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📖 Chapters https://soulfulsojourn.com/chapters/

📖 Chapters
https://soulfulsojourn.com/chapters/
1/2
It’s time for me to transition, again.
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My plan, when I came to Catalonia in Dec. 2019, was to live in a small town for eight months while training, racing, and looking for a house to purchase and where I’d put down roots.
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“The best-laid plans…”
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I depart, characteristically, with mixed emotions. There’s excitement for a new chapter based on the aforementioned theme, this time in my Nordic homeland where the scent of forest peat is strong and the bird song is familiar. There’s a sadness to leave what started to feel like home in both familiarity and in developing tribe. But I saw a window and chose to jump through it. What becomes of it is unknown, of course. I turn my face, and spirit, to the light and focus optimistically on possibilities. In truth, I have to because I know where the other road leads; I’ve been down it, and I don’t want to go that way again.
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In some ways, there are potential benefits to how things have turned out. Life provided new perspectives and information that I may have missed had the coulter not crashed my “wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble.”
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After many months of struggle, bewilderment, worry, and doubt this body, mind and spirit are alive in concert again. Singing hallelujah I also acknowledge the mourning of people and places I will miss. But it is in this multi-dimension of complementary, interconnected, and interdependent forces that I choose to explore. For me, it is in the seemingly unstable that I find expansiveness, magnificence, Reality.
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I’m feeling a bit Mousie. …So cute.
(I like cute.)
• • ➡️

❝𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅

❝𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕; 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐, 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒔 (𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅) 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 '𝒐𝒏𝒆’.❞
—Sri Ramana Maharshi, Reality in Forty Verses, verse 15.

* El Port de La Selva * Big fun this weekend with

* El Port de La Selva *
Big fun this weekend with three days of biking, swimming, running, talking, laughing, eating and sharing with good, long time friends Pete, Anne and their daughter. We even snuck in a wine tasting at @TerraRemota. (Gracias Pablo for your excellent (and first) presentation!)
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@xlpete guided me ‘round a loop I’ve wanted to do for some time:
Monasterio de Sant Pere de Rodes, El Port de La Selva, Cadaqués. Solid climbing with epic scenery and scents of nature. I’ve definitely fallen in love with another part of #Catalonia.
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Connection and community nourish the mind, body and spirit.
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✌️ ∙ 🌱 ∙ 🙏
#peace #plants #namaste
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Belief – Gratitude – Clarity
Show up every moment.
Discover and experience the process of living.
http://soulfulsojourn.com
·
@Crownhealth
#PlantBased #RealFood
#NoAdditives #AllNatural #GutFriendly
#SwissQuality #sustainability
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@HumanGoAI
#MadCrew

* Rejuvenation * 1/2 https://soulfulsojourn.com/re

* Rejuvenation * 1/2
https://soulfulsojourn.com/rejuvenation
91 days.
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As of this writing, I’ve survived fifty-three days in solitary lockdown and thirty-eight days in phased de-escalation. At first, I welcomed the opportunity for deep internal work that sequestration provided. I had just returned from Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India; a trip that included opening experiences I’d sought for decades. However, as time without face to face communication and zero human physical contact increased, life energy drained from my batteries, and my ability to cope waned. When we citizens were once again allowed to go outside, albeit only in very short and pre-determined time slots, we felt joy in our new-found freedom. Yet, it was during the weeks that followed when I realised just how low my mental and emotional health had dropped. Professional cyclist @nathanpeterhaas expressed it as Lockdown Hangover and dealing with Universal Melancholy. (See ‘Cycling In Alignment’ with @colby_pearce, https://fastlabs.com/cyclinginalignment2 )
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Today, remarkably, my body started to relax. It was a very unambiguous experience. No doubt I’ve been chronically overloaded with cortisol—our “fight-or-flight” stress hormone designed to control mood, motivation, and fear and that lets us know when we’re in danger.
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❝When this quarantine is over, things don’t just go back to normal, because you haven’t gone back to normal yet. …You are not the same person just because the world has opened up again. And things aren’t just going to open up. Not only is the world going to be different, but you are going to be different. You are going to be affected by this time.❞ —Nathan Haas
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Here’s the significant point I want to share; every small act of kindness can be a matter of life and death for others. …➡️

❝ IMAGINE PEACE: Think PEACE, Act PEACE, Spread

❝ IMAGINE PEACE: Think PEACE, Act PEACE, Spread PEACE
love, @yokoonoofficial ❞

#blackouttuesday

#blackouttuesday

* Death & Rebirth * https://soulfulsojourn.com/dea

* Death & Rebirth *
https://soulfulsojourn.com/death-rebirth/
1/3
Each day I endure multiple deaths and rebirths. Deaths to dreams and to opportunities for exploring, experiencing, interacting, and sharing in the world. The rebirths are of hope and hopefulness. My constant aim is to rise out of dystopia and into light, lightness, and loving movement. But bereavement is taxing, and renewal is not without cost.
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I experience these particular deaths as energy-sucking crises. While not ominous, they can be dark places filled with sadness, even dread. I am aware that this painted image arises from my mind’s predilection for anxiety, a malevolent vortex with which I am far too familiar. It is a daemon I have wrestled with much of my life, and, at one point, for my life. But I know where that road leads and I choose not to travel it again. Akin to addiction recovery, it’s a daily commitment to the path I *want* to take. When things get difficult inside I break it down into manageable bits, reminding myself to rely upon the self-care habits I have collected in my toolbox. And in so doing I further strengthen the capacity of those tools to support me.
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To be clear, I don’t consider actual death in body as sombre, in and of itself. When Nature and the Universe lay aside one existence something new eventually sprouts; vegetation burgeons from hardened lava.
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The process of rebirth requires an energy investment. It’s also as simple, easy and accessible as just letting go and allowing creation to refresh and compose. So, while I devote effort to climbing out of dystopia and embodying compassion, I also provide space for the development of a loving world—for us, for Mother Earth, and all earthlings.
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“Liberating the mind from its restlessness requires removing the obstacles to peace of mind.” —Sri Ramana Maharshi [1] …➡️

* Now * https://soulfulsojourn.com/now/ The past w

* Now *
https://soulfulsojourn.com/now/
The past wanes in fading memories.
The future eludes with uncertainty.
The present is all that truly exists.
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Thus, the smart investment is in Now.
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Recollections can be fun and heartwarming.
But they can also lead me to negative rumination.
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Deliberation is helpful when making plans.
Yet, here too, it easily leans towards anxiety.
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Only in the current moment am I certain to find reality and peace... if I’m open to being it.
It's this stillness that is the place of greatest action... if I'm aware enough to allow it.
• • •
❝There is neither past nor future. There is only the present. Yesterday was the present to you when you experienced it, and tomorrow will be also the present when you experience it. Therefore, experience takes place only in the present, and beyond experience nothing exists.❞
—Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi
• • •
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✌️ ∙ 🌱 ∙ 🙏
#peace #plants #namaste
·
Belief – Gratitude – Clarity
Show up every moment.
Discover and experience the process of living.
http://soulfulsojourn.com
·
@Crownhealth
#PlantBased #RealFood
#NoAdditives #AllNatural #GutFriendly
#SwissQuality #sustainability
·
@HumanGoAI
#MadCrew

* Alive Again * https://soulfulsojourn.com/alive-a

* Alive Again *
https://soulfulsojourn.com/alive-again/
After nearly two months stuck in my flat, I’m back in nature.
Breathing forest terpenes.
Resonating with bird songs.
Refilling energy stores.
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If given the choice, for my last time on earth, I will always choose even one quiet minute in nature over any number of days, weeks, months or years confined in concrete. …If possible, I’d spend that moment in silence with a close friend.
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In an episode of “Living the Questions”, Krista Tippett discusses connection (kindred) and disconnection (sequestration). “We draw raw energy from each other, at a primal, animal level, when we are in the room together.”
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We need to replenish our basic stores of life energy, through our bodies, both from nature and from each other.
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Please, be gentle with yourselves, with others and with all life.
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✌️ ∙ 🌱 ∙ 🙏
#peace #plants #namaste
·
Belief – Gratitude – Clarity
Show up every moment.
Discover and experience the process of living.
http://soulfulsojourn.com
·
@Crownhealth
#PlantBased #RealFood
#NoAdditives #AllNatural #GutFriendly
#SwissQuality #sustainability
·
@HumanGoAI
#MadCrew

"Clearing away & unfolding." True in so many ways

"Clearing away & unfolding."
True in so many ways right now.
✌️·🌱·🙏
・・・
#Repost @anewpossibility
・・・
In Taoist mythology, the Hun soul is the spirit of the Spring Season. The Hun is also the spirit associated with the Wood Element, which describes the potent directionality of the tree branches reaching toward the light, the strength and flexibility of the tree trunks swaying with the wind yet steadily holding their own ground.
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Traditional Chinese medicine relates the Hun to the liver and to the wind. As the wind disperses clouds and renders the sky clear and serene, the liver cleans our blood, and similarly, the Hun clear away the clouds of muddled thinking to help us glimpse the big picture of our lives. We are then able to vision our future and, like any great leader, create strategies that are perfectly synchronized with the righteous unfolding of our destiny.
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-- from Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing by Lorie Eve Dechar.
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#alchemyofinnerwork #alchemicalhealing #tao #taoism #woodelement #fivespirits #acupuncture #acupuncturist #alchemicalacupuncture #alchemist #communitybuilder #healing #healingjourney

* Accountability of Process * https://soulfulsojou

* Accountability of Process *
https://soulfulsojourn.com/accountability-of-process/
1/3
In a recent post-workout comment to my coach, I wrote that I got through it thanks to accountability—to myself, to the process, and to him. I could say that something similar is true for most days right now.
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I’ve been in Spanish lockdown confinement for over seven weeks. Because I live alone, this means that my only interactions have been once or twice a week when visiting the small, weekly market to purchase fresh produce or a health food store for other items. And since I don’t speak Catalan or Spanish there’s been no dialogue. For the first five weeks, I actually welcomed the time to cocoon myself. As a result of the global pandemic, our world is provided with a ‘Gift of Pause’; a pause that offers space for reflection. I’m not in any way discounting the pain and hardship that befalls many people because of this situation, nor the fact that I have it pretty damn good in comparison. But I am giving recognition to the fact that it’s often through calamity and discomfort that we learn and grow.
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As I meditated in the expanded quietness, I began to notice how I was, at times, causing pain in myself and others through some of my written speech and actions. I made a commitment to feel it deeply and then refocus that energy to be more loving, compassionate, and supportive, with the aim of consciously choosing togetherness and connection.
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The fruit of this internal work—whether it be sweet or sour—won’t be truly revealed for some time; I most certainly feel that I have much to learn. Yet, the initial harvest commenced two weeks ago as reticent solitude turned to frustrated isolation. I’m a person who needs a lot of quiet time (especially in nature), but forced desolation (and no time with canines) tends to wreak havoc on my mental well-being. I knew a downward slide had started when patience began to wane and dark thoughts manifest. …➡️

Morning reading. · ❝In the stillness of the Hea

Morning reading.
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❝In the stillness of the Heart, one would realize that the ‘Self is peaceful quiet’ (‘santo yam atma’).❞
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—Narayanan, Captain. Surpassing Love and Grace. @sriramanasramam

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