ENLIGHTEN UP! a blogSelf-awareness stories: lighting our way to clarity, contentment and resilience in a complicated world.
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 This is an excerpt from my upcoming book: Bitchcraft, Owning Your Power in a Complicated World. Enjoy! Along with the good things in life—love, friendship, success, talent, personal power, and peace of mind—we face challenges as we navigate our way through our culture, climate, politics, religion, tradition and a host of other factors. How we react or respond to those difficulties depends a great deal on how we view life, the world, and our place in it. The way we think, what we believe, and what we do are influenced by our demographics: the family we’re born into, the resources we have access to, our educational level, our location on the planet, and how we process information and handle stress. To be who we are, to own our power, and move through life with a measure of clarity, contentment and resilience is, or ought to be, a privilege, as Joseph Campbell states in this quote: “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” But for many, it’s a privilege too often denied because of race, gender, nationality, ability or religion. To embody the privilege of “being who you are,” we need skills. What kind of skills? My answer to that question is Bitchcraft. Bitchcraft, the book, is divided into six sections. Section one provides a definition for the word Bitchcraft and describes the methods and tools for developing your Bitchcraft skills. It covers:
Sections two through six discuss each of the five SASSY qualabilities (qualities + abilities) in detail (Strength, Assertiveness, Skill, Serenity and Youthfulness), highlighting the related building blocks needed to achieve the goal of owning your power. Each chapter presents a challenge to overcome, provides a guiding light to help you move past the challenge, and ends with a selection of accessible practices to support and reinforce your Bitchcraft journey. You can read the book from cover to cover or skip around from chapter to chapter depending on which Bitchcraft qualability or building block you need for the day. Keep a copy on your bedside table and look at it before you get out of bed in the morning or after a refreshing nap. I suggest using these steps for a daily practice:
Throughout the book, I share the highs and lows of my Bitchcraft journey along with those of friends, colleagues and others whose stories taught me something important about this internal work. The following quote, attributed to Rumi, the thirteenth-century Persian poet, says it best: Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise, so I’m changing myself. Dr. Annie Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany echoed this same idea in 1995 at age 103: I thought I could change the world. It took me a hundred years to figure out I can’t change the world. I can only change Bessie. And honey, that ain’t easy either. Learning how to own your power in our complicated world is a lifelong practice. So, embrace the process and focus on the journey, not the destination. Good luck on your Bitchcraft journey! The e-Book is now available for pre-order: 
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 “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” — Lena Horne The holidays are here and we’re moving into them facing troubling times both at home and abroad. In addition to these two sources of stress there are the deeply personal ones like our relationships with family, friends, and professional situations. The mental and emotional fallout from any one of these sources is difficult enough without the added stress of the holidays. Whatever your holidays look like, this added level of stress can feel like ‘just too much.’ How to deal and cope? We all need huge doses of three self-care medicines: resilience, patience and laughter. Resilience Embodying resilience is one way to manage anxiety, reduce stress, and get clear about what we can do to get through the next few months – or maybe years. Resilience is the ability to rebound quickly from a crisis, tragedy, trauma or a serious case of ‘stress mess.’ Highly resilient people won’t fall apart easily, and when we do (cause’ we will!), it won’t be for long. Why? Resilient folk call on their inner resources and ask for outside help when it’s needed. They ‘tweak’ their expectations to fit any and all new realities. Not surprisingly, research has found that resiliency varies from person to person due to a variety of factors, including genetics, but like any skill, resiliency can be learned. Resilient people tend to share several common characteristics. Resilient People
The difference between those who are more resilient and those who are less resilient, may be in how self-aware the person is and how they put resilience into action. It’s recommended that we build our capacity for resilience before we face difficulty. If we are working on living healthier in body, mind and spirit, we’ve been building resilience right along with self-awareness and peace of mind. Patience Patience is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. It helps us exhibit perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding with annoyance and anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with long-term difficulties. And oh, boy, these days that can resonate loud and strong. There are many benefits to patience as a value, a virtue and a practice. Patient people:
Developing a patience practice is useful, but it’s a real struggle for some people. If you are like me, you’ve had your patience tested and more than likely, the results were negative. So it needs to be on a ‘to-do’ list for regular practice. Laughter My last suggestion is to bring more laughter into your life, because laughter is medicine and we all need huge daily doses. A sense of humor helps. Do you have one? I hope so! A sense of humor is defined as the ability to perceive, appreciate or express what is funny, amusing or ludicrous. Having a sense of humor means being able to laugh at, or at least see the humor in life's absurdities. And with global warming and political storming, we have all the absurdities we can handle at the moment. The Mayo clinic lists several benefits. Laughter can:
Personally, I make it a point to laugh every day. It always makes me feel better no matter what absurdity or problem might be present or looming – and there is always something! I DVR The Daily Show (political satire), and Saturday Night Live (cultural & political satire) - see a pattern here? I get my laughs by watching one or more of the shows after my morning yoga practice. By the time I have finished my breakfast, I’ve had my share of belly laughs, increased my endorphin flow and set a positive outlook for the day - well, most of the time – it’s a process and some days are better than others, but at least I put in the effort. Holiday Stress Busters Here are two easy, accessible techniques for dealing with holiday stress. The Relaxation Breath is a breath practice that does five things at the same time. It:
Instructions 1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 2. Soften your chest and shoulders. 3. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open with a downward gaze. 4. Inhale normally. Exhale normally. 5. After exhaling, hold your breath out and silently count “one thousand one, one thousand two.” 6. Repeat and continue for 2-3 minutes or longer if you are comfortable. If you practice regularly, you will be able to use this technique in situations when you must stand and keep your eyes open.  Hakini mudra This ‘yoga for your hands’ technique is said to bring forth a state of balance and integration. If your fingers won’t cooperate due to stiff joints, arthritis or amputation – visualize it. Instructions: 1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 2. Soften your chest and shoulders. 3. Hold your hands facing each other a few inches away from your solar plexus. 4. Touch the tips of the fingers and thumb of your left hand to the corresponding fingers and thumb of your right hand. 5. Create space between your hands as though you are holding a small ball. 6. Relax your hands and forearms on your lap. 7. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open with a downward gaze. 8. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable. 9. Focus on your natural breathing process. 10. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch. Hope this helps you navigate your holidays! |
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AuthorBETH GIBBS started her yoga practice in 1968, four months after her son was born and she’s been practicing ever since. She currently teaches all levels therapeutic yoga classes for adults, and specialty classes for seniors in the Hartford, Connecticut area. Beth is a certified yoga therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is guest faculty at the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy. She writes for the blogs, Yoga for Healthy Aging, and Accessible Yoga. Her master’s degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA is in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health. Categories |
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