—Pema Chödrön
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Olcese
I had every intention of posting a juicy Moon Magic message, with tarot insights, Samhain season supports and more, but I’m getting a strong urge to check in with you about your mental fitness practice.
How are you doing? Are your thoughts and your brilliant, beautiful mind working with you vs. against you?
Even if you don’t have a practice (yet!) I think you might relate: have you noticed, with conscious awareness, the antics of your Judge saboteur lately? This universal gremlin shows up when we judge ourselves, others, and/or our situations. When left unchecked, the judge can derail our best intentions, and ravage us with thoughts of shame, blame, and entitlement.
There’s so much more I can say here! Like how the judge shows up for me in professional settings, in my most intimate relationships, in my commitment to social justice, and in my day-to-day errands. If you ever need some real-life examples of how the judge doesn’t go away completely, even with a dedicated mental fitness practice, I’m your gal! What I can tell you is that it gets easier and easier to spot. Naming a thought, feeling, or behavior as “judge!” is a great signal that your practice is working. Doing those 2-, 5- and 12-minute sensory-based mindfulness practices, all the while calling your mind back when it wanders, also activates your Sage brain, overriding the Saboteur brain where the judge resides. And finally, you have lovely inner resources at your fingertips! Your Sage is with you always, and you have many Allies that are the parts of you that organize around your highest good and greatest joy.
We in the northern hemisphere are in the Shadow Season of the year. With a mindfulness practice, magickal or otherwise, and especially one that includes noticing the ways we carry and act from judgment, we observe the impacts of the waning light on our whole being. This is an essential, natural process. Learning to dance with the seasons allows for more ease and flow as we open to our own wholeness.
Please know that you’re not in this alone. Reach out if you’d benefit from some extra support on you’re journey.
xo