Author: Adelle Brownlee Brewer Page 1 of 19

The last year of my life has been chalked full of goodbyes. I said goodbye to my mother, and others who transitioned. There were also goodbyes to dear friends who moved, changed direction, and many times I listened and grieved with others who said ‘goodbye’ to their careers, their stability, their livelihood. While it was a year of so much letting go, and so much grieving, every experience gave me an opportunity to reflect, express appreciation, and grow stronger in the essence of gratitude, and my belief in grace. 

This year? I’m dedicating it to the year of hellos.  As one of my practices, I sit on the throne (ha…yes, I did say that), and read the daily affirmation from Miracle Consciousness. It is a life practice that connects me to the miracle of each life I encounter, seeing them as pure light, pure love. Today’s affirmation: I choose peace. I choose love. I choose joy. It is a choice.                 
Perfect for my year of hellos. 

This was present in my in-box today, another perfect affirmation for my year of hellos: 

I release the belief that anything or anyone outside of me can prevent my good. I participate in the circulation of blessings by giving generously and knowing I will receive in abundance. I keep my thoughts on gratitude and trust the constant flow of good in my life. I forgive myself and others for past hurts and receive the wealth of a peaceful heart.

From my amazing friend and colleague Adam Barley, a master 5Rhythms teacher in England. His words resonate deeply with me… passing them on. And yes, Gabrielle’s books are genius. So much wisdom in her glorious life on earth. Adelle 

“To listen to the no-sound of the breath, expanding into the stillness and spaciousness that brings. 

To tune into the same consciousness we find when we dance – aware of the body, it’s instincts and hunches about timing, space, and pace.

To allow the free flow and creative expression of our feelings in and out of relationship with others, including more body-awareness and embodied communication with our friends, lovers, and enemies, remembering how to speak straight from the heart, and listen with everything we have. 

To totally engage in the moment to moment teachings and alchemy that the events of our lives are constantly giving us – whether in a brush with a stranger, an intimacy with our family, a conflict with a friend, or encounters with birth, death, sex, money, and creative endeavor. All the stuff of life has the potential for deep and profound personal evolution, both as healing and growth. Whether you dance daily at home, weekly at your local class, or in periodic high-octane blasts at workshops, a strong practice will create and strengthen pathways in your body-heart-mind that make this kind of engagement more readily available. Gabrielle Roth, the founder of this practice, communicated this kind of engagement with life so beautifully in all three of her books. (If you haven’t read them, just do it. They’re brilliant.) There’s something about movement practices that do this particularly well I think. Because they’re rooted in the body, they create pathways within us, new neural networks, that engage us with ourselves and each other in a very ‘whole’ way. Then off the dance floor those same pathways quite naturally get used to engage us in some mysterious way with life, allowing it to affect us more deeply and teach us more vibrantly, shaking us loose from our moorings of social convention, constantly nudging us awake. 

Nudge me awake. More please. Next step. I’m waking up again. A little more. Listen. Yes. Now. Take a breath. This is it. Let love in. Let myself show. Let life hurt me. Let life bless me. Let go, let go, let go. Let go of letting go and stick with something long enough for creation to happen. Let this be. Here we come.

All these things happen all the time. There is no need for a dance floor. No need to move in a way that would look weird whilst shopping for vegetables at the market. 

Now is the moment of power.” Adam Barley

Adam’s website: http://www.adambarley.com/