Sweet Reminders

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take “everyone on Earth” to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire.

To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these—
to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.

The reason is this:
In my uttermost bonesI know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here.
The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours:
They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.
 

Dear Ones,
When I was first inspired to start writing these Sweet Reminders my motivation was to offer you reflections, inspiration and practices that would remind you of your innate brilliance and support you to relax into Spacious Presence. 

I now see what is most true; I write these to remind myself to remember my own radiance  and to lead myself into the arms of Spacious Presence.  And I send these as invitations for you to explore this alongside me.

These past two weeks have taken me deep into my own stories, questions and education about racism in this country and in myself.  There’s a shit load going on in me.   The desire to see racism (personal and systemic) and take action are fierce in me.

And I know it’s vital for me to find the eye of the storm, the center of the hurricane, where I can rest as loving presence. 

This loving presence is the powerful place where my actions are inspired from love, not from fear and reaction. This is the place from which I desire to learn, act, write, listen, discuss, and change from.  From this presence The Holy can flow through me and inspired action arises, rooted in Love.

I’m astonished and excited to be living in these historic moments. 

In a few days I”ll be sending you highlights of what has been stirring in me regarding white privilege and the “Black Lives Matter” conversation.

I plan to write more on these issues but won’t included these in Sweet Reminders.   If you’d like to read these messages please follow me on Facebook where I will be posting my reflections.

These days I feel called to deepen my compassion and I turn to the beautiful Compassion Exercise that comes from The Avatar Course.

This simple practice can be as potent as you let it be. 

It grounds me in our shared humanity
It opens me to embrace another’s perspective on life
It brings me into tender places of my own experience
It brings me into another’s sorrow
It invites me to see you with fresh eyes

For this practice you hold someone in your mind and direct a series of question toward them. (See the box below.)  You can do this toward anyone: strangers, those you are very intimate with, people you are estranged from, political figures…. anyone, even me!

Here’s to adding more compassion to this hurting world.
With love and compassion,
Sharon

Hello You Astonishing Star*Lights,

I’m coming to you with raw tenderness.

I started writing this note a week ago.  Then the murder of George Floyd and the processional effects that have been set in motion have dropped me into deep inner reflections woven with anger, grief, sadness and hopefulness.   

And, just a few minutes ago I got an airline flight update which delays landing in my beloved’s arms until my July 8^th birthday.  (Quite minor in the larger scheme of things, but heart-wrenching at this moment.)

There’s a helluva lot going on in me right now.  I didn’t think I’d have the mojo to write a message this week until I realized what I’d already written is quite pertinent right now …

The greatest gift we give each other is the quality of our attention

This piece of wisdom, from Richard Moss, came to me over 30 years ago. It’s been a faithful traveling companion ever since.

Through different seasons; changing perspectives and points-of-view; twists and turns in my life’s journey, this has remained true to my experience…  

The greatest gift we give each other is the quality of our attention.

There’s nothing else to say.
Holding you with love,
Sharon

Hello Lovelies,

I’m coming to give you a good shake!  You need it. I need it.  Shaking, it’s a natural thing!

At some point you’ve probably used the expression, “THAT shook me up!”   Well, in my 20’s I was robbed at gun point. That shook me up.  And, I continued to feel the shake in my body whenever I would revisit that memory in my mind.   

Once, while enjoying a gentle ride on my snowboard, I was almost creamed by a skier. Immediately my torso, arms and head went into a grand shake that lasted about 3 seconds and was followed by a deep breath that relaxed me back into my body and my groove.  

Shaking!  We were made for it!

Shaking is an innate way mammals discharge stress. I should say, most mammals, since the human mammals that we are have learned to suppressed that response.  When an animal is under stress, say a deer being chased by a mountain lion, the body responds with a flood of hormones that include cortisol and adrenaline. When the danger is past that deer will vigorously shake the survival energy out of its system and continue on its way.  That’s natural intelligence.

There is even a potent body therapy technique called TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises, created by Dr. David Berceli) that initiates body tremors to release trauma stress.   

Shaking!  We were made for it!

Shaking. It’s the second oldest practices around.  Every indigenous culture uses some form of shaking, vibration or ecstatic movement for generating life force and healing. (FYI, the first oldest practice around is sex. Shaking during sex, now THAT’S a practice!)

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been on several Zoom calls where I got to share a shake with a group of people.  Great fun!  And it was interesting to notice a shift in how alive and connected the group felt after a we shook together.

Shaking has been one of my foundational practice for years but during this time of sheltering I’ve grown to value my shake even more.  Maybe one of the best things we can do for our mental health, and our body’s health, is to keep energy moving freely through our system. Shaking turns stagnation into a flowing river.

So, I’m re-sharing a post I sent a couple years ago.  At the end of it I’ve include two links that will give you someone to shake with and some great music made specifically for shaking.   Enjoy the shake!

~~*~*~*~*~*

In the mornings I shake.

I shake like a wild woman * I shake like a little kid * I shake like an animal *  I shake like a leaf * I shake with vigor *  I shake gently *  I shake for two minutes * I shake for twenty minutes *  I shake for the joy of it *  I shake for my freedom *

Why not join me in a shake?

Shake like you’re …
… happy to be alive

… shivering from the cold

… shaking the water off your wet hands

… a bowl full of jelly in an earthquake

… bumping down a rough road on a bike

… a five-year old whose birthday is tomorrow

… so ecstatic in your skin that you can’t hold still

… letting everything go

Shake like your freedom depends on it

Shake when you’re …
… feeling stuck

… feeling mad

… feeling delight

… listening to the news

… wanting to clear your mind

… needing an energy boost

Find Your Own Shake

Shake to …
… start your day

… make room for your next “new”

… release stress & trauma

… move lymph & blood

… reclaim your wildness

Follow your body’s impulses … Let your body shake you

Shake for  …
… the fun of it
… the absolute joy of being alive in a body
… your health
… your family, friends and planet
… your freedom
… love

Sharon

P.S.  This is a great practice to share with your kiddos!

Dear Ones,

It comes down to this … My body. The earth. The body. My earth.

Look what happens when we leave the earth alone. She re-emerges. She heals. She revitalizes. She flourishes.   All that was needed was for us to pause. To let her catch her breath.  To stop the constant barrage of doingness that most of us humans have come to see as “normal living”.

These days I’m doing my best to leave myself alone.  Nothing needs to be worked on or improved. There is nothing that I have to change.   I am letting this pause have its way with me.

And I notice ….

The breath still comes and goes, on its own. The blood and lymph nurtures and cleanses, on its own. The heart is still beating. Sleep comes. Awakeness comes. Food is transformed to energy. Messages move through the inner galaxy of neural networks.  A myriad of processes continue, all on their own.  

There is abundant Grace in the not-doing.

I am the earth that has been longing for not-doing so that its natural presence, that which is always here, can organically be expressed with vitality.

So, I hang out with those who water and feed me. I open to the friends who shine rays of warm sunlight on me, and those who bring life-giving rain showers. And I invite Life to have her beautiful way with me.

I’m staying curious in these questions…

What is life like when I leave myself alone and let the world come to me?

What happens when I stop the conversations I am having and come into silence?

As I rest in this silence, will I listen to the conversations Life wants to have with me?    

Hmmmmmm ……

Resting in Love,
Sharon

Hello Busy One,

Just for a moment …

Gently let your face soften.
As you unclench your jaw,
even your hair follicles relax.

Allow your shoulders to slip down away from your ears and your arms become heavy.

Invite your belly to gently expand when you breathe in, and softly deflate as the breath leaves the body.

Let the floor of your pelvis melt into relaxation and notice how your hips, buttocks and anus relax, too.

Just for a moment …

Quiet your busy mind.
Let go of the planning and the doing.
Feel your heart smile.

Wiggle your toes.
Stretch your fingers.
Gift yourself  with the biggest yawn.

Wrap yourself in a yummy hug.

Taking a moment with you.
In Love,
Sharon

Hello Beloveds,

This morning was wrapped in a gentle, cozy, white veil of fog. Today, like every day in the Andean countryside where I am sheltered, the weather will be an ever-shifting, surprising kaleidoscope. 

Welcoming these weather changes is a practice … to be content in the rain and the sun; to revel in a sunset and a fog coated evening; to bask in the sun-rays and delight in being caught in the rain; to be awed by the brilliance of the Milky Way and to wrap the cloud covered night sky around me like a cloak that draws me into starlit inner realms.

That’s why I practice.

I practice to welcome life just as it’s showing up.  I practice to welcome a night that holds hours of tears as generously as I hold a night of deep sleep. I practice to fully savor the flavor of every emotion and experience. 

I practice to deeply experience all of this life.

I practice to break the addictive habit of yo-yo-ing between “this is good news, now I feel safe”  and “this is bad news, now I have to worry”. 

I practice for presence.

I practice to drop fully into this moment; not to change it, not to seek for a better feeling, not to wiggle away from discomfort. 

With tenderness and compassion, I watch you, dear hearts, as I watch myself.  I still want to run to what feels better.  I still will come to a practice because I want something to change.  I will resist meeting those twisted places Kenneth and I can land in.  I still have times of telling myself, “that didn’t work,” “that wasn’t good enough,” or “that was better yesterday”.    Yep, just like you, I continue to be human.  And I practice to welcome all of this humaness, too, just as generously as I want to welcome this unpredictable ever-changing weather.

So, I continue to practice, for this utter aliveness.

With feet nestled in the dew-kissed grass.
THIS moment is made to be alive in.

Learning to live it all with you,
Sharon

PS …. I had this written and queued, then I received the perfect compliment to this.  You’ll find it below the Resources for Sheltering in Peace. Enjoy.

Her Practice is her sword.
With it, she is wielding her shakti.
She’s falling back into an ancient, familiar knowing
whenever she is in practice.
It is her sacred pause in the rush of life.
She hones it by returning to it again and again.
She’s not upset if some days she feel lifeless with her practice.
She and her practice are building a relationship.
Both are offering themselves to each other.
She falls into a timeless, no mind existence in these moments.
She doesn’t owe anything to anyone here.
An aliveness enters her. This aliveness IS a knowing.
She is returning to nature and nurture.
With her feminine’s intimacy with the Great Feminine
her Dream is returning back to her.
She holds it tenderly in her ‘no mind, no time’ spaciousness.
She can slice through existing realities like a sword with her practice.
This is a non-violent sword. Yet, thorny brambles
that suffocated her life are cut asunder.
Portals are being revealed.
New paths are forming.

~ Sukhvinder Sircar