“Love whoever is around to be loved.”
– Kurt Vonnegut
Hello My Fabulous Folks!
I’d like you to stop for a moment and ask yourself this question: Am I feeling enough love in my life right now?
If the answer is “no”, then I’m here today to help you tune into the world of love that’s surrounding you right here and now.
You see, we’re often so focused on finding that great love affair or the perfect friendship or on having kids before cultivating love in our lives, that we are blind to the opportunities to cultivate love with the beings all around us each and every day in the grocery aisles, on Twitter, at the gym, and in the park.
I love the story of an anthropologist who once asked a member of the Hopi Tribe in Arizona why so many of his people’s songs were about rain. The Hopi replied, “Because water is so scarce. Is that why so many of your songs are about love?” Oh SNAP from the Hopi dude!!
In this society and to the detriment of it, we tend to confine the giving and receiving of love to a select few in our inner circle. Not only can this create a cold, warring world, but it can leave us feeling alienated and painfully alone because we can’t have our chosen loved ones surrounding us 24/7. The thing is though, love is a product of having an emotional connection to others and that connection to others is actually available to us at any given moment – with that man riding beside you on the bus, or that bird chirping at you from the tree, or that person you’re interacting with on Facebook. You know the song “Love the One You’re With?” Well, as far as I can see you’re actually “with” 7 billion people and countless other beings in this relationship called life.
So, how do you start cultivating this love? Well, you can start with the simple but powerful act of eye contact today. I originally hail from “Friendly Manitoba” (seriously, that’s actually what’s written on Manitoba license plates), and when I first moved to the big city of Toronto I couldn’t believe that people here didn’t make eye contact and say “Hi!” when they passed each other. Well almost 20 years later, I’m still determined to look people in the eye when I pass them and even say “Good Morning!” in some cases. Sure, some people look at me like I’m just a wee bit crazy, but I can still feel their heart cautiously smiling from being reached out to and acknowledged.
So today Dear One, your mission (if you choose to accept it!) is to make eye contact with everyone you encounter today – on the sidewalk, in the elevator, from your car, in the line-up at that bank – even if just for a brief second. And if making eye contact feels really uncomfortable for you, just breathe deeply into that discomfort and remember this: we are all made up of the same energy, so in a way this person/animal is just an extension of you, and you are an extension of them, and it would be pretty damn silly not to be able to look in your own eyes now, wouldn’t it? As you are making eye contact, you could even say to yourself: I send you my love. I receive your love or simply: We are connected.
Whaddya say, Love Warrior – will you take the challenge?!
Of course, eye contact is only the start. Below I have some other simple tools (including an audio visualization) to help you widen your circle of love and begin connecting to others everywhere in a deeper, more meaningful way.
That’s right, Folks – make room ‘cause we are letting the love IN!
[special_font size=”24″ unit=”px” ]xo, Kimberly[/special_font]
P.S. If you’re really serious about cultivating love, connection, and meaning in your life, then you better get signed up for my LIFE REBOOT PROGRAM. This 7-week DAILY body/mind/spirit intensive is designed to help you deeply connect to your inner self, transform your life, and ignite the world around you.
“A strange passion is moving in my head.
My heart has become a bird
Which searches in the sky.
Every part of me goes in different directions.
Is it really so
That the one I love is everywhere?”
– Rumi
5 Ways to Widen Your Circle of Love
1. Visualize It – Prep the soil for some love-growin’ by doing this quick 5-minute guided visualization excerpted from Day 28 of my Life Reboot Program. CLICK HERE to listen.
2. Connect – Choose one person you regularly encounter but perhaps don’t know that well and ask them to share with you one awesome thing about them that you wouldn’t already know. Be sure to listen to them so they feel totally seen and heard and treat them in that moment as the most important person in the world to you. You just might find out that your 80-year old neighbour does Tai Kwon Do or that the bike courier gave one of his kidneys to his mom. You can do this with someone via phone or online too if you don’t have in-person contact with anyone today.
3. Be Curious – Take 5 minutes to do a little research on a group of beings you don’t know much about and do this with the intention of trying to put yourself in their shoes. Maybe you get to know more about the Syrian people today or delve into the secret lives of chickens or find out more about Buddhists. Just check in and see what people/animals/groups are calling out to you to learn more about. Look for the aspects of these beings that you can relate to and connect with.
4. Energy Exchange – In whatever conversation you have today, envision a beam of love flowing from your heart into theirs and from theirs into yours. Even if you’re engaging with others online, see that beam of love connecting you across the great distances (this includes people via online comment boards…in fact, this is especially needed with online comment boards ; ).
5. Up Your Hug Quotient – Actively engage in more hugs today. Embracing and being embraced by another being is a very tangible reminder of your connection to everybody and everything. Soak up all the affection you can from those hugs and let them open your heart even more.
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them.”
– George Bernard Shaw
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NEWS for June 2013
Kimberly in the National Post
On the theme of widening our circle of love, I wrote this article in Canada’s national newspaper last week about why and how I have widened my circle of compassion to include all animals. READ HERE
“From Stress to Serenity” Workshop at Wishing Well Sanctuary
Sat., June 22, 2013 – Bradford, ON (45 minute drive from Toronto centre)
In this fun, centering, and interactive workshop retreat (and with the help of the furry sages at the sanctuary), I will teach you a variety of techniques to decrease and release stress and its nasty cousin anxiety. We will also develop a strategy for self-care to avoid burnout.
CLICK TO REGISTER *deadline for sign-ups is Wed., June 19
Toronto Grad Circles
Small workshops for grads of my programs:
Wed., July 31 – F&!k the Fear!
Wed., Aug. 14 – Establishing Healthy Boundaries
Life Reboot Programs
This inspiring, practical, and sometimes rowdy body/mind/spirit program combines DAILY work for 49 days (powerful audio recordings, exercises, & email check-ins to create shifts on a tangible real-life level) with intimate and exhilarating weekly workshops that will center, heal, and power up both your personal and professional life. Take advantage of to a $100 savings on tuition by registering by June 28. Get ready to ignite your life from the inside out!
TUESDAY Toronto Program
begins July 9 – runs daily for 7 weeks
8 in-person workshops – Tues. Evenings
ONLINE/TELE-Program
begins Sept. 9 – runs daily for 7 weeks
8 phone workshops – Mon. Evenings
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SONG SPARK
If you’ve made it this far, I want to leave you with a song to inspire your Love Circle Widening today. Love IS indeed in the air!
