let chi come to the needle

allow

During an acupuncture treatment, I found myself bracing against the next needle insertion. There were two students working on me, one very aggressive, the other more mild in her approach. I spoke up. 

“It feels like two different people are treating me and I am guarding against this experience.”

Wow, miracles occur when authentic voice speaks and present moment awareness guides the next event. 

Number one, in speaking my truth, I relaxed. I trusted myself to no longer abandon myself when something is not okay. I released the bracing and made myself more ready to receive the treatment.

Number two, in shifting their desire to fix, the students stimulated the healing process, and, lo and behold, the treatment mellowed in its intensity, and became more healing in the process.

And number three, in suggesting another approach, the instructor recommended that instead of moving the needle around in search of chi, they “let the chi come to the needle.”

This message, let the chi come to the needle powerfully shifted the moment.

Less effort, more being.

Less striving, more thriving.

Less seeking, more receiving.

Let connection come to you by learning this simple practice of surrender. Don’t try so hard. We live in a codependent society. The worst in me, when joined with the worst in you, brings a messy glimpse of reality. Trying to fix makes a mess. Trying to heal brings resistance. Allowing the other’s true essence to shine and connect with that is where meaningful relationships are born, and thrive.

You are surrounded by healing energy all the time. Your angels and ancestors await your request to serve you in your highest good. The healing power within you is ready to come to the needle.

The person inserting the needle does not need to try so hard. He doesn’t need to stir the needle in search of the tug or zing of the evidence of chi. The chi is there, waiting, patiently for space to show up. For safety to emerge within so the healing can transpire.

If you are looking for connection, sit back. Stir your own energy field and find stillness. Trust yourself to no longer abandon yourself. Bring your best self forth. Shine. Your magnetism will create just the connections you need. And just what your heart desires.

Try it. You matter. Your relationships matter.

Here are my take-aways: may they serve you as well.

*Let inspiration come to the pen, the canvas. (show up to write or to paint)

*Let connection come to the soul. (show up in sacred stillness & silence)

*Let chi come to the needle. (show up to serve without the agenda to “fix”)

Savor the Moment

trifecta of bliss

The little ditty came to me today. A reflection of the day…

Moments that matter 

Linger longer in my mind. 

Learning to savor the beauty 

Blessings not hard to find. 

Exhales of a humpback whale

Clouds gathering at sunrise

Dew drops in an iridescent spider web

Shimmers as a holographic dragonfly.

Moments are fleeting

Pausing. Breathing. Remembering. 

Taking in the good

With a simple humble greeting,

Aloha whale

Aloha cloud

Aloha spider

Aloha joy

And the creative juices are flowing from Hawaii Island to you, near or far…

Three juicy invites:

1. Join me Saturday 12/12 at Tara Galeano’s book launch party  

2. Join me Monday 12/14 at 11am Hawaii for our Last New Moon Zoom Room

Meeting ID: 808 936 3733
Passcode: Aloha

3. Join me Friday, December 18th sacred virtual space for our Solstice Gathering with a sharing of joys and sorrows. Rituals that nourish your heart. 

Meeting ID: 808 936 3733
Passcode: Aloha

Holding you high in my heart. Savor the moments the matter. Now. 

Strong Backs, Soft Fronts, & Wild Hearts

Happy Monday. Feeling grateful after swimming with dolphins. Two days in a row. No creature delights me more than the dolphin.

Joy embodied.

Yet how often do we not choose joy because our mind tells us we could/should be doing other things? I almost didn’t go this morning. 

After choosing to get up early and wrestle my Monday morning mindset that says, get to work! I courageously chose to adjust my work schedule and begin the day with the ocean. 

Getting in the ocean is restorative for me. Releasing my fear, unlocking the pinch, and calming my vagus nerve are important practices that help me metabolize the stress of daily life. 

Choose joy.

Joy boosted my courage to stretch myself to learn a new skill as the steersman in the 6-person canoe. I almost gave up because we were headed straight into the sun and it’s a hard skill to master.

I almost gave up because the sun was too bright!  I’m tired of giving up when things beyond my control are right in front of me. Can you relate? 

Itʻs time to heal, rest, regroup. And we don’t have to do it alone. I’m crafting some fun ways for us to antidote social isolation and stay connected across these many miles and many moons.

Stay tuned…

Until then, I encourage you to go for a twenty minute walk with this in your ears: Brené Brownʻs Unlocking Us Podcast.  

Listen on Spotify 

She recorded this last week and itʻs full of juicy inspiration. Itʻs about how she courageously faces each day with a practice called: “Strong Back, Soft Front, Wild Heart” she learned from Roshi Joan Halifax.

I know several of you are already familiar with this practice, so consider this a reminder. Those of you new to it, please do tune in, you will love it! 

You Matter. Your Relationships Matter. 

Holding you high with much Aloha,

Amy Elizabeth

Relationship Architect & Compassion Activist  

Copyright 2020 Amy Elizabeth Gordon, MA. All rights reserved. 

p.s. My Moonshot on this Monday is to be fully present in the moment, courageously feeling the feels and allowing gravity to gently hold me. 

What is your Moonshot this week? (That something extraordinary that would not normally happen) And I’d love to hear about how you practice courage in your life…

Labor of Love

Love: Romantic Phase

Let’s face it, there’s no denying the level of heartache around the planet presently. Many of us long to live whole-hearted and yet we feel that when life gets lifey, exhaustion overwhelms us, and keeps us stuck in negativity & grief. 

Let’s take a moment and focus on what your tender heart can do. Sign up:

Labor of Love mini-retreat, Monday, September 7

Refill your cup, fuel your creative fire, and align with your own personal power points in this mini-retreat from the Hawaiʻi Island.

I promise you will come away feeling inspired, resourced and tender.

here’s my quick video invite:  

Quick Video Invite 

Let’s step in the command central of our nervous system with the support of some trusted guides, hand-picked friends of mine who are transformational coaches, all of us are ready to pour into you so your cup runneth over. 

This virtual love offering supports you in developing key practices to ground in the peaceful paradise wherever you are. This is important for us all to do right now, particularly if you’re feeling the trauma and the drama is too much and you want more aloha and compassion: this is the place for you.

Here’s a schedule so you can join us for what resonates:

  • 8am: Power of Sovereignty:   Amy Elizabeth will offer warm welcome, tune-up, breath-work and launch ignition of the 3 power centers in each of us to get the most out of this mini-retreat.
  • 9am: Power Center of the Mind:   Alexandra Deubner from Vienna, Austria leading us in a beautiful visualization and Moonshot Meditation to help you energetically align with what matters most to your head. 
  • 10am: Power Center of the Heart:   Tia Christiansen from New Hampton, Massachusetts guiding us in a cosmic smash booking exercise to help fuel your creative fire and energetically align with what matters most to your heart. 
  • 11am: Power Center of the Core:   Mark Van der Gaag from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania inspiring shift and making miracles happen to help you energetically align with what matters most to your soul.

This half-day mini-retreat is an opportunity to recharge your batteries.

Please take what you can use and leave the rest.

This is designed to uplight you, not drain you further. 

Sign on when/if you can and come and go as needed. 

This is a love offering and any payment, now or later, is welcome and appreciated. 

Love Offering

What to bring to my Zoom Room from the comfort of your own room:

  • coffee, tea, water
  • comfortable cushion/chair (there will be ample breaks)
  • journal, crayons, markers
  • favorite tree (sit by a window or have a photo)
  • favorite place in natural Great Beauty (a place you can access right now whether in your minds eye or actually through modern technology).

We are going to ground in the great Natural Great Beauty and play. 

Together, we rise. We divide our sorrows and we multiply our joys. We cannot do this gig called life alone.

We are going to spark joy, fuel our creative fire and fill our reservoirs in order to be resilient and compassionate change agents in the world.  

Aloha Friday: an extraordinary life of service

This week we are exploring the 3 Realms we dwell in which I wrote about in my transformational memoir, Moonshot: aim high, dive deep, live an extraordinary life. If you would like to purchase my memoir from an independent seller, my friend Mary has some on the mainland she can mail more easily than I can so please send me your interest and we’ll make arrangements. I also just found a great new link buying books at bookshop.org

whew, I digress, back to the topic: 

These 3 Realms are Resilience, Compassion, and Service.

In essence, we feel the tender heart of sadness in order to heal it. We remember we are connected to others in order to live an extraordinary life of everyday enlightenment and uplift the world. 

As I learned in my professional training in Imago Therapy, we are wounded in relationship, and it is in relationship that we are healed. 

We dwell in the Realm of Service

  • we live and breathe interdependence
  • we practice response-ability
  • we practice generosity: we give to live
  • we choose wisely to uplift our consciousness

Service ordinary definition: the act of helping or doing work for someone

Service extraordinary definition: the way of living that uplifts the world 

Ready to join me in the new extraordinary story of tenderness and uplifting the world vs. the old story of toughen up and suffer? Great, letʻs talk, hit reply now, leave your number and time zone, and we’ll hop on the phone. 

With much Aloha,

Amy Elizabeth Gordon MA 

Relational Health Coach & Compassion Activist  

  • clear your mind
  • open your heart  
  • rekindle your spirit  
  • energize your life 

p.s. Here’s a panel interview I had earlier this year with 3 powerful beings (including my beloved, Marc) to discuss service. 

check it out >>https://vimeo.com/383149750 

Reverence of Sacred Beings

path, reverence, sacred

Some of you know I was a political scientist prior to becoming a contemplative psychotherapist. In the spirit of all the swirling change:

Join me for a timely, important course about politics in which the teacher, Charles Eisenstein, offers an inspiring vision for how each of us can play a role in bringing about a much deeper political revolution than mere victory.

It’s free August 3 to 12. Sign up at www.onecommune.com/hope

And, if you need more information, here’s his welcome letter:   

Hi everyone, I am looking forward to engaging you in this journey, and feeling a little bit of heightened awareness of the kind one might feel before treading through a minefield 🙂 However, despite the rancor of the political climate today, I am confident that we can engage this topic in a special way.

Instead of patronizing you with guidelines about being respectful, I would like to invoke the principle of reverence. Reverence is the awareness that one is addressing sacred beings. It is not the same as solemnity; it includes humor, playfulness, and ease as well.

To maintain reverence means noticing habits of polarization and judgment that arise when one is challenged by difficult information or difficult emotions. Inevitably our group will mirror the divisions and conflicts of the outside world. The answer is not to avoid them or to plow them over with positivity. Rather, I invite us to help each other…

– Hold anger without diverting it onto hate

– Hold grief without diverting it onto despair

– Hold compassion without diverting it onto pity

– Interpret each other’s words generously

– Let go of being right and seeming smart

Sincerely,

Charles