The Art of Receiving

I am still working through "the capacity to have."

The capacity to accept gifts and praise, own your success, own your enough-ness and your strength. To own being you.

This internal dialogue was brought on by a gift of gorgeous peonies from a neighbor.

I realized that it was hard for me to accept such a lovely gift without thinking about what I had done to deserve it. My mind immediately went to the fact that she has 2 noisy toddlers and has had lots chicken manure all over her backyard this past week as they have been putting in a new lawn.

How was I going to reciprocate? The gift not the manure....

And then I noticed that I wasn’t truly enjoying the gift. I was missing the beauty in the moment. Those flowers spoke up loud and clear!

Creating and opening space and receptivity within to "be" and allow and experience is work. Powerful, beautiful, life affirming, growth work.

Inspired, I have been working to loosen that space behind my heart that is often stuck and tight. Giving the heart room to breathe and fill up in diastole - even further.

There was an article awhile ago, about the importance of spending time in "diastole" in life-- resting and healing. Systole is the time for doing and pushing forward. It made the the point that you can't have one without the other.

I believe you should take this even further. When you create space for diastole and allow it to grow, the systole is even more powerful and results in even more of a super bloom.

When you truly allow yourself to feel the love and soak in your own sufficiency just as you are, you can show up for the world from a place of increased strength. And you create even more beauty and joy.

For those of you who often feel like an imposter, or who naturally focus on self-sacrifice, and self deprecation, consider a building a different muscle.

Practice making space for enough-ness or at least sufficiency. Practice allowing praise and receiving. We share best from this place.

The best gift we can give to others is to grow and live an unapologetic and authentic life. Show others, the beauty and the possibilities.

When you water the plants and fertilize them, you create incredible flowers. Better yet, allow others to help you.

You don’t need yoga or a coach to learn teheart of receiving, but a guide helps navigate the sometimes swirly waters.