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Posts tagged ‘full expression’

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

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Be The Change, Finding Your Voice, Power and Leadership

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Realize Your Own Magnificence

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Many, many years ago now when I was a Neurosurgical Assistant and Neuroaugmentation Technician in Southern California I was privileged to go to a Conference on Laughter and Play on the Queen Mary docked in Long Beach.  We actually spent two entire days learning about all the ways that one can bring laughter and play into daily life moments.

I attended such events as learning to juggle with marshmellows, how to tell jokes, watching comedy in action on the stage and discovering how improv is created from within…..to the other end of the spectrum – a class on laughter in the death and dying process.  At one point I remember asking a man sitting next to me at the end of a simply hilarious comedy routine what he was writing about so seriously in his notebook.  He proceeded to tell me that he was a comedian and was taking notes on timing, jokes, etc.  Wow!  A seriously committed comedian.

I remember clearly how shifted I felt after bathing in laughter and play for two solid days.  Once I returned to my job at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, back in “real life” so to speak,  I was broadsided by the observation of the seriousness of everyone around me!   I placed joke books in my exam rooms for patients to bring some lightness into their visit, and found that they disappeared pretty quickly.  To this day I hope that it was patients taking off with them to lend some laughter medicine in dealing with a diagnosis of a brain tumor.

My point here is that we do take life way too seriously and our culture seems addicted to drama fed veraciously by our FEARS!  The fact that we are amazing and magnificent human beings housed in these beautiful (but very small compared to who we are) bodies seems often to take a back seat to our current fears or feelings of being less than.

Below you will find a video which I encourage you to watch in its entirety.  It is an interview with Anita Moorjani  who has written the book “Dying To Be Me”.  This is not only a story of a woman who discovers she has cancer and comes to death and back again….but a “resurrection” story of sorts as she recommits to a life lived fearlessly,  making choices from what brings her joy – and supported from a vast awareness of the magnificent, amazing and loving beings we truly are.

Remember who you are….live that…and watch your life and that of others around you shift and change.

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OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
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Acceptance, Awareness, Vital Health & Well Being

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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/

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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/

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Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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Friendship Is Seizing The Moment Together!

This picture has now been placed up there on my list of favorites right along with the monks on the roller coaster!  Just having arrived back from a multifaceted trip to the San Francisco Bay area to see two of my 3 sons and celebrate the aliveness and beauty of my two grandchildren I am taken once again with the possibilities that are nested in each moment.

There are many moments that stand out for me on this trip and one of them reflects the C.S. Lewis quote above, as well as the nuns in total abandon saying YES to what they most certainly individually thought of, but may have been afraid to take action on alone.  Have you ever had a moment when you have a thought to do something “out of the box’, look at someone and just know that they are thinking the same thing? What could have been a pretty BIG leap for you alone just turned into an adventure shared by another.

The fact is that you also get double the pleasure, fun, and joy in seizing the moment together…… creating a bond that may be momentary….or may last a lifetime.

Before immersing myself in family during this trip, the ocean called me loud and strong!  Thus the day after I arrived was a day for breathing in salt air, walking at the waters edge, laying in the warm sand, simply being present to the sounds of the waves, and delighting in the spectacular day.  I can still feel the smile on my face as I walked down the so familiar beach at Salmon Creek feeling the exhilarating cold water on my legs. Visual memories flooded in.  There were so many times a Sunday group of women I had gathered together, called Babes In Wetsuits, would ride the top of waves screaming with joy while careening into shore.

Now you must understand that I was born and raised in San Diego and the beach to me was home.  The salt water my bathtub.  Keeping this in mind you will understand this little tale I will now tell you.  While reluctantly walking back along the shore to my car parked high up on the cliff side parking lot I lingered just a little longer in the surf as my feet sunk into the wet sand. Just before me was a woman that caught my attention because of the huge smile she had on her face.  This grown woman…it turns out Teresa from Salt Lake City, Utah…was gazing at the water running over her feet and the waves coming into shore with complete and utter joy.

I knew this feeling and was drawn to talk to her for a bit.  Starting the conversation with, “isn’t this all so beautiful?”, I learned very quickly that she was entranced by this watery and sunlit world.  Teresa spoke easily of her love for the ocean and the mountains and wished that she could have both, upon which I said that there are indeed places in the world where there are both in the same location.

Our love for this moment bonded us – complete strangers – into a connection that was wrought of falling totally into the moment together.  I told her of my Babes in Wetsuits group and she laughed.  In fact I said, ‘if I had my bathing suit on I would most likely go right into this water and dive in even though I would freeze my butt off!”  She looked over at me with a brilliant smile on her face and said – “I probably would too!”

We mutually agreed that life is way too short to hold back from stepping through the open door when opportunities are presented.  Although our legs were wet what both of us really wanted to do was dive right in.   In a way we did by communicating that with each other.  With a touch on a shoulder we went our separate ways enriched by the connection made in the salt water of the Pacific ocean.

If Teresa from Salt Lake City, Utah ever reads this post – please know that there is a playmate ready to dive right in.  You are not alone!

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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/

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Authenticity, Seizing the Moment, Vital Health & Well Being

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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

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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/

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Be The Change, Courage, Kindness

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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.

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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/

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Be The Change, Empowerment, Feminine Presence

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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/

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Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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We Are The Sum Of The Choices We Make

Never give up, never give up, never give up sings Gypsy Soul singer Cilette Swann.  We are truly the sum of the choices we make in life.  The song you will listen to below invites us to wake up from our slumber and ask these questions:

Do I give enough?

Do I love enough?

Do I trust enough?

Do I risk enough?

Did I ever give up on anyone?

Questions to not only ask ourselves frequently, but vibrantly, passionately,  and mindfully live in order to be able to say YES! to all but the last question!!

Addendum: “Did I allow myself to receive enough” for all of you women out there that have given until you had nothing left to live your life with….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpkpqxA6kA&feature=youtu.be

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/

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Authenticity, Empowerment, Self Love

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We Have Come To Be Danced!

Last Friday night my body was a mass of whirling limbs, undulating pelvis, and open hearted movement.  Where was I?  At one of my favorite movement pastimes.  You see I, like you, have several favorite movement practices….among them swimming, yoga, making love, and ecstatic dance/contact improv.  The latter is what I was involved in a few days ago.

What is so outrageously refreshing about ecstatic dance is just what the poem below by Jewel Mathieson (thank you to Kimberly Beroset!) suggests quite powerfully.  There are no boundaries or constraints to adhere to.  The dance movement comes from deep within and in the moment.  By yourself in a room full of dancing, whirling, cavorting people….or in direct energetic contact with one or more others.  It is like finding out who you are within each breath of limb, organ, skin, and fluids.  It is taking the time to explore what is desiring and demanding to emerge next…while taking the risk of fully inhabiting that movement, sound, dance, emotion, relationship with self and/or other.

I have written here before that women too often apologize for everything, even their very existence.  My remedy for this has been to suggest that every time a woman wants to say ” I’m sorry” (though there are truly times when that is appropriate) she should instead say “I’m so sexy!” – or at least think it…and stop the apologies in their tracks, never to emerge unconsciously again!

The poem below embodies all of what I am speaking to here and as I slip a piece of luscious dark chocolate into my mouth I say to you……We HAVE come to be danced!  Let us not forget that for even one single moment!  See you on the dance floor of life!!

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/

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Authenticity, Creative Expression, Empowerment

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