Our summer issue is out now. Our regular contributor and resident astrologer Rachelle Hicks shares her insights, dive on in to find out more…
Grace
By Mary Berkery
Understanding Grace
Consider the word grace, what does it mean and does it have any relevance in your life? In the dictionary, grace can be defined as a seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement and form, a pleasing characteristic of refinement, a sense of propriety and a disposition to be generous, helpful, and to have goodwill.
In Greek mythology, Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia, daughters of Zeus, were known as The Three Graces. The sister goddesses represented qualities of charm, beauty, and joy, beautifully expressed in Antonio Canova’s neoclassical, marble statue. They were said to bestow the world with goodwill, beauty, kindness and precious moments. From a theological aspect, grace refers to being freely given unmerited favour and blessings. Grace is also the influence of a spiritual dimension operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. Being in a state of grace is being in a condition of high consciousness and loving-kindness.
Developing Your Personal Grace
Grace has many levels of meaning for me. My life has been graced with wonderful encounters and events. I think of times when I operated in a graceful way in my dealings with others, being thoughtful in my words and responses. I consider how I dress with care and move physically with ease and confidence. Who in your life would you consider to be graceful and where or how do you wish to embody it in your life? For some it may refer to poise and elegance, for others it could mean generosity, goodwill and blessings. Here are some areas you can bring in more grace, and ways that might help you to do so.
Grace in Thought
» Consciously take attention away from
self-criticism or judgments of ourselves
and others.
» Embody thoughts of beauty, goodwill and
kindness.
» Instead of reacting immediately in a
tense or challenging situation, prioritise
elegance in thought, as opposed to speed
in reaction. Give yourself a moment to find
grace in your thoughts, and allow this
quality to inform your words or actions.
Grace in Actions
»Trust that life will bring you through
difficult situations.
»Allow yourself time to soften into
transitions and changes in life.
»Can you bring qualities of joy, beauty,
charm and generosity into your actions?
Choose a quality related to grace and see if
you can bring it into your day to day life.
Grace in Body
» Develop awareness of your body as a
beautiful temple.
» Care for it with deep respect, nutrition and
alignment exercises.
» Choose quality clothing to enhance your
form and beauty.
By Dee Wallace
I love fall. It is my favorite time of the year – the beautiful leaves, the crisp air, the beginning of warm fires and hot cocoa. My family always had great adventures together, collecting bittersweet for the table and preparing for Halloween. It was, in every way, a time of celebrating.
My grandparents never quite understood this. Autumn, for them, had always been a time of “getting ready for the storm,” preparing for the “cold, bleak winter months ahead.” I would ask my mother about why we experienced the same time in such radically different ways. “They grew up in different times,” she explained, “and have different beliefs because of what they had to go through.” It occurred to me, even at a young age, that this wasn’t the reality now. So, why didn’t they choose to experience it with joy like the rest of the family?
Now, of course, knowing what I do about self-creation, I understand that our belief systems define our perspectives, and that is the reality of our lives. When we choose to adopt new belief systems and perspectives, the reality of our lives can change. No one understood that back then. No one understood that it is really that simple to shift your reality.
Metaphorically, I wonder how many of us are still getting ready for the storm – waiting for the other shoe to drop, and living in a false reality of things not consistently being in balance: the yang/yang of life where we have to wait for the sun to come back out in the spring cycle that we falsely believe we have no control over. What freedom it would be to know that, by choosing to accept and live in joy and love, every season is the new creation of good and expansion. That “for every time there is a season” and that it is up to us to create it the way we choose to through our perspectives.
In her later years, my mother gave me a beautiful experience of this. It broke my heart the day she had to move into a nursing home. I had sworn she would never have to. I called her from the set I was shooting on, in California, to verify that all was ok and she was happy. “Hi Mommy,” I chirped, trying not to break into emotion. “I wanted to check in with you and see how things are going. How’s your room?” I asked. “Oh DD,” she replied, “it’s beautiful.” I felt a wave of relief flood over me, absorbing some of my self-inflicted guilt. “What does it look like?” I inquired. “Oh, sweetheart, I haven’t seen it yet.”
That stopped me. My very lucid mother wasn’t making much sense. I gently prodded, “But Mommy, you just told me it was beautiful.” “Yes,” she replied gently, “I’m choosing to see it that way already.” Wow. That leveled me. In her inimitable grace, she was creating her perspective and choosing her reality. What an amazing life lesson she gave me.
That’s why, this fall, I am harvesting my self-love, my joy, and my abundance everywhere in my life. I am allowing the Universe to send me all I have planted, sowed and reaped in the creation of me. Like a valuable crop, I am rising up to be plucked and sent out again to manifest good. This is the cycle of life that is ongoing, and the creation of that cycle is up to me. I am planting me as the crop of joy, love, money and success, and health. May everyone enjoy my harvest, and return it to me tenfold.
Dee Wallace has worked as an author, teacher, dancer and actress in film, television and the stage for over 30 years (E.T., Cujo, The Howling). Her book, Bright Light, tells that tale, and shares the spiritual lessons she has learned from a life in acting.
In today’s fast changing corporate and business world our bodies and our minds are being pushed to their limits at speeds we have never had to deal with before. This is why so many in the corporate world are having exhaustion breakdowns and stress related illness. When we allow our lives to reach this stage of total unbalance we become un-centred. Yoga is one of the many ancient wisdoms and techniques of age-old Indian culture that compliment our modern times issues.
Through my extensive travel of Asia, I began to understand the secrets and magic keys the Indian people naturally embraced, which gave them such grace and balance in living in what looks to a newcomer like an overcrowded, unorganized, chaotic environment, which held many extreme weather challenges.
One of the magic key foundations which holds all of India together is its understanding that our corporate, cultural and spiritual lives are all intertwined and are one. The essential principles of modern day Hinduism and Buddhism arose from ancient texts known as the Vedas. The Vedas explain that how we are with our bodies is how we are with all daily aspects of our lives. Every corporate, cultural, spiritual, personal belief in our daily lives in connected at all times. In India, all you see once you can see through the veils of chaos is pure grace and peace of mind in the people. The word Business means only Busy-ness. This too is done with grace.
When we begin to balance and learn the techniques and keys of thriving with grace then we are in the flow of balance. It is just like doing our daily yoga. Once we place our minds to that area of our body and balance our heart-beat with the rhythm of our breath, we have created thriving with grace through our yoga practice.
We do not have to stop that flow and grace once we have left the yoga mat. We can, like most Asians, continue the essence of thriving with grace into the rest of our daily lives. Like yoga, it is the practice of the one position for some time which brings us to the feeling of ease and effortlessness in that position.
It is the same for our corporate environments. We can practice the new thriving with grace approach and watch how, once we move into the ease and effortlessness, we bring a new force with immense clarity others will slowly follow. We do not need to achieve or approach our goals in the business world with a “divide, conquer, grab, pillage and plunder” attitude. This is only short-term achievement.
“As does the dolphin with fun and grace out manoeuvre the shark so too we do this with Thriving with Grace in the corporate world with ease and effortlessness”. Bernice M Paolozzi –Inner Coach
Once we decide, like in yoga when moving from one position to another, to transcend through and above to a further point of stretching and reaching, we can achieve our corporate business goals with grace. We receive the feeling of rejuvenation and regeneration, balanced with clarity through to the next part of our journey in the world of financial freedom and respect through valuing our worth.
Like in yoga, our body we respect as a temple, our beliefs and views of the practice to thrive with grace in the corporate business world and become the pioneers to bring our yoga bodies and mind into every aspect and moment of our lives, is the foundation of the secret and golden keys of India and its people.
Ó2008 Bernice Maria Paolozzi
Let’s Get Moving Together!!
Bernice Maria Paolozzi
info@bernicepaolozzi.eu
www.bernicepaolozzi.eu
Tel: +353 87 23 42 859