Powerful Shifts

Solar Eclipse 2024 🌒

No matter where you were, and what percentage of totality you experienced, I hope you had an amazing solar eclipse!

I feel so fortunate. We enjoyed a warm, blue sky day here in West Michigan. Combine that with comfy lawn chairs in my neighbor’s front yard? Fantastic!

Before the viewing, I spent a powerful hour online with my primary teacher, and yogis from around the world, doing 108 rounds of Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. It was a profound way to settle into presence. ​

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“If you must look back, do so forgivingly.
If you must look forward, do so prayerfully.
However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present . . . gratefully.”
~ Maya Angelou

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Add Light ✨
Not fuel

Hi friends!

Real talk. There have been some additional stressors in my life lately, and I have to tell you . . . I’ve been feeling a little more volatile than usual; I don’t love it.

The impact of the stress is showing up in myriad ways. I’m a little less patient. A bit more cynical or defensive. A tad more withdrawn. A lot more depleted.

It’s not easy when we feel less than our best. And, it’s tempting to push aside any and all negativity. Who wants to dwell in the dark stuff?

While I am not one for stewing or becoming stagnant, I also try not to fear my own shadows. It’s not necessarily easy, nor comfortable, to look at our own shortcomings. However, it IS instructive to examine our own behaviors, our own thoughts, and our own patterns.

How else do we learn? Let alone shift, grow, and evolve?

Once we allow ourselves to recognize, and acknowledge, our own shortcomings, it seems to soften all the edges. It’s okay to sit with a new understanding of ourselves. When we try and deny who we are, and how we are interacting or engaging, I feel that our denial fuels our circumstances.

And here’s the thing. Rather than adding fuel to a situation? I want to be a source of light. ✨

Okay. I was impatient. Now what?

• How should I make amends?
• What can I do differently moving forward?
• How can I better care for myself so I do not reach that place of impatience so readily?
• What are the indications in my body and my being that tell me I’m nearing this edge?

It’s important for us to settle into presence so we can shift gears.

When we can find stillness, we can soften our edges and more clearly hear our highest, best self that is always within. I don’t want to deepen the groove of my own pattern that reacts impatiently. I want to move that needle towards something better. Thankfully, it’s possible to do so! And guess what? I’m the only one who can do it for myself.

How empowering! 💪🏽

Take another look at the Maya Angelou quotation up above. 👀

And remember, use soft eyes for your internal gaze.
Offer yourself the kindness and compassion you would extend to loved ones.
Shortcomings are not something to ignore. Instead, soften and shift. 🚀

We can do this; we’re worth it!

✨Thanks for bringing the light ✨

~ m 🦋

P.S. Last summer so many of you came out to hear Mike’s band at Music in the Park. It was SO MUCH FUN! This summer, his band will be playing at Red Dock on Sunday, July 14. Save the date, and I hope to see you there!