| Hi you! I hope you are thawing gently with the coming spring. It’s been rich, intense and juicy in my winter cocoon. And I have missed you! I take a few months every year to tend to my own inner landscape before I’m ready to re-emerge and help others tend to theirs. I don’t come out until guided by joy. Now that the pull is palpable- eager and refreshed, I’m popping in to share some of my joy with you! This way of creating- with pause, from deep listening and honoring what we hear…it doesn’t make any sense to parts of us echoing our hyper-masculinized collective conditioning. The messaging has been to “be open 24/7, never stop promoting, plan, execute, produce”…blah blah blah! All those years in corporate structures are still undoing themselves in me softly. But in starting Come to Center, I said I wouldn’t move a finger unless it was guided by my deepest truth, my truest joy. It isn’t just a business to me, it’s my Dharma. Living that inner directive is my Life-long practice. Have you ever been struck with guilt or worry in the middle of joy? So many of us struggle to enjoy ourselves just for the sake of it. We’re so busy “doing” everything in pursuit of joy, we forget letting Life be an expression of our joy is enough. In fact, it may just be all. Often when we finally “arrive” after all the strife to get ‘there’ we meet an emptiness- devoid of connection to our innermost essence- which joy points us back to. There’s no fulfillment, no aliveness in the arrival, and we feel cheated. I speak of course, from experience. My traumatized parts still surface sometimes, asking- Am I really allowed to have this much fun (as if there’s a quota)? In the middle of facilitating? In the middle of teaching? In dancing naked in a monastery (how blasphemous!)? In the absence of it all? Yes, yes. Every time yes! And more! And I see numerous clients reflect these fears- not being productive enough, not doing enough for the world. Not being healed already, or getting “there” fast enough, and most pervasively in the coaching/personal development circuits- not living up to our “highest potential,” whatever that means. Even our natural blossoming is now equated with strife. And pleasure with guilt. Ouch. The list of supposed-to’s is endless. Indulging them is maddening. One client confessed “Even when I listen to music, I’m checking- am I listening to enough diverse voices? Am I being inclusive?.” Ouch.Good intentions hijacked by fear. So I sent that client a reminder to go back to basics. It says: “Enjoy! Just enjoy!” And It’s my wish for you too dear one. What was the last thing you did just for fun? Don’t let the simplicity of this love note belie it’s importance. Write it on a posty note and put it up on your wall if it’ll guide you back to your joyful heart even once! |
| Your joy will take a different expression than mine. It must! The School of Life isn’t a linear curriculum but we’re all heading to the same graduation- our death beds. One day, our time will be up. Just that simple. Hopefully we’ll be ready to move on with fullness of heart. So what’s more important than enjoying ourselves on the way now? Please! Have fun! Not later, now! Wiggle your bum. Dance a minute. Act out your inner 3 yr old’s idea of fun. Do what makes no sense but lights you up. So much fun. As much as possible. And I mean YOU! Especially YOU…on a mission to make the world a better place…working for the benefit of all beings…serving something greater than you…all that is wonderful only as long as you’re at the heart of it. I love you. And I wish for everything you do to be sourced from your deepest joy. Your aliveness, your sparkle- it’s your most potent offering. We not only want it desperately, we need it. Take it and sprinkle it all over your being, your creating, your becoming- your family, your neighborhood, your livelihood…Let joy be your signature.I love when I let it be mine. Would it be nice to see more joy, more fun in the healing/ embodiment/ non-dual/ spiritual teaching world? I think so! Anyways- here are some highlights for me lately- I’d love to hear yours. – Fresh flowers- lots of them. – Wearing bright colors. The greyer the day, the brighter my outfit. – String lights (they stay up year round in my house. – Lying on my front lawn. – Pollinating my Lemon tree- with a paint brush! – My relationship w my husband. We’ve been polishing it for years and it’s sparkling in a lovely way. – Sitting by and stoking the fire! Inside and outside. – Eating my toast butter side down. A radical paradigm shift eh? – Ukulele lessons from my husband. – Gypsy Jazz. – Sleeping in/staying in bed way into the day! – Seeing how far I have come in the last decade (we made an actual timeline). – Writing without an agenda. – Making color palettes/ – Working with people I feel deep love for. – Teaching all the things I used to be to shy to own expertise in. Energy Matters is happening, yo! – My lovely neighbors, especially their children :) – Oscar nominated shorts. It’s a yearly tradition for me to catch these. The documentary shorts are unmissable this year. Live Actions are great too! – Watching Modern Love and sharing it with all my friends! – Not traveling and being home for a nice long stretch. – My Buttercup yellow bed sheets! – Long talks with good friends. – Following my flow. I’d love to hear where delight and joy and fun are most alive for you in your Life! Send me a note! And remember, contrary to popular expression, there’s no such thing as “too much fun!” with a wink and a smile, and a wish for the most fun for us all, Ishita P.S: I’m opening two new slots for 1:1 intensives, as I refine new group offerings. So if you’ve been waiting for a chance to work privately with me, come come! PPS: If you want inspiration, invitations and insight in your inbox- sign up for my mailing list here. |
come to center 