Tag Archives: meditation

Endings are only beginnings

If you are reading this then 2018 is at an end (or gone) and we are welcoming 2019, either eagerly or in some other way.

Please look for a moment at the photo. It is of the meditation pod at Auroville, outside of Puducherry India.

It is known as the Matrimandir.

Auroville, City of Dawn, is an intentional community. It was first envisioned by a guru called Mirra Alfassa. She was a European woman who devoted her life to spirituality.

The City of Dawn, is built on land that was “approximately 20 square kilometers of barren wasteland.”

The earth was unable to support both plant or animal life.

A small group of believers began (what must have looked like madness to the non–believers) to rehabilitate the land by planting trees. When I visited about 4 weeks ago, the area was a veritable forest. Species of plant life that had died out were flourishing. Animal life was abundant and humans from many countries were permanent residents in the village. Permanent residents are expected to work 8 hours daily in exchange for living there.

It seems to be flourishing by all accounts.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by 124 nations who sent delegates with gifts of their earth to be all placed together in one urn. It was held on Wednesday 28th, 1968.

On that day, I was living in Trinidad and was 15 years old. I was actively filling in to be the caretaker of an 11 year old brother and a 7 year old sister. I was in over my head.

I had no idea that on the other side of the earth, a small group of people were gathering to celebrate a vision of a future and that as a 65 year old in 2018, I would be lucky enough to visit.

That 15-year-old, was also unaware that she would go on to do some amazing things.

Things like finish a triathlon and marathon after she turned 50 or get a handle of clinical depression and make her pain the foundation of a nonprofit, or have a wonderful husband and children, or speak at the UN, or (and most importantly) end generational violence in her lifetime.

I was unaware of all of this and more.

As I write this message to you, I am blissfully unaware of what will happen tomorrow, next week or 10 years from now.

I am not worried about not knowing.

I have learned to trust and believe that if I follow my path to end violence to girls and women, I will be fully living my destiny. I also know that when I do not trust my gut, I get burned.

I did not always believe I had a destiny. I believe it now.

I am asking you to give yourself time to uncover your own destinies and to allow yourself to take small steps in the direction of what you know that destiny to be.

Some of the tools to help you uncover your destiny include physical exercise, yoga, meditation, gratitude journaling, setting and keeping healthy boundaries by saying No to things that do not support what you know your destiny to be.

How we can help:

At www.indranislight.org/caregiver-resources we have classes to give you a head start of some of these tools. You can find a podcast called Caring for the Caregiver where we take deep dives into real questions by real people and give some ideas to handle life stresses.

I wish you a happy and joy-filled 2019. I wish you the clarity of mind to find joy in the midst of inevitable pain and I wish you the courage to love yourself as deeply as you love the most precious person on your life.

Love and light
indrani

Caring for the Caregivers: A Self-Empathy Meditation – Episode #26

Often, in life, you will find yourself stuck between two versions of yourself: the “you” that wants peace and to be satisfied doing the best you can, and the “you” that is crazily trying to do everything for everyone. In this episode Indrani will lead you through a short meditation to help you become a compassionate witness to your own self and your own energy.

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00:00 Introduction
00:53 Self-Empathy Meditation
04:21 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: A Story and Meditation – What Does Change Mean to You? – Episode #23

You may want to get your journal out and take some notes as Indrani asks some important questions in this episode. Are you thinking about making a change in your life? What feelings come up for you during the change process? What does change mean to you?

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
01:49 What do you feel when undergoing change? What is change necessary?
03:35 When change needs to be birthed
05:26 Using your energy to fight back against change
07:59 Ask others about the change they see in you
10:25 Understand that change is a constant
13:00 Writing exercise – Change means…
15:20 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: Meditation – Get Grounded When You Are Feeling Overwhelmed – Episode #17

“Life is a buffet.” Indrani shares a metaphor and a meditation to help you deal with feeling overwhelmed with other people’s suggestions and demands. Don’t try to solve your problems with this meditation, just be present.

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Caring for the Caregivers: Examples of Self-Care Practices Part One – Episode #15

There are far too many self-care practices in the world to list them all. However, if you are looking for something new to try this year you can listen to Indrani, Amy, and Jeremie as they share their own self-care practices from 2017. In this episode, part one of two, the ILF Team each share one self-care practice that worked for them in 2017, and one self-care practice they want to improve upon in 2018.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
00:57 Welcome
02:53 Indrani – Finding gratitude in the small moments
05:37 Amy – Communication your own needs
10:00 Jeremie – spend time with others doing what you love
12:47 Discussion about what self-care practices worked in 2017
15:58 Amy – yoga and meditation
19:14 Jeremie – keeping a gratitude and success journal
22:54 Indrani – restorative yoga practice
22:52 Discussion about what self-care practices need improving in 2018
32:43 Conclusion

Caring for the Caregivers: A Meditation for the New Year – Episode #14

Join Indrani for a meditation to help prepare you for the new year. This meditation will help you get grounded, then send peace and compassion to yourself. Once you are feeling at ease, you can then send the same peace and compassion to others.

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Caring for the Caregivers Meditation – “Are your expectations leading to sticky situations?” – Episode #12

If you aren’t setting clear boundaries, and communicating your expectations, you are going to find yourself in conflict. Indrani shares a personal coaching message about setting and dealing with expectations at work and at home.

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Caring for the Caregivers Meditation – After a tough conversation – Episode #10

In the last episode you learned some tools you can use for having a tough conversation with your supervisor. After having that tough conversation your brain is going to be full and your emotions running high.

Use this meditation to get to a place where you can properly review the meeting and make decisions on your next steps.

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Caring for the Caregivers Meditation – “Settling What Feels Unsettled” – Episode #8

There are many events, challenges, and problems causing unsettled feelings these days. Whether you are feeling unsettled at work or at home, listen to this meditation and visualization from Indrani to help you balance these unsettled feelings.

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