One concept I work with in The Way of Joyis what I call “Integrity Activates Change”. The way I see it, in order to create change — to pivot what you don’t want into what you dowant — requires being able to acknowledge and embrace your “whole” self — including all of your history, both “positive” and “negative”. Then I believe you are better able to make self-respecting choices that integrate all of who you are, including all of your different aspects or inner voices.
The questions I often return to that guide me back to my own integrity, the embrace of my whole self are:
Do you feel aligned with your vision and your passion?
What do you do when you hit roadblocks?
Even when something frightens, angers, or demoralizes you, how might you use it?
The next performance of Living Arts Playback Theater will be Traces of the Trade: An Afternoon of Film and Interactive Theater on the Legacy of Slavery on Feb. 4.
What is a challenge you’ve grown from that contributes to who you are and what you offer others?
Have you ever felt like you were so focused on Getting-Things-Done that you forgot you were in a body? You know, those times when you’re pushing like crazy or succumbing to the temptation of “one-more-thing-itis”?
Too often, the consequence of my brain speeding ahead of my physical body is that something’s gonna take a bite “out of my hide.” That’s sure what happened to me last night. Literally.
I was speeding along, in a pretty good mood, getting ready to walk my dog before running over to pick up one of my sister cast members, to go to the theater in Berkeley where we were performing a show with our theater company, Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble. I was Jazzed— freshly showered, make up on, hair gelled (Yes, sisters, that is a Big Deal for someone who is essentially kind of a nature-grrl who loves soft comfortable clothes and is not real big on mirrors).
Anyway, I was getting something out of my car and being careful not to hit my little dog’s head with the car door and, instead, slammed it right on my thumb. The next 2 seconds took about 3 hours, where my head said, “err, why can’t you move your hand…OMG…it’s jammed in the car door! (And Finally) OPEN THE D**N DOOR!”
What happened after is kind of a blur as I went into major coping mode. I gotta say that I received enormous support from my Playback Theater family (heart-filled shout outs especially to Allison, Roni, Merry, Gina, and John) including love, sympathy and even some Reiki, I also managed to bring my portable BEMER—(a pulsed bio-electro-magnetic energy regulator that is an Awesome healing device) So I got through the show and even had serious fun making people laugh or cry with the stories we enacted.
Today, as I type through the throb, I’m remembering that if, instead of saying “yeah yeah yeah later” when my body is yelling “slow down Just a little—take a moment, Vicki,” I could actually take a moment to breathe and open some inner space, it might help when I am feeling running late, over-extended or just plain crazed. I might not only avoid this kind of accident, I might even discover that I can slow time down.
So in the spirit of opening space in time, I would like to share this “Space Shake” Way of Joy practice. Shaking is a common Qigong exercise that spans many different styles. The benefits are enormous including increasing your blood flow, supporting your joints, building cartilage, and relaxing your brain.
Shake loose tension and open space in your body, heart, mind, and spirit. Brush away any energy or thoughts that interrupt your well-being. You can even place your hands on your belly and give those inner organs a little shake to stimulate their functionality.
One of my teachers, Daisy Lee, once told me that she knows a 100 year old woman qigong practitioner in China, who attributes her health and longevity to shaking for 20 minutes a day. So would you be willing to try this “space shake” with me for just 1 minute? Just stand up, or even do it as you sit at your computer? You don’t need to follow my timing, just shake it awake!
(Music: Shake It Awake: Mambo by Sherry Mouser)
When you’re done, place your hands on your belly for a moment and notice whatever you might notice…
Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy: An Evolutionary Process to Awaken Inspiration, Focus Intention and Manifest Fulfillment, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
Running my home business is one of the many things I’m grateful for in my life. At the same time, I’ve been feeling driven lately—not just to do the work itself, but to learn new tools, find new ways and places I can share my message. That’s all good and seems healthy. The only problem is sometimes I forget that it’s ALSO healthy to breathe and assimilate what I’ve just done, before dashing off to do the Next thing.
In an earlier blog, I talked about how times of contraction and rest are actually an essential part of a strategy for running a home business—that it’s crucial to remember to take a pause “in-between.” But if you’re like me, that can be hard to remember. See, I’m one of those lucky people who absolutely loves the work I do—teaching, healing, writing, performing, and public speaking. I just don’t wanna stop!
What I’ve been realizing lately is that I need to discern the difference between motivation that is vital and coming from Source from the kind of drive or pressure coming out of an underlying, unconscious anxiety and doubt—that no matter what I do, it’s won’t be Enough.
Still, if I drop deeper into the question behind that anxiety—am I doing everything I can for my business?—I realize it’s still of value because I’m passionate about nurturing and sustaining growth anyway I can.
In the end it all comes back to staying in balance. Hmm, time to practice what I teach! This is one of my favorite qi practices to keep me in balance, as I explore, expand, evaluate and play.
What are some of the things you do to create balance in your life?
Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy: An Evolutionary Process to Awaken Inspiration, Focus Intention and Manifest Fulfillment, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
There is a popular saying I often hear circulating among people who are part of the movement to create a new improved paradigm for living and healing that says “you create your own reality”. For me, a far more interesting question to ask is how do you respond to whatever is happening? I don’t believe that there is some magical formula here.
Rather than asserting you can totally create your own reality, I prefer to say that you can choose how to respond to your reality, which consequently affects your reality. How you choose to respond to any given situation colors your perspective. This in turn influences how you experience your reality. Then, because your subjective experience is different, you can also say that your reality is different. So, depending on the nature of your response, you have changed your reality.
For me, the bottom line question is not whether or not we create our own reality, but what we do when things “out of our control” happen—that is, how we receive and respond to whatever occurs.
When something happens in your life and you transform it into a means for growth—even with particularly painful situations like the death of a loved one, undergoing a chronic illness, a business failure and so on—rather than trying to evaluate whether you have done a good or poor job of “attracting” it—it seems to me the real work is how to hold the stance of accepting, even welcoming, all that happens as food for spiritual/personal growth and development.
I am not saying I think we should rejoice when we feel pain and suffering. However, I am suggesting that when you allow the present moment, whatever it is, to somehow become a contribution to your life, it becomes possible to experience even the greatest pain in a way that doesn’t feel oppressive or make you feel like a victim. By keeping the channels open, you can discover how you might use those obstacles either for information or redirection of your qi.
Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy: An Evolutionary Process to Awaken Inspiration, Focus Intention and Manifest Fulfillment, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
Last week, I spoke about intentionally using your breath to open up “space inside” as a way to allow your energy (qi) to flow. This week, let’s look at how that open space gives voice to our own eternal wisdom, a perspective can help us navigate through the various challenges we might face. How can we find the “eternal” self, the core part of you that holds the keys to guidance?
Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy: An Evolutionary Process to Awaken Inspiration, Focus Intention and Manifest Fulfillment, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
