I’m writing this on the first day of February 2022. I love that Feb. 1st is National Freedom Day. It’s a great reminder that we are free to be — to interpret life in whatever way we choose — to choose to see through the open eyes of love, or the conditioned script of fear.

Lord knows we could all benefit from tuning into the innate freedom we have in simply being and allowing life to unfold how it’s going to. 

But so often we don’t. Our conditioned mind is constantly seeking. It says, “when this life situation is over: when I finish my degree, find the perfect mate, have children, when the children are grown, when I retire, when I finish this project, when this wave of covid gets under control, or when the pandemic ends and things get back to normal — then l’ll be happy.” 

It’s almost as if life is a waiting game. Waiting for something other than what we have right now. Our life situation is not who we are. The more we focus on the circumstances of our life situation, the more distanced we feel from our essential self. We’re reacting to our life situation, rather than being present to this very moment, to our presence in whatever our life situation is. And it feels icky. 

Waiting for our situation to change is stressful. But there’s an underlying message for us here. It is the reality that we don’t have control of what happens. We can’t manipulate life. Life is already giving us everything. What we have control over is the power of our chosen perceptions. We get into problems with our life situation because we have placed criteria on what we need to be okay. And our agenda with life makes it impossible to be at peace with what is, just as it is. 

Only full acceptance of what is, opens us to a different perception of our life situation. The starting point is acceptance. When you see that there’s no chance that the wrong thing is happening, because what’s happening is the actuality of your life, you can begin to flow with life as part of the grand design, everything creating life anew. By noticing you in the background of your life situation, you can feel your essential self — before and beneath the storyline of your life situation. You can feel your power of choice. You can then notice the energies within — feel where resistance is stopping the flow of joy within. Being is freedom, and its natural current is joy. Unless we attach conditions to our happiness, the joy of being alive is vibrant and you can feel the pulse of life beating with and you beating in sync with life.

We can think of February as being palpable with love and appreciation. (Not just the romantic ideology woven into the Valentine’s Day script) but in the everyday simple gift of life itself. 

If you want to give yourself a goal for this month, let it be this:

• Tune into love first thing as you wake. Breathe deeply and listen to the beating of your heart.
• Throughout the day, pause and presence yourself here and now. Zero your attention to your breath. Feel the air moving in through your nostrils, rising your chest and abdomen. Then following the breath out as your belly falls and the air leaves through your nose or mouth. Nothing else is happening, but this — one breath. 
• Notice your feet on the ground or your butt in the chair you’re sitting in. 
• What are your hands doing? Can you feel the texture of the book you’re holding or the computer mouse resting beneath your palm? Your hands in soapy water as you wash dishes. The feel of the air or water on your skin.
• Listen. What can you hear? Birds chirping, the wind rustling the trees, music or television somewhere in the background, traffic somewhere in the distance, people moving about — the hum life all around you… the stillness from which they all arise, come and go.
• Close your eyes, and remember love is what you are. Love is where your pulse syncs with the pulse of life. 
• Now open your eyes and look around you. When was the last time you looked at that painting or the knickknack remembrances in your office or household, with fresh eyes?
• Notice the colors and textures and let the feeling of gratitude wash over and through you. 

A quick way to center away from stressors, is to find something to appreciate. Appreciation slows down the mind and invites presence, here and now.

Your innate freedom is already what you are — you experience it in choosing how you will perceive what life brings your way. If you’re feeling stuck, stressed or depressed, acknowledge it. There is nothing wrong with whatever you’re feeling. Give yourself permission to feel deeply into the energies of these. Notice it’s not really static. It only feels that way because you’re resisting what’s happening. In noticing, you can begin to see that energy is dynamic and constantly moving. 

Just beneath the resistance energy, notice the stillness holding the space for you to work through your humanness; the constructs of your conditioning that make you think something other than THIS would be better. THIS is all there is. THIS is your life. As you allow yourself to be okay with whatever it is that you’re feeling, whatever your life situation currently is — because that is the actuality of your life right now — you can feel the dynamics moving. 

Love that you’re giving yourself these precious moments — giving attention to your innermost being. Feel how acknowledging both the feelings of resistance and the emotional energies bring a sense of love and appreciation for yourself and your life. 

See how this is life giving you the invitation to presence? 

• Slow down. Nothing has to be done. Shift your perception to the joy of experiencing doing those little necessities — so, too, the bigger projects. Each step is equally important to experience fully. 
• Quit living as if now is only a stepping stone to get to some place better. Now is reality.
• Do what you’re doing for the joy of doing it. Feel your feet while you walk, your fingers on the keyboard, the look on your partner’s eyes, the joy of children’s faces as they engage in life. 
• Let go of expectations, of outcome oriented thinking and give yourself to the present moment. You’ll see that the present moment is always giving itself to you.
• Nap when your body asks for it. And rest when your mind is giving you a workout. Tune- in the quiet behind your noisy life and simply rest in the silence — 5 minutes can restore your soul. 

Now doesn’t that feel yummy? 

With love, 
Danét