Receiving felt impossible, giving felt nourishing until it was like bloodletting

A givers note that self care, receiving are keys to a non depleted body, mind, heart and soul

Receiving is not selfish its important for our restoration.

It allows for us to give from a full cup or bucket or barrel. Whatever your definition container maybe, could even be a lake. For when the lake bed runs dry, the ground cracks and breaks beneath your feet. We do not want to be that dried out lake bed in life.

Receiving tends to the softer parts of ourselves to nourish the whole self not just the symptomatic self. By symptomatic I mean the self that feels the aches, the pains, the joint stiffness and head thumping pain of constant revolving energy sucking thoughts. Receiving rises the vulnerable part within that needs the nourishment, the space to be curious and explore, the stillness before the storm. Receiving prepares us for the long haul, the cold treacherous journey up the craggily mountain side we climb each day.

I speak this knowing all too well I am the worst at receiving >> well at least I used to be.

As I have been learning to receive I try to open the day, not to act, but to thank. The gift isn’t in what we do—it’s in that quiet in-between, where we release and soften into another’s frequency. This moment was nothing short of divine.

My latest clarity in receiving came from a recent trip to the Yukon/BC Border where I received the opportunity to stay in this most gorgeous lodge space, built on a lake nestled in the mountains of Denetiah Provincial Park (you may have to google map - it is in Northern British Columbia at the border of the Yukon). In a place so serene and quiet you could not help by hear the loud chatter in your head, the excuses and the deep need to give to those around. One of the ladies offered to give me a facial and mini massage by the water for a photo shoot, I jumped at it because I wanted to give her a model, but ended up receiving so much more in return.

The beach side facial and massage was 1 of my favorite moments of deep clarity that I have been resistant to luxurious experiences like this. That that alone was my own limiting belief of what receiving truly was. My whole trip was about receiving and understanding abundance not from a form of but from the connections, the laughter and even the tears, from the nourishing food and the beautiful conversations.

I had seen receiving as selfish, or ego oriented for so long, but instead its necessary for us to keep walking straight and tall and strong on this earth. To revive, plug the internal battery back in so we can be that vibrant oscillating light for those we care deeply for. Receiving can be as simple as a hug from your teen. A kiss on the forehead from your husband or lover. A wave, a smile or a door being held for you to walk through. A out reached hand that says I am here to help. I believe we over complicate things, we get entangled in the imagery that is all around us to what self care, or receiving can look like.

We try to overly monetize everything and operate from this system of scarcity that time is running out. No time for receiving only time for doing. Its depleting us, its stealing our ability to be human, but when we truly slow down, feel the uncomfortable moments within our selves, touch those sticky conversations with kid gloves, or say NO because we just don’t want to- these are ways of receiving as well.

Let’s stop narrowing our view so much as to what true abundance is in life. I know in my own world I have created my own scarcity wrapped up in righteousness linked to my beliefs and as they fall away. I receive more, more and more. My body settles into a new way of understanding and operating that feels whole and full.

I see today in my heart just how solid my heart strings are and how they fortify my foundation in my life, my work, my friendships, my family and community. I see that when I receive I can give at a much richer and more opulent manner. The space I hold is deeper and warmer.

So if you are feeling the cool stamp of depletion, be selfish or selfless and receive from the universe, those around you, nature and most importantly YOURSELF.