Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts!   Loving this interview with Jim Carrey!  
"Once you realize you are complete, this life becomes a play of form." I hope this is of benefit in your life!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 
​

Happy Monday beautiful hearts! As we move into the energy of a new week, it seems like a glorious invitation to live from the vantage point of authentic expression.

I enjoyed a lovely afternoon with a dear friend yesterday and as we were talking, she shared a beautiful notion with me.

"Sarah, you see, our job is not to live in the shoes of others. Our job is to walk in our own path, in our own shoes." I smiled back at her as I felt my heart do a cartwheel.

How often do we try to unsuccessfully force our way into a pair of shoes that just don't fit us? How often do we try to wear others shoes becuase we think their's are better than our shoe collection. I remember as a young child my aunt took me to buy a pair of shoes with my cousin Ann for my cousin Bradley's wedding. As we tried on shoes, I found a gorgeous pair of purple shoes that matched my dress for the wedding. As I slipped them on, I felt my toes scrunch at the top, and my heel rubbed, but I wanted so badly to wear those shoes, so I told my aunt they fit perfectly.

Fast forward to the wedding day, and my feet were a hot mess. I loved those shoes, but as the day progressed my feet got blisters and eventually I had to take the shoes off and fess up that the shoes hadn't fit at all. As I think back to this experience it's very similiar to what my friend shared with me today. I wanted to look a certain way even as a seven year old. I was willing to override my own sense of inner knowing and comfort to make something work that just wasn't going to. Can you relate? When was the last time you found yourself metaphorically or literally wearing someone else's shoes?

As you make your way into this new week, make sure you are wearing your own shoes as you walk your unique path. And don't forget, they can be stylish and comfortable:).

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude,
​Sarah

Somewhere right behind my heart there was an ache, a deep dull throb that kept causing me to fidget with my shoulder.  It felt like someone was searing my rib.  I kept telling myself it must have been from a workout, but as the day wore on its intensity begged for my attention.  

As I sat with this sensation in meditation I could feel its message coming through loud and clear.   My mind and my heart were in misalignment with one another.  This deep physical ache came from a psychological ache, a desire for things to be other than they were.  Its easy to talk about those moments where we feel fully engaged, but what if we also talked about those moments of our suffering?  Those moments that catch our attention offer us deep medicine.  My suffering was arising from the essence of Stephen Cope's quote; wanting things, myself, the world and others to be different than they are.  

I sat in silence and allowed the emotions to arise.  At this point in my practice, the story doesn't matter as much as experiencing and expressing the emotions.  I let the tears glide down my cheeks like a lazy river.  My chest quivered with grief.  My belly churned with anger.  My body felt enraged.  I brought a hand to my heart and gently touched this deep desire for things to be different.  As soon as I acknowledged this space, I felt a breeze of softness settle around me.  

One of my teachers who I am infinitely grateful for recently shared that when we get into our  'victim' energy, (which we all possess throughout our journey) we don't often have the ability to realize our inner resources.  His advice is always:
~Name it and claim it.  
~If I'm in my suffering self (whatever self shows us), I can chose to get myself out.  

So as I sat in this space of my suffering self, I named it and realized the way out was through.  I allowed it to come to me instead of resisting and pushing against it.  I sat with it.  I expressed it.  And then I dance partied it!!!  I put on some Michael Franti and got up and danced.  On my way through my self imposed suffering I remembered that JOY was on the other side.  

When we get stuck or start blaming others around us we forget our divine inner resources.  Lets start talking to one another about 'naming and claiming it' so that we can own our stories through our practices of living.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

Happy Wednesday beautiful hearts!  These words by Jiddu Krishnamurti are really resonating with me today, how about you?  This beautiful experience called life is laced with opportunities for growth and deeper understanding.  I envision jumping into the ocean and diving deep in order to reclaim the treasures of my heart.  Life isn't about singly arriving at a destination point, it's about inhabiting all corners of your heart.  Have you found that to be true in your life?  

As I gaze into my own life, I can notice times of deep appreciation as well as times of deep suffering.  Each experience has contained bottomless teachings.   How am I caught in being a victim?  How do I persecute others?  How am I rescuing another from their experiences?  How am I unwilling to forgive?  How am I scared to love?  The teachings neither good nor bad, simply the next experience that offers me an opportunity to create the highest version of myself instead of an old primal response.  

I hope you connect to the things today that allow your heart to soar, that invite your spirit to be present, as well as the experiences that are perhaps the less invited visitors.  Each has a medicine for you.   Each is a vital part of our lives.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

I was only a small child, but it still seems like yesterday when I discovered that my grandmother was missing a breast.  I remember she and I in the garden picking vegetables and as she leaned forward her blouse gaped open and I noticed that one side of her chest was flat and the other full.  As she leaned up, our eyes locked, but we never spoke a word.  

Fast forward and I now know that she had a mastectomy because of cancer.  Breast cancer has reached into the lives of those I have loved and has left some with disfigurements, and others, with no trace of its existence.   Our mothers, sisters, friends, fathers, husbands, and those unknown to us might very well be dealing with this diagnosis.  

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  So what does this month represent?  Lets break it down to create an even greater sense of awareness and compassion for those dealing with this diagnosis.  

What is breast cancer?: (www.nationalbreastcancer.org) 
Breast cancer occurs when malignant tumors develop in the breast.  These cells can spread by breaking away from the original tumor and entering blood vessels or lymph vessels, which branch into tissues throughout the body. When cancer cells travel to other parts of the body and begin damaging other tissues and organs, the process is called metastasis.

Facts About Breast Cancer In The United States: (www.nationalbreastcancer.org)

• One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.
• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
• Each year it is estimated that over 252,710 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die.
• Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,470 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 460 will die each year.
• On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes.
• Over 3.3 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today. 

Breast cancer might be touching someones life that you love right now.  May we continue to unite our love, hope and awareness in the fight against cancer.

In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

"Living in the Body"
by Joyce Sutphen

Body is something you need in order to stay 
on this planet and you only get one. 
And no matter which one you get, it will not 
be satisfactory. It will not be beautiful 
enough, it will not be fast enough, it will 
not keep on for days at a time, but will 
pull you down into a sleepy swamp and 
demand apples and coffee and chocolate cake. 


Body is a thing you have to carry 
from one day into the next. Always the 
same eyebrows over the same eyes in the same 
skin when you look in the mirror, and the 
same creaky knee when you get up from the 
floor and the same wrist under the watchband. 
The changes you can make are small and 
costly—better to leave it as it is. 


Body is a thing that you have to leave 
eventually. You know that because you have 
seen others do it, others who were once like you, 
living inside their pile of bones and 
flesh, smiling at you, loving you, 
leaning in the doorway, talking to you 
for hours and then one day they 
are gone. No forwarding address.

Happy Friday beautiful hearts!  Today Sweetly Seeking turns four!  I can't believe how quickly this journey has gone!  For me, Sweetly Seeking has offered a space of accountability and inspiration, and for you as the readers, what are you enjoying about Sweetly Seeking? 

It has always been my dream to be a published author, and to be grouped into the ranks of literary greats.  We all have to start somewhere, right, and Sweetly Seeking is my foundation.  As you gaze into your life, what is your dream?  Are you moving closer to it, or further from it?  It's my hope that we all run towards our dreams as we encourage each other in magnanimous ways.   

I invite you to share below how you are accomplishing your dreams?  Has it happened all at once or gradually?  Are you excited, nervous, invigorated, or all of the above?  I can raise both hands and say I have felt and continue to feel the range of these emotions.   Life is such an amazing adventure.  

I'm excited to announce that Sweetly Seeking will have a sister website in the beginning of 2018.  This vision of mine is getting a little bit bigger.  I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to visit, comment, and be a part of the Sweetly Seeking Community!  Your connection means everything!!

With my party hat on and my hands in prayer, I bow to each and every one of you and say, 'Thank you.'    May you all be sweetly blessed!!!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

Happy Thursday beautiful hearts!  I have had this song on repeat for the last several weeks.  No matter where you are in your life, the world, this planet, your relationships, doesn't this song seem to ring true?  

The opening quote by John Trudel ripples out into my awareness and gives me goosebumps.  “No matter what they ever do to us, we must always act for the love of our people and the earth. We must not react out of hatred against those who have no sense.”

And so my dear friends, may your day be bathed in love.  Love lights the way when no other path seems available.  "Love letters to God, I wonder if she reads them or if they get lost in the stars?"

May You Sweetly Seek:)
​In Gratitude,
Sarah 

Happy Monday beautiful hearts!  In the season of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, I can't help but get excited for this upcoming season of letting go.  All around, Mother Nature is showing us her brilliance in the delicate yet powerful art of letting go.  As we mindfully let go of things, relationships, and ways of being that no longer serve us, we open up a cavern of possibility within our lives.  We create more equilibrium in our lives.  

​In the Ayurvedic tradition, an ancient system of natural healing developed in India, we learn that Autumn is the season of transition.  We move from the fires of summer into the season of VATA, which is characterized by the element of air and ether.  In the practice of Yin Yoga we begin to focus more on the qualities of the lungs.  It is here that we hold grief.  Perhaps this season of autumn is inviting you to take a deep breath that bypasses the superficial and penetrates to the heart of the matter.  Maybe once you reach this deep place within you discover a sense of grief, and know my friends that this is a normal 'season' of our lives.  Meet this auspicious traveler and inquire of their gifts.  Perhaps during the heat of the summer it was easy to ignore and get angry with this visitor, but in the coolness of fall, the medicine is to inquire and seek the gift.

We find that this season sometimes coined the 'King of the Dosas' as a proponent of regularity in our lives.  During this season especially we are encouraged to sleep and eat on a very regular schedule. Some other characteristics of this season are keeping ourselves hydrated, getting ample rest, and combating this season of dryness with sesame oil massages before our baths.   This season is also very much about elimination.  

The energy of Vata is all about movement.  The movement inside our physical bodies as well as the movement in our external lives.  This season of autumn invites us to slow down and more deliberately rest and restore our bodies, minds, and spirits.  

Cheers to another lens of autumn.  May you nourish your bodies, invite deep rest, and thoughtfully let go of things that no longer serve you.   Grab a spicy cup of ginger tea and curl up in gratitude.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah