Conscious Inklings Blog. IDEAS, INSIGHTS & INK-SPIRATION.

~ Excerpts from Our Friend, and Author Shannon Kaiser's Article in Spiritual & Health Magazine HERE

1.) Drop From Your Head Into Your Heart: Move from your head, the overthinker, the answerer, the rationalizer, into your heart space, the way of oneness, unity, compassion, and kindness, and you will see a shift in your life.

2.) Connect With Nature: This is one of the best ways to connect to this omnipresent energy. In nature, the feminine creative energy runs wild. One of the most transformational tools for awakening to your inner light is grounding (also known as earthing): directly connecting our body to the earth to restore the electromagnetic balance we need to maintain optimal health and healing.

3.) Find Balance: The Sacred Feminine is not about gender, as this energy lives in all of us, but much of our society operates from a masculine "hustle and do" mentality, which doesn't allow for much room to just be. The energies of action (masculine) and allowing (feminine) coexist, and we must find the balance between the two. Embodying just one of the two will either lead us nowhere or cause us to push so hard that we are left frustrated and exhausted. Balance is key. When we find it, we are both taking inspired action and receiving and appreciating all of our desires. 

4.) Honor the Stillness and Reclaim Rest: Because we are fueled by a "get-more-done" mindset, constantly on a mission to achieve more, do more, get more the masculine energy is fed more than the feminine. But the divine feminine revels in being. Many of us don't take enough time to relax, to literally revel in the art of doing nothing. Sit in silence for five minutes and observe what comes up for you. Taking time to be one with yourself in each moment can help you connect to the sacred Feminine and divine light within. 

5.) Live Your Values and Make Choices With Intention: The divine feminine energy wishes to “deepen into the fullness of existence,” which means she’s a seeker of growth, expansion, and new experiences. Invite yourself to push outside of your comfort zone. What can you do today that is new? How can you live with more integrity and make choices that honor your own soul’s deepest desires? What have you always wanted to do but have not given yourself permission to do? Making conscious choices to enjoy new experiences will not only help you feel more balanced and joyful, it will help you harness the true power of the Sacred Feminine.

6.) Practice Self-Love and Compassion: Self Love is misunderstood because it isn’t a state of being but rather a decision you make when you finally realize that anything you experience is a direct reflection of your relationship with yourself. The ultimate way to embrace the Sacred Feminine is to practice self-love and embrace yourself fully. Start with loving yourself as you are, not as you think you should be. One of the biggest components to self-love is self-compassion. The relationship we have with ourselves sets the tone for everything in our life. Learning how to see yourself in the eyes of source energy, God, is one of the best ways to live in the energy of the Sacred Feminine. Once we master this, we will feel free.

"Excuse Me, I Beg MY pardon."

How We Can Be More Loving Toward Ourselves.

Conscious Ink's main purpose is to support us to in NOTICE and ACKNOWLEDGE negative thoughts and hurtful self-talk. In doing so, we can identify old subconscious patterns that do not serve us and SHIFT to more loving self-talk and self-affirming thoughts that DO.

Remembering we have a CHOICE in the matter is empowering. 

As we know, our thoughts are powerful beyond what most of us realize. In our last newsletter, we talked about how our thoughts can affect our healing. Dr. Bruce Lipton states "Our minds create perceptions, and our perceptions result in chemical changes in our bodies that ultimately affect our biology." But what about how our mind creates perceptions about how we love ourselves?

Have you ever messed something up and/or made a "mistake" and said something to yourself like "Gosh that was dumb. You are an idiot"? Of course, you have! We all have! But is that serving us?

Is it showing love and compassion to ourselves?

How does it make us feel?

Would we allow someone else to say that to us and be ok with it - without feeling judged or shamed?

So why are we allowing ourselves to say it to ourselves?

Our example of how we love ourselves teaches the world how to love us. So, if our inner dialogue is judging and shaming on a regular basis without us stopping to notice this negative self-talk and shifting it, how can we possibly grow to love ourselves or expect others to?

A lot of questions I know... But, this introspective work is important to the transformation we are all desiring. Let's take a moment to start TODAY and COMMIT to being mindful and NOTICING those moments of negative self-talk, ACKNOWLEDGING how detrimental they can be, and then SHIFTING to something much more positive and loving. 

Instead of "Gosh that was dumb. You are such an idiot" we shift to "Huh, an interesting choice you've made here dear sir/ma'am. What can I learn from this? Let's try it this way instead for a more preferred result!" And perhaps, try adding a British or Australian accent, because that brings levity and makes it fun, which changes the energy to a more loving one!

Now, on you go! (In my best Audrey Hepburn's British accent)

Start today with more loving self-talk and show this world just how to love you! 

Cheerio!

Amanda Brown (Conscious Ink's Right-Hand Lady)

Kanye West has become one of my favorite people in the spotlight over the years. 

 If you are looking for the back button ready to X out of this email, hear me out.

 After a couple of minutes of watching TV, or things like Instagram, or TikTok, it becomes painfully clear that our society has a serious obsession with "perfection". Those with a certain "look", aesthetic, vernacular, etc. get the most engagement (likes and comments) and admiration by far. The life they live can look like nothing but blissful joy and perfection at every turn.

While this could be the case in some of their lives (especially that which they show on camera), a more likely scenario is, that once they put down the selfie stick and camera, and walk into the next room, their life is just as normal as the next. They may have a fight with their partner, scream at their kid, binge eat some ice cream, take off their Spanx, or perhaps say something hurtful to someone they love.

As most of you reading this surmise, seeing this facade of perfection continuously everywhere we turn - without the balance of the "real" behind-the-scenes life that is not in fact perfect, affects the rest of us. It has a trickle-down effect on the significant majority of us, directly or indirectly. 

And it's not good.

Subconsciously, we start comparing ourselves to the people we see on our screens or in magazines. We start to attempt to "measure up" in some way. Whether it is the way we talk, how we laugh, what we eat, where we shop, filtering our thoughts, or even hiding our inner child; we all tend to change up in front of people we don't feel comfortable or safe with, hardly know, or are trying to impress as we attempt to "measure up". Instead of being ourselves, for fear of being judged for not measuring up, we present a representative of ourselves to others. An inauthentic version, that mimics the facade of "perfection" we are all inundated with, that takes us farther away from being real. 

And not only are we not bringing an inauthentic representative to the table, but we are also creating uneasy inauthentic energy that many we are engaging with pick up on and can sense.  Which, in turn doesn't foster an energy that let's THEM to bring their own authentic self to the table. So we are left with a very inauthentic, superficial human interaction that leaves this world less connected on a human level.

It's a thing for real. When you are comfortable in your own skin and act as such, it is felt. That comfort-ability in your own skin puts others at ease to be comfortable too. And if we were all made uniquely and differently, and we are all flawed humans, and make mistakes, why can't we embrace it all and JUST - BE - REAL?

We all deserve to be operating from a place of authenticity and true essence, not perfection and facades. It's tiring to be something or someone we aren't. We were all made uniquely and have inherent gifts to give to the world. But, how can we give those gifts to the world if we aren't being real and showing up authentically? If we're too busy trying to be perfect and measure up, we grow farther away from our authentic essence. And we become distracted from reaching our highest authentic potential!

With that said, let's take a moment to talk about Kanye.

In my opinion, Kanye is as real as it gets. Kanye is not seeking approval. And you can love him or hate him, but he just is who he is. He is an example of living authentically. Not necessarily intentionally, lol... but authentically. 

 He's a normal guy, passionate about creating art, and is fumbling through life in front and behind the cameras. I'm not here to defend his actions at times, and I'm not here to judge either. But, he's an example of not living for anyone's approval. He isn't afraid of being judged or ridiculed. He is flawed just like you, just like me, just like all of us. At times a hot mess or a slow train wreck. We are him and he is us. Even when he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech on live TV years ago; which was not clandestine, and he hurt someone, he was unfiltered and authentic. He was actually standing up for Beyonce, he just didn't think it all the way through.

And if WE'RE being REAL, and we gave it a second and thought about it, we could all probably recollect an embarrassing moment we aren't too proud of where we were led by ego, reactive, and stuck our own foot in our mouths. It just wasn't on display for the whole world to see. 

But he's living in that truth in front of us all. He's not trying to "measure up" or be someone he's not to impress. Some of his lyrics are "don't trade your authenticity for approval". He embodies that and I appreciate it. It's almost as if (and not that he is intentionally doing this) his authenticity gives the rest of us permission to show up and just BE. Be true to who we are and hope we are surrounded by others who will respect that and also give grace when need be. 

I appreciate the way he lives his life, versus the fake, inauthentic facade many put on. I think part of the reason someone like Kanye has the following that he does, is that when Kanye fumbles, crashes, and burns, it's all on display for the world to see. And guess what? Most of the world can relate more to THAT than the facade of perfection so many others are presenting. We can see ourselves in him. We can relate to being toxic at some point. We can relate to embarrassing ourselves and our families at one time or another. We can relate to being selfish, etc.

 And THAT creates a more human connection. Which is what the world needs... in my humble opinion. 

So, as you leave from your computer or phone and think about the version of YOU you would like to present to the world, think of ways you can be real and show up more authentically. Are you tired of filtering your thoughts, shifting your talk. or hiding that inner child? Realize that being real and showing up authentically benefits you and your ability to step further into your highest potential, and own your uniqueness, but it allows others you engage with to do the same, and that is what creates REAL connection.  

 And that's win/win for everyone. 

My 7-year old son likes to make things. He turns sticks into wands and bubbles into beards; he weaves together books with words and drawings of worlds he dreams up and mashes keys into melodies on his Yamaha keyboard.

He can’t wait to tell me--and anyone else within his proximity--about the things that he makes. In fact, he never fails to ask someone to record his work, with a picture or a video, or preferably, both. Every song he composes has a spot in my video library, and his books are placed on the bookshelf next to the works of Tolstoy and Maya Angelou.

His friends are the same--all anxious to share their creations. 

I like to make things too. My medium of choice is writing. I write poems, articles, stories, and sometimes even whole books, like my son. Though, I hesitate before sharing the things I make. It takes a lot to move my writing beyond a private folder on my laptop. I, unlike my son, have years of experiences that have told me, directly or indirectly, that it isn't safe to share the things that I make. More specifically, that others will reject me if I am too much of myself. 

Over time I learned to bend and sway with the current of public opinion, bringing to light the aspects of self that received positive affirmation and eroding away the bits that weren't received well by others. 

This is, of course, a human ability we all have to mold ourselves to better align with outside expectations. And it's useful. For thousands upon thousands of years, it served as the unifying fabric of tribes, protecting us from the threat of rejection at a time when belonging was essential to survival.

The same instincts that helped us fit in with the tribe also make stepping into our authenticity all the more terrifying. It puts the inner critic on high-alert, causing us to doubt ourselves and our abilities, to look to others to validate us rather than leading with our gut instincts. If we're not careful, we risk prioritizing what others think of us over what we think of ourselves. 

This is why transformation is an inside job--the biggest shifts take place when we turn down the volume of public opinion and promote our inner knowing to CEO. And so much of this work is about unlearning--stripping away everything we were taught we needed to be to win the love and approval of those around us.

When we remove these outside layers, what remains is our authenticity--the little self bursting at the seams to share their ideas, eager to hang their stick-figure drawings in gold-plated frames.

Amanda,

Conscious Ink Staffer

A few months ago, after being repeatedly encouraged by friends, I decided to check out a class at a local dance studio.  I browsed through the descriptions of the various classes and for some reason, a class called “Pop Video with Brandon” just stood out to me.  Who doesn't want to be able to dance like they’re killing it in a music video?

So, I showed up to my first day of class, and as I sat on the wooden floor of the dance studio, stretching, I realized that I was really nervous.  I hadn’t taken a dance class in over 15 years, and even then I took modern and ballet.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to learn the pop and hip hop infused choreography and that I would end up just making a fool out of myself.  Just as my anxiety was starting to hit a peak, the instructor walked, or rather, bounced into the room.

I was instantly fascinated with Brandon.  Everything about him was striking.  Physically, he was tall and lean, with ebony skin, and a megawatt smile.  He was dressed in true pop video star style, with 1970s basketball short shorts, sneaks, and a barely there tank top, and somehow, on him, the look seemed simultaneously fabulous and effortless.  Even more striking than his appearance though, was, what I can only describe as, his aura.  An incredible light seemed to radiate from him, and I was so busy being intrigued by this person that I forgot how nervous I was.

Brandon hit the music and we warmed up to the sounds of Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson, before shifting into the choreography.  I watched Brandon demonstrate dance sequences, and I could feel my movements becoming stiff and awkward as my incredibly stubborn perfectionist tendencies took hold.  I continued to study Brandon, trying to understand the secret to his dance amazingness, and then it hit me.  While he was certainly executing every move to perfection, fluid in one moment and then sharp the next, it wasn’t what he was doing as much as how he was doing it.

The only word that accurately describes Brandon when he dances is fierce.  As I watched Brandon dance, I noticed that he was expressing every ounce of his passion, joy, and talent in every movement.  He wasn't holding anything back, he was fearless, and it was a revelation. He moved around the room, beaming his infectious, child-like smile and calling out encouraging things to my classmates and me.  “Work it!....Yeah!...Holla!”

I looked around at my various classmates—people of every age, shape, color, and gender.  They, too, were completely letting go and dancing like their lives depended on it.  No, not everyone was hitting every move perfectly, but no one seemed to care.  They were all too busy being Beyonce, Britney, or Michael.

As I found my own fearlessness and began to let go of my inhibitions, self-criticisms, and worries, I found a power inside of myself that I didn’t even realize I had been suppressing.  I found my own fierceness, and I realized that this is what makes a pop star.  This is the “it factor” that people talk about.  The ability to not hold back even a tiny bit of your own greatness, and I couldn’t help but think about one of my favorite Marianne Williamson quotes.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ ”

In that moment, I realized how much I have lived within this perspective, this idea that I should be careful not to shine too brightly.  That it might be threatening to someone else or that it might be too much to live up to.  That, maybe, I am not worthy of being great.  But the ever-wise Marianne Williamson goes on to ask the question that Brandon implied in his class. “Who are you not to be?”  Why should you subdue your light?

Williamson illuminates the truth that was unveiling itself to me.  Sweat-soaked, in the middle of a dance class, with club music blasting, I realized what my classmates and Brandon seemed to already know.  “Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

This is what Brandon’s class was about—liberation.  Liberation from our fears, from the limitations that we place upon ourselves.   I went into a dance class, hoping to get a good sweat and some new moves, and I came away with a lesson that I have carried with me every day since: Not only do you not have to hide your light, you absolutely should let your light shine as brightly as it will, because the very act of doing so just might give someone else permission to do the same.  And that is, most definitely, a gift.

 Looking for a way to remember to let your light shine?  Check out the amazing affirmation tattoos in The Conscious Ink Store! 

Conscious Ink tattoos are designed to encourage you to connect with your inner light and share it with others!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of balance.  It’s one of those things that we often take for granted, like our health, but once we’re struggling to maintain it, its value becomes abundantly clear.  Losing your balance physically can be an uncomfortable and even scary experience.  One moment you might be standing with your feet planted firmly on the ground, but then the surface beneath you shifts, and your body must immediately respond in order to regain stability.  Luckily, our bodies are built with systems that work automatically to maintain physical equilibrium.  We don’t have to think about how to adjust when we feel ourselves becoming unsteady; our limbs simply move into place to attain balance once again.  But, what happens when the loss of balance occurs on an emotional or spiritual level?

 We can lose our emotional balance in a number of ways.  Unexpected life events sometimes leave us feeling as if the ground beneath our feet has shifted or we dedicate too much of our time or energy to only one aspect of our lives.  Over time, too much or not enough work, play, sleep, or food eventually take its toll on our wellbeing.  Addictions, emotional struggles, and unfair expectations lead us to push the boundaries of what is healthy for ourselves, and we restrict, over-indulge, pressure, or neglect ourselves until we feel completely disconnected from our own centers.  We suddenly find ourselves living lifestyles that aren’t sustainable, but how do we stop?  How do we find the balance that we lost?

Any yogi can tell you that balance is a skill that must be practiced and honed.  It is not a static state that will necessarily persist once attained, but requires constant maintenance.  You might find your balance, then start to lose it, recalibrate, and find balance again only to feel it slip once more.  While our physical response to losing balance is automatic, it is still an ability that can be refined and the same is true of our ability to maintain emotional balance.  It is through the practice of staying present in each moment and staying connected to our inner truths that we build a deeper awareness of the unique set of factors that lead to a strong spiritual foundation in each of our lives.  As we becomes more tuned in to our emotional states, we see more clearly the signs that let us know when we have pushed ourselves too far or have neglected something that is vital to our sense of wellbeing, and we give ourselves the opportunity to become experts in the never-ending art of creating balance.

Want to stay present, tuned in, and balanced in your every day life? Click HERE and see which message is speaking to you today. 

Answers reveal themselves to us when we are in a state of calm curiosity. This is why big insights come through when we are doing things that, on the outside, don’t look like much—watching the tide roll in and out, taking a shower, commuting to work, etc..

These activities give us the space necessary to digest our day-to-day lives. It’s as though clarity is waiting to find us uninterrupted to tap on our shoulders with solutions to the problems peeving us.

Temporary detachment from our daily lives is the key ingredient here, as this grants us with a bird’s eye view of all our undertakings. From here we temporarily stop working in our lives and begin to work on our lives.

To clarify, working in your life includes all of the things you do each day to keep the ship sailing—going to work, getting an oil change, scheduling appointments, etc.. By contrary, to work on your life is to step away to make sure you are headed in the right direction and includes things like spending time in reflection, planning ahead, or sitting in silence and seeing what comes up.

When we weave together both elements—time spent engrossed in the necessary minutiae with time away—shift happens. We no longer need to dig beneath crumb covered couch cushions for answers, because we have the foresight needed to comprehend the bigger picture. The routine daily activities become infused with a greater sense of purpose, as we have stepped away long enough to know why we are doing what we are doing.

 And…drumroll please…we stop losing our keys, because, during one of our steps away, it occurred to us that we can order a key finder—a nimble little gadget that connects to a phone and only requires the push of a button to relocate them.

Amanda,

Conscious Ink Staffer