Dear Joyous Resilience Community,

I have spent some time this month thinking of you, and in lieu of a live book signing during COVID, and as the Joyous Resilience book comes out today, getting so much joy from writing surprise notes of love and resilience : ) in each book for readers wanting a signed copy (thank you for your love and support). And, recording these 9 Joyous Resilience meditations that you can access immediately as a complimentary offering for your self-care/resilience tool kit, as we prepare for the year ahead.

As we emerge into 2021, like many of us, I am aware of the need for cultivating a crucial resilience skill: the ability to feel and hold contradictions in our individual and collective healing journeys. We might be finding ourselves at a time where there is an expectation and even a desire to set new goals and intentions and to start afresh. Yet, we are met with the knowing that our lives continue to require being with uncertainty, waiting rather than surging forward, and the work of grieving amidst hope and change.

Collectively, it is the same, we might be buoyed by the feeling of  hope and the potential for important change in our collective communities, specially here in the US, in the wake of the elections and the vaccine. And, starkly aware of the immense, ongoing burdens of the pandemic, systemic racism, economic inequity and climate change, that are a source of immense suffering, and that will require short and long term, intentional and rigorous action.

Allowing ourselves to feel multiple experiences at once, rather than trying to reduce our feelings to a binary; right or wrong, good or bad, happy or sad, hopeful or critical, causes much unnecessary suffering. Joyous Resilience is the art of allowing ourselves to be exactly where are, and knowing that will often involve varied and contradictory feelings. Learning to care for ourselves in this way is the crux of the Joyous Resilience book, which is out today and available for purchase worldwide here!
                   
          Guided Meditations from the Joyous Resilience Book*

To share in the celebration, and as a gift of care during this year of change and uncertainty, i have recorded 9 Guided Meditations from the book for you. Each meditation can be used alone, or you may go through them at your own pace sequentially, to cultivate your inner resilience. They are meant to be used as often as you like, and some may become a part of your daily practice or self-care tool kit

You do not need to be reading the book to make use of the  meditations, though the content in book will add greatly to the journey.

If you are reading the book, thank you! I am so glad to join you in this journey
If you have not purchased the book, you may do so here, or simply enjoy the meditations on their own. For folks interested in signed copies, with a special resilience love note inscribed, you may purchase at my local, independent bookstore here. For some great online events and conversations on joy and resilience, join me on Feb 26th at CIIS here or on Mar 6th at Eastwind books here (events are free or by donation).
         
    These meditations are offered as a complimentary gift from my heart to yours <3
 
9 Joyous Resilience Meditations that provide a foundation for getting grounded, nurturing yourself, feeling safe and protected, listening to your soulful wisdom, and connecting with creativity, play and pleasure! Listen to them at your own pace, return to them as much as you need, and may they become a part of your daily self-care tool kit.*

Body Mind Relaxation
Your Safe Space
Inner Nurturer
Boundary Setting
Inner Protector
Soul Self: The Light Within
Your Soul Self: Cave of the Heart
Self Care & Nurturance
Creativity, Play, Pleasure (Archetypal/Sensory) - YouTube vlog
And a bonus Joy Meditation!

*Loving the meditations and want to share them with others? Feel free to forward this newsletter to loved ones, clients, and fellow healers, so folks can subscribe through the links or directly through my website: anjulisherinmft.com. These are copyrighted and not meant for personal distribution. 

May the book and guided meditations be a  ​​​​source of much joy and healing in your lives.
​​ 
With much love,
Anjuli

​It's midsummer in the Western Hemisphere, a pivotal marker since ancient times of the turning of the turning of the wheel of the year, at the time of longest light. Amidst the work day responsibilities, the daily rituals, the creating and producing, a time to pause and give thanks and refuel resilience through a celebration of life through all of our senses.

We have been taught to look outside ourselves for joy and fulfillment. To fix ourselves rather than to be restored and transformed. To believe someone else has the answers, rather than to connect with the guidance of our body and it's innate desire to move towards what feels good. We have been given quick highs that create sharp lows, in place of sustained, nourishing fulfillment. Not so very long ago, our ancestors, were connected to innate ways of finding meaning, connecting with joy, moving through hardships and stress, in communal, creative and celebratory ways.
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​Food was not just a fuel for bodies, it was a grown, harvested and brought to the table in reverence that was expressed through slowing down, taking in the pleasure of taste, and the gift of the season and the grace of the Earth. It was eaten together, and followed at times with song, story, crafting, dance, firelight and friendship, with loving laps or gnarled hands braiding hair, offering touch, or the warm presence of home animals, all leavening the hard day's work, the tribulations of the time, the stressors of the unknown. All providing natural ways of returning to laughter, contentment, expression, meaning making, upliftment, connection and hope, so necessary for the soul.

There was time and space, literal, to look at the horizon daily and see it's vastness. To marvel at the colors of a sunset, to recognize the beauty of birdsong, to lay back and open to awe under the brilliance of stars. To find some way to feel a part of the larger universe through feeling connected to the cycles of sun and moon, the planting and harvest, the light and dark at play all around and inside us. 

Experiencing the world through taste, sight, sound, touch, scent and allowing ourselves meaningful time each day to connect with pleasure, play, fun and creativity are necessary remedies of the soul. They are also in our own hands, in our power, to create and enrich our lives with. They belong to no one culture, and certainly no profession or academia. They belong to the rich, wise traditions, housed in our bodies, imbued with the best of our heritage which when tapped into intentionally, contain the way back to our most resilient self.

May this midsummer meditation (in video) provide you with the very reminders and resources you need to fill this summer and all the days ahead with the sensory play and pleasure that is a return to your wise and resilient self.

​What are your favorite ways to restore and reset your energy in summertime that involve your senses?
What does summer taste like? Ice cream, watermelon, peaches, sweet tea? 
What does summer smell like? Tang of sea air, fresh cut grass, jasmine in the sultry night air, hot pavement?
What does summer sound like? Outdoor music, summer thunderstorms, crashing of waves, laughter at barbeques
What does summer touch/move like? swimming, biking, digging, weeding, dancing
What does summer look like? Whether you had these experiences or its your first time. What would you create this summer if you were to use it to replenish yourself through the senses. 
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Share with us your resilience play and pleasure in comments below.

Let's play ourselves whole again and use our joy to reengage with purpose in the world.
With much love and midsummer blessings,

Anjuli

WHY I LOVE IT: This one will make you laugh, cry and be deeply moved all at the same time. What I deeply appreciated was Sonya Renee Taylor's front and center inclusion of the impact of systems of oppression on our relationship with our body, (an essential analysis missing in most books about reclaiming healthy relationship with our body)and tying our awakening of self love to the radical act of reshaping the very systems that shame and shape us.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
"Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.

The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world--for us all."
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WHY I LOVE IT:
Meditation is a foundational practice that many therapists recommend to clients, because of it's immense beneficial effects. However, like any tool, it needs to be used with mindfulness, specially for folks with a history of trauma. This essential perspective is missing in most meditation education, creating a distressing gap in serving folks with trauma histories. This book bridges that gap thoroughly, and offers great interventions that allow us to access the gift of meditation with full support. Consider it required reading for anyone engaged in meditation or teaching it. 

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
"From elementary schools to psychotherapy offices, mindfulness meditation is an increasingly mainstream practice. At the same time, trauma remains a fact of life: the majority of us will experience a traumatic event in our lifetime, and up to 20% of us will develop posttraumatic stress. This means that anywhere mindfulness is being practiced, someone in the room is likely to be struggling with trauma. At first glance, this appears to be a good thing: trauma creates stress, and mindfulness is a proven tool for reducing it. But the reality is not so simple.

Drawing on a decade of research and clinical experience, psychotherapist and educator David Treleaven shows that mindfulness meditation―practiced without an awareness of trauma―can exacerbate symptoms of traumatic stress. Instructed to pay close, sustained attention to their inner world, survivors can experience flashbacks, dissociation, and even retraumatization.

​This raises a crucial question for mindfulness teachers, trauma professionals, and survivors everywhere: How can we minimize the potential dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits?

Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness offers answers to this question. and distills these insights into five key principles for trauma-sensitive mindfulness and offers 36 specific modifications designed to support survivors’ safety and stability. The result is a groundbreaking and practical approach that empowers those looking to practice mindfulness in a safe, transformative way.
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WHY I LOVE IT:
Two words-"Morning Pages." Not only do my clients rave about this book, but, this one exercise, has helped many of them get in the habit of writing and reflecting every morning as creative practice and also as an exceptional tool for getting grounded, connected and clear inside themselves. Highly Recommend this Classic for Releasing Fear Around Creativity.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
This international bestseller has inspired millions to overcome the limiting beliefs and fears that inhibit the creative process.

First published twenty-five years ago, The Artist's Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. Perhaps even more vital in today's cultural climate than when it was first published, The Artist's Way is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. In it, Julia Cameron takes readers on an amazing twelve-week journey to discover the inextricable link between their spiritual and creative selves. A revolutionary program for artistic renewal from the world's foremost authority on the creative process, The Artist's Way is a life-changing book. 

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 One of the things I have been fascinated with as a Resilience & Joy Focused practitioner, are the hidden costs of living in a technologically focused age with all of it’s “time saving” and “efficient” devices that have been taking over tasks that humans engaged in by hand over centuries. While, many of these technological advancements have provided enormous benefits in every arena of life, they have also inadvertently relegated to the ‘lost’ pile, certain vital mental, physical and relational benefits and most importantly the satisfaction that joy that can only be derived from living a hands-on life. ​

1: Eat With Your Hands – I come from an eastern culture where eating with our hands is the norm. Moving to the west, and realizing that this simple, primal act has become so disconnected from people’s eating habits, to the point of being looked down upon or thought of as dirty or unhygienic, was distressing. While not all foods are created equally when it comes to hands-only eating (think slippery noodles or marinara sauce : ) ), most are designed to be savored with all of our senses (think juicy mango dripping down your chin, or a morsel of naan filled with curry, and  you bet you will want to lick every finger : ) ).
      The science: not only does eating with our hands result in more mindful eating habits, knowing when we are full and eating healthier amounts, our fingers and finger tips are actually extensions of our digestive systems. Feeling our food signals to our brain to prepare the stomach for the digestive act. Next, millions of nerve endings relay further messages like temperature, spiciness, and allow for the release of digestive juices and enzymes that facilitate better digestion.  All that and it is fun and practiced by billions of people around the world. Dig in!
 
2: Get Your Hands in the Dirt- the other amazing place that microorganisms are hanging out ready to interact with your fingertips and produce a shot of that feel-good high to rival your expresso : ) Well, not quite, but it got your attention! – your nearest patch of soil. For thousands of years our interaction with our environment was exponentially higher, and while many of us intuitively know that being out in nature or interacting with plants makes us feel calmer, more present, and happier, the science further backs those results:
 
“gardening or getting our hands in the soil, increases the release and metabolism of serotonin in parts of the brain that control cognitive function and mood -- much like serotonin-boosting antidepressant drugs do.  Digging in the dirt isn't the same as taking Prozac, of course, but scientists argue that because humans evolved along with M. vaccae and a host of other friendly bugs, the relative lack of these "old friends" in our current environment has thrown our immune systems out of whack. This can lead to inflammation, which is implicated in a host of modern ills, from heart disease to diabetes to depression. "By reintroducing these bacteria in the environment, that may help to alleviate some of these problems." So, let’s get
digging.
 
3: Cooking, Chores & Crafts – The Three C’s. Who knew that doing our chores could be a boost for our resilience? Anything repetitive and rhythmic like washing dishes, folding laundry, ironing clothes, sweeping can be a way to soothe the mind and relax the body, while also allowing the mind to drift into a dream like state where a lot of creative thinking, inspiration and integration can happen. So yes, doing our chores can actually lead to greater joy and also inspire that sense of establishing greater order in our environment- creating a better external environment to help soothe the internal.

Like to craft or be creative, or wanting to get away from simply being on the internet or TV for entertainment? Find inspiration in the crafting ways of our ancestors and the beauty and the enjoyment they got out of the fire lit hours. “Neuroscientists are studying other forms of creativity and finding that activities like cooking, drawing, cake decorating, photography, art, music and even doing crossword puzzles are beneficial, according to Time magazine. “

The Science: when we’re being creative, our brains release dopamine, a natural anti-depressant. Creativity that takes concentration is a non-medicinal way of getting a feel-good high and helping to alleviate depression. One thought is that it calls on parts of the brain that are being used less and less often in our world of modern conveniences. MRI scans tracked by neuroscientist Kelly Lambert, also the author of “Lifting Depression,” suggest a strong connection between physical work and feeling good.
 
 
4: Writing or drawing by hand: In the age of typing, taking the time to keep a hand-written journal, writing down notes or assignments by hand is rare, even though research shows the most effective ways to study and retain new information is to write your notes by hand. That's because putting ink to paper stimulates a part of the brain called the Reticular Activating System, or the RAS. According to Life Hacker "The RAS acts as a filter for everything your brain needs to process, giving more importance to the stuff that you're actively focusing on that moment — something that the physical act of writing brings to the forefront." 

I will often assign clients a task of writing out difficult emotions as a letter that can be burnt-the words are important, but the physical act of moving one’s hands and letting the energy of the emotion come out through the gesture is intensely relieving and a big part of the release. The same goes for drawing out, doodling or painting difficult emotions or releasing wordless energies. The value of using our hands to release emotion and to clarify our thoughts is  exponential.
 
5: Hands on Healing- and then of course there is the age old belief that our touch heals. From mother’s laying their hands on children when they get hurt to soothe a wound, to contemporary hospitals incorporating massage and Reiki into their preventive care for the feel good hormones and reduction of pain they provide, learning that our hands actually have healing power and can be used to reduce our own stress and that of others, is still remarkable.

The science behind why a squeeze of the hand, a big bear hug, a kneading massage, reiki healing touch is shaping up to be the ultimate mind-body medicine? Touch lowers blood pressure and heart rate , increases immune function and relieves pain, and getting touched or doing some touching makes you healthier -- not to mention happier and less anxious! The act of embracing floods our bodies with oxytocin, a "bonding hormone" that makes people feel secure and trusting toward each other, lowers cortisol levels, and reduces stress. People who get more hugs from their partners, or simply have their hands held, have higher levels of oxytocin and lower blood pressure and heart rates.
 
Researchers measured immune function in healthy adults who got either a 45-minute Swedish massage or 45 minutes of lighter touch. The massaged group had substantially more white blood cells -- including natural killer cells, which help the body fight viruses and other pathogens -- and fewer types of inflammatory cytokines associated with autoimmune diseases.
 
This is why hands on healing and reiki classes continue to be a big part of the healing work provided in my practice.
 
So, which will you choose to boost your Joy and Resilience this summer? Make and eat something yummy with your hands? Plant a garden bed or simply put your hands in the soil of a potted plant? Let yourself slow down and enjoy the daily chores or take up a new hands on craft- collaging, drawing, painting, playing an instrument or knitting? Will you start writing hand written notes and cards?

Or, if you are in the Bay Area and want to learn a hands on healing method for alleviating anxiety, reducing stress and pain, grounding, and deep mental calm and meditation, why not join us at the next Reiki class.

Let’s do it together- hand in hand! Share your stories in comments below and share the post with those you think may benefit!
 
Much Love,
Anjuli
​

Hello Loves, 

​Everywhere i go in the bay area, I find myself drawn to those glorious yellow wild flowers-brave banners of spring-heralding new life to come. Full disclosure: I am a sucker for spring and her magic. I don't quite know how nature does it, but no matter how far stuck in our urban, computer driven lives we get, that rising sap in the trees, the rising light and heat, & the little yellow flower that will push it's way through the tiniest crack in the most hardened concrete street, also swells up & pushes through the most disheartened of hearts.  Born of a forgotten seed called hope. A little yellow flower named dream.  

And gosh, is that flower pushing up everywhere. Inside my heart and that of my friends and clients. It looks like wanting to start to exercise again, or wanting to dust off that dream to start a side business, to go after a promotion, or think about having a baby, or that most spring like of urges-to open to dating and love again. At times, it's more akin to having a good weed whacking party-from the iconic physical space decluttering, to wanting to make space for grief, clearing undercurrents of anger, or getting under a stubborn despondency that just hasn't gone away. Or, even harder to pinpoint, but so valid-it can look like an urge to stop doing so much and finally stop and rest in what is. 

​It's not about the goals-your particular band of flower growing or weed clearing-it's more about alerting you to these urges that are rising and inviting you not to trample these flowers. It's about how you respond to that tiny voice inside you that is urging you to open this spring-and find out exactly what kind of dream is budding inside.

​Diagnosing Your Spring Fever-So if your spring fever looks like restlessness, like wanting to day dream more or go outside, like feeling like something is missing, feeling bored or sad or lonely. Before you label these emotions, as we have been used to being labeled since we were young, as unfocused, depressed, distracted or ungrateful-it might be worthwhile to actually think of them as a start to a wonderful conversation. 

​Same goes for the  more tangible desires-that persistent idea that keeps nagging you, that goal you keep putting to the bottom of your list with a sigh, that vacation you keep hearing about but never allowed yourself to have, those jobs you keep meaning to apply to, that fun activity that just needs to be put on a calendar.

​How to Handle It? Now that you know that you have the signs, and that spring fever is a hopeful condition. Next, it's time for the conversation.

Rules of Engagement? Get Grounded & Present.
Get Kind, Curious, And Open. That means no shutting down what this part has to say just because you are not sure how to make it happen.

Ask-where do I feel this urge in my body? Put your hand there.
If it could speak what would it say? Trust the first things that come.
Ask it what it's afraid of or upset about? Let it get all of that fear & upset out.
Ask That Part, what it wants? Let it get all that want out.
Ask That Part, Is there anything I can do now to help you? Listen. See if you can meet it.
​Ask That Part, Is there anything I can do in the coming weeks to make this happen? Listen. See if you can meet it.

Make small concrete plans (putting it in calendar, booking it, making a budget for it, researching it). Tell that part, if I cannot do this, I will get help. And make a plan for getting help. 

Thank yourself for sharing your dreams.
​Thank yourself for learning how to pause and respond to those dreams.

If you have a connection with something larger than yourself; Unconditional love, the universe, light, God, Source Energy-now Is the time to surrender this to something larger and ask it to come to your assistance too. 

​Want To Be A Green Thumb Gardener Of Dreams? If this ability to get good at noticing your inner state, reducing your reactivity, and clearing your limiting beliefs is one you'd like to build, with great support from loving community, and ever greater support from a connection with the Unconditional Loving Energy of All That Is-come join us at the Spring ThetaHealing Classes, and let's do our spring cleaning together.

​And when you see those lovely spring flowers waving their bright heads your way, may your heart open to their bright promise with tenderness, and then may it open again to the sweetness of your own dreams-

Much Love,
​Anjuli