Hello Wonderful You,
Today, February 7, the day I am writing this message to you, is the birthday of my book, The Body of Money.
For days friends and family have asked, how are you celebrating? It’s a natural and simple question. I think I should have a grand splashy fantastical answer. I haven’t. Still don’t. But here is what I am discovering about celebration.
Celebration for me is “both and.” I quietly contemplate and savor the fruition of this body of work. In my stillness, I am nourished with integrity, completion, joy, generosity, and gratitude. This deeply personal and intimate celebration is an integration move, an important practice.
And celebration is also a spider-web of connections with people I cherish. There are no fireworks (at least I don’t know of any) but there are colorful sparks of connection delighting me and hopefully others. Receiving the generosity of others is also an integration move and vital practice.
Celebration looks like this…
- a gorgeous cup of coffee early this morning with my honey as we gave attention to each other.
- writing in my journal and coloring a scribble from yesterday.
- planning to read the first few pages of The Body of Money on FB live – bringing breath to the words on the page.
- fully receiving a bounty of appreciation and congratulations from all over the US and a few other countries.
- lighting candles to acknowledge the light that moves through me from known and unknown sources.
- talking to a treasured mentor who called wishing me love and congratulations and suggesting I put on the bracelet she gave me as a reminder that she is always with me.
And the celebrations continue…
This afternoon I meet up on Zoom with my tech support guy, Scott, who has partnered with me for years and most recently to let the world know this book was on its way.
Tonight, I am celebrating at dinner at a new local restaurant selected by my beloved.
Later on I’ve been invited to read the reviews from early readers on Amazon.
I am saturated with richness. If this celebration experience is not a reflection of true wealth, I don’t know what is.
How do you celebrate?
How do you receive?
How do you love, play, express?
How do you acknowledge your creative generative expressions?
What happens when money joins the picture?
What does celebration look like and feel like for you?
As I write this message to you, more notes from others pop on my screen. Another boost! My heart swoons and my eyes moisten. More expanding to receive, and joy molecules float everywhere.
I want this experience for you too.
I want this moment for everyone.
I want the fruition of the Virtuous Flow to be an embodied way of being.
I want life to be a celebration, which doesn’t mean bypassing the very real struggles we all face. It means that we skillfully move in and with and through human experiences with an impeccable thread of celebration tethered to the well of deep heart knowing.
Tell me about your celebrations, all of them. Even the ones you struggle to experience.
I’m all ears, and hugging arms.
Oceans of joy,
Tiny Body Practice
Joy Bubbles—Gratitude
Joy is a short word for a complex emotion. On David Hawkins Map of Consciousness, the feeling of Joy tops the chart at number two, just under Peace and just above Love. There’s much to say about Joy and even more to feel. In the practice of Somatic Finance, we learn our unique feeling expression of emotions and where they show up in our body. Joy is a fabulous place to start, and joy bubbles is this practice invitation.
Preparation:
Find a comfortable place seated, or lying down, for the next 5 to 10 minutes.
Conjure up a few happy face emojis in your mind.
The Practice
- Begin by noticing your breath.
- With each inhalation expand your breath to the edges of your skin.
- Imagine your breath filling the entire felt sense of your body.
- Allow your breathing and visualization to be easy for 3 rounds of breath.
- Continue to breath to your body edges as you bring to mind a recent joyful experience.
- This experience can be VERY simple, a delicious cup of coffee, the sweet aroma of a flower, a sweaty bike ride.
- When you have a joyful moment intensify the memory. Smile. Feel your face soften into a grin. Relax and drop your shoulders. Loosen your joints with movement.
- Invite your body into the joyful memory.
- What was happening and who and what else was present?
- With a clear vision of your experience, notice the sensations arising in your body.
- Imagine your sensations – intense and subtle – are happy emoji faces.
- Picture effervescent bubbles of happy faces moving through out your body.
- These are Joy Bubbles supporting your happy experience.
- Enjoy these Joy bubbles right now. Recognizing these Joy Bubbles are yours.
- Joy Bubbles are your innate intelligence mirroring the goodness of your joy.
- Joy Bubbles grow beyond your body into the space around you – generating gratitude.
- As you feel your bubbles expanding, imagine them moving beyond your skin body.
- Imagine your Joy Bubbles filling the space and room around you.
- Send your Joy Bubbles to others generating gratitude.
- Complete your practice with self-appreciation for expanding Joy.
Post Practice
In the morning before getting out of bed, or in the evening before you go to sleep, access your joy with a recent memory, claim your innate intelligence found in your body wisdom and gain confidence in your body experience of Joy!