The Gift of Sleeping Late

Today I harvested the gift of sleeping late. In general terms, I’ve also heard it referred to as the gift of procrastination. Regardless, for us perfectionist types, this is counterintuitive.

Before the Gift of Sleeping Late

The day before my appointment to install new tires on my Subaru Forester, I was in my usual busy mode. First, the dog had a meeting with the vet at 11 am. Then I planned to bring some artwork for reframing to an establishment in Blowing Rock. Next, I would hurry home to catch a group Zoom meeting for animal communicators. Finally, I planned to participate in a Power Hour of Recipe Organization with Alexandria. TV’s Team Organize.

How do you feel after reading this paragraph?

It doesn’t feel good for me, either.

Of course, it didn’t happen exactly like that.

I hurriedly left home on Wednesday at 10:30 am. Less than a mile from home, the tire pressure light comes on. My heart sank into my gut as I looked for a driveway to pull off the road. As I moved around the car and inspected the tires, the rear passenger tire seemed slightly lower than the others.

I eased back into the driver’s seat, closed my eyes, and asked, “Do I continue to the vet?”

Immediately, I received a gentle ‘No.’

Heading home, I weighed my options. Then I texted my new neighbor, Andy. He volunteered to stop by in the late afternoon and take a look.

The Energy of the Day Changes

Now I had time to consider how I wanted to spend my day. First, I took the dog for a short walk. Then I got my hands dirty planting the sixty Iris reticulata bulbs and the remaining handful of daffodils cooling in the garage. Finally, I gathered up fallen maple leaves for my compost pile. These grounding activities had been weighing on my mind for days. Then, as if to prove the worth of this change of pace, a gentle rain fell as I retreated into the house to rest.

The helpfulness of the day continued when my neighbor, Andy, asked if I still needed his help with my tire.

I replied, “Yes, please.”

Next, he noted that he was headed into town to drop an employee off. “Do you need anything from the grocery?”

“Could you pick up a small container of whole mushrooms?”

I had time to prep the Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe, and Andy would bring the missing mushrooms. He was happy to stay for dinner. The tire would hold with the air from the compressor I bought last year.

The stew exceeded my expectations. Andy enjoyed a home-cooked meal before heading cross country on Friday to be the groom in his upcoming wedding. And I felt relief that my tire would make it to the garage the following day.

Back to the Gift of Sleeping Late

I still needed to learn my lesson. So, although I considered setting the alarm to make my Thursday 8:30 am appointment, I chose otherwise. Expecting to arise at 6:00 am, I awoke with a start to see 8:31 am on the clock.

After a brief conversation with one of the sons of Eller and Sons, he changed my appointment to 2:00 pm. I quickly canceled my workout at 1:30 pm and emailed Matt to let him know I wouldn’t make the 2:15 appointment. Matt called me back, and we rescheduled for Monday; I took a deep, cleansing breath.

I thanked my Spiritual Board of Directors, for giving me the gift of sleeping late. As a result, I had the opportunity to slowly go through a morning of much-needed self-care.

What Did I Learn?

Joy comes from living life in the now. Filling our lives with commitments reduces our happiness. No one benefits. Take time out to relax, regroup, and return to what brings you peace.

Repeating the Reiki Precepts aloud makes my heart feel open and healed. Perhaps you will feel the same.

With Love and Compassion,
Dawn

The Reiki Precepts

For today only,
Do not anger,
Do not worry,
Be humble,
Be honest in your work,
Be compassionate to yourself and others.

Stand Tall in Your Light

Be brave. Stand tall in your light. Pull yourself toward the sun and blossom like a yellow flower in a field of white flowers.

Stand Tall in Your Light

Everyone sends out and receives energy. Choose to find what lights you up and let it shine.

It takes effort to recognize your talent. In addition, you may need to overcome some realities of life.

  • Deep hurts from childhood
  • Understanding yourself
  • Physical limitations
  • Energy blockages

You can follow many paths to help you stand tall in your light. Some people try traditional routes. However, they may also find non-traditional ways for deep healing more successful. For example, I successfully used acupuncture and reiki to overcome physical limitations. Western medicine is excellent for responding to emergencies and some diseases. Yet, only reiki could soothe the pain of my husband’s cancer until the experienced hand of a surgeon removed the tumor.

Deep Hurts from Childhood

I have experienced healing by seeking traditional counseling. However, it was interesting how often I heard the suggestion of journaling to open my internal channel to find the root cause of mental anguish.

Listening to my intuition, the knowing I felt in my body, brought me to personal coaches, astrologers, the System of Reiki, writing retreats, shamanic healers, and many more.

The most important thought here is to keep trying until you find the necessary process to heal the deep scars. Perhaps it is as simple as knowing how to search for your helpers. Download my free guide to get you started.

Understand Yourself

Another realization for me is to take it slow. My default is to juggle multiple projects at one time. So I pulled back my days volunteering from two days to one. Soaring gas prices gave me another reason to reconsider the necessity for multiple trips into town. And I’m following suit on this blog, taking three times as long to finish it.

This understanding of myself has been a deeply personal process. Yet, we all need to understand ourselves better. My article about using ‘tried and true’ methods includes links to online personality tests that cracked open the window into my way of being. But recently, I found a unique questionnaire that helps me understand my conative self (how I do things). It’s from Kolbe Corp. When you know how you get things done, it’s much easier to set and accomplish goals in your work and personal life.

Physical Limitations

There are many ways we may feel physically limited. For example, perhaps you live in the desert Southwest but long to live near a beach. Can you change your location? Perhaps not. But you can make small changes that bring you closer to the beach you dream of through posters of a beach. By meditating on this scene, your energy can change, opening up an opportunity to move nearer to the beach.

Although we may feel physically challenged by our bodies, our minds are unfettered, free to imagine a world of limitless possibility. Moreover, it costs nothing and is always available.

Energy Blockages

Energy is in everything. It is limitless, at least to our capacity to understand.

The energy in a hug from a loved one is easy to feel. Notice changes in your body when you receive a hug. Since this feeling doesn’t have a linear component, it is possible to feel the energy in a memory. Try it right now. Close your eyes and imagine the person to whom you feel closest. Are you experiencing their loving care in this memory?

Making real change is a slow process. Many layers of hurt may absorb the earth’s and sky’s beautiful energy. Find a practice that resonates with you; walking barefoot on the earth, performing gentle yoga stretches, or simply taking deep breaths down into your belly. Daily returning to our natural grounding practice can result in a positive change. Soon, you will stand tall in your light effortlessly.

Bringing More Balance Into Your Life

How often have you read headlines about bringing more balance into your life? Do you have any idea how to do this? Is this imbalance physical, mental, energetic, or something else?

Bringing More Balance into Your Life

Most of us acknowledge the wisdom of the statement above. It’s been a real problem for me that was accentuated when I began to raise my spiritual awareness. Although it seemed innocuous, raising my awareness created an energetic imbalance for me.

Determining Energy Imbalance

My study of the System of Reiki identifies two opposing energies that affect all types of balance: earth energy and heaven energy.

Too much earth energy may result in feeling stuck.

Imagine yourself dreading another day at your desk job. All your friends are tired of hearing you whine. The more you complain about your situation, the more stuck you feel. However, during your afternoon coffee break, you hear someone excitedly talking about the change in their life after they start journaling. So you begin to write the following day and slowly discover you have options in life.

Too much heaven energy may result in feeling scattered or unable to make decisions.

Now imagine yourself preparing to walk out your door on the way to run errands. Unfortunately, your house key isn’t in your pocket or purse as you start closing the door. Walking back inside, you feel dizzy and filled with apprehension. Two possible ways to react; race around looking in every room for the keys or calmly stop, taking slow deep breaths before retracing your steps the last time you used the house key.

Some Ways to Bring More Balance

Grounding is associated with balancing earth energy, while developing spiritual awareness is linked to heaven energy. I’ve written articles about grounding with my favorite method of walking in nature.

In addition to journaling, meditation connects us to heaven energy. There are many ways to meditate, including:

  • Yoga
  • Mindfulness
  • Spiritual prayer
  • Chanting
  • The System of Reiki

Positive Side Effects

Since I’ve improved my life balance, I’ve noticed:

  • An inner calmness
  • Feeling more accomplished
  • Elevated gratitude

Was there Resistance? Definitely

For me, resistance often shows up as slipping into old unhealthy habits. My favorite form of resistance is eating in a harmful way, both in my food choice and amount.

In the past, overeating brought on harsh self-criticism. Next, I either resorted to a restricted diet, sank deeper into a pattern of overeating, or both.

Now, feeling more balanced, I started improving my food choices and amounts. Finally, I experienced the wonder of intuitive eating. Self-love has replaced self-criticism.

By bringing more balance into your life, you can naturally slip into healthier ways of living.