“We are mosaics — pieces of light, love, history, stars — glued together with magic and music and words.” – Anita Krizzan
by Astara
Resilience.
It is a trending term, but what does it really mean? Resilience is the ability to stay present and available to self and another, even in the midst of chaos, paradox, and overwhelm. Resilience means internal strength — the strength to allow pleasure in life in a myriad of circumstances. When we have the circuitry and capacity in place to weather the storms of life and process difficult emotions, we emerge more whole than before. Such wholeness strengthens our ability to be vulnerable — vulnerable enough to allow and receive pleasure again.
Resilience helps us navigate the unusual, unprecedented, and uncomfortable planetary events we have co-created for our own evolution. There are moments when it seems the very good we co-created thus far as a human race is being undone or isn’t progressing. I promise you, although a lot of “un-doing” is everywhere and will continue for some time, the good cannot be undone and we are progressing. The challenging change that’s unfolding at a fast clip is in service to our good. Disruption and deconstruction is an essential variable in the equation of transformation.
A huge key to resilience is a lot closer to you than you might think. It is embodiment.
You were born with the natural ability to feel emotions and experience sensations, you just may have lost touch with that innate gift over the years through socialization and a spectrum of trauma experiences. When the going gets overwhelming, we often disassociate or withdraw out of necessity. This fundamental capacity to be in our bodies completely is in all of us waiting to be awakened, remembered, and activated — every day. Our capacity to feel and fully inhabit our body helps each of us meet what comes our way with more confidence and stability.
Any practice that helps you explore movement, feel sensory pleasure, and rest in the body is the place to start. We have a beautiful guided meditation Light Alchemy in our shop that helps you come home to your body and fill yourself with source energy. We also encourage you to listen to one of our Sound Alchemy recordings and let our sound take you home to the body. As you listen, invite an overall sense of your body while sitting or lying down. Can you feel its weight, warmth, or air on your skin? Rest your attention on the body as you listen.
Try any simple embodiment practice that helps you land here a little more! Dance in the kitchen as you cook. Hug a tree. Breath deeper and slower than usual and pay attention to your body cues. This state of embodiment is what we call dignity, and it is our birthright. Afterward, see how different the world looks around you. This is you seeing life through the eyes of embodied dignified presence.
This post is inspired by our online course The Resilience of Pleasure. Also inside Inner Space Academy is our full Project Awakening course collection. Explore the FREE Welcome module to learn more.
