Serve Yourself (Perhaps on a Bed of Baby Lettuce)

Mar 8, 2011

Meditating this morning I flashed on my upcoming Kripalu retreat Stepping into your S-hero’s Journey and how I want to start planning it…

I started to wonder: How will I help women step into their power, their savoring, their serving? (It’s the first time I’ve lead this retreat.)

Thoughts began crowding around offering very useful opinions like, “What was I thinking offering a retreat before I had served for years!” and “I need to study mythology and read lots of books” and “I must go learn all kinds of very complicated things before I do this and that will take forever and argh…”

I returned to my breath and labeled those critters “thoughts” and slowly settled down.

The next wave of thoughts came. These centered on what I do know, what I can offer (a settled mind does see more clearly).

“I serve best through honesty and truthfully sharing my process.”

My whole body relaxed.

Then I let those thoughts go and dissolved into peace for… an entire second or two.

~~~~~
A bit later, chatting with Marianne Elliott about the social media and self-care call we did yesterday and she said,

Your honesty always serves people so powerfully.

ahhh…

Here’s what I’m experimenting with today:

To serve in a way that lights you up, it helps a whole lot to savor your self. Your talents. To love what you naturally do.
To honor the ways you naturally serve.

Then expand those. Build a bridge from your natural talents to being of direct action on what you most care about.

But first, you have to see them. Preferably beautifully displayed on a bed of baby lettuce like a fine meal.

The experiment for today: ask someone you respect and trust,

What are the ways you see me serving naturally, without even trying? What do you see me doing for others that lights me up?”

Write down what she or he says! Then come share it here. In the comments.

Bonus experiment: Volunteer, like Marianne did for me, the ways you naturally see someone else serving. Tell a co-worker, your sweetheart, your child. Tell someone you follow onTwitter or Facebook (use the hashtag #savorserve and then we can see a list of talents!)

(Gals at the Savor & Serve Cafe, I’ll create a space for us to do this together.)

Okay go do it and then share here what you learned. I can’t wait to see your talents to serve savored!

P.S. In Teach Now, I’ll talk more about my process teaching the S-hero’s Journey retreat for the first time.

P.P.S. My meditation teacher Susan Piver is offering freeee mediation instruction on her blog and it’s fantastic. Go here.

 

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