how to find peace now

Today I counted twenty people this week who, laden with guilt, told me they're enjoying this forced isolation. That this is "just what they needed". That they "have never felt so good". That their "bodies are more relaxed than ever". For those of us who are healthy and quarantined, this is a major gift. We get the permission to sit still, to breathe deeply, to stop comparing, and to allow ourselves to integrate this new way of living and being so we do not revert as soon as the quarantines are lifted.

For those who cannot quarantine because they have to change someone's hospital bedding, or dress someone's wounds, or share the air with an over-filled Intensive Care Unit: I nearly weep at your service. The fear, the courage, the love you must be holding actually causes a pain in my chest. I am so grateful that the dying, the ill, and the recovering have these angels over them.

For those who are dying, stricken ill with this virus, or dealing with any other health crisis that may be overlooked because Covid-19 is in the spotlight: I imagine you daily, from my place of privilege. I eat my healthy food, I walk my daughter up the mountain, I revel in watching my wife journal with our two cats, & I give thanks for each client that continues to work with me and pay me. I also give thanks for each client who cannot pay me and for whom I continue working with.

I live my beautiful life, enjoy this quarantine, and fully commit myself to loving my experience AND holding space in my heart for those who are not having as much fun as I am. For me, that is true compassion and love. It does not have to be taboo to enjoy this and find great healing in it. Suffering does not need more suffering. It needs more love, compassion, clarity, and strength. And that comes from the vitality of each of us, which comes from grounding into our own reality's and thriving in them, doing what we can, and accepting what we cannot.


Exercise For Peace

We are all experiencing a lot of fear right now. What we read, what we see, what we hear - it's everywhere. This doesn't include the stress of our friends and families as they express their fears to us.

Fear is the result of projection, the imagination of what's going to happen. Peace & balance are the result of being still & present with our current state without projection.

So close your eyes, take a breath, and notice where you're clenching or constricting. Notice the image that matches the sensation. What you heard, what you're imagining, what you fear - just hold that thought or image in your mind. Really feel how you physically feel that image/thought.

Where do you feel it?
What does it feel like?
What do you do with it? Do you eat, go to the phone, curl inwards, etc?
What emotion correlates it?

Now, open your eyes and see your current environment. Feel your breath go into your lungs. Feel your body in the seat. Look at the room around you. Physically feel your current reality. And run that through the same questions.

Where do you feel it?
What does it feel like?
What do you do with it? Do you eat, go to the phone, curl inwards, etc?
What emotion correlates it?

Compare the sensations of the imagination vs. your actual reality. This is a practice to start noticing the difference of projection vs. your present moment.

Give yourself permission to experience your present moment. We must respect our projections and fears, but we don't want to believe them.

I love you all. Let's keep our circle of peace and safety going. Feel free to ask questions, request themes for free webinars and share anything that I could be part of to help.

xo,

Luis