From Shame Piñata,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Daily Magic for Peace.
Today we will celebrate Ukrainian culture.
Welcome to the circle.
So the only thing you need today is a vishvanka.
It might be a shirt or perhaps a dress,
Whatever it is,
Go ahead and grab it.
And if you don't have anything like that,
Just picture a design of the vishvanka design.
There's so many different ones.
And if you're not even sure what that looks like,
Take a second to find one online.
So as we come together in circle today,
As we begin our time together in circle today,
I'm going to invite you to settle your body down,
Settle your mind down,
Connect with your heart.
Maybe place a hand on your chest and take a moment to find the vibration of your heart in this moment.
And you might allow any worries or thoughts or distractions to just kind of fall away as you connect with your heart.
As you connect with this beautiful heart within you.
And from this heart place,
I invite you to open your eyes if they closed and let your eyes very gently wander around your space.
Just gently looking,
But not in a harsh way,
Not in a way to make a plan or identify anything.
Just kind of gently wander and take in colors and textures,
Shadows,
Shiny things,
Reflections.
See if you can use this time to see your space in a different way,
Through different eyes,
Through calm,
Centered,
Heart-based eyes.
And notice if your heart is drawn to anything you see,
If there's something you really feel nurtured by looking at.
Let that nurturance fill your heart.
If there's something you want to give love to that you see,
Let your heart send that love through your eyes.
And as we transition away from this short meditation,
I invite you to take a breath with me.
So we spend a great deal of time together in circle,
Sending positive energy to the people in Ukraine,
The people who are dealing with Russia's war of aggression,
The people who are defending their homeland.
And I am no expert on Ukrainian culture,
But today I would like to do some celebrating of it with you.
So I invite you to grab your Vyshivanka and just join me in some time of really centering and enjoying the amazing culture that is there in Ukraine,
And that is around the world through the Ukrainian diaspora.
So perhaps join me in seeing somebody wearing that Vyshivanka or if you want to put it on yourself and look in the mirror,
Do that.
We're going to see this person who's wearing the Vyshivanka with pride.
They know what it symbolizes and the culture it comes from.
And they have that beating heart,
That pride,
That just deep glow of knowing that their culture is shared.
And spend a few minutes in your mind's eye or physically if you're really looking at the design,
Just letting your eyes follow it.
Letting your eyes really see it.
The colors,
The texture of the fabric and the threads,
That beautiful embroidery.
See how it was put together.
Like see the stitching and let it land for you.
Let it land in your heart.
That's the invitation today.
Using this physical object of the Vyshivanka,
Letting that history come alive for you.
Feel the history.
Feel the community.
So this is today's magic.
We are doing it together as a circle in this moment by looking at the stitching,
By honoring the people who have done this stitching throughout time,
By honoring the people who are wearing the Vyshivanka today.
Or will wear one this year,
Regardless of where they walk on the planet.
And especially right now,
While there is such incredible heartbreak going on and such incredible injustice going on in Ukraine,
Just really taking an extra moment to honor this tradition.
Because this tradition represents a culture under attack.
A culture that another culture is trying to annihilate.
So we really want to take a minute to just honor that this is happening.
We are here now.
And this is the culture we are not going to let die.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today.
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
