How to Become a Peaceful Dancer (7-Day Challenge)
I was sitting on our backyard, during my morning meditation, when a voice whispered in my ear:
- Emanate peace at all times and see what happens.
-Who the hell whispered that in my ear? - I thought, abruptly opening my eyes, looking over my shoulder, in search of a ghost, like a mad woman. - Who said that? - I talked with the air.
It took me a second to realize that the message was the interesting part of this story, not the messenger.
-Emanate peace at all times and see what happens. - I repeated, out loud, while I walked back to our kitchen, grabbed a pen and a paper and wrote it down.
After I wrote it, I pinned it at the board we have in the kitchen - a board where we stick love notes to each other, me and my man, and small reminders of what we´re grateful for -, and thought to myself:
-I´m going to give it a try. How hard can it be, to emanate peace at all times and observe what happens?
Despite my feisty nature and the street girl who lives in me, one that doesn´t avoid conflict, when necessary, or a good battle, when battles must be faced, I saw myself as a peaceful person. As far as I knew, I had peaceful thoughts - mostly; peaceful words - mostly; peaceful actions - mostly.
Mostly.
Or so I thought.
I decided to start the challenge - emanating peace at all times and seeing what happened - for one entire day. If the day went well, I´d extend it to 2 days; 3 days; a week; a month. A year. A life-time.
Wow.
I was excited.
I showered, got dressed, had breakfast and started my day. I monitored myself for as long as my perseverance allowed. It turned out I wasn´t as peaceful as I thought I was and emanating peace at all times is one of the hardest things we can do.
This takes me to the present moment. A hot - unacceptable, brutal, and primitive - War in Ukraine and a cold War - political, economic, ecologic - around the globe. Millions of people already exhausted, isolated, and struggling after two years of a pandemic who empowered many - I include myself in the privileged group of folks who grew immensely, personally and professionally, during the pandemic - and destroyed many more, didn´t see it coming. They - we - got punched in the stomach. Now, after two years of collective torture, a war hits them/us. Directly or indirectly.
It´s the year 2022 and we´re still experiencing war despite the experience we have accumulated throughout History and the lessons our world should have learned by now. It feels like we´re living in the Middle Ages. We´re still a feudal, primitive, bunch of slow learners who´ll pillage and kill for more territory, power, material goods; mental insanity.
I´ve lost my faith in Politics and I don´t know much but I know this: collective peace is the result of individual peace. There´ll be no world peace without individual peace.
The collective is a concept, a mental construction. The collective is nothing but the sum of the individuals. When the individuals change, the collective changes.
That´s why I decided to create this Challenge, or little Journey, to provoke you and, hopefully, awaken you to the urgency of peace. Within you, before anything else. And, then, as the ripple effect goes, around you.
Welcome to this 7-Day Challenge "How to Become a Peaceful Dancer"
(the name of the challenge may sound silly but the proposed tasks aren´t - dive in and let the peace begin, from within)
Day #1
Do the Exercise that mysterious voice whispered in my ear:
EMANATE PEACE AT ALL TIMES & SEE WHAT HAPPENS. FOR ONE ENTIRE DAY.
Make a conscious decision of EMANATING PEACE IN EVERY THOUGHT, FEELING, WORD, AND ACTION, for at least one day.
Sounds easy?
Try it. Then, we´ll talk.
Day #2
Sit down in silence and MEDITATE for 10 minutes, preferably in the morning, before you start your day.
Observe the thoughts that come and go; notice how many negative thoughts pop into your head; the judgments, the pessimism, the destructive and stressful images.
Just observe, don´t judge.
Becoming aware of the conflicts we carry within - in our mind and heart - is a huge step towards inner peace. Pretending we´re illuminated Buddhas who poop rainbows and exhale love 24/7 is not only delusional but a powerful tool of self-sabotage.
The faster we recognize and embrace the negativity that also exists in us, the faster we can transform it into something positive, empowering, peaceful.
Day #3
Forgive yourself and others.
So much of the inner conflicts we carry within comes from the refusal to forgive ourselves and others. We hold on to grudges, pain, hurtful memories, what we believe should have happened, what we think "others did to us", and we refuse to let go.
I´m here to remind you that no peace is possible without Forgiveness. And I´m also here to tell you that Forgiveness starts within - forgiving yourself for your past mistakes, accepting the past couldn´t have been different because you did your best with what you knew.
Here´s what I want you to do:
1. Identify something you feel guilty about, a burden you´ve been carrying in your heart.
1.2. Write about it on paper.
2. Decide to forgive yourself for that past mistake. Accept that you can´t change the past, only the present. Extract a lesson from that mistake and make the decision of forgiving yourself for it.
3. After you´ve done it to yourself, it´s time to do it for others. Forgive the ones who have hurt you. That doesn´t mean accepting what they did, agreeing with what they did or inviting them back into your life. Forgiveness is something you do for yourself, not for others. We can forgive someone and still think what they did was a mistake; we can forgive someone and still keep them at distance; forgiving is not agreeing.
Life´s short. A heavy heart cannot embrace peace. Forgive.
Day #4
Drop off the Comparison & the Competition Train
We´re taught to compete. The messages we receive from an early age are all leading to the same point: be the best, beat competition, be #1, compare yourself to others and make sure you have the upper hand on this never-ending race towards nowhere.
I´m here to invite you to drop off the Competition/Comparison train. Stop measuring yourself, and your worth, according to what others are doing and how they´re behaving.
Look at your fellow humans as companions of this journey we call life, not as opponents that you have to beat on this imaginary - and highly destructive - race.
Embrace your Uniqueness and empower others to do the same.
Dance your dance.
Live your life.
Be who you are.
Other people are here to support, inspire, and empower you; some times, they´re here to antagonize you and offer you the opportunity of conflict but that too can be used as a lesson, as a path for evolution.
Other people are not here as references you have to follow, measure yourself against, or surpass; they´re not opponents in a fight that only exists inside our heads.
So, let go of that Competition/Comparison´s cape. Undress yourself from animosity and mediocrity. You were born to excel at being who you are, just like everybody else.
Day #5
Create Unity in your world instead of Separation
The question for today is "how can I create unity and harmony in my life" as opposed to creating separation, conflict, and war?
We live in a global world with different perspectives on life. In such a world, we´ll disagree, we´ll eventually get into conflict over subjects we don´t see the same way; we´ll have to come to terms with seeing things from opposite angles while respecting each other and learning from our differences.
In the midst of it all, comes a conscious effort to create Unity.
How can I unite people? How can I live in harmony, even in the midst of disagreements, conflicts, and differences?
How can I create harmony in my life and in the life of the ones who surround me?
How can I can an example of Unity and respect for other people, including the ones who think, feel, and live differently from me?
Day #6
Dance & Live from your Soul
If you´ve been following my work for a while, this is a cliché you´re familiar with.
Dancing from your Soul is a must in authentic Egyptian Dance and a must in a peaceful life.
Most of us are dancing and living from our ego, vanity, eagerness to fit in and be applauded; win the game we were convinced we have to play; be the best at it (whatever it may be and what it is, nobody knows).
The invitation for today is to DANCE AND LIVE FROM YOUR SOUL.
Dropping ambitions, vanities, and arrogance and move from our essence, our heart, our soul. In that, resides peace.
Day #7
Accept there´s Space and Opportunities for everyone.
This is our world, mine and yours. There´s more than enough to go around.
No need to live with a mindset of scarcity according to which you believe there isn´t enough for everyone and, therefore, you have to fight for your slice of the pie.
We´re all fellow companions, brothers and sisters, in this race called Humanity.
My abundance doesn´t steal from your abundance.
My success doesn´t stop you from being successful.
My happiness doesn´t stop you from being happy.
We live in a bountiful place - be generous with yourself and with others. Be open. And kind. Above all, be kind. Every day.
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