how to override our story line

Greetings from the drizzly, sunny, rainbow skies of Ireland. I arrived here on Tuesday morning and after a couple of days of jet lag, was greeted by a looming full moon. So, broken sleep and strange dreams have stumped my energetic arrival al little, but I am always happy to be here.

Being amidst nature and the wilds of this emerald Island always leaves me feeling alive and grateful. It also inspires me to push boundaries and face the limitations that hold me back from being fully present. It is so easy to get tripped up by the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and our strengths and weaknesses.

These stories might be formed by a culmination of experiences, encounters, aspirations and failures. These stories form our inner voice, which could be limitless but very often it arises with every stop imaginable. I once mentioned how my old shaman friend, Janet Sinclair used to call this voice the "itty bitty shitty committee". She said it sat on her shoulder and when squawking or whining any fear or judgement, she knew she had the option to listen or brush it off. The humour in this insight has often helped me lighten burdens.

Byron Katie wrote a book called Loving What Is. She poses four questions that she calls ‘the work’.

Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it's true?
How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without that thought?

These are wonderful questions. This summer while I was working with a trainer in Toronto, I realized that well beyond any physical pain and discomfort of building muscle is the exhausting challenge of pushing the boundaries of the mind that has been already weathered by the limitations in our stories. My most successful sessions were the ones when I first drew awareness to the mind at play and consciously put it in the back seat.

Pema Chodron also interprets Buddhist teachings beautifully. She explains that it is not life alone that causes suffering, but it's our translations that cause us the most distress. She suggests that we aim to drop the storyline and just feel what we feel. That we all have an underlying reservoir of courage to live a lighter life.

One thing that I am sure of, is that whenever we are able to tap into the lightness of being, we are the strongest in ourselves to eradicate weeds and hold a torch for ourselves and others. What greater place to aspire to be?

From Ballyvaughan with love, a lotus and a smile,

Gisele