Tag Archives: boundaries

Endings are only beginnings

If you are reading this then 2018 is at an end (or gone) and we are welcoming 2019, either eagerly or in some other way.

Please look for a moment at the photo. It is of the meditation pod at Auroville, outside of Puducherry India.

It is known as the Matrimandir.

Auroville, City of Dawn, is an intentional community. It was first envisioned by a guru called Mirra Alfassa. She was a European woman who devoted her life to spirituality.

The City of Dawn, is built on land that was “approximately 20 square kilometers of barren wasteland.”

The earth was unable to support both plant or animal life.

A small group of believers began (what must have looked like madness to the non–believers) to rehabilitate the land by planting trees. When I visited about 4 weeks ago, the area was a veritable forest. Species of plant life that had died out were flourishing. Animal life was abundant and humans from many countries were permanent residents in the village. Permanent residents are expected to work 8 hours daily in exchange for living there.

It seems to be flourishing by all accounts.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by 124 nations who sent delegates with gifts of their earth to be all placed together in one urn. It was held on Wednesday 28th, 1968.

On that day, I was living in Trinidad and was 15 years old. I was actively filling in to be the caretaker of an 11 year old brother and a 7 year old sister. I was in over my head.

I had no idea that on the other side of the earth, a small group of people were gathering to celebrate a vision of a future and that as a 65 year old in 2018, I would be lucky enough to visit.

That 15-year-old, was also unaware that she would go on to do some amazing things.

Things like finish a triathlon and marathon after she turned 50 or get a handle of clinical depression and make her pain the foundation of a nonprofit, or have a wonderful husband and children, or speak at the UN, or (and most importantly) end generational violence in her lifetime.

I was unaware of all of this and more.

As I write this message to you, I am blissfully unaware of what will happen tomorrow, next week or 10 years from now.

I am not worried about not knowing.

I have learned to trust and believe that if I follow my path to end violence to girls and women, I will be fully living my destiny. I also know that when I do not trust my gut, I get burned.

I did not always believe I had a destiny. I believe it now.

I am asking you to give yourself time to uncover your own destinies and to allow yourself to take small steps in the direction of what you know that destiny to be.

Some of the tools to help you uncover your destiny include physical exercise, yoga, meditation, gratitude journaling, setting and keeping healthy boundaries by saying No to things that do not support what you know your destiny to be.

How we can help:

At www.indranislight.org/caregiver-resources we have classes to give you a head start of some of these tools. You can find a podcast called Caring for the Caregiver where we take deep dives into real questions by real people and give some ideas to handle life stresses.

I wish you a happy and joy-filled 2019. I wish you the clarity of mind to find joy in the midst of inevitable pain and I wish you the courage to love yourself as deeply as you love the most precious person on your life.

Love and light
indrani

The key to healthy relationships

I stayed at a hotel recently and the key to the room was an electronic gizmo that looked like a key. It inserted into the lock like a key and turned like a key.

I wondered, “why the trouble to make this new technology look like old tech?

Comfort to the guests. We all know what a key looks like. We are all creatures of habit and want to feel secure, so holding a key in our hand is a familiar feeling.

This key was different. It was embedded with the code to get into a particular room. Room 1167 would not be able to work on the lock for room 1624.

Makes perfect sense.

All the keys, however, were able to access the elevators that took each guest to any floor they wanted to visit. I have been in hotels where your room key only allowed you to access your floor, and if you had a friend on another floor they had to let you in.

This got me thinking about the symbolism and metaphors we have for keys:

The keys to our hearts.

The key to success.

The 5 or 10 or 100 keys to ______

The ONE key to happiness

Happiness is key to ________

Food is the key to a man’s heart

I am sure you can come up with other sayings.

When we allow people to enter into our lives, we give them a symbolic key of trust. We welcome them into our private spaces. We don’t say, “you are only allowed to use the kitchen but not the bathroom.We ASSUME that they will respect the trust we have given.

However, when the people we trust take the key we have offered and turn it against us, we feel violated. We may say things like,

I trusted you to not steal my money when we opened our joint account.
Or
I trusted you to not have sex with my best friend when we went out last night.
Or
I trusted you to not bash my face in when you are angry and blame all your failures on me.

Each one of the above sentences represents a situation where we GAVE the key to our hearts and lives to another and they use that key to wreck our lives.

When this happens, we must find the courage to “lock” them out of our hearts. That, often feels quite impossible.

We feel like they know us too well for us to set any real boundaries. Often, they know us better than we feel we know ourselves, but that is not true.

We must find the courage to block the codes they have used to enter our private heart spaces. If we have values of love and bravery and courage, they know our strengths and may say “Well you say you have love as a value, but you can’t find a way to love me as I am. You must be a liar!

When this happens, we may try to prove them wrong by showing them how much love we have and we may stay in unhealthy situations longer than we should.

What to do?

Turn those values of Love and Bravery and Courage back on yourself and show your own self that you have the only key to emotional freedom. Freedom to choose a healthy relationship over one that causes pain.

Love and light

Indrani

Caring for the Caregivers: When Family and Work Values Collide – Episode #24

Making a decision between your family and your work is never an easy task, especially when, which is more important changes with the circumstances. How can you determine when being with your family is most important? When going to work and supporting your clients is most important? In this episode Indrani, Amy, and Jeremie discuss tools you can use to make important decisions between your family and your work.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
01:20 Scenario
02:12 Jeremie – Accommodate, Avoid, Attack – How we say NO without saying NO
09:25 Discussion
17:00 Indrani – Your unreasonable “perfect should list”
23:10 Discussion
25:50 Amy – Contradictions between your different roles leading to shame
30:38 Discussion
39:00 Conclusion
40:36 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: Remember Who You Are – Episode #22

Indrani shares a story about a hair salon trip gone wrong, then shares how she used the Live a Brighter Life tools. Listen to the story and the discussion with Amy and Jeremie about the story to learn how you can use boundaries to stay grounded in your own truth, trust your own experiences, and remember who you are. If you don’t know your own truth, and practice it every day, people WILL cross your boundaries.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
02:29 Indrani tells the “Oil Head Massage” Story
09:26 Discussion about the story
11:36 Indrani shares her thoughts and lessons about the story
18:30 How to set boundaries around your truth
22:30 Journaling as a practical tool for keeping centered and knowing your truth
28:45 Using visualizations to help set boundaries
34:20 Conclusion
36:18 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: A Story – How to Say “NO” With the Feeling of Joy – Episode #21

This episode Indrani shares a personal story about problems with a “non-huggable” coat, being surprised by the perfect dress, and how saying “NO” to the little things and setting small boundaries is the key to making big changes to your relationships. Indrani also shares an awareness exercise you can use to observe your own boundaries and where you need to be saying “NO” in your daily life.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
00:46 Indrani tells her story
06:29 Indrani shares lessons from the story
08:01 Indrani shares an awareness exercise
09:18 Summary
10:43 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: Examples of Self-Care Practices Part Two – Episode #16

There are far too many self-care practices in the world to list them all. However, if you are looking for something new to try this year you can listen to Indrani, Amy, and Jeremie as they share their own self-care practices from 2017. In this episode, part two of two, the ILF Team each shares new self-care practices they will be trying in 2018.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
00:35 Jeremie – a new self-care practice he is rebooting from his past
02:55 Indrani – preparing for a future self-care goal
05:44 Amy – holding space for your personal life after work is done
09:45 Discussion
17:35 Conclusion
18:49 Outro

Caring for the Caregivers: Examples of Self-Care Practices Part One – Episode #15

There are far too many self-care practices in the world to list them all. However, if you are looking for something new to try this year you can listen to Indrani, Amy, and Jeremie as they share their own self-care practices from 2017. In this episode, part one of two, the ILF Team each share one self-care practice that worked for them in 2017, and one self-care practice they want to improve upon in 2018.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
00:57 Welcome
02:53 Indrani – Finding gratitude in the small moments
05:37 Amy – Communication your own needs
10:00 Jeremie – spend time with others doing what you love
12:47 Discussion about what self-care practices worked in 2017
15:58 Amy – yoga and meditation
19:14 Jeremie – keeping a gratitude and success journal
22:54 Indrani – restorative yoga practice
22:52 Discussion about what self-care practices need improving in 2018
32:43 Conclusion

Caring for the Caregivers: 6 Tips for Taking Care of Yourself and Focusing on Self-Care During the Holidays – Episode #13

Prepare for the holidays by listening to these SIX self-care tips from Amy, Jeremie, and Stacie.

Learn how to plan for your “you time” ahead of time, how to use your boundaries and values to navigate difficult conversations, the importance of gratitude, and three more tips in this episode of the Caring for the Caregivers Podcast.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction
02:03 Stacie Kenton Introduction.
03:26 Scenario
04:15 Jeremie – Plan for your “you time,” ahead of time.
07:10 Discussion about Planning your “you time,” ahead of time.
07:45 Stacie – Show some gratitude.
09:37 Discussion about Show some Gratitude.
11:56 Amy – Boundaries and values.
18:42 Discussion about Boundaries and values.
20:50 Jeremie – What positive emotions do you want to experience?
23:55 Discussion about What positive emotions do you want to experience.
27:25 Amy – Saying No.
33:12 Discussion about Saying no.
36:50 Stacie – Assume everyone is doing their best.
39:42 Discussion about Assume everyone is doing their best.
43:46 Conclusion
45:05 Volunteer Suzanne Holman shares two tips.
46:20 Volunteer Alyce Jurgenson shares two tips.

Links and Resources mentioned in this episode

BOOK: Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

LINK: Positive Emotions List

BRAVING:

B – Did I respect my boundaries?
R – Was I reliable?
A – Did I hold myself accountable?
V – Did I respect the vault and share appropriately?
I – Did I act from my integrity?
G – Was I generous towards myself?

Vaikhara Mudra

(Source: Mudras – For Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lilian Page)

Caring for the Caregivers Meditation – “Are your expectations leading to sticky situations?” – Episode #12

If you aren’t setting clear boundaries, and communicating your expectations, you are going to find yourself in conflict. Indrani shares a personal coaching message about setting and dealing with expectations at work and at home.

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Caring for the Caregivers: Sacrificing Holiday Time for Coworkers – Episode #11

Holidays can be stressful. Family, friends, extra expenses, and finding time to get everything done, while trying to enjoy yourself, can push you to the edge.

A coworker at the shelter asking you to switch shifts, or give up your holiday time, only adds to this holiday-madness and stress.

In today’s episode Indrani, Amy, and Jeremie discuss three tools you can use to have a conversation with your coworker, stick to your boundaries, and still protect the relationship.

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Episode Time Codes

00:00 Introduction.
00:43 Scenario.
02:05 Amy – Guilt and shame triggers.
07:28 Discussion about Guilt and shame triggers.
13:16 Indrani – Working from your strengths.
19:50 Discussion about Working from your strengths.
24:40 Jeremie – What happens when you don’t set boundaries.
29:30 Discussion about What happens when you don’t set boundaries.
34:05 Conclusion

Links and Resources mentioned in this episode

VIA Strength Survey – Free
Going to the Movies – Episode #3
Going to the Movies – Episode #5