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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”)

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Gravity always wins

Are you feeling in fit spiritual condition? This is the most important question you can ask yourself on a daily basis.

Everything is connected. How you start your day affects the rest of the day. How you go to sleep at night affects the start of the day. How you live the day affects how you go to sleep at night. It’s all connected.

So the common denominator of how we experience life (and how life experiences us) really is that spiritual connection to a higher power.

This spiritual connection is always reminding me I’m not alone, always reminding me of my intrinsic worthiness, and always embodying unconditional love.

Some days I choose to call this higher power God. Other days it’s the universal creative energy that connects us all. Some days it’s natural great beauty and the elements of the natural world.

And on days when everything feels a little less spiritually high vibe, my higher power is as simple as gravity.

Yes, GRAVITY. It’s a power greater than myself. It’s a power holding us all here, there’s no discrepancy there’s no preferential treatment, there’s no need to work harder to be held.

We are all held and we have a choice in front of us in every given moment to feel held or feel trapped.

We can choose to wrestle against the nature of gravity. I feel this sometimes when I don’t wanna get out of bed and the pillow goes on top of my head in a feeble attempt to try to block out the sunlight and the rooster and the snoring and the traffic (and the worrisome thoughts). 

So as you contemplate the ever present presence of gravity holding you here now in this moment, take a moment and get honest with yourself. Did you wrestle with gravity this morning? Or did you wake up, smile upon awakening before your feet hit the floor, and realize you’re alive for some reason?

Did you say thank you? Do this now, say thanks to your higher power and ask yourself, gently, what are you gonna do with your one wild and precious life?

I’ve been to hell and don’t want to go back. That is the essence of my spiritual development. So I surrender. 

Gravity always wins.

With much Aloha,

Amy Elizabeth

Relational Health Coach & Compassion Activist  

Invest in Yourself. You Matter. Your Relationships Matter. 

p.s. Surrender.

Let us surrender to win.

Let us surrender to success. 

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Do you believe in the power of love?

Why love matters is beyond simple description. 

The power of love is notably felt in the romantic phase. Feeling powerful, free of pain, invincible and higher than high is an amazing life experience. Yet this experience eventually fizzles out; it’s not sustainable.

We can chase it; we can’t contain it.

Romantic love, and the stories we tell ourselves about it, pull us into the highest highs and push us into the deep funks.

Love is a powerful force indeed

In the early stages of our romance, we felt the chemical swirl of feel-good hormones and daring behaviors. The hot and steamy seduction connected us deeply. The pursuit of these passions dominated our days.

Then came the mental wrestling match: Is this really happening? Is this okay? Is this the right time? What about _____ (fill in the blank)?  All of this mental meandering resulted in the back and forth, together/apart dance of our relationship.

You know what I’m talking about?

Then came the subsequent surrender. We fell, hard, in love. Hooked on the drug of love. Biological imperatives called the shots; we were hooked.

From here all things are possible

And it was complicated. I met Marc in 1997. There was a lot going on in graduate school as these flames of passion licked our beings. Rarely is falling in love a clean situation. Other people are often involved. Marc was married at the time. I was in the early stages of sobriety and wanted to treat people honorably; myself included. 

Difficult decisions determined the future. We were tempted and waited. We slipped and slided. We merged and collided. We broke it off and waited. Divorce proceedings simple. I was blamed as the “other woman.”

During the lulls, the resultant longing and disappointment sometimes made me hurt so much I would wish I’d never even engaged. 

My body’s wisdom knew this man could heal me in ways I couldn’t on my own. My body’s wisdom knew we would create amazing things together.

Surrendering to the wisdom of my body, I committed to the relationship. I quit stirring the worry pot and I let the mental meanderings settle, my soul softening to the moment.

Romance reminds me of my meditation practice

In romance, I’m falling in love with my wholeness. I see my wholeness when I look in my beloved’s eyes. I think it’s outside of me. It’s not. 

In meditation I am searching for my wholeness. I think it’s outside of me. I realize it’s not.

In romance I feel blissed out; I can experience this in meditation also.

My mind, left unchecked, bounces back and forth between things I want more of and things I want less of. I praise people or I blame them (including myself). It is a dizzying game of push and pull. This game creates suffering.

This doesn’t get me where I want to go. When I’m caught up in praise and blame, I’m basically manufacturing my own misery.

Romance can do this, too, where we often-times stay stuck in blaming the other person. We get caught up in the power struggle and end up blaming our drug dealer (our lover). The very person who generated the feel-good chemicals in the brain, now becomes target for our disappointment because the feel-good chemicals of romance, to meet and mate and procreate, are not meant to last forever. We need to evolve to something more sustaining. 

When my mind is freed of the burden of attraction and revulsion, I’m free to settle into the moment. Fresh moment. New awareness. Joy and freedom. This is the joyful journey I’ve discovered in my primary love relationship. I’ve moved beyond push and pull (for the most part) and settled into sustainable sweet connection. When we drift, we recalibrate back to this again and again. I believe in the power of love.

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” 

Lao Tzu