mindfulness Archives - Empower Wellness

You Are the Sky

March 17, 2018 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” Pema Chodron

For me, this quote is a pattern-interrupt for the critter brain. You know – those gremlin-y voices that try to keep us small and scared. Or the voice that sometimes convinces us to be entitled or in a place of blame and judgment.

When I look back in my life at those times I was the most contracted, most in pain, most miserable, most unconscious (as opposed to present), I had a story in my head that was about anything other than self-love and surrender:
Who do I think I am? I’m not good enough. I am not worthy of love. Because of [insert thing I blamed here], I can’t be happy.
Maybe you know those voices, vehemently putting forth BELIEFS.

Choosing to be EXPANSIVE has made all the difference.

And then I realized – allowed myself to remember – that I am more than my thoughts. Those voices, these things that happened to me, even my actions, are not all that I am. Those contracted thoughts are not TRUTHS.

I am self-love; I am universal love.

You are too.

What if having the energy and balance to claim how BIG, WORTHY, and AMAZING you are can help you heal? And you, if you wanted to, you could bless and heal the WORLD too. You ARE the sky.

What would it mean in your life to take the strong stand for self-love and universal love?

You are the sky, after all. This is why I do this work.

Peace.

The Fearful Mind

July 9, 2017 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

Place the fearful mind in the cradle of loving—kindness. Pema Chödrön

This message is a wonderful reminder of the power of mindfulness and a wide-open heart.

It is a reminder that we are held and we are safe. Keep moving forward even in the presence of the fearful mind.

I posted this quote on my Facebook page and asked people to share what it meant to them. You can see all the responses here and add one of your own.

Excerpts:

ah………sigh of relief | Acceptance | Surrender into love | When we step out in love, faith, God will not only catch us but cradle us. | Be gentle with yourself. Nurture your needs and the fears will release. | It’s all gonna work out. I got you. | to love oneself and to be kind to oneself | …Foundational bed of compassion | Vibrancy and aliveness – that is the state in which the body truly desires to be. | As you love and do for others you will feel love and peace in your heart and soul | And we have known & believed the love God has to us. God is love. 1John 4:16 | There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. 1John 4:18 | placing of the brain in a wooden cradle

What does it mean to trust and accept the fear that we inevitably feel?

When I feel the grip of fear, I can lessen the grip by noticing that fear, feeling it. Breathing into it. Yep – I’m talking about getting closer to it. It is a very BRAVE thing to get closer to our fears.

Being mindful means that we are more open to trusting the present moment.

Mindfulness reminders seem to be everywhere these days. And yet SO many friends, family, and clients tell me that they can’t quiet the brain enough to be mindful. Mindfulness doesn’t mean that the mind is empty.

Watch the thoughts and stories about what is happening… The present moment may be full of all kinds of emotions, thoughts, and judgements. It may be full of paralyzing fear.

Fear that brings out your aggression.
Fear that distracts you from your goals.
Fear that leads you to chose behaviors that let you numb out.

When we can be mindful about our fear, we might find that we gain some perspective and we may feel a little less tight and we find some courage.

We might even begin to notice that our limiting beliefs that keep us in fear and anxiety MAY NOT BE TRUE.

In order to feel less rigid and trapped by our fear, it can be very helpful to look at what we DO when we feel fear. Sure, there is the fight-flight-freeze reaction that is programed into our critter brains. Our ancestors needed these reactions to survive. And those survival instincts are important, but the reality is that in our western-living milieu, there typically is NOT a giant BEAR threatening us.

Still, when our first-world fears come up, it can truly feel like a bear is coming after us. So, when we aren’t practiced in being mindful of our fear, we REACT.

What do we often choose in the face of fear?

Materialism: Do you tend to default to purely materialistic aspects when fear comes up and overrides attempts to be mindful? This looks like overspending, the pursuit of physical comfort, creating a sense of security and over-indulging the desire for pleasure.
Attach to Rigid Beliefs: This is tricky because we can be fooled into linking our beliefs with our identity. Our beliefs can actually limit ourselves. I am talking about political, religious, pragmatic beliefs. If you find yourself with feelings of self-righteousness or indignation, that tension may be keeping your from letting your fears have less grip on your living your life.
Escape to special states of mind: It can be easy to use special states of mind to hide behind when we feel fear. These include chemically induced states through drugs or alcohol. Even “spiritual” states brought about through yoga, meditation, prayer, centering practices, can be used as a way to try to skip engaging with our fears head on. We may “feel better” but we haven’t addressed the core – the feeling and root of the fear.

I mention these things only to bring your awareness to what you do when you feel fear. If you are going into judgement about yourself if you see yourself in these choices, I invite you to let that go. There is great personal power in identifying what your patterns are and how they are and are not serving you.

As the fearful mind shows up, notice it – greet it.

Would you consider:

feeling the fears in your heart with loving-kindness?
there is nothing inadequate about you for having those fears?
perhaps beliefs that are keeping you in fear aren’t really TRUE?
that the fear is an opportunity to evolve? To grow? To learn?

Trust the QUALITY of the experience – stay with the moment. Watching the mind (mindfulness) brings us back to the present moment.

“Place the fearful mind in the cradle of loving kindness…”

Peace be with you.

Messengers

August 2, 2016 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

I have recently returned to a regular yoga practice thanks to an unlimited summer yoga pass at the lovely blue lotus studio. Besides the incredible gift to myself to attend three to four classes a week, I have been reminded how powerful it is to just embrace what is accessible that day. Pigeon Pose not happening today? I’m rocking a gentle Figure Four stretch instead…

A yogi leading a class is a rather obvious teacher of awesome and useful nuggets of info.

What about the less obvious of our teachers? I mean the really less obvious ones: The antagonistic neighbor, our children, the irritating co-worker, the pattern we keep repeating and wish that we wouldn’t.

What if every experience and interaction were regarded as an opportunity to grow, to receive wisdom or guidance, to be supported, to show compassion, to practice being calm?

I have been getting curious for the last couple of years: When experiencing a less than pleasant interaction or experience, can I notice if there is any shift or choice I can make towards staying calm and present? I Ask: What am I learning here? What is the message here?

Some days, staying with this intention is easier than others.

Any little steps towards opening our mind and heart to the teacher… the messenger… in the midst of some conflict or challenge will be beneficial. Even when making little steps, we still make progress.

Consider: The more challenging it is to move through the emotions that come up while intending to stay grounded in a situation, the more opportunity for growth. What if I can, even for a moment, become an observer of what is happening in my mind?

Ask: What’s the lesson in drenching the interior of my car after leaving the sunroof open on a night of torrential storms? Locking my keys in my car at my kid’s school? Losing my patience in the moment with one of my kids. Or ultimately, what’s the message in grumpy frustration and beating myself up for the choices that led to the aforementioned moments?

You might be thinking, “Okay, what’s deeper lesson about flooding your car from above?”

Well, here’s what I learned and experienced:

It’s just a car. So what if it is the most valuable thing I own besides my house.
I can stay calm and trust that this is all going to be okay. There is no way that I could contently be mopping up my car if this had happened three years ago. I would have been bitter and pissed off about my “stupidity”.
Cars dry really fast in the sun with the sunroof open.

The most valuable “teacher” of all that was the realization that I have developed considerable “chill out” qualities (a.k.a. mindfulness) over the last four or five years. I wasn’t beating myself up and I truly didn’t care if anyone judged me for leaving the roof open. It was a moment of “well, that just happened”. Truly.

Let’s keep having the curiosity to take a step back in the next challenging or even simply perplexing moment we encounter. Open your heart to hear the message or the lesson meant for you. I have complete confidence that even a little step in that direction is possible for you.

Peace be with you,

Erin Tracy