I began writing this post almost exactly one year ago, because clarity comes over time, I thought I’d finish this and share it with you. At the time I started this, I was beginning to feel burnt out again. That whole year, 2023, I was getting the message from my guides and then my body to slow down and change course. I was in fear, too busy looking at my dwindling bank account and clientele and I wasn’t listening to my body or my guides. Surely they didn’t mean what they were telling me, I was hearing them wrong!

I was pushing harder and harder against the invisible forces of my perception, trying to make something work that I knew wasn’t going to. I was working with a coach who was encouraging me to continue and push through, she assumed that I was moving through a limiting belief. I was. I was moving through - I am not enough, so let’s push through something that clearly wants to be different and I don’t trust myself so let’s listen to someone outside of me. I was beginning to feel in my body, see all around me and hear my guides tell me to stop and wait. My fear and feelings of not enough were the driver and my coach was coaching me to keep going.

I want to add a note in here about working with coaches and healers- this is important! While I truly believe we can benefit greatly from coaching and working with healers, it is important to always listen to that voice within! You hold the key to your healing and your success not the coach or the healer! “Know thyself!”-Socrates

There are some creations we take on in life, while being hard, have a huge reward to them. Then there are those creations that are begging you to take a rest; shift directions - How do you know when your intuition is begging you to turn away and do something else? How do you know it is inner wisdom and not fear that is talking?

Wisdom from a mentor

When I was in the full throws of my body work only career, my mentor John F. Barnes used to say, “If it feels like you are working too hard, you are working too hard”.

John is always full of these painfully simple and true expressions we, in MFR land call “Johnisms”. He is not one to waste his time or energy, if the only result is no result- “know when it’s time to dismount!” His expressions, “let it be easy,” and “find another way,” helped me to see that I can create ease in a world that feels hard– it is all in the approach. Let it be different!

What does the body say?

When we feel like tension is the leader in what we are creating, it might be time to slow down, ease the tension and feel what your body is saying. The body holds an innate wisdom and intelligence that far surpasses the brain. That intelligence is the life force energy that runs through you and actually brought the body into form.

The body does not lie, but we often misinterpret the messages. Our thoughts from past experiences give our body the meaning for the pain, tension or condition. Having a sore throat or pain in your shoulders can mean all kinds of things. It doesn’t mean we did something wrong or bad. Our job is to get curious and quiet and listen to this intelligence. It is always speaking, the message sometimes gets lost in translation.

Learning to hear the message

Learning to hear and understand the messages is really about slowing yourself down, taking the time and having the patience to practice. Being truthful with and knowing yourself while still being curious and open to possibility is key to deeper understanding.

I was sitting on my deck last night, before I went to sleep, as I often do. It is a great way to reconnect and let go of the day’s events- to come back to stillness. As I was gazing out into the abundant, starry sky, thoughts began to stir within. Thoughts about what we think we know and what remains unknown. I was thinking about a client that shared her amazing and other-worldly experience - Is she embellishing? Is it true? Who knows? There are just so many things beyond our earthly experience and what we think we know, that anything, and I do mean anything, is possible. This idea is mind blowing in and of itself! Especially considering that we are only experiencing less than 1% of all there is, how can we have it all figured out??

What came to me, though, was that I need to be in curiosity and not rush to judgement and story about how I have experienced something (the past). I get to practice being open to possibility and curiosity. Let go of what I think I know and be in the unknown. “Like a curious cat,” as John would say.

Curiosity, Creativity and Bravery

Creation and creativity takes bravery for a lot of reasons especially as we get to forge through an unknown territory. Others are there with you, trudging through the unknown, you can’t see them, yet they are there doing the work. We are a collective tribe of creators who are creating creation. Truth is we - all of humanity is creating creation all the time, mostly without awareness and from the past. What would it mean if you could, clean the slate and begin writing, painting or living as if you have never done it- beginner’s mind style?

Breaking out of patterns, whether it is in your art, writing or life is also an act of bravery and takes patience, diligence and loads of awareness. I am picturing a landscape where you set out on this path and you keep following it and suddenly you stop and wonder about that group of trees over there and you say to yourself, “haven’t I passed this group of trees before? They seem so familiar!” It is then that you realize that you have been down this way before. You look down and you see foot prints and instead of you thinking they belong to others, you really see that they are yours! You have been going in circles all this time!

It became comfortable, you felt at ease and you forgot what you were creating. Good news, now that you know- awareness- you can choose differently. Don’t beat yourself up! Begin again!

Suffering is OPTIONAL

Another one of my mentors, don Oscar Miro Quesada has said quite often, “Suffering is optional!” There are just so many ways we create suffering for ourselves when we can be creating happiness. When we can’t let go of a past mistake, wound or trauma, we create suffering for ourselves. Knowing that we have a choice is empowering.

What are you suffering in right now? What would happen if you could let go just by one degree? What would that even look like and how can you do it? What if we let it be easy and acknowledge that it may take some time and practice to let something go, would you choose to begin?

It does require boldness to let go of a story, a way of being or condition. It may not change the circumstances you are in right now, but when you tap into the power of your heart and breathe, the memory of the truth of you will come back, and all you need to do is hear it. We are so much bigger than we know and we are not just an accumulation of traumas, wounds and stories.

You don’t have to work to hard at it, it will unfold either way, might as well let it be easy.

The Truth That Sets You Free

Things can be easy and things can be hard. There is a part of us that is very conscious and a part that is very unconscious. We are becoming conscious of what is unconscious and this is where truth can set us free.

It takes a great deal of truth and honesty with oneself to heal. You have to be able to admit that you have power and that you have invested that power in a limited way of thinking that is holding you back. And, only you hold the key to your healing.

I remember some time ago, while at a seminar, I had a song from the Eagles stuck in my head. It was playing, non-stop, over and over again. It was just one verse from the song, Already Gone, “Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down, Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free, So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains, And we never even know we have the key.”

This was a terrifically important message for me at the time- I was moving through deeply held beliefs around self-esteem and empowerment. The truth that I hold the key to my healing or suffering is a lesson that finally sunk in that day. We each hold the key to our healing, our power and our greatness - by being real and honest we can end our suffering.

The Healing Power of Forgiveness

I have a practice that I do daily along with writing, ceremony and creating- it is forgiveness. Every evening, before I drop into dreaming, I forgive myself. Let’s face it, we are and can be pretty hard on ourselves. It really helps to let myself off the hook, if let’s say I didn’t complete what I said I would that day or heaven forbid, I decided to go out for a hike instead of painting.

Forgiving yourself is a wonderful healing practice and can unlock some pretty strong emotions that one can also use as a catalyst for journaling or expressive art that will take you a deeper relationship with yourself. Remember to include the body, the instrument that feels the vibrations of forgiveness, gratitude and love. Feeling is healing, art is healing and you have the key.

With Love and Cosmic Dreaming,

Deborah

P.S.
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