Increasing Resilience | Magic For Ukraine

From the "Everyday Magic for Ukraine" series - supporting all who carry the emotional weight of war from afar.

Today we explore a deceptively simple practice of honoring and releasing what we're carrying today. The Everyday Magic for Ukraine series supports you as you support Ukraine. Join the circle.

Transcript

From Šampiňada, I'm Colleen Thomas. This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine. Today we increase our resilience. Welcome to the Circle. Welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine, Where we honor Ukraine and also practice self-care to stay strong as allies. The only thing you need today, If it's convenient, Is a paper and pencil and you can totally use a notepad on your phone. To get started today, I invite you, If it feels good, To join me in taking a nice deep breath. And maybe notice how can you say hello to your body in this moment. Maybe with a little bit of shaking or movement. Maybe wiggle your fingers, If that movement is available to you, Or your toes. Maybe roll your shoulders. Move however you can in a way that feels good to your body. Find your body. And maybe take another breath with me. So, We're going to focus today on increasing our resilience. And to do that, We're going to go through a short practice together that will involve writing a few things down. So if you have a paper and pencil or your phone, Go ahead and grab those now. We're going to use the pencil and paper to list anything that is a concern in this moment. Anything that maybe is a fear in this moment. Maybe a couple of breaths here. And just see if you can jot some of those down. You don't have to delve into the deepest ones. Just notice kind of like, What are you carrying today? What if you could just kind of put on this paper everything you're carrying today? Like, Oh, What would it feel like to let that go? To write it down. What would it feel like to let that go? To write it out, To transfer it from your being into this notebook, Onto this paper. Just kind of getting it out so you can see it. So it's not on you, So it's not in you. So you have a little bit of distance from it. We'll just take just another minute just to finish listing. What are you carrying today? And now I invite you to just gently look over this list. And notice that everything on this list is a real thing. You most likely didn't make a bunch of stuff up. You just listed the real things that may have been weighing on you. So these are genuine, Real things. Genuine concerns, Genuine fears. They matter. They're important. And you can also choose to set them down. And if you like, You can imagine a candle for each one. Lighting a candle in your mind. We can light a candle for each thing you wrote down. And we can light a candle for anything you didn't write down. And once we have honored each one of these things, Lit a candle for it, You can decide if you'd like to just let it go. Just in this moment, Just right now, Just while we're in circle, Just try, Experience, Experiment with letting it go. And in the letting go, We have just created some openness. And with extra space can come more worries or new worries. And so to prevent that, What we can do is we can call in some really good, Yummy things to fill in that space. So now I invite you to make a different list. A list of yummy things. Your favorite ice cream. The last time you saw a sunset. The look of anticipation on your pet's face when you're going to go for a walk or have a treat. What are the yummy things for you? Just make a quick list of them. And now we're going to practice a quick thing called a golden sun. And what that is, Is imagining above your head, Imagining there is a beautiful golden sun above your head. In fact, If you hold your arms out above your head, Like you're holding a really big beach ball, And you're going to fill this with the things that you love. So allowing this beach ball to fill with those things you listed, All your favorite things, And let it grow and grow and grow and get really, Really, Really, Really, Really full. And when it is so full, It can't take any more. Then if you like, Take a breath. And bring that ball, Bring that golden sun down into your body and just let it fill your body. Let it fill your energy body, Your aura. Let it just filter into everywhere. Your eyelashes and your toes and your skin. Just let it filter in and really let it fill that space. That empty space. May we always remember to honor our authentic feelings and remember that we have tools to increase our resilience. 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.