self love and freedom

The air is sweet, the senses are stimulated, and there are no bounds to what you can give, no stipulations when you are truly in love. You are simply aware…every cell vibrates…AWAKE.

I recently experienced the grace of being able to practice true love when my husband told me his construction company (our bread and butter) was going out of business and I didn’t freak out. (this happened on Monday) I was in true equanimity and I was able to care for his Spirit. I responded by asking him what his heart truly wanted. We had a brief conversation on the logistics and then, my suggestions for him going forward were that he meditate 2x/day – b/c I know that if he meditates – he will make the decisions that serve his buddhi, his conscience – a gateway to his Spirit. If he meditates, he will expand his capacity to listen to his Buddhi as he meets various challenges.

It has not always been this way. I have had to work at this over many years. In fact, this has been one of my biggest karmas – one of my biggest fears to resolve – and this fear goes back to my ancestors whose wealth was destroyed by the Korean War. Due to this cataclysmic event, my mother has ingrained in me that it is a dire necessity to create and protect wealth…that our lives depend on it. 

My husband’s construction company has never been stable and over the years we have had to seek counseling and guidance from our guru to manage the stress of the fluctuations. Our guru, Ram Lev at AMI helped us put everything on the teachings and through hard work, we have transformed this karma and experienced grace. What kind of work yielded this equanimity?

Our work is our practice…practicing Self-Love through the art of living yoga. What does that mean? That means listening to your conscience with every thought, word and deed and having your outer actions reflect your inner wisdom. This comes in the form of decisions big and small and ones that don’t even have to do with work or money. It’s letting your intuition guide you in every decision at every moment. As you make one decisions after another that serves YOU through heading the wisdom of your intuition, you build willpower, self confidence, and the inner strength necessary to handle what comes. And now, even though we aren’t prepared for this financially, we are emotionally and psychologically prepared and we can move forward in joy and freedom despite what many view as a challenging circumstance.

In fact, we view this as an opportunity to grow.

So, it’s all about Self-Care loves. Your ability to love and give true compassion without manipulation/stipulation, your experience of freedom, of joy – is founded upon your ability to love yourself – to practice Self-Care.

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On this day, I invited you to take a moment and try some magical mantras by guru Thich Nhat Hanh.

First put your hand on your heart and say to yourself
“Dear One, sweet One, my beloved…I am really here for you.”
Say it over and over again until you feel it, you believe it. “Whatever rises in the field, beloved I am here for you.” 

and with hand on heart…

“Dear One, I know that you are here and it makes me very happy.”
say this one to yourself and feel the benefits of gratitude and appreciation. 
Then do it on anything else/anyone else…to your dogs, your cat, the moon, your partner, your children, your coworker. You can get mystical about it and do it silently…but spread the love.

And last, a photo from back in the day when all our family in S. Korea had was a pit latrine for a loo and buckets to bath in. My grams, myself, and my cousin – a family having fun, nevermind all the STUFF.