Be gentle with yourself

Join me in welcoming today’s guest blogger, Darlene Siddons from Spirited Boutique.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

Be gentle with yourself. 

My first introduction to a wholesome discipline was when I was listening to
Stuart Wilde’s tape series called Infinite Self on my commute each day to
and from work. I learnt about doing my daily functions in a sacred manner –
another way it could be said is prayerfully. When I started doing this I had
to remind myself to make my movements and moments sacred and not
hurried. Slow and reverent, as each thing we do everyday, all day, are things
of joy and pleasure. When we/I “get” there, our life is a song – cool, peaceful
and tranquil.

Discipline is also know as taming the ego – so I learnt to do even the most
mundane functions (dusting, dishes, taking out the trash, vacuuming) with
detailed methodical sacredness, the joy of being able to them and the joy of
doing them well.

One of my friends called me high maintenance for many years, and then one
day she came over and I was getting ready and I said, yes, I know, I am high
maintenance and it takes me a long time to get to getting ready and she said
no, I have come to the realization you live a disciplined life and I honor you
for it and would like my life to look like that also….what a gift!!!!

My life prior to this was hurried and impatient, the mundane things had to
be done and putting them off until I was disgusted with myself and then, of
course, not at all mentally gentle with myself – can you hear this? Today my
life is smooth and easy, and even when there is turmoil it isn’t chaotic, it just
isn’t as smooth as usual.

I even found a career that was excruciating to my being – that eventually it
brought me to my knees and I had to look at my life if I was to survive – and
that is when I found Sty and/or his material found me. At this point my life
took another 180-degree turn. I had already been doing 4 or 5 other 180-
degree turns, however, this one was my true spiritual path turn, not just my
“getting” on the path turn.

The discipline was much easier for me than the being gentle with myself. As
that meant loving myself, and that meant forgiving myself for all of my
private thoughts and secrets I had that no one new about. So that was a
biggie for me, however, I found that as you practice sacred movements your
live becomes sacred and your life becomes wholesome discipline and those
personal secrets just seem to go away because you are living in love. AND
there it is- that magic word of love – that is what it really, really is all about –
Love – Love of everyone, Love of everything, Love of everywhere – and from
this place of Love – all else that creates conflict or dis-ease falls away and all
that is left is pure white light – Love.