Connecting to Greatness
OFF THE MAT
Weekly Thought Offering:
“Everybody can be great …
because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
-Martin Luther King Jr
_________
To attempt to quantify your ability:
count the drops of water in the ocean
count the countless shades in a sunset
measure the immeasurable vastness of the sky
look to the acts of miracles of those who came before you.
Be of service to love.
Weekly Journal Prompts:
I feel like I just can’t when….
I feel like I just don’t have enough…
I feel unstoppable when….
I feel abundant when…
Today with what I have I can…
Weekly Mantra:
I find abundance here
Hello Sadhakas!
This week ON THE MAT we are in our last week of revolved side angle. And as is customary in the final week with a pose we are looking at the energy of the shape and we are practicing putting together all of the pieces from the previous weeks. We are synthesizing 3 weeks of big ideas and trying to do them all at once.
This pose asks a lot of us at once. We have to balance on the ball of the back foot.
We have to keep the spine long to keep the twist safe and strong.
We have to mindfully extend the arms to keep the shoulders and neck open.
And we have to maintain an awareness of the pelvis to keep the
twist alive in multiple directions at once.
Oh, and we each have our own personal pieces we are thinking about too!
That is A LOT people! And yet you will be able to do it. What amazing beings we are!
When I was preparing for this week and how the energy ON THE MAT spoke to the lesson for OFF THE MAT, I very quickly turned to what is a common sentiment for many of us given the world we are currently living in: "I just can't".
There is just SOOOOOO much we are being asked to do right now, so many mental health issues to fight and face along with simple survival needs to tend to not to mention our own emotional wellbeing AND all of those needs for all those we love and care for AND all of those needs for our community which is also demanding care right now. Add on top of all of that to this week in particular- the questions about how the inauguration is going to go.
"How can we possibly do it all?!" is a frequent and understandable response shared by many of us, me included.
But the gift of the practice, what you will be practicing ON THE MAT and trying to remember OFF THE MAT is that you are, in reality, an infinite being, pulling from an infinite source. You are NOT alone. You do NOT have to do everything alone. The source from which we all come, the same source that resides within you as a spark, is present to help you, to hold you, to guide you. Connect to that space and feel infinite.
Often when we are feeling overwhelmed it is because we are stuck in a thought process of lack- "I don't have enough______ (fill in the blank).
But if you, in that moment remind yourself that you believe in abundance (not because I am asking you to believe in fairies and dew drops) but because you recognize the actual factual truth that the world is full of abundance: ever tried to count the leaves on one tree or blades of grass under your feet?)
You will be able to drop into a space that lets you feel abundance and from that space you will be guided about how best to proceed.
I wrote a few months back about the bottomless well, this is the same idea back again- why? Because we are all still in the space of being asked to rise up to meet our highest Self. That lesson is naturally going to come along with the feeling that we can't lift any higher or do anymore- oh but then we will, and we do and then we learn and then we will know. And then oh what a world this will be!
Still having trouble feeling it?
The Universe in all her majesty gave us this big week with the gift of Martin Luther King Jr Day to kick it off. Tomorrow we remember a great man who asked us to be better versions of our Selves. A man who asked us to recognize our darkness and called us to be better. A man who changed our world and changed the lives of millions. He was a living example of our human potential. He gave his life trying to stamp out hate in the name of love.
How much did he have to fight against, to rise above, to turn away from? How brave did he have to be? Can you even fathom the magnitude?! It is awe inspiring.
And yet- he was able to do it.
Again, can you even fathom it?
Well, guess what-The spark of The Divine that resided within him, resides within you.
What percentage of that greatness are you tapping into?
If the answer feels like "Not much" then here are some little ways to start and things to think about:
How are you being of service to love and to others?
Not from a place of "needing" to but from a place of offering and humility. A place where we see ourselves not as all controlling but from a place of being used as a tool for the universe to share and spread love.
Here's the thing about that space- when you are connecting to serving others you connect to a place of abundance because we get out of our own limiting way and we get into the experience of others. Then we are a channel. Then a greatness can flow through us that is not us but is something SO much greater!
There is SO much to be done and the abundance flows!!!
With great respect and love,
Nicole
