In practicing the universal loving-kindness exercise I found myself focusing on a particular movement I recently began following on Twitter and researching. It is called the A21 campaign and it is a movement to abolish human trafficking. The first line of the mantra May all individuals gain freedom from suffering triggered A21 in my mind and that is where my focus remained. It is hard to believe that there are still people, mainly women, that are kidnapped and sold for who knows what to this day. I extended all my energy to his campaign and hoped and wished everyone involved on all fronts freedom from suffering.
Moving on to the assessment process I still felt compelled to become more involved in the A21 campaign which then shifted my thoughts to Habitat for Humanity. I do not do enough in my community so my focus was on community and social activism. I have always donated money to causes and bought Christmas gifts for a local orphanage but my circumstances have changed as well as my relationship with my boyfriend (now ex) of 6 1/2 years. I have noticed, since coming back to school, that I have always focused on other people & tried to make them happy. My focus has been adjusted & my needs have turned to the reflection in the mirror.
For the last 6 months I have been asking "What is wrong with me?". I am learning and discovering that I am not whole. I have never been whole, especially in the last 12 years. So now I am able to begin to recognize the person I see is the person I want to be. The only way for me to get there is to focus on my desires to become a better person and the only road there in through integration.
My plan is to continue to practice yoga, branch out into the community, become a part of something I can be proud of. I don't want to be famous but I want to make the world a better place for my boys and hopefully teach them, through my life practices, to continue to make the world better.
Jen, this was something that I felt I connected with you on. I have had human trafficking on my hearat for a very long time. I recently discovered that I personally kow someone who was a victim of human trafficking when she was between 7-10 yrs old, in another country. She was sold by an aunt to human traffickers,and was eventually able to escape.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to me that you and the other blog I commented on, were ablet o find something you needed to be involved in. I got so hung up on the phrases, that I could't think of anything else....I must have been doing it wrong, and trying to say them too quickly to really get anything out of the exercise. I will try again.
I am also glad to hear that you are realizing that you matter and you should focus on yourself and your community. Goon on, you, girl!! Good luck in your future endeavors and plans that were due to this exercise.
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of human trafficking and I have three children, two teenagers and a four year old. I have seen movies about it and I can not even imagine how I would live with myself if this were to hit home. For me both exercises brought me to another issue that we face today and it is the fight against cancer. It seems like lately too many people are being diagnosed with it. it really doesn't hit you until it hits home and you start doing your own research and learn more about what is cancer and how it effects your life. I am mentally and emotionally suffering for someone close to me and besides my family the one thing that is on my mind the most is just that my sister. Good luck in your future and the focus on your community. I believe that this class has not only taught me but the class itself how to ease the mind of pain and be able to get some relaxation in our life especially in the world that we live in today.
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the exercise and reading your blog, I realized that when a command or phrase says one thing you tend to think of the opposite like when someone tells you to "don't press the red button," You think of pressing the red button. In this case the phrase, "May all individuals gain freedom from suffering," You start to think of people who are suffering instead of people gaining the freedom. I know it may sound weird, but it was just my first reaction to reading your blog. Either way, I had a positive experience with this week's exercise and I ended up trying to improve my interpersonal relationships.
Jen:
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome post! I admire how you put yourself "out there" to share with everyone. You still are giving of yourself by helping your community; however, I am glad to see that you are starting to think about yourself. Isn't it awful how we put ourselves on the back-burner and put everyone else on the front of the range? How do you fit so much into your daily schedule? Maybe you can share your "to do" list with me sometime.
Blessings to you and your sons!
Kim
That is so terrible, makes me sick to my stomach to think those kind of things still exist! We are so blessed for our day to day lives and it's so easy to lose sight of until we hear of things like this :/ And WOW! How inspiring to read what you have wrote. The end of your blog warmed my heart and made me so excited for you and proud of you to take those steps and take care of YOURSELF! I pray that you can see and love yourself the way God see's and loves you and you can become whole. You're on the right track and I'm happy for your journey and timing. If I can, I'd love to recommend the book called Courage by Debbie Ford! Take care, God Bless!
ReplyDelete