Tag: Suffering

What Causes Suffering?

Just remember, it’s not that stress, worry or fear is bad, it’s how you perceive these to affect your life that is causing suffering.

There is a purpose behind the fear, stress and worry.

What is it trying to tell you and can you accept and acknowledge the purpose lovingly so that you can further disengage the suffering caused in your mind?

Every small discomfort and trigger is a gift from the Universe. It is Life trying to further evolve you and ready you for your next big adventure.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Alexandre Chambon on Unsplash

Dreamwork: The Recurring Dream

Unbeknownst to me I’ve been having a recurring dream on and off in a span of a couple of weeks. So how do I know this? Well, somehow in my meditative state this morning I became aware of this recurring dream… and it’s meaning.

First, let me tell you about this dream. Like almost ALL dreams this one is particularly odd 😉 I seem to be running, whether on a treadmill or out on the natural pavement, but every time my left foot hits the hard surface of the ground I notice that the heel edge of the shoe is crinkled from having stepped on it so many times and I am struggling to make sure that with each step I am trying to jam my foot back into the shoe so that it is secure and doesn’t fall off! As you can see, this gets QUITE frustrating…

There’s no conclusion to the dream, just the constant anxiety and pressure to ensure the shoe doesn’t fall off!

Well, guess what? As soon as I became aware of the dream I realized it’s meaning!

It’s all about LETTING GO.

How many times do we try to make something work on our own, OR believe this one way is the only way?

To me, this dream symbolized a few simple, yet deep truths.

  1. I’m reminded that the struggle comes in trying to do it all ourselves. Oftentimes we feel alone in our endeavors and/or our thoughts. We begin to believe we truly are alone and that no one could truly “get” us and our thoughts furthering ourselves from seeking friendship and true understanding of the human experience.
  2. Furthermore, I’m reminded that when we try to control every aspect of the situation in order to get to an expected outcome, this keeps us in a state of suffering and panic. Why? Because there is no way we can control anything outside of us. This includes events, and yes, other human beings.
  3. Lastly, I’m reminded that when we try so hard to achieve the thing we think we want, the desire keeps us in a state of suffering. Will we get it? No one knows. Are we enjoying the journey? Certainly not!

It’s funny, I hadn’t even realized I was having this dream and yet, when I became aware of the dream I instantly became aware of it’s true message. And what a relief!

We all go through moments where we need the reminder, the pep talk, the simple loving touch to remind us of WHO WE REALLY ARE AT OUR ESSENCE. After all, what truly matters in this thing we call life?

I cherish and honor these simple remembrances of what it truly means to be alive, and to awaken me from my shift in perspective so that at the end of the day, I can truly live from a heart of divine love and presence.

May we all cherish the reminders.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Seth Macey on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 12/15/17 {Our Relationship To Emotions & Ways to Center}

It’s officially the middle of the month guys… are you taking advantage of every moment? Drinking in the last few days of 2017?!

I know for certain I have had a few moments this past week where I am caught up in the busy-ness of the day to day, but thankfully yoga and meditation brings me back to center.

What are your day to day staples that help you bring you to your center?

No really, do you have something that can help you calm the thoughts? the emotions? the discomfort of being in your body at times?

Oftentimes we forget that it’s OK to have the emotion but what’s actually causing the suffering is our RELATIONSHIP to the emotion which causes angst and incredible pain.

That’s where the practice of silent quality time with yourself can come in handy. Whether you have a practice already or not, I thought I’d list a couple here. Personally I have found it helpful to switch it up at times.

Ways to Center

And the list goes on! The point here is to give you a breath of inspiration OR allow yourself to pivot from any of the ideas above so that you can creatively find new ways to center.

This practice is powerful and if you already have a personal practice you know what I’m talking about. They’re a life saver 😉

So, if there’s one thing I can emphasize for this week’s Friday Focus it’s this – it’s not our emotions, it’s our relationship to the emotion that causes the suffering.

Here’s to finding more ways to find our center and a new awareness of our relationship to our thoughts and emotions.

In deep wellness,

Susan

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 8/18/17 {Grief}

“Grief is tremendous, but LOVE is bigger. You are grieving because you Loved truly. The beauty in that is greater than the bitterness of death. Allowing this into your Consciousness will not keep you from your suffering, but it will help you survive the next day.”

~Cheryl Strayed

This quote struck a chord especially with so much grief being experienced not only in our country but oftentimes we forget other countries as well.

What I keep coming back to is how can we control our own sphere of consciousness so that we can make an even bigger difference in the world? How can we strive to act, speak, and BE from Love, our inner source, so that we can be the change we want to see in the world?

We’re human. It’s much too easy to get caught up in our heads instead of our hearts. That’s the practice. That’s where the years of work come into play. There’s where spiritual work is.

May we find Love underneath our grief, suffering, and/or frustrations.

May we always turn to Love because Love is the most strongest and biggest force of them all.

Namaste.

Somewhere along the Pacific coast line

Watch It Come And Go

No matter the situation, no matter the emotion, no matter the thought – just remember watch it come and go.

Accept the resistance.

Accept the discomfort.

Accept the need to escape.

Accept the subtle need to want things to change.

Watch it come and go.

Love where you are.

Love yourself.

Love every emotion and thought that comes by.

Love the tiny awakening inside you.

Love the fact that you are OK right here, right now.

Watch it come and go.

This is the practice…

Friday Focus – 5/12/17

This week I’ve been meditating on what it means to be in suffering.

How it is so easy for every thought, action (even non-action), and word to lead to suffering without awareness.

You see, when we are not mindful of the space behind our thoughts or actions, essentially we are making a choice in every moment that comes with judgement.

As an example, for the most part without even recognizing it, we are driven by a general need to make the right choice… this can look like:

“I can’t believe I said that?! What can I say next so I don’t sound so stupid?”

“Wow, I ate salad every day for lunch this week! I better keep this up!”

“I want to move to Seattle but I just met my significant other. How do I know which is right?”

Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like suffering! And sometimes it feels like small suffering while other times it feels like BIG suffering. The reality of it is that all problems lead to the same path – suffering.

(Relevant tangent: Even the idea of choices can lead to suffering when the need to make the right choice is very strong. Here, you can use ‘problems’ and ‘choices’ interchangeably.)

Ok, ok, this may sound doomsday but there is light in all of this. Promise!

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