on alllll the resolutions when New Year's rolls around.
But what if we were just quiet for a beat? Maybe even longer?
I'm looking forward to going dark for a couple of weeks, spending time in small and focused community, ceremony, and the natural beauty of Guanajuato, Mexico.
The mountains of Mexico are calling, and I must go.
As Michaela Coel said in her 2021 Emmy acceptance speech:
"In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to, in turn, feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success—do not be afraid to disappear. From it. From us. For a while. And see what comes to you in the silence." And, too good to leave out, from Jeanna Kadlec's most recent Substack update:
"When you're present (and not mindlessly scrolling), there's the possibility of really noticing the world around you, as well as your embodied reaction to what is occurring. Sounds simple, but so much of the modern world moves quickly, engineering stories and structures that capture our attention through disembodied sound byte." Instead of allowing ourselves to get captured in the manufactured push to do-do-do, what if we chose, instead, to relax into what (truly) is…
|
|
|
So What Do We Do?
We practice.
We take our practices out into the world.
And we repeat.
...
I hope you found this month's newsletter helpful. Don't hesitate to reach out and share what resonated with you or any questions these ideas might bring up.
If you're feeling called, I'm teaching a virtual yoga class (gentle all-levels) this Sunday, October 27th. Join me in practice.
And, one of the biggest ways you can help grow the revolution is to share this with a friend or recommend that they subscribe!
That's it for now. I hope you have a delicious next few weeks, and I'll see you again in November!
|
|
|
