LET’S LOVE
LOVE YOUR BODY, MIND, AND SOUL.
LOVE THE WORLD.
I met someone the other day and we spent hours in intense intellectual discussion about the widest range of topics in life. It was very intellectually stimulating, we shared countless ideas and perspectives with each other, back and forth, on and on it went. It was a fun brain exercise.
Later I met someone who knew this person and she described him as being 'very intelligent.' When she said that I felt confusion. I had been hours deep in an intellectually stimulating discussion with a man who is a graduate of one of the top universities of the world, working for one of the top companies in the world, sharing fascinating information about topics ranging from science, philosophy, politics, psychology, to metaphysics and the nature of reality..and I still didn't feel I could say he was intelligent? If that wasn't the definition of intelligent, then what was? I realized then that my definition of intelligence had changed.
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Making friends with myself, the different parts of myself that I see so clearly reflected in form in my outer world. Through different people, environments, animals, bugs, life experiences. All different facets of my own self playing out right before my eyes. To wonder and marvel at, to engage, participate and play with.
How deep does the love for myself go? Can I truly love each part of myself as each person who might bother, annoy, challenge me? Can I really say that I love these parts that conflict with other stronger beliefs I might have? Can I really accept other people and other lifestyles? Can I honor myself and my individual needs while also honoring those of others? Others who appear to be 'other' than me, but are in fact just another aspect of me. Maybe i was that same person 5 years ago, maybe i had those beliefs before, or maybe i will have them in the future. Maybe my mother had those beliefs and quirks, and it reminds me of something i wanted to rebel against, and really it has nothing to do with the belief or thing itself, simply the fact that i wanted to rebel against whatever it was. So many intricacies to why we reject different parts of ourself and struggle and engage in conflict with..others..within... But there is a point of choice. Do i want to continue engaging in battle with this concept, or do I want something new? Something more inclusive, tolerant, loving. That loving choice always feels better ultimately, but it may be the most difficult one to choose, in a moment where old, die-hard beliefs and concepts are being challenged. We've had so many experiences in the past that continue to prove the loving choice always works out to be the best. It always feels better, it feels truer, and more aligned with our deepest desire to just be nice to ourselves and others. If all these experiences keep showing us love is the way, then we will know, with more and more conviction, even in the midst of a challenging tug-of-war of indecision...we can remind ourselves, oh yes, the loving choice, that will be the one that works. I can just trust that, even if I may not be sure. I can just trust. There is always a point of choice. Will it be the loving one or not? Will it be born of a fresh, new loving intention, or will it be a replay of old, safe, familiar habit? When we choose love, we choose to love ourselves, all parts of ourselves, even the outward, seemingly 'not us' parts. When we love ourselves, we love all of life. Then there is nothing else but love. We get so caught up with the goal, the destination, we forget about the beauty and fun of the ride. Yes, this concept is already superrrr cliché, we've heard it many times. But today this message came in strong. I was leaving my house with one goal in mind: must have delicious smoothie in my mouth. NOW. It was all I could think about, nothing else mattered, and I couldn't wait another second. I jumped on my scooter, on my mission to go get said smoothie, and as I'm driving all that's going on in my head is 'smoothie, smoothie, smoothie.' But suddenly the road had different plans for me.
People ask me, do you really live on a tropical island? Your life is just paradise? The short answer- Yes, but I call it Paradise..with a twist. It's a yummy cocktail, but there is definitely still a sour twist. It's not just sunshine, rainbows, butterflies and unicorns ALL the time. Sometimes the unicorns take a break. They book themselves a vacation on some other island, and when they leave, a whole swarm of mosquitoes come to take their place.
People ask me, so there is sunshine, luscious greenery, fresh coconuts, breathtaking sunsets, starry skies and clear turquoise sea with white beaches? Yes. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I feel so grateful and blessed every single day. Wow, and you have all the healthy food options served to you right outside your doorstep? And friendly, smiley, open-minded tourists from all over the world who are looking to explore, expand their perspectives, know themselves deeper and heal together? Mmmhmmm. And you guys all have this amazing community with tons of events and offerings every day like dance, yoga, all kinds of healing, fun and play…and it's all super affordable??? Um, yeah. So your life is totally carefree and perfect??! Sorry my friend, no. Life is still life. I am still human. Everyday problems and challenges still arise. And as trite as it is, wherever you go, there you are. No matter how many fairies, frolicking hippies and beach sunsets you throw into the mix. There's actively creating positive energy in your life, and then there is an ability to be okay with what already is. This is New Age vs. ancient, wise & timeless spiritual philosophies like Hinduism and the Tao. Of course, a lot of the New Age has its roots in ancient wisdom too. But things like positive affirmations, focusing on positive thoughts to create and manifest a positive reality, are more of a modern approach of active participation.
Somehow we think we need to battle between these two options for philosophies and belief systems. We do not. It's an integrated balance of the two, of old and new. A balance of timeless wisdom and fresh evolution & creativity. Fat is just protection. We develop layers of protection around wounded parts of our body. I lost lots of body fat and I didn't do any of the typical weight loss things. I didn't exercise, I didn't diet. Yes, I did lots of detoxing. Yes, that was a major component in releasing these stuck energies in my body. But that's not IT. Detoxing alone will not transform your body PERMANENTLY. And it will not radically change your life and the kind of person you are. It can be another temporary fix, create a temporary high, and you can easily put the weight back on, if you are not consciously addressing what created the stuck energy and fat buildup in the first place.
The breath is really everything. It is our life force and we are every second choosing how, where and how much of this life force we want to enter into our being. It's so simple to clear blockages, all we need to do is consciously allow breath to enter those parts. Where we unconsciously hold back our breath is where we are tightening, where we don't want to feel. At some point in our lives, we felt it was a spot that was unsafe and we held back our breath and tightened. Over time there developed tension in that spot as we continued (unconsciously) tightening and restricting breath flow to the area, still unconsciously believing it wasn't safe to relax. We've basically decided to remove that part of our being from our experience. The problem is it is never removed, it never can be.
When you wake up in the morning, what exactly is waking up? The mind was highly awake during the dream cycles, but now the body is waking up from its state of paralysis. So the body is waking and the mind is waking up to the body experience, welcoming the body back into its awareness. All night the body is laying down and the mind takes over, creating a new reality that is entirely functioning from pure imagination. This is why the dream world is so fascinating, magical and wacky. It's a free-for-all imagination playground that does not have to adhere to the logic and rules that exist in the material realm with the body, time and space.
The worst addictions, the most powerful ones, are addictions to things we think will take away the pain of being alone. So the real addiction is to the feeling of being safe. We fluctuate between the things we think give us this temporary feeling of safety. Drugs, food, people, behaviors…anything can be a source of an addiction, anything can make us feel happy and relieved from our worrying mind for a moment, or longer. But eventually it will always wear off and then we need another fix. And we need the fix fast. Because as soon as it wears off, our mind goes into panic mode, now that we are faced with the very worries we wanted to avoid. Faced with our fears of being alone.
There are so many things that we don't enjoy in this world, but most just accept as being 'normal.' Just because it became standardized and we all didn't even have the time or ability to even question it. Most people just go about their daily lives, mostly trying to just survive, let alone take a moment to think, is this even OKAY that we live in this way?? That can be quite scary, and this lack of questioning often leads to either a person reaching a breaking point that cracks them open to see another way, or a collective awakening that happens by a large destructive force. Through natural eruption or social eruption, a result of the people being too passive for too long.
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MICHAELA CLARA I'm here to share what I've learned through my journey of self exploration-traveling around the outer world and within the inner world-learning about how to live a healthy life, in alignment with the body, heart and soul. Every day I'm discovering how to live more in health, connection and truth. Through joy, passion & self love, creating the life I want, and sharing this love with others. Join me for the ride! Read More |