Women Who Thrive, Change The World!

Posts tagged ‘A Woman’s True Voice’

Soul Musings/Day 31: Reflections on Listening to Soul

Gaye in Bali, Indonesia/Global Healing Conference

Gaye in Bali, Indonesia/Global Healing Conference

 

Those who don’t feel this Love
pulling them like a river,
those who don’t drink dawn
like a cup of spring water
or take in sunset like supper,
those who don’t want to change,

let them sleep.

This Love is beyond the study of theology,
that old trickery and hypocrisy.
If you want to improve your mind that way,

sleep on.

I’ve given up on my brain.
I’ve torn the cloth to shreds
and thrown it away.

If you’re not completely naked,
wrap your beautiful robe of words
around you,

and sleep.

– Rumi

For those of you that may have been following these Soul Musings for the past 31 days I express my gratitude. In total there have been 93 posts including today’s which is rather unbelievable to me as I was ready to quit it all on Day 5!

True to form there will only be 8 sentences here (though the one following is indeed a very long one!) with the last two being specific to this particular blog. I have experienced many things as I have committed to this practice and among them have been the fickleness of the creative muse; the release in simply writing something and then letting it go; observing the critic that wanted to take main stage but whom I banished to the netherlands (where is that anyway?); the groundedness of a regular writing practice; at times the self-imposed pressure of hitting that “Publish” button every single day on 3 blogs; allowing for the polarity of “good writing” and “bad writing” to vanish from my vocabulary; that there would be “something to write about” every single day, but more, trusting that I would listen to what was coming through and simply act as the translator on behalf of full uncensored expression.

When I was urged from the depths of my Soul – from Source – to commit to this practice I was at first certain of it and then wanted to flee from the implications of it. The months of going without writing anything prior to this practice have now fled into oblivion (would love to know where that is too!) and I am washed clean of any hesitation to simply write from the deepest parts of my being.

This was my favorite blog to post on though I probably shouldn’t divulge that! I will forever be an advocate on behalf of embodiment as an untamed woman, free to fully express safely, creatively and passionately, in this sacred life we have been given.

NAMASTE

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NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTING

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

http://www.GayeAbbott.com

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 the energy medicine of Jin Shin Jyutsu, yoga therapy and breath re-patterning, and as spiritual mentor/guide/coach, 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 as is Skype mentoring/coaching.  Please inquire. 

 

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/

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Category:

Acceptance, Authenticity, Creative Expression, Divine Inspiration, Finding Your Voice

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Soul Musings/Day 4: Be the Beauty

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“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….

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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 Abbott – http://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/

 

 

Category:

Acceptance, Authenticity, Divine Inspiration

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Making A Difference As An Elder

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Jane Goodall is one of my favorite and inspirational women elders of this day and age.  She just turned 80 years old and is still traveling the world as a very powerful agent for positive change in the world.  In this last year I have had the honor of connecting with some very powerful women who are not only older than me, but in some cases decades older.

As I near the age of 66 in July there are moments when I wonder if I have the stamina, energy and yes courage to not walk in the footsteps of these amazing women, but instead create my own path, and as Jane says above “decide what difference I want to make”!  This question is most probably in many of your minds and hearts these days as our planet demands that we shift our consciousness and take actions from that place of deep listening and opening to new and authentic places within ourselves.

A couple of weeks ago now I was privileged to listen to Gladys McGarey, MD, MD(H) give an hour long talk  here in Austin, Texas filled with stories from her life and demonstrating to me that age only inspires a greater longing to be taking action and serving from that higher purpose that we came in with.  Dr. Gladys as she likes to be called was brought up in the Himalayas by American parents and climbed up 1000 feet everyday (from 6,000 to 7,000 feet) after school to be embraced by her amah and taken into her shawl where she was comforted after a challenging day at school (she was severely dyslexic).

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Gladys McGarey, MD, MD(H), age 93

From this start Dr. Gladys became the “Mother of Holistic Medicine” here in the United States and now has The Foundation for Living Medicine.  The new Living Medicine model recognizes the wholeness of life rather than the absence of disease.  Dr. Gladys states that life and love are the aspects that really do the healing.  She is still seeing patients and is the director of The Foundation for Living Medicine.  Dr. Gladys is 93 years old!!

As I watched her that evening speak of the concerns that she is most passionate about I saw a vital, alive, vibrant, intelligent, beautiful woman standing erect in her flowing clothing from India and not once taking a break in an entire hour of speaking.  The inspiration for me came not from her words, which were very wise indeed, but from her presence!

It is women like Dr. Gladys, Jane Goodall, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard (whom I was privileged to study with for 6 months last year), Lynn Twist,  elder women in political, economic, creative and social change roles and the thousands of global “grandmothers” that are doing such important service in the world – who have found what making a difference is in their own unique ways.

There is an inquiry that I use in my breathing workshops often.  It asks, “if you were to live your life as you breathed, how would you want to be breathing?”  My answer of course is fully, naturally and authentically….which can be the foundation for every thought, word, movement, choice and action we take impacting the world around us.

What kind of difference do you want to make?

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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/

Category:

Authenticity, Be The Change, Finding Your Voice

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Fierce Feminine

Universal-Feminine-Power

“There is a tremendous power that lives deep inside you.  It’s fierce – showing a heartfelt and powerful intensity that is brave and untamed – full of preciousness, gentleness, kindness and vulnerability.”  Alisa Starkweather

It is when we are truly transparent as a leader and as individuals, to ourselves and those around us, that we provide a container for those that “follow” or “connect” to wake up to themselves and step into their own unique leadership and soul path.  It is as if we have given them permission to be themselves – fully and completely – by being ourselves – fully and completely.

This is a style of fierce feminine leadership and being that allows and anoints women to step fully into their power in a

Yantra. The symbol of Feminine energy-strength, power and clarity.

Yantra. The symbol of Feminine energy-strength, power and clarity.

cooperative and collaborative way leading from grace and trust.  It is a type of being that lets go of and explores the shadow and sense of survival and internal oppression which has been wired in for eons…and steps out and into what we fear most.

 “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.”
― Georgia O’Keeffe

No hiding is present here.  We have hidden for way too long.  It has taken so much energy to keep under cover the magnificent light, power,courage,  creativity, wildness, love, wisdom, intelligence, and compassion that each of us carries.

lea #30 (2)“Within you, and in nature, is the potent, instinctual, untamable
and nourishing force of Wild Wisdom.
You need it. I need it.
Our world needs us to bring forth our Wild Wisdom “

Lea Bayles, Body and Soul Coach
http://leabayles.com/wildwisdom.html
(click on this link for a wild, evocative and seductive narrative spoken by Wildly Wise Woman, Lea Bayles!)

A short time ago I had the opportunity to share the story of a wildly wise and fiercely feminine woman.   I facilitated a film afternoon co-sponsored along with Sierra Club and TreeSisters (Clare Dakin, Founder – forming a global network of women with a mission of reforesting the rain forests within 10 years).  The film was Taking Root, a story of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Mathaai and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Africa.  There were many things that struck me about this recent history of Kenya and her resources – and even more powerfully the life story of this woman who was bold and committed enough to step into her purpose with clarity and courage even in the midst of an entire government’s ridicule and violent actions taken against her.

And all she wanted to do was plant trees……while empowering Kenyan women and promoting peace and ecological Wangari Maathaisustainability in her country.

There is no surprise that this dynamic woman came back into my life again for as It turns out I had some unfinished business with her. Seven years ago now when I was in Bali, Indonesia at the Global Healing Conference with Desmond Tutu and others from across the world, Wangari was supposed to have been one of the guests to present.  At the last minute she had to cancel.  I was very saddened by that as I had learned of what she had done in Kenya and was very excited about meeting her.

Wangari then came back into my life recently through TreeSisters as they were recommending the Taking Root film to show and discuss. As I am active with them in a volunteer capacity I committed to purchasing the film and facilitating an after film discussion.

About a month prior to this film showing I was visiting with a friend  and we talked a little about Wangari.  She knew about her and loaned me her memoir Unbowed which I finished reading on 9/25/13.  That night I had vivid dreams in which Wangari was encouraging me to “continue my work by telling this story” and “step up into your power and expression as a woman”.  among other things.

The next morning I became curious about what she had died of (ovarian cancer) and when.  When I saw the date I realized why I had been so strongly connected with her that day/night.  She transitioned on 9/25/2011…

317986_290213681073867_886206564_nI remain committed to telling her and Kenya’s story and the relevance to shifting the scarcity/lack and separateness meta-coding that have contributed so greatly to the global challenges we face today – environmental, social justice,  health and spiritual well being.

Her story and that of the women of Kenya is relevant to inspiring and empowering women to express from their fullest potential and to support each other in doing so. It can start with one simple act.

Wangari and so many other women today exemplify the fierce feminine which I am speaking to here. The earth and nature based feminine that is arising with a voice that cannot be ignored.  The  “wild wisdom” feminine that is finally honoring what we have to bring….and bringing it within collaboration and heart based connectivity shifting what Anodea Judith calls the “static masculine” (The Global Heart Awakens: Humanities Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love)  foundation  upon which so much has been built and co-creating a new myth from awakened hearts into systems based on the power of love and the deep interconnection that sustains all.

Root yourself down dear sisters and explore the stories that you are telling yourself.  Are they true?  If not, then change them, make friends with your saboteur and become very curious about what would provide the solid foundation for a fully expressed fiercely feminine YOU!

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941546_10201139084457154_1085573193_nWEBSITE:  http://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:Breath-Book-coverW2(3)
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

How you breathe is the way in which you live your life.  If this statement is true, then how would you like to breathe?  Shallow and restricted or full bodied and naturally?

Use a focus each week for the entire year to promote the vibrant aliveness that is your natural birth right!

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Category:

Courage, Finding Your Voice, Power and Leadership

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Assumptions About Women – Taking A Stand

TreeGirl_quote

A few days ago I was kept awake off and on all night after reading the memoir – Unbowed – of Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and mother creator of The Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Africa.  Every time I awoke her persistence, commitment and passion for what she stood for was infiltrating into my being.

About six years ago now I missed seeing Wangari at a Global Healing Conference in Bali, Indonesia.  I remember clearly that I had been so excited that she was going to be with us as well as Desmond Tutu, Lynn Twist and other Nobel laureates.  Unfortunately, at the last minute she could not travel to Bali.  I felt a great loss.

I knew that she had passed on in 2011 but did not know why, so the day after this wakefulness happened I found out the cause of her death and the date.  She died on 9/25/2011 – the same day/evening that she visited me so intensely!!

She has re-entered my life through a global organization called TreeSisters – birthed into this world by Clare Dakin.  Clare follows in Wangari’s footsteps as she passionately upholds the importance of reforesting our planet – and by women!!  Part of membership in being a part of this planet Earth is to take a stand as Wangari, Clare, Lynn Twist (Pachamama Alliance), Jane Goodall , Barbara Marx Hubbard and so many other women are doing now as we experience environmental, social justice, economic and deep spiritual crises.

These imbalances have been co-created by splitting off from our true nature – the Earth.  We have forgotten our roles as stewards of the Earth and have become dis-eased in the process.  The rampant incidence of depression, anxiety, panic and other disease processes mirrors the very split from that which has given us life.  Natures cycles are women’s cycles!

We all know the assumptions that have been held in regards to women for so many centuries and now seems the time to upset the apple cart in regards to these very assumptions.  The one that has hurt us the most – and one which we have bought into – is “As a woman I am powerless”.  There were good reasons to think so down through the ages, but not now, not ever again.

Why do I say that?  Because not only are women waking up and coming out in our full embodied expressions, but we are standing with each other to facilitate the changes that so many of us are committed to on behalf of the well being of all life here.  We don’t have to step forward without fear, we simply need to be persistent and form alliances with others that are willing to bring their expression to the creative solutions and innovations.

As Wangari says in Unbowed: “What people see as fearlessness is really persistence.  Because I am focused on the solution, I don’t see danger.  Because I don’t see danger, I don’t allow the mind to imagine what might happen to me, which is my definition of fear.  If you don’t foresee the danger and see only the solution, then you can defy anyone and appear strong and fearless.” 

I love this quote as in her life she faced injury, life threats, imprisonment, gender discrimination, and great opposition from the political powers that were present as she was growing The Green Belt Movement.  Today this very movement has been responsible for 51 million trees being planted in Kenya and thousands of women finding their own power and purpose in life thus affecting the quality of life in her country.

She says about those that have walked by her side: “Throughout my life, I have never stopped to strategize about my next steps.  I often just keep walking along, through whichever door opens. I have been on a journey and this journey has never stopped.  When the journey is acknowledged and sustained by those I work with, they are a source of inspiration, energy, and encouragement.  They are the reasons I kept walking, and will keep walking, as long as my knees hold out.”

Now take some time to think about women that inspire you, whether they are present day or from the past. I have chosen those that are working on behalf of our environment and sustainable living and thriving, however yours may be from any walk of life or focus.  What qualities did/do they possess?  They may have been or are called “heretics” and if they are, take a very careful look at who is naming them.  Assumptions are dangerous and at the core are what got us to the place we are today tipping over into imbalances that will and are seriously affecting us all.

I say to each of you – take a stand!  At our core we all have the “stuff” that is needed to “take a stand” even if that is simply being absolutely true to our own unique expression and unfailingly trusting it.  We are all healers and creators.  Let us trust our soul, honor our spirit, open our heart, transform our mind and heal our bodies. ( Heart of the Healer by Don Oscar Miro-Quesada, Peruvian curandero).

Come into ritual space with each other and co-create Earth centered living from the heart ignited by soul and spirit….We can have a gentle birth to the next stage of evolution by accepting, trusting,  and stepping into the innate power that we have been given by simply being born a woman.  You are both the midwives and the ones that are giving birth!!

I Am

We Are

Here Now

One Within

The story of the hummingbird by Wangari Maathai:

Taking Root trailer – The story of Wangari Maathai and The Green Belt Movement

http://www.takingrootfilm.com/trailer.htme

…AND ONE MORE TASTY GIFT!  GET UP AND DANCE!!  DON’T FORGET THE PASSION!!

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**NOTE: If you live in Austin, Texas or near by please join us for a showing of the film Taking Root on 10/27/13 co-sponsored by the local Sierra Club, global TreeSisters, and me – Natural Passages Consulting.  A representative from Pachamama Alliance will also be with us!!  Go to htt://www.GayeAbbott.com and click on the EVENTS tab.

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941546_10201139084457154_1085573193_nWEBSITE:  http://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

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

www.GayeAbbott.com/books/

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Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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The Return of Wild Wisdom

mother-earth

Domesticated.  Is that a word that describes you or the life you are leading?  Are you “settling” for less than your heart desires?  Taking a look at the rote ways in which we live the moments of our lives  can be painful to that wild creature that lives, breathes and moves inside of us.  You know the one!

“We are here to fall in love with a lot more than just our mate… trees, stones, rivers, animals, birds, planets, galaxies, poems, music….”
~ Rev Matthew Fox

The creature inside that yearns to paint on the walls way outside the lines, dance outside at midnight (maybe in the nude!) to celebrate the universe inside and out, dig in the earth and come away with bits of dirt and leaves all over our clothes, speak out loudly and with conviction when a tree is cut down that doesn’t need to be cut except for some other humans profit,  go out of our way not to “follow the rules” and instead find a path and a way that creates more life for ourself and others, and…..you speak more here!

Our planet and all life on it, as well as our individual aliveness, depends not only on engaging that Wild Wisdom, but embodying it with fearless grace and passion.  What is it that you desire?  Desire is not bad…it is a passionate means to access the gifts that we have to bring and the full life we have to live this time around.  It is the fuel which feeds the Wild Wisdom that is within all of us.

I invite you to listen to my dear friend Lea Bayles speak to Wild Wisdom that sought her out to remind us to commit to and honor this clarissa-defiant-woman-quotableintelligence whose time has come to return once again into our global consciousness and actions…NOW.

This piece is eloquent, intelligent, grounded, irreverent, deliciously sensual, and a call to all women and men to not ever dare again to shut away Wild Wisdom in a closet somewhere whimpering low sounds of mournful abandonment.

We were born with Wild Wisdom.  It is all around us in nature and the interconnection of life that never ceases to evolve opportunity and change.  It lives and breathes innately within us.  Are we ready to listen??

“Within you, and in nature, is the potent, instinctual, untamable
and nourishing force of Wild Wisdom.
You need it. I need it.
Our world needs us to bring forth our Wild Wisdom.”  Lea Bayles

Wild Wisdom

….and some Wild Wisdom words from Allan Watts..

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OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

WEBSITE:

www.ResonanceWithLife.com

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

Category:

Authenticity, Finding Your Voice

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Women As A Pathway To The Sacred

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This picture along with the words caught my attention.  There has been so much written about the Divine Feminine, Goddess traditions and women’s empowerment.  It is not my purpose here to delve into  these important and very extensive areas as this post would be very, very long!

However, I was taken by the simplicity and power of this picture as well as the words.  Masculine acknowledging feminine awareness which is different from his.  His understanding that women do have “another system of knowledge” that a man may not possess in the same way.  An honoring if you will, and an invitation to bring this understanding and intuitive wisdom to the “counsel table” for all to benefit from.

It is time that this honoring and acknowledgement take place once again.  Our global, national, community and family well being depends on it!  We as women also need to accept the gifts that we posses, and be willing to use them in powerful, insightful,  and compassionate ways

Below you will find a video done by the BBC that takes us on a journey into ancient times.  This video explores a little-known ‘golden age’ for women, when historical characters such as the Empress Theodora in Byzantium, Wu Zetien in China (the Empress who called herself Emperor), the early women of Islam (2 of Mohammed’s wives) and Anglo-Saxon Hilda of Whitby, used the power of ancient traditions and new ideas about religion and philosophy to wield influence in what appeared to be a man’s world.

Women wielding their *power* in deepest human connection with/in the Divine.

We can gain understanding and inspiration from these women who were not willing to back down on using their innate sense of the much larger picture to create positive changes in a mostly male dominated world.   It was a pleasure to be introduced to these women who paved the way to the sacred of their times!

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WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Finding Your Voice, Power and Leadership

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From A Place of Value

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Here we are at the turning of another year once again.  If we are not mindful of the importance of living this next year within the precious moments given to us, then we may feel as many do today.  A sense that “time” is moving too fast and that our own life is winding down much too quickly for all that we would like to experience and create.

Do we look back at what we did not accomplish?  Berate ourselves for not losing that 10 pounds, not asking for a raise, or even not loving enough?  Or, do we applaud the moments that had meaning and purpose during the year.

Each New Year’s Eve for me is spent in the ritual of silence with all electronic devices turned off and candles lit.  Reflection over this past year and what I am grateful for is a large part of this year end meditation. In fact I have started what Dewitt Jones and Lynette Sheppard call the “Ta Da” list.  This is a list, a remembrance if you will, of accomplishments, travels, completed goals, insights, new knowledge and self realizations from the year that is just passing.

From this place comes the cracking open to allow a focus for the New Year to seep into consciousness….one word that represents the place from which inner and outer actions will be taken that will expand awareness and support every action and goal.  From this focus will come intentions for the New Year.

Many women, myself included, have taken a stand for empowerment for women.  This past year I have found that I have often felt empowered, but the deep place from which this feeling is birthed from is not always present.  The statement in the picture above is filled with the promise and inspiration of stepping forward into our dreams and making them happen in 2013 and beyond.  Yet, for me there is somewhere else that these actions, and yes even the dreams, must be birthed from.

This was very evident as I wrote a proposal last evening for a salary in the job that I am presently doing.  Although having done the research on what others were making in my area for this particular position and writing up a job description, I found myself thinking of what this start up business may be able to afford….instead of aligning with my inherent value and worth in all that I am doing and the impact that my very presence has on this growing business.

Thankfully a dear friend assisted me to “see the light” and stay in line with the original salary number I had come up with.  I have to admit that I felt the uncomfortableness of staying present to who I am and the value I have to bring as I am so used to putting the emphasis on “other” than myself.

This place of self value rests within the deep purpose of our life here this time around.  It is in every word, action, relationship, job we undertake, environment that we surround our self with, food we put in our mouth, our deepest self care.  As women I believe we are still learning about this, for our lives are often taken up with the deep self care of others and their needs.  Can we give to ourselves that which we give to others?

480820_397075940357324_1246155590_nIt is not selfish to have a deep sense of value about ourselves.  It is instead the only place from which to live  life.  I am not talking here about what we have done to bring value, but more of the intrinsic beauty and sacredness of our very being.  The openness, curiosity, honesty, beauty, creativity, integrity and loving presence from which we live our lives.  And yes, even the fears, the mistakes, the challenges, the darkness and the pain which weave through each life.  Even there….. finding value within and resting there.

Take this new fresh year and begin it with Ta Da…here I am world! …..and live this wild, sacred and passionate life from the value that is your innate being…

P.S.  It is not too late to make your “Ta Da” list whenever you read this post!

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WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Acceptance, Authenticity, Finding Your Voice

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The Love Ethic – Politics As A Spiritual Journey

“What we don’t engage we cannot transform.”  Marianne Williamson

Less than a week ago we had a national election in the United States.  As I saw it, as women and on behalf of the environment, we  potentially had a lot to lose.  This is why I was so stunned by some women I talked to that had decided not to even vote because it appeared they lacked the passion and motivation to really get involved in making an informed choice.

Some said that their vote wouldn’t count anyway because of our antiquated electoral college system, or even that they lived on the West Coast and it would already be decided before they could even vote.  There wasn’t even a thought about their own community issues and elected officials.  Has “politics” disillusioned us so much that we have become apathetic?

I have to admit that I have been one of those disillusioned ones and have left the arena of politics for others with a stronger stomach.  At the same time I  realize that this is avoidance which results in a lack of change or transformation to the very systems and beliefs that are making us unhappy and imbalanced.  As individuals, as communities, as countries, as a global society.

Many individuals feel that if you are following a spiritual path then politics is something to be avoided.  If Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and many others throughout our time here on Earth had thought that quite a lot of transformation and change would have been completely left undone.  The quote above by Marianne Williamson invites us to ENGAGE with what she calls the “love ethic” in all that we do on behalf of what is important to us.

If we really want a change to happen in our political systems,  a shift in how we steward this planet that shares it’s riches with us, a change to a peace ethic instead of war, or whatever else is vitally important to you, then we really DO need to become engaged and make it a part of our spiritual journey.

In other words “take a stand for another possibility”.  If we do not engage, transformation is truly not possible.  Women in particular have a lot of power to create change in this realm – change that is desperately needed.   This beautiful older woman in the picture above has taken a stand. Her bare feet upon the bark of a tree engaging with her own and nature’s life force on behalf of another possibility.   What is it that you want to take a stand for?  You are never too old…..your actions in whatever unique form DO make a difference!

 

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

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

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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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

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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

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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

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