Friday, October 16

For a minute, I want you to shut down all of your thoughts. And, then, focus on anything you can sense (see, touch, hear) that – in the absence of all those thoughts you were having – you find beautiful.

Sit there, with that thing of beauty, for a minute. Let yourself feel good about it.

:)

Do that more. You have infinite access to things that feel good. Let it in, let it in, let it in. Happy Friday!

Find this, and everything else we’ve written here, at lightward.com/newsletter. ✨

Wellness for you,
and for me

Breathe. It’s that simple. And it’s powerful! Try minimizing the amount you breathe through your mouth. Use that gorgeous nose of yours to do what it’s made to do – breathe! :) When you’re stressed about the state of the world, when you want to enjoy a beautiful moment, when you miss your friends and family, when you hope and work towards a better, more equitable future – breathe. This next week, try breathing with the following cadence: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and repeat for 3-5 minutes. All while breathing in and out through your nose. Turn on your favorite relaxing music. Or breathe in silence. How does it feel? What do you notice? How has it helped you?

Paying attention to your thoughts, and how this can lead you towards radical self-love

I posted a simple statement on Instagram yesterday that said: compliments won’t help you if you don’t really believe them.

I got a lot of responses both publicly and privately about how that statement resonated with them. Some people said they really needed to hear that. Some people said they struggled with giving themselves compliments – they couldn’t imagine doing so. I get it. I’ve been there. I remember looking in the mirror being disgusted with what I saw. I vividly remember shaming myself for being too “positive” or too “bubbly” or too “much” for whoever I heard it from, whether it was directly communicated to me or indirectly. That shit stuck with me and dictated how I communicated with myself.

I had a really impactful conversation with one of my clients recently. We talked about the negative self-talk we experience and how what we think about ourselves really impacts our decisions, relationships, views of the world, etc. She was telling me that when she started paying attention to her thoughts, she was taken aback by what she realized she was telling herself – and even more surprised that it was so automatic that she hadn’t ever noticed it actually happening. Imagine going through your life with the subconscious belief that you suck. That you’re not smart, pretty, cool, or enough. I don’t think it’s until we pay attention to what our internal dialogue is actually saying that we can change the trajectory of the rest of our life.

I’m always fascinated by how we talk to ourselves. Mostly because over the last few years I’ve noticed how shitty I’ve been to myself in this department. Yikes. >< I wouldn’t talk to anyone like I did to myself – it wasn’t kind. It wasn’t safe.

Here’s the deal: radical self-love is for you because you are worthy. And the first step is paying attention to your thoughts to see which ones are blocking you from exploring what self-love means and looks like for you. Why is this important? Because you are radically talented and full of all the energy of the universe. Isn’t that fucking dope? And I’m not just saying that to be all “woo woo” – I actually believe it. I’ve seen lives change when people start to believe this truth.

4 trillion to 1. I want you to hear this loud and clear: you are 1 in 4 trillion. That’s the probability of being born. You are a freaking MIRACLE.

So the next time you notice yourself being an asshole to yourself – because let’s be real, we’ve all been there and can practice getting better at not doing that – I invite you to take a deep breath (breathe like I suggested above) and start with reminding yourself that you’re a miracle. You’re unique. You’re extraordinary. You have the capacity to heal. You have the power to live the life of your dreams.

I radically believe in you. ❤️
Abe

PS. I think we are going to write a book one day about lessons we’ve learned and things we believe about the universe, love and mindset. Consider all of these emails a glimpse into what is to come. ;) Speaking it out loud makes it more real. X

Tattoo stories

I feel so friggin good whenever I look at this. It happened five weeks ago, with the same artist that did my other tattoo. Unlike that time, I had the distinct sensation of my body welcoming this one. That was new. That was cool. 😄

It says “I love you”, in Japanese. (While researching to make sure what I was choosing, I learned that Japanese has slightly different patterns for masculine and feminine speakers! The speaker, in this case, is masculine.) It’s pictured right side up, here, making this a tattoo for me. And also, it’s convenient that whenever I raise up my arms (which I do constantly 🙌), someone ends up seeing I love you in Japanese. 😄😂

The inspiration for it came from “Your Name”, the 2016 anime film, after which I cried for four hours. In a good way.

This has happened to me twice, in available memory.

• Your Name (July)

• Seeing Madeon’s “Good Faith” tour (last November)

Both times, it was my body experiencing resonance at the cellular level. Honestly, I think that’s it. I felt the substance of both of these things so hard, so hard, like I had found myself in the art in front of me.

You know how the details of a dream fade, the longer you’re awake?

I’ve felt, for a long time, like the knowledge I find/receive of myself, of reality, of the patterns that run through everything, are thoughts that I hold for a moment and then find slipping through my fingers, until they’re gone, for a time. It feels exactly like forgetting a dream.

The film Your Name has a plot thread about this idea of forgetting, and of realizing that you’ve forgotten, and of fighting to remember. Of deciding to remember.

That’s what this tattoo is about. Fighting, deciding, to remember who I am. To carry with me, as often as I can remember – and I am fighting to remember – the knowledge of my real essence, my pure, joyful, expressive, expansive essence. The character that is uniquely me, in all of my undiminished glory.

These are strong words. They should be. :) We are, each of us, utterly glorious. Remember.

I suspect my body welcomed this tattoo for the relaxing into self that it represents. It is, at times, a fight to remember. Absolutely. But if it’s a fight to stay aware, the process of registering that awareness is a peaceful one. It’s something that you relax into, the idea that I am who I am, and always have been. I need be nothing more. I cannot be anything less.

A few months ago, I called my mom, and asked her about something that I felt I’d lost when I was a kid. I thought I remembered being the class clown in elementary school, always loving being the center of attention, and then I thought I remembered losing that love some years later, and never getting it back, settling into a place where my relationship to attention was much more fraught. For years, I’d carried the idea that I was less than myself, that I’d lost something important.

And she said, “Oh honey, I understand how you’d remember it that way, but you’ve always had a fraught relationship with attention. Your grandma brought you a puppet once, when you were very little, and suggested off-handedly that you might do a puppet show for her before she left. And you stressed and stressed and stressed about getting it right, about meeting her expectation and about making sure the show got done. It was just a fun idea of hers, and you, little one, were so worried. :)”

I share this because the realization that I have always been me was electric. The freedom I felt, upon hearing that, was immediately life-altering. I felt like I could relax, in the deeper reaches of my consciousness, in a way I probably hadn’t in 20 years.

The specifics are going to be different for you. There are ways in which you haven’t changed, ever, that you’ve maybe forgotten. But, know this: you have always been you. Always, always, always, and it is good. :) So relax! Enjoy the freedom in this knowledge, for if you cannot lose yourself, you are completely, completely safe, and free.

This tattoo is my reminder, of all of that, to myself. It’s a part of my fight to remember.

In the movie, these words are written the other direction, by someone else. But this tattoo is for me, first, and so the ink sits as if I wrote it on myself, like notes on my arm before a test in junior high.

I love you. You are you. You always have been. You cannot ever lose that. ❤️

Fuck that knowledge feels good. 🙌 It’s good, good, good, good, good to be oneself. Claim your freedom, in this! It has always been yours.

Love,
Isaac

Empowered Human Academy

The podcast is going strong. 💪 Episodes so far:

1. Lisa Wardell: Belonging In The Room

2. Katherine Gehl: Maximizing Your Freedom to Choose

3. aaaaand it’s not out yet, but we’re revealing this here first before it drops on Tuesday (subscribe to get alerts!):
   Jill Moran: Defining Yourself From The Inside Out

The women we’ve spoken with in these episodes are locked in to their own knowledge, drive, and joy. It shows in their words. Come and listen! There is something here for you. :)

Every episode is on empoweredhumanacademy.com; you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and also on everything else. If you find something here that you value, please leave a review, on whatever platform you’re listening on. Help us share the show! We believe so, so strongly in all of this. Let’s go.

Hey, here’s a thing we want to be saying more: REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. We want to know what you’re thinking, and feeling. This whole deal is about being Connected, and we both and each invite you to conversation. Ask us questions! Tell us about your now! Hit reply, and spend a few minutes letting us know where you’re at. We’re ready. :)

And we want to make this a conversation that we all share. We want to talk, in future emails, about the questions and ideas that come up as a result of these exchanges. We love exploring, and we love exploring together. Hit us up.

Lastly, hey: forward this to someone who needs to hear it. This is about being Connected – and we actively invite you to send this high-and-good energy out into whatever Connections are yours.

Have a wonderful day. 🙌