Meeting #3: BODY (Exercise 5 Days a Week)

Hi Lovelies! Here is a recap of our third Goddess Group meeting...

Optional Preparation & Supplies

• Wholesome recipe idea: Peanut Butter Balls (I substituted pb for sunflower butter, 100% pure maple syrup for honey, and more oats for the rice cereal in this recipe)
• Materials for our "Joyful Simplicities Activity" (click here to see) 
• Light candles all over the room
• Have some calming meditation music on hand

As always, we met in my candlelit living room and started our meeting with a prayer. We took the next 25 minutes taking turns telling about our past weeks. I was so happy to hear how much the Simple Abundance book and journey are helping the girls! The book has spoken to each of us in a unique way, but we all feel like we've begun a journey that, though new and sometimes strange feeling, will take us to a beautiful place.

I shared about a pattern I noticed happening in my life. I'd read the day's Simple Abundance message in the morning, and think, "Oh, I like that! That's nice..." then I won't think about it too consciously as the day goes on. A few days later, however, I'd find that I'd naturally incorporated what she'd suggested! What she said had been reinforced by scripture and other books I'd been reading, and the thoughts that had come to my mind during meditation; it had all just sort of flowed together into one great, unified path. I think it has to do with what she says on February 28th, "...all I ask is that you be open to allowing [whatever it is] to come into your world. If you are, Spirit will do the rest." I'll get into more details about what exactly I've incorporated into my life in the posts to come. I also shared a little bit about my goal from last week of taking my next step spiritually (read this post to see what I chose and how it's been going).

One of our goddesses was so excited about what's been happening in her life with her Simple Abundance journey. She noticed that she's starting to enjoy spending time with herself (something she would always distract herself from before). She's eager to begin decorating her place and surrounding herself with things that kindle a positive, comforting energy.

Another goddess found hope in the "Excavating the Real You" messages on February 21st and 22nd. As she answered the questions about her childhood and about her authentic tastes, she felt the first inklings of having left on a journey to a new and better place.

Take time now to write in your journal about your past week's experiences on your path to authenticity. Did anything stick out to you from this past week's messages in Simple Abundance? Have you decided on last week's Mind, Body, Spirit Goal of taking your next step spiritually? How has that been going? Have you felt any progress in overcoming your personal dragons? Care to share any of your experiences by commenting on this post?

This Week's Lesson...

This week's lesson focuses on the Body portion of our mind, body, spirit emphasis. I just want to take a second to remind you guys that these Mind, Body, Spirit Goals (adding one each week in the order presented in an effort to make them habits) are what got me out of my darkest time, and gave me the strength to "slay" my most daunting dragon: Depression. If you feel that you have a "dragon" (anything that's blocking you from peace, joy, and living up to your true potential) that you've just had enough of, I STRONGLY recommend going through these steps and making them priority at this time in your life. I can handle so much more now that I've slain that dragon. I feel strong, able, happy, and in "the flow." I'm convinced the same will happen for you (to start on Mind, Body, Spirit Goal #1, click here).

Back to our body goal for the week... Exercise! Wait. Keep reading, even if you're turned off by the idea or already have an exercise routine going. 

We westerners tend to think that the only good workout is one where we spend an hour sweating, panting, and getting our heart rates up. While this may be a good way to go for some women's bodies, minds, and spirits, it is not the only (or necessarily the most beneficial) way to reap the benefits of exercise. 

In eastern medicine, exercise is said to be essential to move energy throughout the body. One of my favorite books on eastern medicine is Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life by Dr. Claudia Welch. She explains that according to eastern medicine, energy can stagnate in the body causing emotional and physical problems. "To maintain health," she says, "we require continuous smooth movement of thoughts, energy, blood, and substance." (Welch, pg.217) Basically things need to be flowing uninterrupted in our minds, bodies, and spirits in order to be balanced. Eastern medicine teaches that "one of the most effective ways to move energy is through breath." (Welch, pg. 217) Basically any form of exercise stimulates breath and moves energy throughout the body whether you're panting and sweating or not. Whether it's strenuous exercise like running and weight lifting or gentler like brisk walks and yoga, as long as you're breathing fully, you're getting the beneficial effects. Now don't stop here thinking, "Yay I'm off the hook!" The intensity and length of exercise your individual lifestyle and body need depends on which side of the scale you're tipped more towards: yin or yang? 

Chinese medicine explains the opposing forces that keep our bodies balanced (and alive) as "yin" and "yang" (in western, it's basically our sex hormones and stress hormones). Yin is the nourishing and building side. Yang is the energizing, activating, and motivating side. (Welch, pg. 14) Most of us women in this day and age are depleting way too much yin with our stressful lives, which will most certainly take it's toll on the mind, body, and spirit in one form or another (get a hold of Welch's book for more reading on that), but back to exercising... take a look at this guideline to see what kind of exercise would be best for you:

1. If you have a lot of stress, multitasking, anxiety, and fear in your life and/or if you have a slender build, you most likely need to conserve more yin. A possible exercise routine for you would be...

• 30 minutes of a brisk walk, easy hike, bike ride, tai chi, or qi gong daily. You could exchange some of this time throughout the week for gentle yoga to keep up your flexibility. It would be best for you to exercise outside so your body can sync with the calming rhythms of nature. 

2. If you have a less active life (perhaps a job that has you sitting most of the day) and/or you are overweight, you may have an excess amount of yin and should increase your yang by an exercise routine that looks incorporates activities like these...

• A very brisk 1-hour walk, hike, bike ride, or vigorous yoga routine daily. 
• 30-minutes of a brisk walk, hike, or bike ride daily + an extra 2-hour hike on the weekend, a weight lifting class a few times a week, or a strenuous yoga class a few times a week. 
• A 30-minute jog or run daily. 

The only exception to this guideline, I feel is depression. I think if you're depressed, you should go with a routine from category two since you most likely have quite a bit of stagnate energy.

Which category do you fall under? If you're not already exercising at least 5 days a week, pick a plan from this guideline and start this week. I promise you'll feel so much more empowered to overcome your dragons! 

This week's Mind, Body, Spirit Goal:

 Exercise 5 Days a Week

We ended our meeting with our Golden Mirror Meditation and a prayer. Turn on your meditation music and take some time to check in with your authentic self. Does she have anything to show you? Now, pray for an open mind, that you may recognize the guidance and voice of God in your life this week. 

All grace be with you on this week's leg of your journey! 

(For our Joyful Simplicities Activity, we planted cactus seeds in decorated pots. Click here for the tutorial.)

Lacey

Meeting #2: SPIRIT (Take Your Next Step Spiritually)

Hello beautiful ladies! Here is a recap of our second Goddess Group meeting. The lesson is extremely important on our path to overcoming whatever dragons we're each facing and to becoming our true selves. It is the foundation to all else that we'll be adding. DON'T SKIP THIS ONE!

Optional Preparation & Supplies

• Wholesome recipe ideas: Feta & Vegetable Frittatas (One of our members made and brought these. They were amazing!) Caramelized Onion, Fennel, & Feta Tart (I made this one. Also delicious.)
• Candle-making kit (soy or beeswax is best), teacups or other small glass or ceramic containers from the thrift store
• Light candles all over the room
• Have some calming meditation music on hand

Frittatas and strawberries

Frittatas and Carmelized Onion Tart

We began our candlelit meeting with a beautiful prayer then went right in to talking about the week past. I shared totally enlightening experience I had making something I saw in my Golden Mirror a reality: I started dreadlocking my hair! Every time I'd close my eyes and picture my authentic self, I saw her with dreads. I can't tell you how freeing an experience it was to take a step to match myself up to the true me, even in simply a cosmetic way. Please try this at home (not necessarily the dreads)! Do you see your authentic self enjoying nature? Do you see her running around playing like a little kid? Take an action, no matter how small, to be more like her. She is trying to tell you what will make you happy deep down. Listen to her...

         

Me and my brand new dreads 

It was awesome to hear about each girl's journey this week. It was interesting how they each mentioned something about how they knew they needed to go on this journey not just for themselves, but for their families. To break cycles and help others find their joy and authenticity. What a noble reason to be working our hardest to overcome our dragons and truly be ourselves!

Take the time to write in your journal about your past week's experiences with the "Simple Abundance Journey" and overcoming your dragons. What do you feel like your most looming dragon is? (A dragon is anything that's stopping you from feeling peace, joy, and authenticity in your life).

This week's lesson focused on our spirits and "taking our next steps spiritually." When I talk about spirituality, I mean a connection with a higher power (God, for me). To demonstrate the importance of this first focus point, I gave the girls an analogy from my violin teaching. The first thing I teach a brand new beginner is how to hold the violin solidly. I tell them that this is the foundation, that if the violin is unstable, drooping, or wiggling around, they will not be able to build on top of it with fancy tricks and beautiful sounds. It will all fall apart. It is the same with spirituality. We will be working on healing our issues, developing talents, getting our bodies and physical health in shape, becoming our true selves, and adding all sort of simple beauties to our lives, but the glue that makes them all stick into place and make sense in relation to one another...stable and strong and lasting...is spirituality.

There is an energy healing system called The Healing Code that was a huge part of me overcoming my depression dragon. In the book, Dr. Alexander Loyd prefaces the science behind the Healing Code with this...

"...the deepest healing every person on earth needs is not physical or emotional, but spiritual, and it involves healing any disruption of a relationship with a loving God. That is something only God can do. That is something that is between you and God." (Loyd, pg. 28-29)

The Healing Code itself involves prayer and asking God to enter in and fix all that is not right in your body, mind, and life. Again, the importance of a spiritual foundation in all our efforts to find peace, joy, and oneness in our lives.

In our Simple Abundance book on February 26th we read about "real life beginning with reverence." Her definition of reverence is "that altered state of conciousness when you feel awe and wonder because you know you are in the presence of Spirit." Reverence and spirituality, to me, are inseparably linked. When I feel the most reverent, it is when I feel the most connected to God. She goes on to say...

 "Real Life--the real life of joy we are meant to be living--begins when we restore a sense of reverence [spirituality] to our daily affairs."

Last, but not least, of the inspiring support I found on spirituality being of the utmost importance comes from The Book of Mormon, a book of scripture believed to be another testament of Jesus Christ along with the bible by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In 1Nephi chapter 11, the prophet Nephi is seeing a vision of "the tree of life," and it is being interpreted to him by the Spirit. He is told that the tree represents the love of God. Nephi uses these phrases to describe the tree, or the love of God...

"...the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow."

"...precious above all."

"Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things...Yea, and the most joyous to the soul."

Such beautiful words to describe the love of God. Doesn't it sound like something you want to feel and experience at all times in your life? We are all ultimately searching for joy, whether we consciously realize it or not. These scriptures are telling us where joy is found: being connected to the love of God. His love is always there, that's not the issue. Are you tapping into it fully?

Our first goal in Goddess Group, and the only one I ask you to hold yourself accountable to this week is taking your next step spiritually. Maybe you're not sure if God really exists--make it your goal this week to pray throughout the day and ask and open your mind. By the way, don't let this be a baby step towards taking your next step spiritually. Challenge yourself! Take the plunge! The power to change your life comes from really doing something different or with more conviction than you've done in the past.

When I took this first step to overcome my depression last October, I felt that it would be a challenge and step up for me to start going to my church's temple once a week. The temple is a sacred place where we believe we can be closest to God out of all the places on the earth. It was certainly a sacrifice for me to take four hours or so out of my week, but boy did I start to feel the power of that place. I noticed myself being able to handle a lot more, and I just felt stronger spiritually like how your body starts to feel glowy and  stronger when you've been exercising consistently.

I'm convinced that you will start to feel that strength and power with whatever step you decide is the right one for you. Really open your mind and meditate about it. Ask! Whatever thought comes to your mind...make it your top priority this week.

This week's Mind, Body, Spirit goal:

 Take Your Next Step Spiritually

We ended our meeting with our Golden Mirror Meditation and a prayer. A note on your meditating: don't try too hard to picture an image in the mirror. Try for a second and then let your mind be still. She'll appear if there's something she feels like showing you. Don't get frustrated...kind of defeats the point of meditating.

For our Joyful Simplicities Activity, we made scented teacup candles. It was a lot of fun, and they turned out great! Click here for a tutorial and more pics.

Best of luck on this week of your journey!

Lacey

Meeting #1: Orientation

The 21st, the day of our first official "Goddess Group" meeting, finally came! Here is a recap for those of you out there who would like to follow along...

Optional Preparation & Supplies 

• Wholesome recipe idea: Broccolini & Charred Lemon Flatbread
• A glass jar, paper doilies, Mod Podge, a paintbrush, a piece of ribbon long enough to fit around jar
• Light a bunch of candles all over the room (see Simple Abundance, "Joyful Simplicities for February")

I've been planning for weeks now to have our first "Goddess Group" meeting by candlelight. In our Simple Abundance (SA) books, which I hope you have all gotten a copy of, there is a list of "Joyful Simplities" for each month. The first for February is to celebrate Candlemas Day by lighting candles all around our homes and basking in the glow. I think we may need to make it an ongoing tradition! It was calming to be a little more in tune with nature's pattern of day and night, and everyone truly looked like goddesses in the candlelight.

We started our meeting with a prayer asking for God's help on our journey to authenticity and freedom from bondage. I encourage you to stop for a moment and pray in whatever way you know how for guidance and power on your journey.

Next, we went around the room introducing ourselves. We each told about what we do and what we LOVE to do. Isn't it unfortunate how the two are rarely the same thing? Take a moment to write down what you do and what you absolutely love to do. Are they the same? We'll be working on that...

At that point, I pulled out the snackage: a couple of garlicy, parmesany, wholesome flatbreads I've been dying to try my hand at (see the recipe link above). I then took time to explain my intentions for the group. Take a minute to look over this next part to get an idea of how things will go...

Purpose

     To overcome our individual “dragons” with a step by step approach, focusing on strengthening and cleansing our minds, bodies, and spirits. To work towards becoming one with our true selves, using Simple Abundance  as our guide. To support and grow close to one another as we take this journey together.

Things to Remember

     Take things one step at a time and be patient with yourself. A holistic approach to healing and overcoming takes time, but the results are lasting and beautiful. Don’t get overwhelmed! Everything we’ll be working on is connected, so no matter how fast you’re moving or what aspect you’re focusing on, it’s all one path heading to the same place: Authenticity, joy, and freedom!

Lacey’s Story

     I suffered with depression for 12 years since age 14. Some periods of time were more severe than others, but I always had an underlying feeling of purposelessness and sadness. Debilitating anxiety showed its ugly head when I got married in 2009. It’s been a long journey trying every drug and therapy in the book, but it has led me to understand that in order to truly overcome our dragons, we need to strengthen and cleanse our minds, bodies, and spirits. I strongly believe that it takes focus on all three to achieve optimal freedom, balance, and joy in all areas of life and health. I am extremely happy to say that I have finally overcome my two biggest personal dragons with, and only with, this holistic approach!

Meeting Agenda

     Our meetings will generally go like this…

            8:00 Opening Prayer

                    2-Minute Thought/Quote

            8:10 “Show & Tell” about our past week’s experiences

            8:35 Mind, Body, or Spirit Lesson

            8:50 “Golden Mirror” Meditation

                    Closing Prayer

            9:00 Activity 

Weekly Mind, Body, or Spirit Goal

     Each week we will be adding a new mind, body, or spirit goal that will help us overcome our personal dragons. The lesson will be an explanation of the new goal. We are in it to win it, so don’t be surprised at the intensity of the goals, but also remember to just do the best you can. Any step forward, no matter how small, is getting you closer to the “promised land.” Watch things improve exponentially as you make a change here and make a change there!

Things to be Doing on Your Own

o    Read the day’s message in your Simple Abundance book each morning and do your best to follow her counsel and assignments.

o     “Golden Mirror Meditation” (SA Jan. 30^th) 

o    Keep a “Gratitude Journal” (SA Jan. 14^th)

o    Mind, Body, Spirit Goals

o    Check up on your partner throughout the week

Partners     

         We will have assigned partners which we will change every four weeks. This will give us a chance to look out for and support one another throughout the week. Do your best to stay connected with your partner during the week. A huge part of my overcoming my depression/anxiety was the counsel and care of a friend. 

     

   The Blog

     I will be posting recaps of our meetings on a blog in an effort to reach as many women out there as possible. I will also be posting on the blog during the week with inspiration, and setting up a discussion board for you all to do the same if you’d like! 

I use the word, "dragons" to describe our individual bondages, for two reasons: 1.That's how my grandma described them. 2. In fairytales there is often a dragon keeping the princess prisoner in her tower, just as our issues--depression, anxiety, eating disorders, migraines, constant tiredness (just to name a few things that women I know struggle with), keep us prisoner to a sub-par life and hold us back from being the queens we are meant to be.

We closed our meeting, as we will each time, with the "Golden Mirror Meditation" introduced on January 30th of Simple Abundance. I turned on my Pandora "Meditation Music" station, and we each closed our eyes and pictured a beautiful golden mirror surrounded by pure white light in which we each saw an extraordinary woman: our authentic selves. We watched to see what she looked like and what she was doing. Some of the girls noticed that the woman in their mirrors were versions of their child selves in their adult bodies, running and playing freely. One noticed that she caught only glimpses of images here and there of good memories instead of a single woman staring back at her. Perhaps these were bits and pieces from the mosaic that is her authentic self? Times in life where her true self shone through? Another saw the pure spirit version of herself, clean from life's traumas and labels she felt so weighed down by. All in all it was a very enlightening experience for each of us. Turn on your meditation music now, and spend a couple songs-worth envisioning the Golden Mirror and the woman inside. This will be an important tool on our journey, since "whatever we visualize in our minds can come to pass in the physical world." (Breathnach, Simple Abundance Jan. 30th) End your session with a prayer.

As a reminder of your first candlelit Golden Mirror Meditation, make your self a darling candle holder. We had a great time doing this and they turned out so so cute! Click here for instructions. 

Lacey