DIVINE AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

“Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.”

― Erich Fromm

  The greatest secret of all, 

is the secret of falling in LOVE with the self.
When you love the self, you are in a state 

of acceptance, 

total acceptance.

 As you accept, you cease resisting the world 

and all that is in it.

 There are two kinds of Love. 

Human love and Divine Love. 

The difference between the two is that 

human or personal love 

is often conditional, or limited in nature; 

while divine love 

or spiritual love is infinite in nature, 

and unconditional. Often in personal 

or human love there are aspects of 

possessiveness, demand or expectation 

that is all based on condition, limitation, 

or material and selfish desire. 

Human love often seeks love outside 

of themselves because they feel they 

are lacking that love within 

themselves; it seeks a love that will 

fill a void within 

ones empty heart. Divine Love can not 

be realized this way. 

Conditions are temporary and change. 
If love is based on human conditions 

then it is subject to change and is 

often temporary, as it goes in many romantic 

relationships when one partner 

realizes that the other can not fulfill there 

every want and need. Love does not 

need anything outside of itself to sustain 

itself. The Love that comes 
from Source is within yourself and you have access 

to this Source Love 
at any moment because it transcends time and space.

 When unconditional love is the foundation of 

a relationship then it seeks to grow and 

remain in balance and harmony. 

Unconditional love can be likened 
to the root of the tree. In relationships 

where Divine or spiritual love 

is present the two seek to become 

one by growing into the tree together. 
This can only happen truly if there is a solid root 

of unconditional love from which it 

can grow. When conditional love is present 

there is often a lesson of love to be learned. 

This experience often brings pain and unresolved 

issues or karma is brought to the surface to be 

balanced and healed through Love. 
Our soulmates give us a beautiful opportunity for this. 

The more we resist that Love 
by seeing through only the perspective of ego 

then the relationship 
will usually come to an end and another opportunity 

may present itself to get 

our attention.

 If we have truly awakened to Divine 

and Unconditional love then we 

consciously understand the deeper meaning, and we 

realize that that everything and 
everyone in our external reality is merely an 

energetic reflection of our 

inner world and reality. We attract that which 

we are, what we think about and what 
we feel. We often see in another the very aspects of 

our own soul that require 
our attention, whether negative or positive. 

All is energy and negative and 
positive are just two degrees of the same whole. 

  Divine and unconditional love seek to understand, 

to accept, and to forgive. 

It seeks unity, which is its source. There is no 

need to possess or control 

and although challenges are common in all soulmate 

connections and relationships, 

each challenge gives us that precious opportunity 

to grow into ourselves 

and guides the way for the soul through 
this journey of life.

 Divine Love is the force that connects 

us all and is the essence 

of the Divine within and without. Love is 

a powerful force and through love 

anything is possible. Through Divine love you 

are connected to everything 

and everyone on that level and you are 

connected to Source. 
When Divine loves leads the way you see from 

a new perspective--from the perspective 
of the soul as opposed the limited mind-set 

of the human ego or personality. 
Through the unity perception of Divine Love 

you see the injustice, pain and suffering 

of the world 
from a different vantage point. You begin to allow 

love to become the force for 

change instead of anger, despair or sorrow.  

 http://www.twinflamesoulmates.com/divine-love.html

~YES TO SACRED LOVE~

Move into your Sacred Heart Center and allow the Sacred Love/Light of our Mother/Father God and the Creator to pour forth and fill you to overflowing. 

 Speak the words of love that fill your heart and mind!

Open your heart to all the possibilities of Sacred Love, and know that it is your Divine birthright to experience this most intimate gift. 

Twin Flame Relationship Signs

Upon first meeting one another there is an instant connection and immediate bond. The feeling is as if you have known each other before and there is a feeling of familiarity. Whether you have both met in physical person or not, there is usually a peculiar sensation--an intuitive knowing--that you will play an important role in each other's life. 

Most twinflame couples are physically at a distance or live in different countries. Often there is something that prevents the twinflames from being physically together in the beginning. This is usually because there is much energetic work to be done on the mental and emotional levels before the physical meeting can occur. If the physical meeting were to occur too soon the energy can often be too intense. 

The relationship is immediate, as though no time had been lost since you were last together. You feel comfortable with them and you feel you can truly be yourself with them. Sometimes conversation seem to last forever and there is not much that twinflames are not willing to talk about. It's as if you could share your entire life with this person and there is a level of openness and understanding between you that brings a comfortable yet intruiguing sense of familiarity.

 You feel an overwhelming sense of love and attraction. This love is genuine and heartfelt and you feel magnetically drawn to their energy. This is not to be confused with lust or an obsessive love. Twinflame love is unconditional and transcends the ego. If you have found your twinflame it does not mean that the relationship will necessarily be free from issues or personal conflict. There may still be lessons and healing that must take place between the twin souls. Twinflames are still human beings on the physical level. 

You feel a sense of completion that goes beyond words. This feeling is about wholeness on a soul level that is beyond the physical. Each twinflame is still an individual and is not 'the other half of your soul' as if you are a complete soul now that you have found them. You are meeting an energetic mirror of your own soul. You share a vibration and you resonate with them. You even feel an attraction to the sound of their voice and it may even sound familiar to you.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. When twinflames gaze into one another's eyes there is a profound intensity. Making eye contact with your twinflame can feel unusual at times because it is as if you are staring into your own soul; what you feel often depends on what aspect of your own soul your own soul you are seeing--anything that is being repressed or that needs to be healed will also be felt and reflected through the eyes.

Moments when there is a overwhelming feeling of unconditional love. The feeling can be felt very intensely in one or more of the chakra centres, especially the heart chakra. The love can be absolutely explosive and expands one into a feeling of oneness with their twin, and this feeling is often expanded to encompass a feeling of spiritual oneness with all things. The chemistry between the twins can be extremely powerful. There are moments of complete certainty that they are meant to be in each others lives for a reason, no matter what, and that there is a higher purpose for their union with one another. 

All emotions, whether negative or positive, is amplified between twin flames. Feelings are often exaggerated compared to other relationships. When things are good it feels incredibly good! But when things are not going so well, the feelings can be incredibly painful. There is more emotional and energetic intensity between twinflames because things are felt on a soul level. Since twinflames are often empathic with one another, it can become an overwhelming emotional roller coaster at times when they are absorbing each others emotions alongside feeling the intensity of their own.

Reoccurring numbers or repeated number sequences are are common occurrence within twinflame connections. The 11:11 and other number synchronicities are also a common feature. There may be similarities and synchronistic patterns found within each of the twinflames birthdates, anniversaries, addresses, phone numbers, anniversaries and major life events.

Both twinflames may have unusual dreams involving the other and telepathy often occurs between twins in the dream state. Many twinflames have shared or reoccurring dreams of one another, often prior to actually meeting their twin. Major themes in the twinflame relationship or issues that must be worked on together or in the individual life of one of the twins is often featured in dreams, and even in day dreams or visions.

Separation is a common theme in the twinflame relationship. There is usually a swinging back and forth from reunion to separation. The separation either occurs because of distance or an inability to be together in the physical for one or more reasons. Often the separations can occur if there is turbulence within the relationship due to unresolved emotional baggage that one or both of the twins is carrying. The reunion takes place again when healing is ready to occur. There is an intense repelling and magnetic attraction that takes place between twins; a pushing and pulling which indicates that much healing work still needs to be done before a permanent reunion can occur. 

The twinflame relationship changes your life. Each twin is transformed in many ways throughout the connection. The twinflame relationship challenges each soul to grow and expand into their highest potential to fulfill their mission and purpose on the planet and in each others lives. This constant changing and expansion can occur quite frequently and rapidly within the twinflame relationship. Often it is so intense that one of the twins may run from the relationship, or there may be difficulty in being together for long periods of time.

Twinflames are connected even at a distance. Telepathy and empathy are common between the twinflames. Each twin may pick up on the others thoughts they may find themselves often calling, texting, or emailing around the same time, and also finishing each others sentences. Synchronicities and unusual parallels often occur within the lives and daily events of each of the twinflames. 

 

 http://www.twinflamesoulmates.com/twin-flame-signs.html

EVERYTHING Happens For A Reason

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

― Marilyn Monroe

It is magnificently and profoundly true when we say "When one door closes, another door opens for you. And that if a door closed, it’s because what was behind it wasn’t meant for you". Every seasonal situation we go through, can bring with it lessons that last a lifetime. If something doesn't last IN your life, the universe and that divine force, is preparing you for the one that will.

 There is a good reason for every twist and turn, for every worry and concern, even for every wrong turn we make to get to the right place! There's a reason. Life chooses this for us, I believe, it is for the growth and our highest good, to our selves and for all involved. When hardships and people are thrown at us together on this island of living, we stretch to understand each other and everything, when we come out of it fully, we are left invigorated by this stretching.

 Of course, not always do we seem to believe or understand and go along with excepting that everything happens for a reason. Not being able to understand it all, we are filled with blame, trying to make sense of some catastrophe, and hating the thought of feeling this way. When something bad happens to us, it's natural and almost a reflex to think and feel we are losing the grip on life.

 When things happens in our life that are so painful , we have difficulty in finding their meaning at that time, and we give up looking. However, when we look back later on, we know that was a big mistake. A shred of faith and a wake up of hope though, can leave us to believe that there is great meaning in these events. And when you discover and are enlightened with the true meaning of the events in your life, everything changes. You begin to heal. You begin to put perspectives on the greater good for you, and others.

 When we have the faith and the understanding or even a reminder of the Natural Law of Cause and Effect, and how it works, we let our life unfold with an embrace and a surrender to this energy that is leading us. In order to appreciate everything that comes or happens to us, we must submit our self to them completely. It is the most essential truth that sets us free. Free to see how everything connects.

 Above ALL, when we treat the important people and loved ones in our life with immense respect, compassion, love, dignity and honesty (cause), we will experience the most profound and loving, solid relationships – which lead to happiness, fulfillment and peace of mind (effect). All that brings us to be more in touch with who we are because we know that we are living the life we were meant to lead. And yes, everything can change for the better when we see that all of the events and reasons of our life have meaning and great value.

 ~~ L o v e ~~

*.`~ Embracing Change ~`.*

“Embrace change, hold on to your values and let go of what’s bitter. Letting go can be a painful yet necessary part of life, but letting go can also result in feeling free.”

― Angie Karan

22 July 2009 at 19:03
  by Angie Karan

Opening yourself to change...

Sometimes we fear change because we are unsure of what may

come next. We become so fearful that we begin to hold on

tightly to what is about to change. For example: a job that we

really didn't care much for, but it still "was income" or a

partner/lover who we realized probably isn't the best for us but

we are comfortable and wonder

if we can go at it alone.

We have programmed and conditioned our Selves to fear that

which we do not know or understand. Those who break out

and embrace change are sometimes looked upon and judged as

reckless, risk takers, etc. As we begin to move forward into

the light we begin to take notice that the way we now look

upon things is changing.

We no longer live in fear of something we do not

understand. We begin to develop a sense of trust in our

intuition, a sense of knowing if you will, that whatever it is we

are currently experiencing is nothing more than an illusion. An

illusion, which was created within our thoughts, our own

beliefs.

Try for just one day, not to act on impulse, but to follow your

intuition. As you awaken each morning ask for guidance

throughout your day. Ask that your path becomes illuminated

and ask that all change which is necessary for your spiritual

growth be as painless as possible and the choice to welcome

Change with open arms!

You'll be glad you did...as change is truly a constant you can

count on through each and every day of your life.

That which does NOT change become Stagnant. What happens

to a stagnant pond?

Shine your light upon the world you see before you

and watch your world

as it begins to illuminate!

IS A MONKEY MIND ROBBING YOU OF YOUR PEACE AND SERENITY

Monkey mind is a Buddhist expression which refers to the incessant chatter that goes on in our heads. When unchecked, it can drive us nuts (excuse the pun!)
Like a restless monkey jumping from branch to branch, the mind is always on the move, producing up to 100,000 thoughts per day (astonishing, isn't it!)!
With the frantic pace of  life these days, the modern monkey mind is more like King Kong crashing through the jungle on amphetamines. It is little wonder that inner peace can seem difficult to find.

It is estimated that our brains are bombarded with seven times as much stimuli as our grandparents experienced.
Add to this the rising stress levels caused by increased working hours and longer traffic jams and it is a wonder that many people can cope at all.

The good news, however, is that, no matter how busy the mind is and how distant the prospect of finding inner peace seems, it is always there, right under our noses (actually above our noses). We just need to know where to look.

Finding happiness and inner peace is an uncovering process. They are not experiences to be gained anew. When we strip away that which is covering it up, (the main thing being our addiction to thinking) we discover that the peace we are seeking has been there all along.

____________________________________________________________________

My days used to go something like this. i would finish eating breakfast without noticing the food because monkey mind was already thinking about the day's schedule. I would then arrive at work with no recollection of getting there, having been lost in obsessive thinking. At work, I was busy planning the weekend. My mind was never where my body was.
I was rarely present in the here and now (which is the only place where peace and joy are to be found.)


I remember taking my daughter to the park when she was about three years old. She pointed to the sky and excitedly squealed "airplane". I hadn't even noticed the park - which is amusing in a way but also tragic at the same time.


This is why children experience so much joy. Being largely free of mental chatter, they are absolutely present in the here and now. Their monkey minds have not developed yet.
In truth, happiness never leaves us. We are simply unaware of the happiness which is always there, through being constantly distracted by our monkey minds. We can only notice the wonder and the beauty that surrounds us when we are present.
________________________________________________________________  

PEAK EXPERIENCES

At times, everyone has, what psychologist Abraham Maslow, calls peak experiences.

I will never forget a visit to The Shetland Islands many years ago. I was fortunate enough to witness what many of the locals described as the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights they had seen in years.

Just for a moment, as I gazed upon the spectacle, my mind was stunned into silence. A profound feeling of connection and well-being swept over me. In that perfect moment I felt utterly at peace - with no sense of anything missing.

A moment later, a thought appeared: "I must phone my partner and tell her. As I re-engaged with the mind, the experience was gone.

And that is how it works. In the absence of thinking, the bliss which is our true nature is experienced.

It is still there when we are lost in our monkey mind but we are simply too distracted to notice.

SO HOW TO TAME THE MONKEY MIND?

I'll answer with a story. There was a village in India which was infested with monkeys. They were a real problem. They were not afraid of the villagers and would go into the houses looking for for food and occasionally attack people.

All the villagers carried long sticks with them which they used to beat the monkeys and try to chase them away. This only annoyed the monkeys more. They tried everything.

They boarded up the doors and windows to keep the monkeys out. Sometimes they would catch one in a net and take it out of the village but they would always return looking for food. The villagers were at their wits end.

One day a holy man entered the village and observed what was going on. He laughed and said "I have another solution. Why don't you try planting a banana plantation on the outskirts of the village and see what happens."

The villagers followed his advice. And it worked. The monkeys were more interested in the delicious bananas and happily rested in the trees, leaving the villagers in peace.

_______________________________________________________________

WHAT YOU RESIST PERSISTS

You may have heard the expression "What you resist persists." As long as we fight against the monkey mind, we give it more energy and make it stronger. As long as we try to beat our thoughts away with sticks we make them bigger.

In my work as a coach, I have met so many people who have tried one therapy after another to find a solution to their depression, anxiety or unhappiness. Five years can pass with little change. This is because focusing on the problem only makes it bigger. It is a paradox that by trying to find happiness we only push it further away.

I have also seen people cured of lifelong depression in a one-hour session ...simply through seeing that the mind is not the problem, rather our relationship to it.


Awareness is the key. Through understanding how the mind works, our relationship with monkey mind changes and we become free of the influence of thinking.

You are not broken... you are merely distracted. There is nothing to change and nothing to fix ...only something to SEE!


 An excerpt from the book:
Kick the Thinking Habit 
http://www.find-happiness.com/

B R E A T H E ...

26 July 2009 at 10:00

I feel it welling up, rising from the dark

The light of change within me, and starting with my heart

The metamorphosis unfolds

When did I grow so bold?

Becoming something less, but something so much more

Can't label my identity, no definition is right for me

My future & my past, they're both worth fighting for

A purpose for the melody, and a reason for the harmony

And when all life feels faded from me

I've just got to remember to breathe…

My heart now beating faster, my blood now running cold

Welcoming this feeling, the thrill of change untold

Letting in this binding zeal

This time of Ascension will make me real

As my soul starts catching fire

As I balance on this wire

And the light becomes so bright that I can't see

I feel myself start to fall

I hear my own voice call

Don’t give up, All you have to do Is...

 Breathe

 ©Angie Karan

Feeding the Sacral Chakra

 

• 5 November 2014 at 17:01

• Healing Food

The sacral chakra, nestled in the region of the lower belly, yokes us to the water element and its eternal state of movement and dynamic change. It is the hub of creative potential.

Chakra Foods for Optimum Health

Our sacral chakra assists us in wielding and manifesting our internal raw creativity into an external form involving visual arts, body expression and sound. Artists, painters, musicians and creators are examples of those in touch with their sacral chakra.
Food and eating represent a functional, survival-based activity, and one of the ways to ensure that we eat is to involve the sensory aspects of our physical body. When we eat, we eat with all of our senses: our sight, touch, taste, smell and sound. Our physiology and our sacral chakra are designed to ensure that we gain pleasure from our eating experience.
There are specific compounds (peptides) released in the gut when we eat a meal that communicate with our brain to help our body decipher that we are experiencing pleasure from the experience. Recently, it has come to light that we have taste receptors in our gut similar to those found on our tongue, so we taste food beyond the mouth, even in the territory of the sacral chakra.
Overall, this chakra is strongly and tightly woven into our eating experience at a deep, gut, sensory level. Rather than for pure survival, we look to the food for pleasure with the help of our sacral chakra.

Foods for the Sacral Chakra

Seeds

Seeds like flax, poppy, psyllium, pumpkin, hemp, sesame and sunflower are therapeutic for the sacral chakra due to their rich source of healthy fats. Flaxseed deserves special mention because it is a healing food for the sacral chakra from a couple of perspectives. First of all, it contains oil rich in unsaturated essential fats. Although not as flexible and fluid as the fats found in fish, flaxseed oil can be used in the body to create flow.
The other aspect of flaxseed is that it is rich in plant compounds called lignans, which act like weak estrogens and are able to compete with estrogen in the body to sit on receptor sites on cells. If the body has too much or too little estrogen, having plant estrogens like flax in the diet could be beneficial. Because of their ability to influence estrogen activity in the body, they are thought to reduce the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancers. Thus, the energetic and physiological properties of flaxseed fit the needs of the sacral chakra, which oversees the reproductive organs in women and the colon. The benefits can extend into the territory of the neighboring root chakra by protecting against prostate cancer.

Tropical Fruits

When allowed to blossom, the sacral chakra fills and soothes us with delight, joy, relaxation, pleasure and freedom of choice. It resonates to fruits grown in tropical areas, as they embody these same qualities. Mangoes, pineapple, papaya, banana (also connects to the solar plexus), oranges, kiwi, figs and coconut are superb examples of nourishing sacral chakra tropical fruits.
Eating these fruits enables us to open our inner self to feeling free and relaxed. Coconut and its oil are particularly appropriate for this energetic vibration. Coconut can heal and strengthen the bridge between the two lower chakras. It’s a sturdy fruit with a strong protective layer, paralleling the root chakra’s boundaries. It is filled with nourishing milk and soft flesh, both which assist the sacral chakra in feeling comfort to open up. Raw coconut butter is a tasty, root-sacral chakra treat.

Fruits:

Apricots

Blood oranges

Cantaloupes

Kumquats

Mandarins

Mangoes

Nectarines

Oranges

Papayas

Passion fruit

Peaches

Persimmons

Tangerines

Vegetables:

Carrots

Orange bell peppers

Pumpkin

Sweet potatoes

Yams

Nuts

Similar to coconut, all nuts have qualities that strengthen the lower two chakras. The oils in the nuts combined with protein make for a perfect food for combining grounding (root chakra) and flowing (sacral chakra) qualities. Cashews are an excellent choice for the sacral chakra. Note their moonlike structure, resonating with the yin, or feminine quality, of the sacral chakra. Walnuts resemble the complicated brain structure and are, indeed, one of the richest nut sources of omega-3 fats, which are needed for the brain. Almonds, pecans, filberts, hazelnuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts, pine nuts and macadamia nuts are other fine nut choices to support the sacral and root chakras.

Orange-Colored Foods

The healthy sacral chakra vibrates at a frequency similar to the color orange. Viewing or eating orange-colored foods can help to restore the sacral chakra to its correct vibration.
On a nutritional level, most of these orange foods collectively provide beta-carotene (an orange pigment) and other plant carotenoids. They are absorbed into our bodies with the assistance of fat as a carrier and stored in the cell membranes, where they take on the job of protecting the cell.

Sacral Food and Eating Activities

Here are simple activities to create a healthy relationship between foods, eating and the sacral chakra.

• Combine food and creativity in any way you choose, ranging from meal preparation to a unique way to shop at the grocery store (for example, shopping only for orange foods) to a novel way to grow food (such as using hydroponics, or the water element, which is conducive to the sacral chakra). Write about your creation and share it with another.
• Invite someone over for dinner and create a meal together.
• Pick an emotion that plagues your daily life and journal on how you better express this emotion throughout your life in a healthy way. How do you “eat” this emotion rather than expressing it? What foods do you gravitate toward when you feel this emotion? What do these foods signify?

~by Dr Deanna Minich, author of Chakra Foods for Optimum Health
http://foodandspirit.com/

Heart-warming 'snapshots' of the NOW

Pause... and remember what is good in your life. Live in the NOW moment, and fully take in the little snapshots in life that make everything so worthwhile. This can be anything.  An awesome Autumn breeze coming through your window, brushing against your face. A beautiful sunset. A colourful blossom on a tree you met on your morning walk. The calm of a mountain lake. An image of a playful child, or a pet. 

They are impressions you can draw on when the dark clouds of despair begin to creep in around you. There is wonder all around you that will take your breath away if you just sit still and long enough to let it happen. Breathe in deeply and let the images burn into your mind making them available whenever you need them.
 It is good to savour the simple wonders that the world has to offer. Heart-warming 'snapshots' that are emblazoned in your soul, help keep you positive in the now and letting you embrace a more positive future ...those little 'snapshots of the heart' are what make life a priceless treasure...
 When you stay completely in the moment, the simple moment of right now, the breeze through your window, the sunrise you stand in your back yard and watch each dawn, the sound of laughter from the child next door and so forth, you find that time slows way down until there is time within time. The world can go swirling past you if it needs, but  you can remain so still you are moved to tears by the beauty  you live in.

~The Journey to ourselves~

 

 

We are always under reconstruction! Only through pain can we learn the hard lessons... The importance is to keep in mind that the sun always shines after the storm... and the best day is when we finally realize that we do not control the day. Letting go is good. Be in the moment. Life does whatever is necessary to mold us into shape and prepare us for greatness. It does not always look or feel this way. Instead, what we experience in life seems difficult, painful, unnecessary. When we truly recognize that there is a master plan, we can welcome any tool that comes to prepare us to behold our perfect place. If we desire to blossom like a rose in the garden, then we must learn the art of adjusting with the thorns… Difficulties will make us shine. Keep pushing through, and SHINE.

Keep pushing through! Fine tune your resonance and awaken the divine within. Become one with what life wants, and release worry and stress and shine your vibrant being as part of the formless and eternal one. Energize yourself, forgive others who have hurt you, and attract more of what you want in life. Shine your light and the universe will shine a light that guides you to a better place.

 During our journey of change, growth and development, we grow and activate the best part of us which is our soul and spirit - our potential to become all that we are meant to BE. Just as an acorn contains the potential of a mighty oak tree, so are each of us the “seeds” of our unique full potential. Life is no longer complicated when we know WHO WE ARE and the struggle of searching, seeking, looking for answers, makes the path so much easier to finding them.

 Our experiences are where we find our strength and move forward…Sometimes the HARDEST lessons to learn are the ones our soul needs most! I truly believe, that we can't feel real joy unless we have felt heartache. The same as everything else in life. Unless we experience the opposite of what is not comfortable-the obstacles of life and its suffering, we cannot find or actually appreciate comfort and joy when it comes. Chuck Palahniuk once said, “The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. Some pain, whether it be emotional or physical,  is necessary.  Everything in life is two-sided. Do we await Summer with an open heart an arms when it is shivering with cold in winter? It's these hard times that pave the path to greatness. Yes, pain does feel like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against our face when we are spreading our wings and flying through the air! Happiness and real joy, is not the absence of problems, heartache or pain, it's the ABILITY to deal with them, and grow. Our character and wisdom are sculpted over time.  They come with loss, lessons, and triumphs. Our best stories in life, come from overcoming our greatest struggles. One thing that yoga, and especially Pilates has taught me, is that pain and bliss exist in the same space. However, if we release the pain then all we are left with is bliss. We can’t expect to feel pleasure without ever feeling pain, joy without ever feeling sorrow, confidence without ever feeling fearful, hope without ever feeling uncertain, etc.  There is no such thing as a one-sided coin in life, with which we can buy a pain-free, trouble-free life.

As Maya Angelou says in her famous quote, : “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” Life... is a journey... a spiritual journey, a path of spirit and soul. We are all on this path – in our unique ways, each one of us seeking that certain something – be it healing, guidance, empowerment, balance or happiness. Everything that we will come across, the good and the bad, there may be challenges, growth, healing or peace within. But remember, this path is the one where your soul moves forward. Take time out and smell the roses... giving you reprieve and nourishment. Take care of yourself and use self - compassion liberally. Put your energy where it matters. You'll be glad you did. Walk humbly with love and grace and may your journey be one that gives you the creativity and freedom to sustain a healthy and fulfilling road ahead!