Everyone has a gift
The Daoists would say that our dreams, goals and ambitions, all those things that are deeply important to us are all kindling to awaken and stimulate our gift into the world. We are each born with a unique quality and it is not only necessary for us to find this, but that we must know it, learn how to care for it and then share this gift.
The work to find this, is a practice towards the heart so it may settle into its own aliveness. All those things of importance that we place in our heart, act like a fuel to bring into play its own vitality. Our journey therefore is to discover what really matters to us by making good use of our heart until, like a match striking against the needs of the world, this light is revealed.
invitations
Take time each day to remember encounters and experiences that shifted the way you experienced yourself. Each one will naturally bring great joy, love, adventure or they may have brought challenges yet within each, exists an opportunity for self-discovery. Try this Meditation to sit with what is and see what you are able to discover within and for yourself.
Nourish yourself intentionally with foods, people and places that warm you. Support your vitality and your body’s natural rhythms by attending to rest, gentle movement and your connection with nature. Let your senses awaken to the details of life as it is.
Engage in practices that cultivate presence of where you are, what you are working with and what you have within you to work with just that. Explore embodied practices such as Yin Yoga, Meditation, quiet walks or simple stillness as invitations for the heart to reveal itself. Allow it to show you something.
Take time to return to an inner alignment so you may touch on your own aliveness in your breath, in your heart, in the simple movements of your body. Let your body guide your awareness and allow time to linger in those sensations.
How do we do this? How do we know? It is human nature to drift in and out of knowing and not knowing our own aliveness because we bump into the obstacles of our heart that we know as pain, worry, fear, loss, wanting what is not here and not wanting what is here. Sometimes we accomplish great things and it is inspiring, but feeling thoroughly alive is essential. Perhaps this is all a process of finding and re-finding, to uncover and recover something and it doesn't matter if we move towards this gracefully or awkwardly or if we are skilful or clumsy because aliveness is a feeling where something touches our hearts and it is that which reveals itself in response to wholeheartedness.
We only have to be sincere and wholehearted in order to be returned to wonder that we truly are so we can feel that spontaneous movement. We are learning how to exercise the heart, to listen fully and feel deeply. So, brave on your way. May you move through life with curiosity and tenderness, noticing the aliveness that flows through your heart and body. Let each breath, each gesture, each encounter be a reminder that it is you that is waiting to be discovered, nurtured, and shared.
