January 2022

Dear Friends,

I spent over 10 years yearning and aching for a baby, three babies to be exact, but, after a while, I just pleaded to God, the Universe, Spirit for at least one. Just let me have this experience of motherhood. Please.

Fast forward. I have two delicious, scrumptious, amazing little people calling me “Mama” and running all over the house completely destroying everything in their wake. I could not be happier or more content. I am a mother.

I have everything I need in my life and much more. My basic needs are met. I realized my long-held dream of motherhood. I want for nothing. And yet, I feel desire move in. I want this, and I want that. When it’s cold, I want to be in a warm place. When I am in a warm place, I miss my community that’s in a colder place. The more I focus on what I want versus the absolute perfection of what I have, the more I create discontentment and disconnection in my life. I know I should just be grateful for what I have and yet … I want more.

Wanting and desire are completely normal and very human. It drives us forward. It’s energy that is creative and dynamic and alive! I can really get into the feelings of desire in a positive way because it is so energizing; I just know I have to watch the attachment and really notice what it’s doing to my present moment awareness. Nothing is worth corrupting that. That is where the magic is. Here and now.

I want to honor my desires, to listen to them, and dig into what it is they are trying to reveal to me. There is no point in judging and shaming wanting and desire. When I get what I want, or get over wanting what I want, I find it is replaced by another want. I think these wants and desires are a way for me to learn more about myself. I notice that the less I want, the happier I am. That is why, for me, I try to keep desire and wanting in check even though it is so fun to indulge it. I find that, for me, wanting leads to more wanting, and that creates a fantasy that sucks me right out of the present moment. And, that’s where the magic is, remember? Why would I want to do anything to separate myself from magic?

The tradition of yoga instructs us to live our life in balance not running around seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. It teaches us to use the practices of movements, breath, and present moment awareness to become a witness. In that state of awareness, we can notice our desire to seek pleasure and to avoid pain and be discerning in our choices to find what the Buddhists call “The Middle Path.” This middle path used to really aggravate me. Why would anyone want such a boring, mediocre life to choose the “middle path”? What I have learned by choosing — inadvertently or not — a more “high” or “low” path is that the middle path is amazing. It is zen. It is transcendent. It is a place where the hooks of the ego’s wanting have much less to sink into. Without those hooks, I am free.

One of the best resources I’ve found to honor my desires without being attached is by following Deepak Chopra’s book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. I was never all that attracted to Deepak until I met him and started spending time with him. I noticed the way he lived was in the flow. One of his favorite sayings is, “Infinite flexibility and creativity are the secrets to immortality.” He is a person I observed who lived these spiritual laws, and what I felt with him was “lightness of being.” I wanted that! Following these laws is living a surrendered life, completely trusting the Universe, and opening to the magic and mystery of it all.

As we transition to a new year, it’s a time to reflect on what’s working and what’s not and to set intentions for the life we desire. For me, I intend to follow these seven laws (Look them up!) because when I do I am living my life in sync with spirit. That is magic!

Love,

Gina

Read this article on The Aspen Times website here.