Women Who Thrive, Change The World!

Archive for the ‘Be The Change’ Category

Restoring Your Faith in Humanity

Passion, Power and Purpose by Pamela Turczyn

“Slow down
Open your eyes,
and every living thing will tell you its story.  Dewitt Jones

I had a conversation with a good friend the other day about how many good, loving and compassionate acts of kindness and support were going on every single minute of every day.  We are lead to believe that the negative, ruthless, cruel and violent actions far outweigh the good.

I, for one, do not believe that.  It is in our conscious acts of extending a smile, a kind word, an unselfish and fearless offering of our time, passion,  and attention that we heal the connections that yearn to come back into the whole of the fabric of the quilt we call life. Through the potential of our “passion, power and purpose” (thank you Pamela Turczyn!) we sweep away the fears that keep us locked in a prison of our own creation.

The link below has captured via images many of these moments.  It served as a meditation the other morning and changed the fabric of my day.  This week remember that you can be the initiator of one of these actions.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity

**********************

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Courage, Kindness

Tagged with:

Feminine Force Transforming Fear Into Love

Several years ago I was privileged to study with many curandera’s high in the hills above Mexico City.  Hardly knowing any Spanish at all I found at the end of 12 days spent there that I was dreaming in the language! This is a testament to the deep healing and opening that occurred as I sat, communed, ate, observed and learned from these very wise people.

I love the face of Grandmother Margarita here as it reminds me of the wisdom, love and passion that women grow into as they age.  Sometimes I don’t quite know how to take steps in this elder life of mine as it seems so different from what came before, but the words below remind me of what is so vitally important for women to remember.  Thank you to Awakening Women Institute for sharing this on Facebook!

Wise words from Grandmother Margarita Núñez García, Curandera and Wisdom Keeper, Mexico (Ingles y Español):

1. The awakening Feminine power corresponds to the heart and affects men and women equally. We are born with two possibilities, love and fear, and this feminine force is urging the transformation of fear into love.

2. Change will occur at the hands of women. For thousands of years (during pre-patriarchal times) woman was considered equal to man, and Earth was never poisoned, then both circumstances changed. The role of women is to honor and value herself and to teach men to love and respect the Earth.

3. Sex is sacred and it is being trivialized.

4. Older people are “like spun gold” for society — at that age it is an ideal time to share experiences and wisdom. According to the Mayan cycles of 13 years, when people turn 52 years of age [note: meaning 4 cycles of 13 years], they “open to universal fatherhood-motherhood,” so any feelings we have of victim-hood should stop and we should say “here I am.”

5. Death does not exist, our consciousness, our spirit, survives the physical body.

6. We are all sacred beings and we should honor ourselves.

7. Our thoughts have the power to create our reality.

8. Joy is an important ingredient in life. Shared with deep respect and prayers for the well being of Grandmothers and Wisdom Keepers of all traditions.

Translated from the Spanish, by Grace Alvarez Sesma.

******************************

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.NaturalWealthJournal.com
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Feminine Presence

Tagged with:

Arise, Sisters!

Yesterday I attended a rally to protest what is being called “The War On Women” here in Austin, Texas. (with many men and government officials present as well!) Today I received an e-mail about this experience which is reproduced below.   In addition, I was reminded again about how powerful the media can be to undermine women and girls in the way we perceive ourselves by a video called Miss Representation which I have posted on this blog before.

All of this points to the absolute necessity for women to become active on behalf of themselves and all other women and girls on this planet.  Without our direct individual and group participation in countering this backward slide into the “dark ages” for women’s rights and basic human needs we will become complicit instead of empowered.

E-mail regarding the “War On Women” rally:

Yesterday there was a rally at the capitol to protest the War on Women.   It was a far smaller turnout than I had anticipated.  As speaker after speaker said, the gains of the past 40 years are being pushed down the drain by a very active radical right.  Little by little, our rights are being eroded, from the loss of equal pay in Wisconsin (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/scott-walker-equal-pay-repeal_n_1434886.html)  to the intrusion of vaginal probe ultrasounds being required prior to abortion (Texas).  Each of us needs to decide what our comfort level is regarding these changes, and regarding our own actions in response.  If these changes cause you concern, you might want to contribute to Annie’s List, a Texas organization dedicated to getting women elected who share the same concerns.  http://annieslist.com/Default.aspx

And a video that shows how the media is undermining women.  Let us all think about what kind of action we can take to shift this very negative long term trend that is greatly effecting our young women and girls world wide!

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

Tagged with:

Happy Birth-Day to Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath!

Happy Birth-Day to the long awaited book that has many favorite posts from the BreathingSpaces blog within the pages!! This is what has taken my time away from posting here on WildlyFreeWoman.  My heart is wide open as I deliver Our Daily Breath into your hands, hearts and souls. My deepest wish is that this book will be of service to those who read it and that it will encourage pauses in life to simply be with the breath and the sacredness of this life we have been given.

As women we sometimes hold back on our creative imaginings and they never manifest out into the world in physical form.  I know that I have been that “hold-back” woman for a long time….and also know that there is always a great loss to others, and the very planet we live upon, when we do not share our wisdom, feelings, stories, art – actually the deepest parts of our unique being.  I have now declared that there are absolutely no more reasons to NOT do and be what my purpose is this lifetime around – so here you have my very first book in print to “delight, rest and reflect in”.

Here is some advance praise as well as links where you can purchase one of three options – Downloadable with beautiful formatting and the ability to print out each week’s focus for a daily reminder; e-book for Kindle, iPad, etc; and soft cover spiral bound to place in your library as a treasured resource.  For a Sneak Preview go to: http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

A Road-Map to Living an Inspired Life!

Richard Cawte, Ph.D.

Give Us this Day our Daily Breath is so much more than just a book about breathing. The subtitle of this beautifully-crafted and elegant work sums up its difference from anything else that I have read on the subject: “Weekly Breathing Spaces to Delight, Rest and Reflect In”.

That says it all.

Life has become so hectic for so many of us, with so many things to do every day (and never enough time to do them!). In Give us this Day our Daily Breath, Gaye Abbott gives us a clear, easy-to-follow guide that helps us find places of calmness and deep ease from which the day can emerge in a fresh, vibrant way.

We tend to pay attention to peripheral things in our lives and yet so often the very thing that sustains us – the act of breathing – is something we barely pause to consider. What I love about this book is that it brings the act of breathing to the forefront, allowing the reader to explore his or her relationship with the world through the breath itself. It’s an inspired piece of writing, flowing from the heart.

Giving us weekly practices is a stroke of genius, because it makes it easy for the reader to experiment and adopt new ways of breathing bit-by-bit. That’s why I love the book so much. It’s more than just a book. It’s a road-map to living an in-spired life, a step-by-step manual that invites us to align ourselves with the rhythms of the natural world – and then shows us how.

Life throws up many challenges, but as Gaye says: “the breath is a tool to anchor you. Allow it to be the constant thread around which you weave your life.” Wonderful advice.

Truly a book to read, delight, rest and reflect in!

Richard Cawte, Ph.D., International Business & Author of the Natural Wealth Course, www.ResonanceWithLife.com

*************

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath is a wise, graceful, kind and gently humorous guide to awakening more fully through weekly explorations of breath.
By relating the natural breathing rhythms to the cycle of the seasons, Gaye Abbott invites readers to reconnect with a sense of being at home on Earth and in our bodies. This fresh perspective combines with personal story and observation to offer valuable new insight into the healing and transformational power of breathing.

Lea Bayles, M.A., transformational coach, speaker and author, creator of the Replenish Your Soul series of guided meditations lea@leabayles.com, www.leabayles.com

**************

Leza Lowitz

Give Us this Day our Daily Breath is a wonderful book born from Gaye Abbott’s decades-long practice of yoga, meditation, awareness, mindfulness and joy, celebrating the breath each and every day like the gift and prayer that it is.   Inspirational, creative, healing and practical, Gaye offers insights, exercises and easy-to-follow practices that allow us to fully appreciate and embody this act of breathing and all it contains. Gaye writes, “When we come together with another life form, we share the breath in the air that surrounds us. We take of the same breath, so to speak. Down through the millennia this has continued. In fact, we are breathing and sharing the recycled air of the dinosaurs, the very first humans, the dolphins, and the trees…In many of the classes, workshops and retreats, I often have people sit back to back and feel their own breath first, then connect with the breath rhythm of the other without attempting to change theirs. Almost everyone noticed, in a short period of time, that the breath would synchronize and become one. 

Perhaps it was always one to begin with. Through this interconnected basic biological process we can feel each other, and with acute knowing understand what is within the other – even if we do not consciously acknowledge it. What if each one of us joined another – or others – in sharing a peaceful breath rhythm. Would the world change?” 

Yes it would, and with Gaye as our guide, it is bound to. And what a joyful and transformational journey it will be. Thank you Gaye for giving us this day our daily breath and reminding us of the incredible beauty, grace and power of this thing called breath that we too often take for granted!

Leza Lowitz, #1 bestselling Author of Yoga Heart: Lines on the Six Perfections www.lezalowitz.com

OFFERINGS: Downloadable (Instant PDF Download Below) with beautiful formatting and the ability to print out each week’s focus for a daily reminder OR through LuLu – e-book (EPub/Adobe, iPad, Nook, Kindle, etc); and soft cover spiral bound or regular soft bound to place in your library as a treasured resource!

PDF Instant Download – $9.97

E-book & Soft Cover Spiral Bound Versions

Also Available HERE

Ebook : – http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/daily-breath-ebook/18852025
Regular bound soft cover: – http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/our-daily-breath—paperback/18852066
Spiral/coil bound soft cover :-  http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/our-daily-breath—coil-bound/18852103

Category:

Be The Change, Creative Expression, Manifesting Your Dreams, The Breath

Tagged with:

Simply Kindness – The Greatest Gift of All

As we come near the end of another year I am reflecting on the life moments that have given me the most joy.  What wins hands down is kindness.  Those acts of generosity of spirit and fulness of heart that we as humans are meant for.

The kindness can be doing small acts of giving that are completely unexpected as an overflow from the fullness that we feel in our own lives….or they can be simply being open to receive the offerings of others.

As I reflect on my year there are so many “kindness events” that I am filled to overflowing.  It would be so hard to choose just one particular exchange, but…..if I had to choose just one for “giving” and one for “receiving”, this is what I would say.

In giving I was inspired to assist a “disabled artist” to have a new found pride in his creative gift.  Click on the link here for that story (Learning How To Dance In The Rain) .  In receiving I opened to the gift of a home to stay in for 3 months when I relocated to Austin this July, given by a woman who has to be one of the most generous souls on this planet!

Now these two examples don’t stop at the act.  They continue on because everyone in the exchange is changed inside, never to quite be the same again.  An example of this is shown in the video below.  Kindness does indeed travel in a circle!

I invite you to make a list (write, sing, art piece, collage or silently to yourself) of all the times that you either gave or received kindness this year as a way to feel gratitude for the life you have been given in 2011.

For another resource for kindness please go to this website: www.helpothers.org and request free of charge “Smile Cards” – experiments in Anonymous Kindness.  TAG – You are it!

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Category:

Authenticity, Be The Change, Kindness

Tagged with:

Phenomenal Women: The Power of One

“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom“.  ~Anais Nin, 1903-1977, Author

In a time when women are coming to the forefront in many different ways all over the world, the video below struck me as a reminder to each one of us that need encouragement and inspiration to keep taking those steps forward.

There is great power that lies sleeping within each of us, and when awakened into action is formidable and unstoppable.  Hold my hand sister and walk with me awhile….

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

WEBSITE:

www.IgniteWealthNow.com

Category:

Authenticity, Be The Change, Finding Your Voice

Tagged with:

Embrace Your Inner Girl

Always do the thing you fear the most.
Courage is an acquired taste
like caviar.

~Erica Jong

A week ago now I started questioning what it is that I am doing in my life….in the world.  This inquiry came about as I watched a snippet from a film on the Pink Saris in India and what they are doing to stand up for young girls and women in their country, villages, and homes.

I remember feeling bereft as I watched a very young beautiful girl being questioned by one of the Pink Sari women as to why she was so sad.  Her answer was – “I just want to die”.  Her wish to die was precipitated by being wedded at a very young age to an older man who was filmed asking “why does she keep running away?”.  The Pink Sari woman’s answer was “you keep raping her”.

So many women and girls are faced with atrocities every day all over the world.  They are not valued for the amazing beings that they are.  Deeper than that is the paradigm that has brought about this inequity, violence, and disregard for the wisdom, vulnerability, compassion, empathy, intuition, balance, emotion, and relational abilities of what Eve Ensler calls the “girl cell” in all of us -women and men.

A year ago now I sponsored a woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was able by my small donation each month to put this woman through a year long program to empower her within herself, to give her skills to be financially independent, and to have a support system around her to help her continue on amidst a country that has been in violent war for 12 years.

Now I want to do more.

What can each of us as women/men and girls/boys do to shift this old patriarchal system that has caused our very Earth to be in severe jeopardy?  A system that male and female cannot thrive within.

I invite each of you to view the entire video below, a TED talk by Eve Ensler in 2009 given while she was in India.

I invite each of you to find a passionate way in your own life to shift the “training” that has caused us to lose ourselves.  As Eve said, “Being a girl is so powerful that we have had to train everyone not to be a girl.”

Eve Ensler – Embrace Your Inner Girl

“In this passionate talk, Eve Ensler declares that there is a girl cell in us all — a cell that we have all been taught to suppress. She tells heartfelt stories of girls around the world who have overcome shocking adversity and violence to reveal the astonishing strength of being a girl.”


OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

Tagged with:

Finding My Voice

Maya Angelou has been over the years a voice to listen to.  This video speaks to the fact that we all become “silent” from time to time, and hide out when it is exactly our voice that needs to be heard!

She speaks to an innovative and creative way to release our voice, when we least want to do so.  I invite you this week to dance movements with sound, sing your favorite song, tone with sacred sound, laugh out loud, speak poetry to the sky, roar like a lion or hiss like a snake, or give each color a sound while you paint.

Find your way to finding your voice….even as the caged bird sings.

************************

WEBSITE:  www.IgniteWealthNow.com  (Natural Wealth)

NEW FREE OFFERING!!

We invite you to go to our website and listen to Richard Cawte’s Sanctuary Creation at:

SANCTUARY CREATION

Here is my review:

“Over the many years that I have spent in the study and practice of meditation and imagery I have never come across something with so much depth and potential for deepening and relaxing the mind and body.  

In Sanctuary Creation Richard Cawte’s gentle voice and beautifully detailed imagery take you down into a sensual world of nature where color, breath, and beauty activate all of the senses and drop you into a depth of being from which you can discover what it is like to fully embody your life’s moments.  

What greater tool for daily life than something like this that can be activated and created within you at any time!”   

~ Gaye Abbott, Registered Yoga Teacher

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

Category:

Authenticity, Be The Change, Finding Your Voice

Tagged with:

Women Who Make Things Happen

As our world undergoes immense shifts and changes we, as women, are being asked to “step up to the plate” so to speak.  Many of us know what it is that we are passionate about and are taking heart based action in that direction, and many more are simply entertaining which path (or paths) they desire to walk down.

What is it that calls to us from within?   That call we often ignore while being so busy putting out fires, “making a living”, or being Wonder Woman on all the levels that women actively engage in.  There is something called intuition which feels to me to be the soft whisper (and sometimes loud yell) of that essential nature or Divine self that guides, protects, and attempts to inform us of the next steps to take along our unique paths.

I came across an article the other day called Intuition by Danielle Boonstra in which she beautifully and vulnerably addresses the power of intuition by giving an example of when she was at a crossroads in her own life.  Within a few days of reading this I was given the opportunity to listen in to my own essential nature who has been attempting to get my full undivided attention for months now.

Attention has certainly been given in measured doses here and there, but it wasn’t until a dear friend Lea Bayles  did what is called a Discovery session with me that I realized what belief was sitting on top of the me that is so magnificent that I literally had to put sunglasses on to see her.  A blog post arose from this experience entitled “Resistance is Futile and A Doorway to Freedom”.

The point here is that sometimes there are underlying beliefs or patterns that keep us stuck in a “smaller ego self” than who we really are in our fullest expressions.  The discovery of these beliefs and patterns appears to be part of our waking up and the journey that we are here for.

The next question is, are we willing to take the next step by showing up in a way that is not only our natural “birth path”, but are we willing to reach out a hand to the woman next to us, or even across the world, to support her in doing the same thing.

Following is a video of women that have taken a step into there fullest selves and given the “smaller ego self” a vacation to a far away place.  Yes, it is a journey and one with challenges and pitfalls along the way.  However, are we willing to say YES! in any moment to that intuition that says “Go for it!” in the presence of risk and vulnerability?

I, for one, live within those types of moments every single day and it isn’t always easy to get out of your own “smaller self” way.  Are you willing to reach out a hand, step back into the circle of your life in the fullest way possible, and bring at least one other woman with you?

We are innately interconnected.  Let’s use that very web of life to support each other in lighting up the world within our own lives….. and change our personal and global futures.

3-minute film:  Wisdom From Women….Who Make Things Happen

OTHER BLOGS AND WEBSITES OF GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

WEBSITE:  www.IgniteWealthNow.com

Category:

Be The Change, Courage, Manifesting Your Dreams

Tagged with:

You Can’t Fail At An Experiment

The title of this post is something that Claire Dakin said in her talk at the Women On Fire Conference this year introducing Three Sisters – Women Seeding Change.  This concept – “you can’t fail at an experiment” is a way to look at each twist and turn of your life as an opportunity to take action, and to let go of the fear of failure.

I used to ask myself the question, if we as women took the time to step up on behalf of the planet and stopped competing with each other I wonder what would happen?  What I see occurring all over the globe right now is just that – women stepping up on behalf of the planet, our communities and families, and on behalf of each other .

As a committed global group we hold great power to create the change that we desire.

What the video below will give you are two things.  First is an opportunity to join other women towards quickening a successful outcome towards major global reforestation.

Secondly, is to inspire you to experience first hand what it feels like to open completely to the feminine inside of you, and to celebrate yourself in union with women and girls all over the world.

An experiment can never fail – for it is an experiment.  I wonder what great experiments you can create and take action on from the deepest part of your heart?  Be like Claire Dakin and invest in the courage to find out!

Women supporting women – and all of us supporting the Earth.


OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Category:

Be The Change, Courage, Empowerment, Feminine Presence

Tagged with: