Nature Grows from the Inside Out

Do you ever feel like you are living in some else’s skin?  Do you find yourself looking outside yourself “should-ing” on yourself while seeking approval and recognition or even comparing yourself to others?  Do you long for a true expression of your authentic self, but just don’t know the first step to take? Living from a place of non-authenticity is like wearing some else’s jeans…it’s just doesn’t fit and it’s totally uncomfortable.  It may seem like a foreign language to you in this moment, but authentic living is actually very easy and natural when unfolded from the inside out.

It is much like the balance we find in nature.  A flower blossoms from a small seed that grows from the inside out.  You can clearly see this pattern when looking at the center of  a flower noticing each petal naturally expressing outward from the very center of the flower.  It is the same within our cells.  Information flows from the interior wall of a cell outward.  As Joan King shares in her book, The Code of Authentic Living Cellular Wisdom, “The principle underlying this pattern -that guidance originates from the center – can be seen everywhere in the body.”    She further shares with us that this pattern of guidance moving from the inside out is the secret for living a happier and more fulfilling life.

Cellular Communication from the Inside Out

We have all experienced those moments in our lives when we seem paralyzed by fear of what someone else might think, how a person may respond or even comparing ourselves to others wondering if we are good enough. Looking at outside stimuli to form our inner values, needs and expression leads to conflict in our brain, dis-ease in the body, and imbalance in our spirit because it is just not natural. It’s like swimming upstream creating unnecessary conflict for ourselves.

Well, the time to begin living authentically from the inside out is NOW and it’s easier than you may think.  It actually doesn’t take much actual thought at all to live authentically, but does take living in the present moment of NOW and tuning into our innate inner wisdom. The good news is that it takes just a moment to begin laying down the pathways to live your life from a place of authentic expression.  Here are some tools to be used as guidelines to get started in this very moment.

Tools for Living Authentically from the Inside Out:

1) Breathe into the NOW:

Practice living in each moment from a state of  relaxed resilience.  In other words, live each moment with an attitude of being efficiently laid back.  Becoming aware of our breath is a wonderful tool to take us into the present moment relaxed state.  Notice right now if your breath is shallow and fast paced or if it is calm and deep.  Take a deep breath into the sensations of this moment, exhale out any tension in the body or resistance to the moment at hand.  How do you feel?  Being in the NOW resting as awareness is the opposite of forcing or predicting what will happen next. It is not moving from that space of looking outside ourselves to respond, manipulate or react to the moment. It is allowing our breath to take us into each moment in playful exploration.  It is a practice of moving from our inner wisdom out into the world.  You will be surprised what you will find in these moments of NOW that we otherwise would have just trampled over in our quest to accomplish the next task at hand.

2)  Listen to your Body Language:

The language of our inner wisdom is a simple innate knowing that often is not expressed through our cognitive mind in the form of words.  It usually comes to us in somatic experiences through the sensations of our body.   How many times has your body said YES! and your mind talked you out of it?  Take time to tune into the knowing of your body’s wisdom practicing truly listening to your inner knowing and move out in the world from that knowing with confidence.  Take 30 to 60 seconds daily to listen to the language of your heart.  It may come in words, but often times the heart expresses itself in deep rooted sensations in the body.

3) Move from the Inside Out:

As you move through life, practice moving from your inner core muscles with the spine in mind.  The spine is at the center of our being connecting us to our blood vessels, muscles, nerves, facia, and connective tissues. Our spine is supported by our core muscles.  If you think of your spine and these core muscles as the hub of the wheel of your physical body and begin moving from the core of your being out into the periphery of your arms and legs, you will experience and harness your full strength.  This in turn will empower you in the moment to tap into the wealth of wisdom within rather than seeking guidance from without.  This will also help to reduce pain, tension and resistance in the physical body because you are moving in the world from a place of authenticity.

4)  Trust Your Self:

Take little steps at a time to create a big shift in the practice of living authentically from the inside out. Less is more, so little moments really make the most impact.  Trust the information you are receiving from the inside rather than relying on outside stimuli.  By taking it one moment at at time, we begin to understand and trust that each moment is unfolding perfectly and it does not need our control, resistance or force to let it unfold.  As you experience the small moments of success, your trust will build in this practice.

5)  There is no Right or Wrong:

The best part is that there is no right or wrong way to live authentically and there are no set rules. It needs to simply be true to YOU, so it can’t be wrong.  If it feels good in your body and the moment is filled with ease in your mind, you are right on track!  Understanding and trusting the knowing of your inner wisdom and living from that place of awareness in each moment is the practice.  It’s that simple.  Discovering and tapping into your own tools of authentic wisdom and expression will be the most useful, so feel free to add tools that resonate with you to your toolbox!

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss wisdom

Shanti Medina is a fitness and wellness coach specializing in core integration and stabilization, life’s transitions, empowered healing, and spiritual transformations.   Her passion lies in creating and celebrating community while inspiring her clients and students to move from a strong, balanced core in all aspects of their lives.  Shanti humbly holds the certifications of Reiki Master/Teacher, Advanced Pranic Healer, American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach, Yoga and Pilates instructor, and Advanced Sports Nutritionist. She infuses the wisdom of these teachings to guide her students and clients into a unique somatic journey of discovery, observation and play to live by her tag line: Don’t Just Exercise, Energize™.You can find out more about Shanti by visiting her website at EnergizeShanti.com or becoming part of her Energize facebook community at:  EnergizeShanti .

Gratitude and the River of Impermanence

My Journey: As we celebrate the season of gratitude, what better time to begin my blog?  I am so deeply grateful for all of the love, support, sweet moments, musings, inspirations and wonderful Beings in my life.  My journey over the past 20 plus months has been one of riding in the river of impermanence resting in the awareness of gratitude:  gratitude for my aching back and neck as my weekly running routine came to a screeching halt, gratitude for my new job as administrator of the ashram which gave me ample time to heal, gratitude for my healing team of practitioners who were working on me 3-5 times a week, gratitude for the students who called and emailed inquiring about when my classes would begin again, gratitude for the blood at the base of my brainstem, gratitude for the trainer who was willing to take over my caseload of training clients when I was not able to train them myself.

After a severe rear-end collision in February 2010, I found myself faced head on with the practice of impermanence. Watching that which was once near and dear to my heart fall away like the changing leaves on the trees.   The personal training practice I had built for the past many years was placed on hold and my weekly yoga and core training classes were paused indefinitely while I turned my awareness inward toward my necessary healing.  At moments I struggled with the feeling of my heart being torn out with the realization of all that was falling away and all that was changing without my control.  It was a whirlwind of sudden unexpected change.

My grounding rock in the river of this impermanence was gratitude.  Each time I was faced with the realization of what my body could not do, I found gratitude in the little things my body could still do.  Each moment I found myself lost in a fog from the trauma to my brain, I found myself silently holding gratitude for remembering the little things in life that had brought joy to my heart. The practice of gratitude was my rock buoying me into the core of my heart with each breath preventing me from sinking into the abyss of sorrow in what was falling away.

The gift of gratitude invited me to flow in the practice of impermanence rather than dig my heels in with resistance.  I found myself eventually seeking out the impermanence just waiting to see what else would fall away giving way to the unknown, unexplored path on my journey.  I used my body as a barometer to sense the stillness within amidst the uncontrollable change.  Rooting into this stillness invited me to flow deeper into the unknown, the unforeseen, inspiring a letting go of what is naturally falling away without having to rationalize the “whys” of the past and the “hows” of the next moment.

In the Buddhist tradition, the first Dharma Seal is impermanence.  By looking into the nature of life, we can see that this not only means that everything changes, but also that nothing remains the same for even two consecutive breaths. Our cells are changing moment to moment, our brain waves are flowing and changing within each moment, our thoughts and emotions come and go in each moment in time.  Nothing remains unchanged from moment to moment; therefore nothing outside of us has a fixed identity or a permanence. However, in this practice of impermanence, we can rest in the unchanging Self; that which remains the same from moment to moment, from inhale to exhale, amidst all the day to day changes.  We can rest as the awareness of the present moment rooting into the unchanging Self as our thoughts come and go, positive experiences come and go, negative experiences come and go, even as our health comes and goes.

As I continue this journey of life, I am noticing my healing sessions from the accident are coming to a close and my exercise regime is returning with renewed vitality and focus.  I am pleased to announce my weekly yoga and core classes will resume in 2012 and my company, Energize, is once again thriving. Just as a butterfly’s metamorphosis transforms from a caterpillar in the dark chrysalis spreading it’s wings into the light of day as it squeezes out of the seemingly constrictive chrysalis with new found strength and beauty, I am using this time of rebirth to spread my wings soaring into the unknown with a deeper sense of gratitude.

Quote: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow”. -Melodie Beattie

Practice of Gratitude: Use your body as a barometer resting in the sensations of your body in each moment of your day.  One easy tool you can use to dive into the sensations of your body is your breath.  Follow your breath and let the breath reveal the sensations in your body.  Notice the sensation of the breath flowing in your nose and flowing out.  Notice the temperature of your skin.  When you feel resistance in your body, invite yourself to find gratitude in that resistance for what the sensation of resistance is sharing with you in that very moment.  When you feel the sensation of joy in your body, find gratitude for that which is bringing you joy.  When you feel sorrow in your body, YES, find gratitude in that sorrow for what it is releasing and what it is sharing.

Allowing yourself to find gratitude in each moment while resting in the awareness of impermanence invites us to realize that each sensation lasts but just a moment. Sensations, experiences, moments come and they go.  The joy and the sorrow are impermanent, so celebrate each sensation and each moment in gratitude for all that is in that very moment and find out what is unchanging within the river of sensations, thoughts, and emotions that are flowing.  Rest in that which remains the same.  As Ramana Maharishi shares with us, “Let what comes come. Let what goes go. Find out what remains.”