Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a great 2020 so far! Today is aloha Friday and also a FULL MOON!! I don’t know too much about astrology, but I do know that full moons shed some light on our inner darkness, causing everything we have been trying to suppress (emotions, feelings, traumas) to come to the surface. This is why some people may feel a bit out of balance and perhaps like they are going a bit crazy! Don’t worry you are not, and honestly if you feel like you are-it is a good thing! Don’t fight it: the wild emotions, the feelings; they are all a part of what it means to be human. We can take a lesson from our beautiful friend the wind: simply let it flow through you: in and out of your limbs. The more we hold onto things, whether this be tangible or intangible, the more we remain stuck; in patterns, habits, thoughts. This can cause us to have illness within our physical bodies as well as in our mental spheres. So just breathe and let it go!

Now for my talking point this week: vulnerability! Full moons ask us to be vulnerable with ourselves and others. This time allows us to really look within and ask what we need to let go of. What is it that holds us back from becoming our best selves? Why are we so afraid to let ourselves be vulnerable? To let ourselves be open? Most of this stems from fear: fear of rejection, of being hurt, not loved, misunderstood, etc. To be vulnerable in our society is to be looked at as weak and emotional. We’re taught to be strong; to hold it all in, because no one wants to see the “ugly side” of things. But we as humans have more than one side, more than one emotion. One is not more beautiful than the other, that is what makes being a human so magnificent! Its that we get to experience all of the feelings, the whole spectrum of colorful emotions!! Without one you could not have the other, we would not be whole.

Yes being vulnerable can be fucking scary. It has been the hardest thing for me to overcome, and I honestly still have work to. But I am trying, and thats all that matters. By putting ourselves in the fire ( this is also tapas, one of the niyamas of yoga, more on that later), we can help to burn away anything we no longer want or need in our lives such as past traumas, habits, etc. Yes perhaps defending ourselves, keeping our emotions closed in was some survival skill we needed at one point in our lives. But its important to know when it is time to let go, to release and realize that maybe these learned habitual patterns are not what we actually need in the new.

Letting others see our vulnerabilities can also help them to become more comfortable with being vulnerable themselves. When others see us living authentically it gives them the opportunity to see us for who we truly are as well as see themselves and notice if they are truly living the life that they want to be living. When we let go of fear and the fake armor that we hide behind, we create deeper connection with ourselves as well as with those around us. We also feel more at peace within, and cultivate more self-love:) And we all know, the more love we have for ourselves, the more we have for pachamama, and all of her children!

So my challenge to you is to open up to yourself, perhaps become more introspective and ask yourself if you are holding anything back, if fear is driving your actions or the way you live your life. Find where this fear is and then go after it and dive right in, conquer it, and you will find that it wasn’t actually so scary at all, that maybe opening up and being vulnerable with yourself and others is exactly what you needed.

I realize I am posting this on Sunday and not aloha Friday, but life became busy when I was typing this up Friday night and I wanted to move with the flow not fight it, so I am posting it now when I have more time to edit and write! Feel free to comment or message, everyone have a great week!

Mahalo,

Rylee