On this first day of summer 2024, my yoga instructor Chris reminded us that energy is building due to three key events this June. One is the auspicious Summer Solstice on 6/20, two is International Yoga Day on 6/21, and three is the Full Moon (Strawberry moon) on 6/22. Wow, now I know why our 2 kitties have been going crazy in the house this past week!
The heat waves in the US are upon us and this increase in cosmic and thermal energy can add to the turbulence and the temperature in our lives. My advice is to be extra mindful of your hydration levels and strive to temper your responses to stress with pauses and deep breaths.
While in the middle of this three-fer event, I’d like to make 3 wishes for the world:
Patience
Tolerance
Compassion
“Patience is not simply the ability to wait- it’s how we behave while we’re waiting”. – Joyce Meyer
“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.” – Dalai Lama
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” -Dalai Lama
In the eleven years of writing my thoughts and ideas on my Word Press site Strong Words and Simple Truths, I’ve observed that some posts receive more random views than others. The blog below was written in October 2016 and is one that is consistently gets viewed by three or four people every month and I’ve always wondered why.
On this morning in June 2024, I pulled the Judgement card and reflected on the symbolism once again. I haven’t seen this card in years and decided to read the widely read 2016 blog again.
It’s uncanny how similar patterns in the world and in my personal journey keep repeating themselves.
As I embark on a new chapter and journey in life, I am reminded to keep the faith and have the courage to do what is right.
“It’s a very hard card to read, in part because it deals with very hard and final decisions. And it means facing something that most querents don’t want to face. This is not about Death, something ending whether you want it to or not, this is about deciding to make a change, to stop doing something that isn’t working or do something that will work. Which means that’s it really a card about courage, and about recognizing that you’re holding on something that needs to be let go.”
Here’s my post from October 9, 2016 titled The Fool on the Hill and the Judgement Card:
There is nothing like a good tarot card reading, a pending move to a new state and a bizarrely disgusting election news cycle to get me to look at things in an altered way. An Agile Life encourages us to have frequent Retrospectives to review what is going well, what is blocking us and what we can do differently.
I view tarot cards as a mirror to the heart and soul and they often reflect thoughts and notions back to us in a new light.
“There is no way to leave the past behind,” The Angel observes. “Each step wears down the shoe just a bit, and so shapes the next step you take, and the next and the next. Your past is always under your feet. You cannot hide from it, run from it, or rid yourself of it. But you can call it up, and come to terms with it. Are you willing to do that?
The Angel hands the Fool a small trumpet. The Fool is hesitant, but he knows that the Angel is right. There are certain memories he has a hard time looking back on as they make him feel guilty, ashamed, angry. He knows that he’s never come to terms with what happened and he must if he wants to make that final transition.”
Here are some retrospective thoughts and questions based my drawing of the Judgement Card last night:
Are we able to resurrect the past, forgive it and let it go?
Do we need to start something we’ve been putting off or have the courage to finally end something that isn’t good for us?
Is it time to move on?
As I bask in the glorious autumn weather of Colorado and watch the leaves turn to orange, yellow and red, I remember that they will all fall to the ground soon, dead but nurturing to the soil below. I also have faith that the leaves will be reborn in the spring as the seasons continue to roll by.
I have hope that after the cold winter, there will be a better, brighter season but in the meantime…
It’s time forgive and move on to more important things.
Are your muscles tense and holding a huge amount of stress?
Is your neck screaming at you? Maybe it’s your lower back that is barking.
Life’s challenges can be extremely stressful on your physical body. So often we hold our stress in our muscles and this leads to pain and discomfort. What can you do to get some relief?
To help release and let go of your tension, I recommend the top 3 basics of walking, stretching, and yoga. Recently, I experienced great release and recovery from a fitness class at Mountainside Fitness called “30 MIN. XPRESS ROLL & RELEASE” led by Kathleen Sollars which used foam rollers and tennis balls to help us achieve the benefits of myofascial release and increased blood flow and circulation to soft tissue. I felt like a stick of melted butter after this class! It’s amazing what a bit of focused rolling and pressure point action can do. The result that night was the best quality sleep I’ve experienced in months.
To help us better understand and apply the release and recovery model, my good friend and Yoga Therapist, Nancy Martch, shares her wisdom and focuses on the importance of self-nourishment in our daily lives. More than self-care, self-nourishment is the intentional replenishment of vital energy and breath to the body. Just like it is beneficial to feed our bodies quality food and nutrients, it is equally important to fill up our body’s emotional and spiritual tanks with positive movements, reflections, and breath work. In addition to yoga and mediating, rolling and releasing can be key components to your daily self-nourishment.
Below is a slide I appreciated from a presentation crafted by Nancy, owner of Jai Yoga. As my Yoga Therapist, she has helped me to become more aware of my body and its response to external stimuli and trauma. Nancy has helped me to breathe, balance, release and accept. Yoga therapy is an outstanding way to promote health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship. To learn more , check out this video. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram @jaiyogahouston
It is my hope that you can release some of your pain and tension with these ideas and tips. Life is too short to be in constant discomfort and you deserve to have some relief.
Take care of yourself. Breathe, move, and let it go.
Self nourishment calls on the Mother within you to take action for your personal and specific needs.
Being the spark is all that it takes to spread the warmth and the luminosity that the world needs right now. Igniting the flame to be the light would be an amazing gift to someone this season.
Similar to the butterfly effect, many people can be impacted by one small act- one tiny gesture of love and compassion. Fire spreads quickly and joy is contagious.
Loneliness, isolation, and sadness are kindling which can be dispelled in an instant by the spark and the subsequent flame.
The facade of happy holiday cheer and joyous music masks the reality of so many peoples’ inner pain and suffering.
Being the spark to light the fire in someone’s heart can bring relief and hope in an otherwise dark time.
The shift in energy has been swift and dramatic. This thought has been on my mind for months prior to the great Texas blackout of February 2021. Having lived in Austin for short time, I empathize with the plight of millions of people who were at the mercy of mother nature, unreliable technology and incompetent business and government leaders.
My original idea for this article started with these three lines:
Energy is Currency
Currency is Money
Follow the Energy
I was planning to address the main patterns and trends I have observed since the US Elections in November 2020, namely the shifts in:
Social energy and influence- communication and persuasion
Distribution of energy- wealth and power
Suppression or enhancement of energy- fossil fuels and renewables
Now, as I reflect on the physics book definition of energy and power, I have chosen to take a different angle. More on the three points above will come in Part 2 of this Energy blog.
While energy is the capacity for doing work and the ability to create change, power is energy per unit of time. These technical definitions can be applied to people, communities and governments.
I have been drawn to the concept of energy for weeks. Call it the Law of Attraction but my increased attention on the idea caused a sharp increase in energy related experiences in my life. Everywhere I look, I see energy analogies and references.
The word energy is a noun with 9 meanings (like my cat) while the word power has 20 meanings as a noun and 5 has a verb.
Power and energy are hot topics in the news and I can’t help but draw some parallels between what is happening with shifts in physical energy (potential and kinetic) with the dramatic changes in human energy (social and spiritual).
As world leaders create pacts and sign accords in an effort to reduce the impact of climate change on the planet, major changes in our fuel sources are being proposed. Renewable energy is all the rage as fossil fuels and nuclear energy are vilified. Wind and solar power are being elevated and pushed to replace coal, oil and natural gas. Our fuel mix is changing as painfully displayed during the Texas/ERCOT energy crisis of this month.
Our social fuel mix has also been dramatically altered. As an extrovert, I used to derive a good amount of energy from real, live interactions with others. Now, after 11 months of relative isolation, my energy levels are low. My ability to do work is diminished. My public speaking skills are stalling out and running on fumes.
As millions of Texans huddled in their homes for days without electricity or running water, I kept thinking, why didn’t ERCOT and the government plan ahead more for these situations. What were the contingencies plans if multiple lines of energy sources fail?
Taken to the human and social energy level, what have we done to replenish our emotional fuel sources that have been so abruptly and drastically reduced?
While Zoom meetings and online happy hours are trying to fill the gaps and maintain social connections, they are about as energizing as a Texas wind turbine on a 25 degree day.
Humans are social creatures by nature and need personal interactions to maintain healthy relationships and strong immune systems.
So as I enter an empty office building each day, I long for the in-person collaboration meetings and hallway greetings and interactions. Giving a speech in front of a live audience is something I crave more than chocolate. My Toastmaster clubs’ membership levels are anemic as we wait patiently for an infusion of energy. More than ever, I appreciate the power of human interaction and communication.
Like coming out of a freeze-induced power outage, I hope that the COVID-19 isolation impacts will thaw soon and allow us to recharge with the amazing energy of smiles, hugs and personal interactions.
When my Mom entered it room, it lit up with her smile. I miss her dearly and know that many people are craving that form of warmth and love.
A positive shift in energy and focus is needed to maintain the crucial connections that keep our communities strong.
The power of human interactions is sustainable and renewable and should not be neglected during times of crisis.
Strong Words & Simple Truths 