Greetings and welcome to the Why Struggle Podcast.
I'm your host Barbara J.
Faison and my intention with this podcast is to offer ideas,
Insights,
And inspirations so you can live life better.
Greetings and welcome to 2025 Week 13 Creating Memories.
This is a podcast about creating memories.
If you're new to the podcast,
Welcome,
And if you listen regularly,
Thank you.
On Saturday,
I went out salsa dancing with my salsa crew for the first time in 2025.
Jartu and Bonnie are part of my salsa crew that I met while dancing,
And we have traveled to various places,
Including Puerto Rico,
Together.
When we go out,
We can have as many as 10 others that join us,
And that's our salsa crew.
At the party,
Jamie,
One of our regulars,
Asked how many decades we'd been dancing together.
Yes,
I said decades.
We've all gone back and forth about when we officially met,
So it can be either two decades or three decades,
Depending upon who you ask.
We have celebrated birthdays,
Marriages,
And all the things that happen over decades of knowing each other.
We were celebrating Jartu's 50th birthday,
And we wanted to be sure she had a good time and to create a lasting memory for her birthday.
The music was great,
And the dancing was awesome.
We also saw people we hadn't seen for a long time.
Mission accomplished.
Lately,
I've been thinking about memories and experiences I've had.
Salsa dancing has been one of my go-to memories.
Back in the early 2000s,
Our crew would be out dancing several times a week.
When I told several people from New York I would be there for a writers' conference,
They said I had to go to the Copacabana nightclub to dance.
I also visited a friend,
Daryl,
Who lived in Brooklyn and was a chef.
He invited me to his restaurant,
And afterwards I took the train to the Copacabana.
Yes,
I took the subway to the nightclub and went dancing by myself in New York.
One thing I've learned about the salsa community is that they embrace you wherever you are,
So I knew I would have a great time.
I connected with some dancers when I got there and had a fantastic time.
It was about 1 a.
M.
When I started heading back to the hotel,
And I was exhausted.
I got off at the wrong subway station and found myself walking in a circle.
I eventually found a cab and got to the hotel,
Which was very close to where I was.
Now,
That was quite a memory.
I laugh about it now.
At the time,
I was exhausted and grateful to find a cab that would take me there.
Memories can be powerful.
We can use our memories to help us shift how we feel.
I am doing this more often these days.
Let's do a quick practice I call Go-To Memories to bring up a memory that you can go to when you need to shift your energy to something light or fun.
Enjoy this excerpt from my audio program on the Insight Timer app,
Five Mindful Ways to Struggle Less and Enjoy Life More.
So,
Let's start connecting to a go-to memory that you can add to your mental playlist.
Take a moment to get comfortable where you are.
Settle in with your body.
We'll meditate for about five minutes,
So be comfortable.
Allow your eyes to close or lower and just become aware of your breath.
Place your hands in your heart space.
Make a declaration out loud.
Repeat after me.
I open myself up to create a go-to memory that makes me feel joyful.
Continue breathing in and out and relaxing your body.
And begin bringing to mind something that makes you feel good,
Happy,
Or joyful.
Feel that feeling in your body.
Connect with the memory and notice how your body begins to change.
Are you engaging with your memory?
Who is there with you?
Begin to notice who's with you,
What they are doing,
And what you were doing.
Are you inside or outside?
Are you able to feel the wind or the sun or the cool,
Crisp air?
Continue breathing and noticing the details where you are.
Connect to all of your senses.
What do you see?
What do you hear?
Are you eating or drinking anything in this memory?
What do you smell?
Are you touching anything?
What feelings,
Emotions,
Or sensations are coming up?
You are doing great.
Fully engage with all of your senses in this memory so you can continue to lock it in your body.
Continue experiencing your memory in the silence and I'll return shortly.
Breathe and continue to recall the memory that makes you feel good,
Happy,
Or joyful.
Gently begin to bring your awareness back to your physical location.
Bring a smile to your face as you close your meditation.
Wonderful job.
Add a name to this go-to memory.
When you name it,
You can always return to it by name and engage with it the way you just did.
Gently rub your hands together and place your hands over your eyes.
Feel that energy going into your eyes and down into your body.
Relax your hands and open your eyes.
Name that feeling.
You now have a tool,
Go-to memory,
GTM,
That you can use to manage how you feel and shift when you don't like how you feel.
It is practice.
I suggest coming up with at least three memories that can shift you from one state to another.
As we begin to make the decision to struggle less with life,
We can check in with our feelings and our body and decide how we want to feel next.
I hope you're still feeling from that meditation.
End of excerpt.
I remember salsa dancing one night with Aldrich to a Hector Laveau song,
And when he saw how moved I was by the music,
He let my hands go,
And I was in a zone I can't even describe.
I was truly swept away by the music,
And when I returned back to the moment,
He was beaming,
And so was I.
Music and memories are a powerful combination.
What memory did you create for yourself with this exercise?
Feel free to leave a comment,
Reflection,
Or observation where you're listening to this podcast.
