Monthly Archives: November 2015

Vulnerability

daisy rifle at kent state

In your vulnerability is your strength.

This is the secret of the feminine. As women, we may not realize the POWER of our position. We have been taught to fight like men do, but we cannot win well this way.

The masculine has a power in his own right, of course, and this is well-known and understood. This has been the primary energy in the world for many millennia. Up until now. The times are changing, and now is the time for the re-emergence of the feminine principles – of compassion, peace, and inclusion. These feminine principles are what the world is so desperately in need of.

 The feminine is not masculine. Our power is in our Yin, not our Yang. We can literally soothe the savage beast and we can help heal this helter-skelter world.

In my workshops on masculine/feminine spirituality, one of the teaching stories I tell comes out of the ancient lore of the Celts.

“It was said that when the men came home from battle, bloody and wounded, and full of fight and rage and death, the women would meet their men at the outskirts of the village with their breasts bared.”

In this one simple and singular act, the women broke the spell of their men’s war-ignited blood lust and savagery. The returning soldiers were met by all the women of the village, young and old. For each age, from child, to maiden, to mother, to grandmother, has a power of her own. They did it to make their homes and hearths safe, their tribe civilized, and to effectively keep their community healthy and successful.

This instinct to be vulnerable, to literally expose the most sensitive, heart-centered part of themselves, returned their men, in one elegant gesture, back to their families and their community.

This gift of vulnerability is highly underestimated, and generally misunderstood for weakness. And this is a great loss to us all. For in baring our hearts, our souls, our feelings, our tears, we help heal our world, our men, and even the masculine within us – for we are all of us, a mix of both.

When we kill the feminine aspect, the masculine aspect will rule. The masculine without the feminine is unbalanced. It can be too brutal and coarse. The feminine brings heart, and love, and tenderness to mankind’s most mortal wounds.

Do not be ashamed of this tenderness. It is your gift. Let yourself fully embrace and embody the power of your touch, your understanding, your compassion, tending this power like a holy flame. In this way, we can heal ourselves, and we can heal each other.

This means to lead with your heart and to stand in the strength of love, in the power of compassion, and the clarity of truth.

This is not weakness. This is strength.

We can create a new world that heals our lives, our men, and ourselves.

So, when next you find yourself with the opportunity to open your heart ­– Let love rule – in truth, in simplicity, in authenticity, and in power. Simply love –heart on your sleeve – in the power of vulnerability, and watch what happens!

Diana Lang is a spiritual teacher and author of OPENING TO MEDITATION www.DianaLang.com
© DIANA LANG 2015

REPRINTED FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-lang/unrequited-love-the-spiri_b_8449180.html

UNREQUITED LOVE – The Spiritual Formula for Moving On

Dear Diana,

How do I get over losing the love of my life?
I am heartbroken and don’t think I will ever be over it.
Please help.

Yours truly,
Unrequited Love

Dear Unrequited Love,

You had the right idea. You loved so deeply that you didn’t know how to stop loving.

Is that a bad thing? To never stop loving? For truly, how do we love someone deeply and completely, and then never think of that person again? When we love with our whole heart that means that we are emotionally, spiritually, and physically engaged. Is it really possible to just simply – on the turn of a calendar page – not care any longer?

When your heart truly unites with someone, there are so many strings that connect you: friends, family, experiences, holidays, vacations, dreams, memories, and all of the million moments that you have lived together.

Relationship is where we can experience the most personal growth, the most quickly. It’s like an accelerated course on self-awareness. And… one the greatest gifts that a relationship produces is the opportunity to learn ourselves better through the dynamism our interpersonal connection, and from the day-to-day, give and take of a sincere and deep exchange.

If it happens that our relationship doesn’t work out, there is still so much to have gained by having been in it. Every relationship we engage in in has a lesson for us. You discover new things about yourself: what you want, what you need, what you like, what you don’t like, and who we are! And from these experiences you learn, better and better, what is good for you, and what is not so good for you. From this profound intertwining of lives, we grow and change in a thousand ways.

In order to move on, you need to appreciate all that you have learned, and realize that it wasn’t just a waste of time, nor kick yourself for loving in the first place. You just get yourself up and brush yourself off, and realize that this unique intertwining of lives brought you many gifts.

So, my advice, dear Unrequited, is to first, rest and recover from the shock and the loss of it. Then, practice self-compassion as you, breath-by-breath, thought-by-thought, heal your heart. As you become stronger you will start to understand better and better what actually happened in all its complexity, and in its simplicity. And soon enough, you will be able to experience compassion for both of you.

So, here is the spiritual formula that will free your heart and let you move on in your life.

1. Every time you think of your past partner, say a little prayer in your heart and wish them well.
2. Then, wish yourself well.
3. Finally, imagine blowing a little dandelion as you set each other free.

From a spiritual standpoint, it is always right to love – and, to risk loving again. Even if it all falls apart, it is right to open our hearts again. Will we be hurt again in love? Probably. But the fact THAT we love, is always right.

The heart is more resilient than you know.


Diana Lang is a spiritual teacher and author of OPENING TO MEDITATION www.DianaLang.com

©DIANA LANG 2015

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-lang/unrequited-love-the-spiri_b_8449180.html

EXCERPT from my meditation, “I CHOOSE LOVE.”

“And when you feel afraid – love one another.
If you’ve lost your way – love one another.
When you are all alone, –love one another.
If you are far from home – love one another.”
~Todd Rundgren

We need love right now like never before.
Like never before.

If there is something to do right now – it is to Love.
If you’re not sure what to do – Love.
If you’re feeling confused yourself – Love.

This is the action.
This is the instruction.
This is the activity.
This is the method.
This is the Way.

Love one another.

And when you can’t love yourself – love one another.
If there is something to do – love one another.
Reach out this way,
even in your own pain.
If you’re feeling conflicted yourself, or unsure of yourself – love one another.
Or lost yourself
Or hurt yourself
Still,
and especially,
love who is around you.
As you are able,
As you can.

Love. Love. Love

This is the answer to any question you can imagine.

Love each other through the walk of life.
Love the one that is standing in front of you.
Love the one you’re with.
Love me.
Love you.
Love each other.

And no matter what is happening in the world
Or in your Life

Still, the answer is to love.

And this Love becomes an action.

That you keep choosing

I choose love.
I choose love.
I choose love.

And I choose Love in a thousand ways.
By my breath, by my awareness, by my consciousness
As I am aware of a situation, or something I hear on the news, or from a friend, or in my own life.
I offer love.

as I am able to

through all my fear, through all my tension, through all my anxiety,
through all my confusion or unsureness,

I still offer love

In the way that I can,

This is yoga.

Can you breathe in the pose?

Can you breathe in the pose?

Or not breathe in the pose?

Can you keep yourself awake?
Can you stay aware?
No matter if you are upside down
or backbending?

Can you still breathe?
Can you stay present?
Can you stay with You?
Can you choose love?

Can you choose love?

I choose love.

 

To listen to this meditation in its entirety follow this link:
https://soundcloud.com/diana_lang/love-one-another

© Diana Lang 2015

Excerpt from TREASURE MEDITATION

fuscia purple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a word I love to use in meditation which is “buoyant”
I use it often
It is one of my favorite words to describe the relationship between the soul and the self.

The idea of being buoyant to life
Means no matter how deeply you might get dunked
You will always float back up.

The word buoyant has the root word “buoy” in it
So, it can be the stormiest of seas
but that little buoy of *YOU* is going to pop back up.
The soul is like that.

So, when I say, “Be buoyant.”
I am reminding you HOW
To connect to the soul.
Because the soul is inherently buoyant.

 

To listen to this meditation in its entirety, and many more, go to:
https://soundcloud.com/diana_lang/treasure-meditation
© Diana Lang 2015

Excerpt from AWE AND WONDER MEDITATION

doublecloudsBe in wonder of the changes
Be in awe of your movement
And your non-movement
Be in wonder at the process of life
As life unfolds
Even within a day
Even within a breath
It is unfolding in all kinds of convolutions
From the essence of us
out.

And each convolution
good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, good, bad
Are reflections
Like our shadow
Or our light
Of where we are
Right now.

And when you can stand in awe of this process
vs. egoic evaluation
This process becomes sacred.

It is so tempting to measure where we are
To something, to someone else, to some artificial time frame
Like a date on a calendar
It is so tempting to measure and compare
Ourselves to ourselves
Or to each other
Or to someone else’s standard
When all that the soul is showing us
Is our next step
In perfect timing to the life.

 

To listen to this meditation in its entirety, and many more, go to:
https://soundcloud.com/diana_lang
© Diana Lang 2015