Hey Andrea, I like that phrase co-existing and I was smiling when you mentioned the first ten mins of planning, I do too a make a million lists!
I listened to the podcast with Jivana Heyman. It inspired me to write a post which I’ve not yet posted about the modification word! I also don’t like it and have done my best in recent years not to use it because as he says it can make a person feel less than, so as I listened I was right there with him.
I loved that moment in the podcast. The very next day I noticed that Jason used the word in one of his videos and I thought hmmm...🤔 might need to nudge him a bit! I will look for your post!
Cleaning out my inbox and as always, I read this as the exact right time I was meant to read it. Thanks for reminding us to coexist with (and love) our SUPER selves!
I saw the co-existing post when it first came out and saved it like a treat for a special occasion, which came a week ago Monday when I really needed it. I drove up to the hills to walk Penny but then we sat together in the parking lot as a light rain started, which matched my mood. Penny was so sweet and patient in the passenger seat next to me. She is so good at coexisting! I took a picture of her as a future reminder of what the cutest model of coexisting looks like. Coexisting feels like not shooting the second arrow. I need that permission to feel whatever I'm feeling without shaming myself for it if it happens not to be happy. I can be really good at coming down on myself for having no good reason not to be happy. How could I be so ungrateful? I'm always impressed with the relief I feel when I let myself feel and verbalize to those around me how I'm feeling when it's not happy. How quickly those feelings move through me (even if it needs to happen several times a day on a rough one) when I just accept them and communicate them. I've been leaning into the vulnerability of trusting that others can coexist with me if I let them know what's going on. So yeah, I get that connection between coexisting with ourselves and coexisting with others. It's trust. And thanks for sharing the info on Together Rising! That was on my list but my first search came up empty.
Dogs are the best at reminding us of pure consciousness and presence. ❤️ I relate to what you say hear about how quickly emotions move when we accept them and even communicate them. It's hard to trust that others can "handle" that...and it's comforting to know that I can be there for myself in that way, too!
Love this Andrea. My focus for the last two years has been how to coexist with myself, how to love myself deeply I was forced to because my body made me and it just changed the trajectory of my life, now I’m going to school to help others learn how to love themselves deeply. It’s a very beautiful thing to set up a daily routine for someone to make them feel grounded supported honestly make them feel that they can love them themselves like no one else can.
I have some resistance to the “co-existing” concept tbh, in that it kinda implies a possibly false duality of self. Who’s existing with who? I’m not sure about that — aren’t they both the same under the rubric of self, whoever exists and whoever co-exists with whoever exists?
But maybe transpose it — maybe it’s like the different layers of self co-exist? Okay maybe it’s a bit far-fetched but I wonder about the yogic concept that the body is only one layer among many. I’ve had some poor news about my body recently (cancer reoccurrence), and I feel like I’m uncertain as to how to view that part of myself. Is it indeed a layer, the annamayakosha? And then how can I co-exist with that sheaf, how do I co-exist with this ever-changing body?
But certainly this co-existing concept is better than “you must love yourself or there’s something wrong with you”!
I just want to add that my surname is Syrian Jewish — and I want to endorse the donations you’re making. Thank you Andrea!
Hi Ivan. I'm so sorry to hear about the cancer recurrence. I remember feeling pretty lost about how to relate to my body (not to mention my mind) going through cancer. The only thing I "knew" was to be as gentle as I could with whatever cropped up. I heard the meditation teacher Kevin Courtney talk about how he stopped saying "Fuck Cancer" b/c it's part of his cells...alas I was never so enlightened and enjoyed and saw it as very much a separate part.
I think the teacher was thinking along the same lines as you...or the coexisting was witness consciousness. I'm going to roll this over in my mind a bit more.
As for the donations -- thanks for the endorsement. I'm being prodded on social media to make some sort of statement and I don't think that I ever will. I can't parse through the many things I feel about this ongoing war in a social media box. I don't think I can even parse through them here on Substack. The only thing I know with clarity is that it's not OK what is happening to so many children right now. Thus, the donations.
Thanks, as always, for sharing Ivan. My inbox is always open if you want to talk more.
These words are just so right. Coexisting with myself. I love this. And you are spot on. The words teachers use to articulate a feeling matter so much. It's such a skill. I used these words in my class this morning and I could visibly see the understanding and the exhale across the class, like the penny had finally dropped as to the actual meaning of the more abstract and challenging words of 'self love'. I have been reading Tara Brach's 'Radical Acceptance'. It is both a confronting and comforting read and these words of 'coexisting' are just so very timely. Thankyou for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this, Victoria -- love hearing that you saw that energetic exhale in the class! So cool. Making a note that I need to read that book. I used to read a lot of Tara Brach when she wrote for YJ, but, strangely, have never read one of her books!
Love this so much…..feels like such a relief not to fight against ourselves and just soften into whatever we’re feeling that day ! This really resonates….a few years back you said something that I always come back to and it has the same feeling as this for me: “don’t layer it up”. Thank you for all the wise words and love you share! ♥️
Hey Andrea, I like that phrase co-existing and I was smiling when you mentioned the first ten mins of planning, I do too a make a million lists!
I listened to the podcast with Jivana Heyman. It inspired me to write a post which I’ve not yet posted about the modification word! I also don’t like it and have done my best in recent years not to use it because as he says it can make a person feel less than, so as I listened I was right there with him.
Thanks for the great reads and podcasts 🤍
I loved that moment in the podcast. The very next day I noticed that Jason used the word in one of his videos and I thought hmmm...🤔 might need to nudge him a bit! I will look for your post!
You make me smile
Cleaning out my inbox and as always, I read this as the exact right time I was meant to read it. Thanks for reminding us to coexist with (and love) our SUPER selves!
💘
I saw the co-existing post when it first came out and saved it like a treat for a special occasion, which came a week ago Monday when I really needed it. I drove up to the hills to walk Penny but then we sat together in the parking lot as a light rain started, which matched my mood. Penny was so sweet and patient in the passenger seat next to me. She is so good at coexisting! I took a picture of her as a future reminder of what the cutest model of coexisting looks like. Coexisting feels like not shooting the second arrow. I need that permission to feel whatever I'm feeling without shaming myself for it if it happens not to be happy. I can be really good at coming down on myself for having no good reason not to be happy. How could I be so ungrateful? I'm always impressed with the relief I feel when I let myself feel and verbalize to those around me how I'm feeling when it's not happy. How quickly those feelings move through me (even if it needs to happen several times a day on a rough one) when I just accept them and communicate them. I've been leaning into the vulnerability of trusting that others can coexist with me if I let them know what's going on. So yeah, I get that connection between coexisting with ourselves and coexisting with others. It's trust. And thanks for sharing the info on Together Rising! That was on my list but my first search came up empty.
Dogs are the best at reminding us of pure consciousness and presence. ❤️ I relate to what you say hear about how quickly emotions move when we accept them and even communicate them. It's hard to trust that others can "handle" that...and it's comforting to know that I can be there for myself in that way, too!
Love this Andrea. My focus for the last two years has been how to coexist with myself, how to love myself deeply I was forced to because my body made me and it just changed the trajectory of my life, now I’m going to school to help others learn how to love themselves deeply. It’s a very beautiful thing to set up a daily routine for someone to make them feel grounded supported honestly make them feel that they can love them themselves like no one else can.
This sounds wonderful. What are you studying, Andrea?
I’m studying to become an Ayurvedic practitioner. To me Ayurveda is a love letter to yourself. ✨🌟✨🌟
Love this. ⭐️
I have some resistance to the “co-existing” concept tbh, in that it kinda implies a possibly false duality of self. Who’s existing with who? I’m not sure about that — aren’t they both the same under the rubric of self, whoever exists and whoever co-exists with whoever exists?
But maybe transpose it — maybe it’s like the different layers of self co-exist? Okay maybe it’s a bit far-fetched but I wonder about the yogic concept that the body is only one layer among many. I’ve had some poor news about my body recently (cancer reoccurrence), and I feel like I’m uncertain as to how to view that part of myself. Is it indeed a layer, the annamayakosha? And then how can I co-exist with that sheaf, how do I co-exist with this ever-changing body?
But certainly this co-existing concept is better than “you must love yourself or there’s something wrong with you”!
I just want to add that my surname is Syrian Jewish — and I want to endorse the donations you’re making. Thank you Andrea!
Hi Ivan. I'm so sorry to hear about the cancer recurrence. I remember feeling pretty lost about how to relate to my body (not to mention my mind) going through cancer. The only thing I "knew" was to be as gentle as I could with whatever cropped up. I heard the meditation teacher Kevin Courtney talk about how he stopped saying "Fuck Cancer" b/c it's part of his cells...alas I was never so enlightened and enjoyed and saw it as very much a separate part.
I think the teacher was thinking along the same lines as you...or the coexisting was witness consciousness. I'm going to roll this over in my mind a bit more.
As for the donations -- thanks for the endorsement. I'm being prodded on social media to make some sort of statement and I don't think that I ever will. I can't parse through the many things I feel about this ongoing war in a social media box. I don't think I can even parse through them here on Substack. The only thing I know with clarity is that it's not OK what is happening to so many children right now. Thus, the donations.
Thanks, as always, for sharing Ivan. My inbox is always open if you want to talk more.
I so appreciate this comment, thank you so much. I will write you.
These words are just so right. Coexisting with myself. I love this. And you are spot on. The words teachers use to articulate a feeling matter so much. It's such a skill. I used these words in my class this morning and I could visibly see the understanding and the exhale across the class, like the penny had finally dropped as to the actual meaning of the more abstract and challenging words of 'self love'. I have been reading Tara Brach's 'Radical Acceptance'. It is both a confronting and comforting read and these words of 'coexisting' are just so very timely. Thankyou for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this, Victoria -- love hearing that you saw that energetic exhale in the class! So cool. Making a note that I need to read that book. I used to read a lot of Tara Brach when she wrote for YJ, but, strangely, have never read one of her books!
Love this so much…..feels like such a relief not to fight against ourselves and just soften into whatever we’re feeling that day ! This really resonates….a few years back you said something that I always come back to and it has the same feeling as this for me: “don’t layer it up”. Thank you for all the wise words and love you share! ♥️
This makes me so happy to read. Thank you, dear Antonia!