Women Who Thrive, Change The World!

Archive for the ‘Acceptance’ Category

Soul Musings/Day 16: Surrender Dorothy!

wizard_of_oz_001

This is one of those days that all I want to do is stay inside (the weather is gorgeous outside), eat popcorn and watch period drama romances on PBS. I am inquiring of my Soul -”What’s up with this?!” – but there is complete and absolute silence.

The ego conversations would have me “bucking up” and “getting on with it” because what do I think I am doing anyway….absolutely nothing! I am not accomplishing a thing and there is so much to prepare for the New Year coming etc etc etc. (imagine Yul Brynner as the King of Siam saying that in the movie The King and I – oh, guess that dates me)

It is in these times that I wish my Soul was a little more vocal to provide some guidance here and there, but guess what it is still, you guessed it, silently resting. So the question is what would Dorothy do in the Wizard of Oz?

She finally did have to surrender to the Wicked Witch, but look what she learned along the way, with the outcome of an expanded consciousness to boot. Surrendering to what the space is asking of you may just put some ruby slippers on your feet!

__________________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 14: Trust Is Worth The Risk

Trust can be an elusive thing.

Seeming so simple.

Trying to pin it down.

It becomes elusive.

Trust is your relationship to the unknown, to uncertainty.

Which is life unfolding.

Constantly shifting and impermanent.

Living in the question……who do you trust and how do you grow it?

_________________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 11: Wear The Life You’ve Lived

Navajo elder

Navajo elder

 

” I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve been, and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I’ve been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don’t want a ‘perfect’ face and body; I want to wear the life I’ve lived. ” – Pat Benatar

What if every line and scar is a story

Of a life lived fully present

Perfect would take on another meaning

Illuminating a display of life moments

Captivating the viewer

Into vibrant curiosity to know the stories

That have been Earth sculpted on face and body

And crafted by the Divine.

________________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

 

Soul Musings/Day 10: Devotion

10464326_10205303706530103_7260088549354651146_n

Who would have thought that going to have my oil changed this morning would have dropped me into a space of reflection on devotion. Driving the streets of Austin to get there I spoke aloud the dedication that I say every morning which is: I am devoted to Being of absolute highest service to Source (God/Creator/Divine….)

All of a sudden it struck me that not only service to others, the planet…..and my car – but to my body, which is having a few challenges at the moment. It is this extraordinary flesh and blood container that houses the Soul which takes action on behalf of this dedication.

Many of the worlds religions, philosophies and schools of thought take us away from our bodies and ascend us into our heads or up and out. But wait I cry my leg roots are in the soil, my heart floats on the meandering river and my womb rests within a tree.

Of highest spiritual importance and devotion is this earthly substance that makes us human – crying for exquisite, gentle and mindful attention. Without we simply would not be here to serve….

_______________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 9: Uncertain Territory

110

Image by Ashes and Snow

 

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso

If you have followed these posts for the last 9 days then you may wonder how I am feeling about posting daily on 3 blogs for 31 days. To tell you the truth I almost quit yesterday “thinking” it was just all too much to commit to.

Then I received a post today on creativity with the above quote as part of the content. A space opened up inside that shoved aside that part of me that was ready to “give it up”.

You see “giving up” would have shut down on what was yearning to express through me. The act of allowing this learning to unfold itself clearly provides vast territory for creativity to emerge.

Not knowing what will ask to be expressed from one day to the next is the uncertain journey that life asks of all of us. As Wendell Berry says, “ It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.”

_______________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 7: I Am A Human Being

img_2141

I often wonder if we looked upon everyone as a valuable being what our world would be like.

Where would the acceptance, love, compassion and connection take us?

Taking a few moments to be curious and connect as I did with a man named Joseph a couple of years ago now.

Joseph stood on the meridian of a busy intersection with his sketch pad in hand asking if anyone might want to purchase one of his sketches.

Over many weeks I carried on conversations with Joseph for the few minutes that I waited at the light and begin to see the creativity that was yearning to be expressed in a man that had difficulty even walking the few steps up and down.

One day I decided to give him a “commission” in the form of a challenge which turned out to be a request for a self portrait.

He delivered that self portrait one day with a huge smile and a feeling of accomplishment.

The quick hug I gave him and the money that exchanged hands as I stepped out of the car while waiting in line for the light to change, altered both of our lives in a way that is still spilling out into the world…..
_______________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 5: The Privilege of Growing Older

10404892_588473127928029_3340023730013961587_n

Given a body to hold our Soul

On this  journey called Life

Earth holds us in her bosom

Feet root down, breath moves in and out

Moving ever closer to the liminal point where there is simply space

That we are on this journey at all is a blessed miracle

From which growing older is a Divine precious gift that allows

Unique callings to carve a signature on our face

_________________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

 

Soul Musings/Day 4: Be the Beauty

tumblr_n8ibmzM5ub1qgcyd8o1_500

“Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel down and kiss the ground.” Rumi

Surrendering your Soul

To the Source of all life

Takes you to your knees

As you place your beautiful face onto the ground

Listening to the voice

That tells you so clearly

You are enough

The time is now….

_________________________________________________________________________

NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

BreathingSpaces

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

 

 

Vulnerability

brene-brown-vulnerability

Vulnerability is not weakness. The pretense of invulnerability is remarkably delusional; it is symptomatic of outrageous vanity. To ignore consideration of our own vulnerabilities represents a failure to properly risk ourselves in the world. To turn away from or attempt to exile others who are vulnerable expresses a profound and disturbing loss of humanity. Our relationship to vulnerability is a core element of our authenticity and our identity.

– Brian Alger

It has been awhile since my last posting, not by design, but instead by neglect in allowing so much time to pass. Starting right out being vulnerable opens a space within me to write something of value for you my readers. How much are we willing to be vulnerable to life’s changes and challenges?  Open into new possibilities of expressing ourselves at the very core of our being?

We all have stories of a time when we felt vulnerable. However, do we have experiences where we purposely opened or placed ourselves in situations where being vulnerable put us at risk of exposure? Exposure to being seen – even those parts that we try to keep hidden for fear that we won’t be loved, liked or seen as strong, smart, independent, competent, etc, etc etc.

As the two quotes above reflect – our relationship to, and acceptance of, being in a state of vulnerability opens doorways to expression, innovation, authenticity and knowing more of who we are. Here is a recent example from my own life.

A few days ago I decided it was time that I started exploring the possibility of attracting a loving relationship with a man into my life. Since I have a home business I am often isolated, thus the decision to go to the online dating sites for those over 50 years of age. What a treasure trove of ways in which people hide, practice dishonesty, or at the worst attempt to scam others – mixed in of course with those of us who are openly and honestly representing ourselves – like me.

Yet, it felt that this was the way to go at least for a one month membership to practice my vulnerability skills. The clarity that I have received over the past few days of exploration is that I kept cutting off possibility by assessing that someone just wasn’t a fit because___________ (you fill in the blank).  My delete finger was getting a lot of practice!

Going deeper with this I realized that it was the men that had vast differences in their background, education level, interests etc. that had my delete finger hitting the keyboard. Once I realized this I practiced reaching out to someone who had expressed an interest in me first and who’s world was so completely different from mine. Letting go of any preconceived notions I realized that there was room for possibility to expand and learn something new in areas that I had no competency in at all.

Yikes, no competency!…and there rests the risk of savoring the journey that opens doorways to self and other understanding. Perhaps even leading to that “birthplace of innovation, creativity and change” and possibility….where the other feels just as vulnerable as you do!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

photo(62)Gaye Abbott, RYT assists individuals to dissolve the layers that cover the natural innate blueprint we came in with and reveal, through a combination of evolutionary energy work, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reiki and breath re-patterning, the larger purpose and co-creative expression that we are here for.

For those interested in receiving private sessions please contact Gaye at: JoyfulGaye@NaturalPassages.com.  Travel to your location in the U.S. or globally is available.  Please inquire.  Skype: gaye.abbott

 

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Breath-Book-coverW2(1)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

She Let Go

letting_go

SHE LET GO ~By Rev. Safire Rose~ “She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go. She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the right reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she let go. She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all the memories that held her back. She let go of all the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right. She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go. She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go. No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go. There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad. It was what it was and it is just that. In the space of letting go, she let it be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone for evermore.”

th-1

How often in our lives do we strive for the answer or struggle to push onward when everything in us wants to surrender? Surrender meaning not “giving up”, but instead resting in the place of strength and courage that it takes simply to let go and find out what is underneath all of the striving, angst, control and fear.

The quote above reminds me of how awareness can expand and possibilities arise once the walls come down and the striving and struggle stops.  Once the ego stops fueling the mind and the quest for answers becomes something that is less for security and more for being willing to rest in and act from the being of who we are.  Trusting that being…

I remember a very powerful dream that I had quite some years ago during a time that I was teetering on the edge of simply letting go or hacking my way through the challenges that presented and proving to myself that “I could do it”. In this dream I was walking with many others along a trail out in nature and we were all traveling towards a “university of higher learning and knowing”.

I noticed that some had come with equipment – ropes, backpacks and such – and was curious about why.  As we drew closer to being able to see the “University” in the distance we came to an abrupt halt where the path apparently 139710067ended and a cliff with a very steep drop was right before us.  I watched as others put on climbing gear and started repelling down the dangerous slope.  A few fell, others became injured and many made it down to continue on their journey.

As I stood at the cliff side filled with fear and indecision about whether I wanted to go on or not and if so how I would go about it,  my thoughts hit a point of stillness, a full breath arose, and I was guided to look to my left.  There in full view was a continuation of the path which meandered through the forest out into open valley and right to the doors of the “University”.

Sometimes we are challenged to strengthen the knowing of who we are by moving through obstacles and barriers in our lives.  When these challenges become a means to “prove ourselves”, versus inhabit ourselves more fully, then there is a decision to make.  In this dream I made the decision to take the path to the left.

Not out of fear of the challenges on the cliff side or having to prove that I could do it, but out of a place of letting go into my breath, into the moment and being curious enough to wait and see what would unfold.  There is no right or wrong decision to have made in this dream….and perhaps you will find even deeper meaning for yourself….yet it was in simply letting go and becoming curious that it became clear what my choice was to be.

….and the sun and the moon shone forever more.

_______________________________________________________________________

photo(62)Gaye Abbott, RYT assists individuals to drop the layers that cover the natural innate blueprint we came in with and reveal, through a combination of evolutionary energy work, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reiki and breath re-patterning, the larger purpose and co-creative expression that we are here for.

For those interested in receiving private sessions please contact Gaye at: JoyfulGaye@NaturalPassages.com.  Travel to your location in the U.S. or globally is available.  Please inquire.  Skype: gaye.abbott

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Breath-Book-coverW2(1)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/