October Meditation Challenge

I know what you're thinking - Meditation & Challenge are an unlikely duo. Isn't meditating all about peace, calm, stillness, & compassion? Well, yeah. Sometimes. But, it's also about learning HOW TO BE WITH WHAT IS, whether that means luxuriating in the juicy silence of those rare moments when we sink into nothingness, or hanging on for dear life as things seem to spin in all directions at once. Can we witness both extremes with a neutral, non-judgmental, undisturbed eye? Can we be THE ONE WHO SEES, the one who LISTENS, the one who LOVES IT ALL?

Can we appreciate that such a practice may feel challenging at times (or most of the time) & know that that's okay? In fact, it's A GIFT. There is FREEDOM & unencumbered CONTENTMENT in the abundance of infinite nothingness & complex simplicity that awaits our arrival WITHIN - should we be willing to accept the invitation & brave the journey.

There are often obstacles & apparent adversaries - potholes, quicksand, peaks & valleys, fires of the flesh, hurricanes of the mind - that aim to pull us back into the stories we've become accustomed to, that delight in watching up gasp for breath beneath the weight of old memories, toxic thoughts, addictions, worries, & ways of being we've carried so long our spines have curved & concretized in compensation. And so, meditation becomes an OPPORTUNITY. A chance to pause, put down the sack we carry, open it up, & peer inside. It is a practice of NOTICING, letting go, & letting be. 

So, perhaps you have decided to get curious - to REMEMBER what it is you are carrying around & how it informs the way you live. And maybe you discover that you've been hanging on to shit that you definitely don't need anymore, but it feels scary at first to leave it behind. DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH LETTING GO? Hey guess what, YOU'RE HUMAN!?! This is SO normal.

So, in the spirit of the FALL season (+ the recent Hunter’s Moon), & its corresponding element of METAL/Gold, the organ systems of the LUNG & LARGE INTESTINE/colon, & the emotions of GRIEF & sadness, we’ve designed a meditation practice to facilitate the SHEDDING of old habits, patterns, beliefs, accumulations, & suppressed emotions through MINDFULNESS & BREATHWORK. When we are able to let go of what no longer serves us (just as the colon eliminates what is unnecessary or toxic from our bodies), to find ways to honor what or who we have lost by loosening our grip, we can create spaciousness within, exhume our innate energy, & welcome in new life (just as the lungs enable us to inhale fresh air & receive the pure Qi of the heavens). Join us for our first ever Instagram challenge, & let our delightful community support you on the journey of letting go & discovering the golden glimmer of your intrinsic worthiness for love & abundance!

This challenge is designed for folks of all walks of life to participate in! If you feel called to RELEASE old programming, attachments, ailments, & emotions, to tap into your POWER, cultivate LOVE & WELLBEING, improve your ENERGY, learn how to BREATHE your way into a CALM centered state, & shift from negative self-talk into a RADIANT force of POSITIVITY & FREEDOM, this challenge is for YOU! 

This is a challenge, which means it's okay to have some fun (it's also totally okay to have moments of sadness, resistance, doubt, etc. etc). To the extent that we can, we are going to share our experiences with each other, because this challenge is meant to foster community while simultaneously developing an inner awareness. And of course, there's a PRIZE at the end (as if radiance, freedom, wellbeing, & greater self-awareness weren't enough?!)! Join us in meditation each day for the chance to WIN a FREE CUPPING or AURICULAR (ear) ACUPUNCTURE session at our beautiful Healing Arts Center in Los Angeles! If you can’t make it to LA (or Santa Barbara), we will gladly gift you a free herbal & nutritional consultation instead. 

One lucky WINNER will be randomly selected & announced on Instagram & in our next newsletter on October 20th.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Follow @elementalfamily & @friespirit on Instagram
2. Tag 3 friends in the comments of today's post who might benefit from participating! Expand your community of support & invite your friends to join you in the challenge! The more the merrier!
3. Screenshot today's post & share it on your Instagram page or in your story with the hashtag #meditationchallenge & tag @elementalfamily & @friespirit to let your community know what’s up! Sharing is caring
4. Most importantly, MEDITATE & BREATHE! From Saturday 10/7 through Friday 10/13 (that’s 1 week total), commit to meditating for at least 5 minutes each day. Any time of day will do. We suggest using this month’s Elemental Family meditation, available for free on Soundcloud & linked in our newsletter, as your guide, especially if you are new to meditation &/or you wish to focus on letting go. Other great sources of guided meditations are the apps Insight Timer, Headspace, & Calm.
5. Throughout the challenge, we will post a daily inspiration & loving reminder to meditate on Instagram. Check in as often as is sensible for you, & let us know you are participating by liking posts, & commenting on what you are letting go of &/or inviting in. When we show up honestly & vulnerably, we allow others to better support us! 
6. Even more bonus points for posting your own photos to show us how the challenge looks for you or reposting our images to your feed &/or Instagram story with the hashtag & tags listed in #3.
7. Relax. Stay Curious. Be Intentional - spend a moment each day exploring what you might need to let go of & what you would like to cultivate more of. Write it down. Enjoy the process. Be present to what is. Smile, cry, be still, dance, go inward, journal, connect with others, know what this moment requires. Inhale the good shit, Exhale the bullshit. 

Keep checking in to our Instagram page for challenge details, inspiration, motivation, & tips throughout the next 7 days! 

Will you join us?!

Find Your Center

Find your center. Trust your gut. Strengthen your core. Breathe into your belly. Activate your Dan Tian.

We reference the center of ourselves in a variety of ways, each of which highlights the vital role it plays in our well-being. It's the home of our internal compass, the intersection of heaven & earth, the ethereal womb from which life springs forth. A sanctuary wherein we can retreat & reconnect to our truth. The place from which we realign & cultivate a calm self-awareness. It's where we digest what comes at us & through us.

In Daoism & Chinese medicine, the region below & behind our navel is referred to as the lower Dan Tian, which translates as "elixir field", "energy center", or "sea of qi". It is the residence of the deepest energies of the body & the source of all movement.

When we mindfully direct our attention to this area, whether through meditation, acupuncture, qi gong, or otherwise, we can nurture & tend to the roots that anchor & sustain us, & encourage the transformation of our Jing essence into the elixir of Qi that animates our lives. On a body level, this can facilitate & regulate digestion, boost fertility, strengthen & energize the body-mind-spirit, support the immune system, & preserve health & extend life.

When we consciously nourish our Essence & cultivate the Qi in our lower Dan Tian, we are tuning in to our "gut". It's a trite & homely term for a stunningly dynamic, consequential, diverse, & vital system. Learning to listen & trust our gut is more important than we may realize. Our gut feelings are very real. Research today suggests that there’s an entire ecosystem of microorganisms in an expansive network operating in our guts (i.e., the gut microbiome). 

This network is now what scientists are calling our "second brain". It's filled with over 100 million neurons. Neurons are specialized cells that transmit information to other nerve cells. Our guts actually influence our mood & overall psychoemotional state. Having a healthy gut can not only allow us to digest what we eat & drink, but to process all forms information that comes at us in a new & intelligent way. A harmonious gut can provide protection from feelings of hopelessness, depression & anxiety. Clearly what we put into our bodies impacts how we feel & yet it is not the whole picture. 

When we are mindful & paying attention to our second brain’s activity we can begin to notice when we are present, calm & at ease, or when we feel fragmented & disregulated. One of the best indicators of this is our breath. Take a deep breath right now as you are reading this. Notice the subtle feeling of wellbeing this likely created. The breath allows us to shift from our amygdala (flight or fight mode) to our prefrontal cortex where we can access solutions to whatever is coming at us. It sends the message that allows us to calm down; there is no saber tooth tiger in the room. It allows us to shift from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic. 

The Vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve with the widest distribution throughout the body, travels down through the brainstem to influence parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, & digestive tract. It carries information bidirectionally -  downstream from the brain to the organs, & vice versa. Body sensations & gut instincts are our intuitive sense getting transferred up to the brain by the vagus nerve. This nerve impacts memory, prevents systemic inflammation, helps us breathe, & most importantly helps to initiate & regulate our body’s relaxation response. 

So eat mindfully, exercise, relax, & replenish regularly, nourish your microbiome, laugh often, find one thing each day that brings you joy, & BREATHE. Reach out when you need support - community & communion are essential to our well being. We are here for you.