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with Lea Houston, MA
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April 17, 2008
Greetings!,
Last night I dreamed that my friend Kate and I were walking at twilight in an unfamiliar neighborhood. We came to a house with a piano in the front yard. Kate, a remarkably talented composer and pianist, sat down and began to play.
The music spread into my body, down through my feet and into the earth. It rose up and spread into the sky and to the forested mountains, filling all the world near us and far beyond. The music rose up and touched our dear friend Clara, who recently died at the age of 91. The music spread to touch all the beings of the earth: the winged beings, the crawling and walking and swimming beings, the stone beings and the rooted beings.
Two women came out of the house and stood, drinking in the beauty of the music. "This is why," one told us when the last notes had settled into the mountains, "We have the piano outside. So it can play for the animals and the plants and for all the world."
Ahhhh. What great generosity! To put your piano in the yard so that its music is for all and so that strangers may wander by and play! And what great generosity to spontaneously create a concert for this moment, on this precious Earth.
This dream is a wonderful reminder for me of the joy of opening to that free-flowing state of generous creativity that connects us to our deepest nature and to the nature of all beings.
Whatever your gifts, whatever your spontaneous creations, may you offer them freely. You never know how far your music may spread and who may be in need of just what you have to offer. In the giving, and in the receiving, there is healing.
My article offering this week is about beginning a long-dreaded journey of orthodontia. I've been learning a lot about the energy it takes to dread and to avoid and the freedom that comes from taking the first steps.
Perhaps you will find insight and awareness and perhaps you will notice areas, big or little, where the limitation of avoidance is ready to be transformed into freedom in your life.
Thanks for being here! I'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail me with musings, experiences, questions and suggestions. lea@leahouston.com
Wishing you abundant love and health,
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Moving From Avoidance to Freedom!
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This week I did something I have been considering, putting off, dreading and avoiding for years. I got braces. Yes, at 52 years of age, I now have a full set of orthodontic braces. Yikes!
While minor cosmetic issues sometimes made me wish I had gotten braces when I was a kid, over the last years it has become a bigger problem. My dentist has urged me to have orthodontic treatment as my bite alignment has worsened and caused damage to my teeth. But, I kept finding reasons not to start.
Lately, the dentist has said that this is something I need to do if I want to save my teeth. Motivated by that terrible thought, along with the wonderful security of being in relationship with a deeply supportive, generously loving man, and the realization that putting it off was a pretty pointless strategy, I've finally taken the leap.
So for 18 to 24 months, I'll be smiling through ceramic and metal, kissing gently, avoiding crunchy nuts and hoping not to gross people out with food stuck in my teeth.
- The dreading is over! All the energy it took to put this off is now free and available for more useful and enjoyable pursuits.
- I am one week into the process, and therefore one full week closer to having it all over!
- There's a certain odd pride I feel in doing this at my age. Who says any age is too late to do anything?! I was inspired by Barbara Morris's description, in her book, Put Old on Hold, of getting braces on her teeth at age 69! I expect to enjoy my beautiful, well aligned teeth for many decades.
- Soon, this will be the past and my time in braces will be over. Just as I've often wished I had done it years ago (Why, oh why, did I not do it when my daughters were getting their braces? That would have been fun for all of us!) I imagine myself, in the not too distant future, looking back, happy that I did it, now.
- This morning, as I started to teach my yoga class, I suddenly heard an inner voice telling me to love my braces. OK, I realized, I can do that! It seems to me that attitude determines at least 90% of our experience of life. So, if I am loving my braces, rather than hating them, feeling embarrassed by them and apologizing for them, I expect that my next two years are going to be a whole lot more fun!
Perhaps it would be helpful to ask yourself a few questions about what you might be avoiding. Please remember to ask these questions with compassion and tenderness for yourself. After all, we are all only human and life is a great playground for learning!
Big Avoids
- Are there actions or practices that you know would really benefit you (in health, career, relationship, home, finance) that you have been avoiding/delaying/putting off?
- Are there things you will inevitably need to do that would be to your advantage and/or a relief to do sooner rather than later?
- How much of your precious life energy does it take to keep putting these things off?
- Is it worth the wait?
Action Steps:
- Pick one of these Big Avoids that wants to be accomplished soon and make a plan toward accomplishing it.
- Gather examples of people who have done what you are undertaking. Talk to them, cut out pictures of them, imagine conversations with them, feel their positive traits in yourself.
- Imagine the final outcome. Imagine it in full sensory detail. Write/tell/feel/enjoy how wonderful you will feel when this is finished. Practice this end-state imagining often. Keep it juicy and alive with details!
- Consider the timing. Although I sometimes am a bit irritated with myself for not starting my orthodontic process ten or five or four or two years ago, I remind myself that I had a lot going on in those years. Right now, my life is really stable, I feel loved and safe and I know I can be successful. Timing is important.
- What will help you be successful? Consider what support from others, structures and systems in place at home or work will help make it happen.
- How can you let the process be as easy and enjoyable as possible? What thoughts, conversations, stories, etc add to your ease and enjoyment?
You can do it! Just getting started will help you be happier and to feel more free and alive!
Little Avoids
What are the little things you've put off that get harder and harder to do, the longer you wait? Maybe you have been putting off thank you notes, returning calls, answering letters and e-mails, a growing pile of paperwork, clutter in the closet.
If you don't have any of these: Congratulations!
But if you're like me, maybe you do have a mental or physical stack of those little niggling things that pull your energy and nag at you in the middle of the night.
Action Steps:
- Make a list of these Little Avoids.
- Which ones would you like to be done with this week?
- How could you approach these in a way that would be fun and doable and let you get through them quickly?
This Saturday, I have blocked out four hours to go through my top Little Avoids. I'll put on some music, make some tea, stay away from the phone and e-mail and click lots off my list. I can already imagine how great I'll feel afterwards: lighter, freer and full of vitality.
Here's to embracing our Big and Little Avoids sooner rather than later, to taking back our precious life energy and to continually learning more about life in a body!
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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, CLASS OR WEBSITE? Great! Just use the whole article and include this complete tag with it: Lea Houston, MA, transformational wellness coach, energy healer and inspirational speaker, publishes the Self Care Celebration! e-zine twice a month. If you're ready to create a life of vibrant health, wellbeing, ease and vitality, get your free report and sign up for the e-zine at
www.SelfCareCelebration.com Contact Lea for coaching and speaking: lea@leahouston.com |
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Resources:
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Relaxation Remedy CD for Pain Relief, Stress Reduction and Inner Replenishment
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