Author Archives: jillsalahub

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About jillsalahub

Writer & Contemplative Practice Guide holding space for people cultivating a foundation of a stable mind, embodied compassion and wisdom. CYT 500

To Feed and to Cherish

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nourish2015I am currently taking part in a series of challenges: April Love and April Moon, along with Feast and my word for the year, nourish (which means to feed and to cherish). What I love about working with multiple sets of prompts is the magic of how they come together.

Today’s prompt for April Love was “shadows.” The prompt for April Moon was “That’s when I knew that this chapter of my life had ended. And now I was finally free to…” I kept thinking of the two of them together, how they were related, and it didn’t take much time to see the connection.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know the story behind the Self-Compassion Saturday series. After struggling for over three years with serious fatigue which had stumped my primary care doctor, I decided to make an appointment with a functional medicine practitioner. Even though I told her that I was a disordered eater, even though at the time I’d been overexercising and restricting what I ate, she told me I was obese, and that I should go on a diet and get more exercise.

“That’s when I knew that this chapter of my life had ended. And now I was finally free to…” I was finally free to stop looking for answers outside myself, to stop studying and researching, consulting with experts and taking opinion polls. I was finally free to listen to my own deep innate wisdom. I was finally free to stop believing that anyone else could fix me, or that I was broken in the first place. I was finally free to be my own authority. I was finally free to honor my hunger. I was finally free to want what I wanted. I was finally free.

April Love, Day Four Prompt, Shadows

April Love, Day Four Prompt, Shadows

Over a year ago, I stopped weighing myself, dieting and overexercising. I started practicing intuitive eating (allowing my body to tell me when it was full, when it was hungry, what it wants and what it needs), and reading a lot about Health at Every Size. I started allowing myself to want what I want, to have what I want. I became a certified yoga instructor. I broke up with my trainer. I took Buddhist refuge vows. I no longer pushed and punished my body. I stopped smashing myself to bits. The fatigue is mostly gone.

April Moon started with an oracle reading. We got the first email and it told us to pick one of the cards — 1, 2, or 3. 3 was the clear choice for me, but when the next email came a few hours later with the results, the archetype you chose that would guide you through the challenge, I resisted at first. “Lover: passion, tenacity; creation, creativity; sensuality; joy; empathy; play; beauty; and tenderness.” I wanted to pick again. The other two archetypes were animals, one powerful and one graceful. I wanted one of those.

After I let it sink in for a minute, I realized it was exactly right. This past summer, Kat (one of the hosts of April Moon), sent me a letter that included a card she’d pulled for me, “Nectar of the Lotus,” the Divine Mother, a Bodhisattva. Kat told me to let her know if it resonated with me. I’ve kept her letter on my desk ever since, not ready to took at it, consider it, but when I saw the archetype I’d picked for April Moon, I knew it was time to take a closer look.

nectarofthelotus

Card 20 from the Kuan Yin Oracle by Alana Fairchild

The Divine Mother wishes that those who are meant to feed others will be well fed too! Your devotion to helping others has the effect of squeezing the cosmic heart chakra of the Divine Mother. From her heart drips nectar, sweet, sustaining, life-affirming energy that feeds you and allows you to nourish many Souls. Like a sacred chalice that overflows, when you are full, well and vital, the feeding of others happens effortlessly. You are guided to be fed now, fed with Divine Nectar from the Heart of the Mother. ~Alana Fairchild

dropsmikewalksaway
And with that, kind and gentle reader, I think I’m going to go take a nap.

Gratitude Friday

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lilacbuddha1. Signs of Spring, things turning green and blossoming. My lilacs out front are going to be mad with spring, are covered in almost blooms.

2. Practice, keeping me sane, grounded, here.

glazedlemon3. Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread with extra glaze.

4. The Daily Dharma Gathering. This morning I listened to the most recent talk from Khempo Gawang and he talked about how it’s important to “think globally, but act locally.” He said the problems of the world are actually a collection of individual problems, so in that way we can make a difference by acting locally. The bottom line is that we can either generate suffering or help. He also talked about the magic of technology, how it allowed us to come together and practice, how it allowed him to come and teach us, that we should “recognize and rejoice” this particular magic.

morningview5. April Love and April Moon, two challenges complete with daily emails and prompts from two of my favorite people.

Bonus Joy: TV on demand, reading, Wild Boar Cafe, talking and laughing with a good friend, a boss who understands, laughing with Eric, dancing in the kitchen, Ringo when he’s being sweet, Sam when he’s being sweet, knowing what I do is helpful, being told that I’m cheering someone up, making them feel better, synchronicity, getting to choose how I move my body and what I eat, not apologizing for myself, trusting myself.