This post is about to start light, get pretty deep, and lighten up at the end. Please join me OR have a wonderful Wednesday. Choices are a beautiful thing, like in this moment, and I still thank you for being here, even it was a brief stop-by. ❤️
Hello incredible, caring beings!! THAT’S YOU! (👉🏿👉You👈🏾👈🏻) ❤️
Let’s begin. And talk about the power of music.
Spotify is my favorite and most frequently-used app that I have, allowing me to listen to endless music and podcasts on a whim and whenever I so choose! So convenient, right?! Whichever music app that you have, right at your fingertips. 📲🎼🎧
Over the past few years, as I have had the pleasure of working with clients from their teens to their youthful mid-80’s, I have always enjoyed creating playlists for my Group Training and Personal Training Warriors. Music is such a powerful tool for motivation and focus. SO, I made it a part of my job to ensure that the music was uplifting, upbeat, and adding to the energy and drive in the room. I would search through every decade, from the 60’s through the 2,000’s, (thank you, Spotify, for this accessibility!!!) for music with great rhythm and a pumping beat that would provide a fun atmosphere.
In my opinion, music and working out go hand-in-hand!! Such a great way to get in the zone and crush the task at hand – – – Can you relate?!? I believe that so many of us can.
And I know, music is amazing in SO MANY other ways besides workout purposes. It can carry you away (like in movies, live theater or performances, or soothing lullabies/peaceful sounds) and/or it can speak straight to your heart and your soul from the lyrics and the intention behind the songs, themselves.
I just recently worked out to one of my “homemade playlists” and this beauty was on there:
En Vogue: Free Your Mind (1992)
Ever heard of it?? If you’re shaking your head “yes,” it’s such a great song with a powerful message, right? If you have never had the pleasure of hearing it, I highly recommend it. The rhythm and the beat definitely perk the ears YET listen to the words. The message within the words that screams for the world to stop judging each other for their differences, including and especially because of the color of their skin. Even though this song is from 1992, it’s still so applicable to the present day and it breaks me EVERY TIME I hear about the senseless violence and viciously-purposeful deaths that are running rampant throughout the USA, especially for black men. And also for all “non-white” people who have ever been harassed or who have ever feared for their safety because of the color of their skin…
No, this post is not meant to delve too far into this crucial conversation but I will say this. IT NEEDS TO CHANGE. What will it take for the world to realize that we are all: humans; people; Homo sapiens; one and the same species? How can we all contribute to a world where we can see this; respect and honor each other; agree to disagree with civility; get curious about the differences that may seem so threatening from afar; and build bridges with compassion, knowledge, and understanding as opposed to continuing to fuel the fire with hateful words and actions? Maybe me asking these questions makes me sound naïve or a wishful thinker, at the very least. Still, asking these questions and starting a conversation is a tiny but mighty step, in my opinion. QUACK can honestly play a huge role (an earlier post) to build awareness, reveal actual truths, and shed some necessary light in the darkness – – all which seem to continue getting so buried along the way.
I am white, more specifically with an Italian/Sicilian background, and I feel SO lost, outraged, baffled, disgusted, and mystified that this racism still exists SO VEHEMENTLY in the USA. Unless there is a shift in thinking and beliefs AND a willingness to listen, can true change really happen? En Vogue said it best: 🎶 I can’t change your mind, you can’t change my color……[So] Free Your Mind and the rest will follow…🎵 What will it take?
Yes. I am distraught and reeling from what happened to George Floyd due to the Minneapolis Policemen and their callous, contemptuous disregard for a man’s life. In broad daylight. In front of a large crowd of people. With camera’s obviously rolling. Like it was a show or a “look-how-powerful-I-am” display.
I started writing this post after hearing this En Vogue song and BEFORE George Floyd was murdered in cold-blood…notice how the time between 1992 and now hasn’t exactly changed? I just saw a meme with Will Smith, basically saying “Racism isn’t new. We just have cell phones now.” And I know that this racism spans well beyond 1992, for centuries + way too long, yet this “Free Your Mind” song is a tangible example that spoke SO LOUD to me, even before George Floyd. And now it is piercing in my ear and in my heart.
And it needed to be said, acknowledged, and expressed. Maybe my ramblings make no sense or they infuriate you or maybe you’re right there with me in the words that I have written. All that I know is that I needed to say them. Even as I move forward with the initial direction of this post….
Breathe…..Next.
As I worked out to 🎶Free Your Mind🎵 and an entire playlist of motivational songs, I kept thinking about all of the ways that someone can truly free their mind or shift their perspective or embrace their own inner healing, (all of the above?!?!) to create lasting, positive change. My own personal quest that I am inviting myself to venture on and see what happens.
In theory, it is an enticing vision and something that would benefit me on every level, I know this. Yet….where do I start? How do I navigate this journey that seems so daunting, mysterious, and widespread?
From my Yoga experience, I know it is amazing what happens when you release tension and restriction from the body, both within the poses as well as within the mind. There are often so many thoughts that tend to weigh us down or create such unease in our lives because we carry that negativity around with us. This negativity often gets stored, not only in our brain, but within the body via tightness or even pain.
By becoming more mindful on the mat, we become more mindful off the mat with the moment-to-moment choices in our day. By cultivating this awareness, we can choose the thoughts that we wish to keep and focus on OR choose to release the burdensome thoughts and let them go. It’s a total practice and is not as simple as it sounds, don’t I know it!!! 😬 Yet, the tools of Yoga and/or a Meditation/Mindfulness practice are definitely examples of learning to free the mind and thereby creating space for newer, lighter, better, and more beneficial thoughts and possibilities.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…..though I am a Yoga Instructor, I have not had the most consistent practice EVER. And that is me being kind – – seriously, if I wasn’t taking a yoga class, teaching my own class, or giving a cool-down yoga stretch to my clients, my own yoga practice was fairly nonexistent. HOWEVER, knowing and believing in the array of benefits, Yoga is now a part of every single day for me and I determined this to be so on May 2nd, 2020. Decide and follow through. In this circumstance, it really was that easy and it has made a significant difference for me.
But I needed something more. Let’s say that I practice Yoga for an hour every day. And attempt to do my very best to apply the tools of Yoga outside my mat for the rest of the day and stay as fully present as I possibly can. What else can be done to open doors inside ourselves and create more understanding of self?
I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!!
HOWEVER, there are incredibly brilliant, successful, inspirational, and influential beings in this world who share their knowledge and their experiences in hopes of helping as many people as possible. Helping us understand more. Helping me find answers through this deeper understanding.
So, why not start to learn from other people’s wisdom and valuable insight? And choose what we can and would like to apply to our own lives and become the best version of ourselves?
I have had a few Instructors and Coaches over the years who have said “get your mind right” when it came to focusing on a sports goal, a dance combination, or a task at hand. Which I took to mean find your focus, lose the self-doubt, amp yourself up, and don’t hold back. But what if it is everyday life that requires the motivation, not because of sports or a big job meeting, but because you want to feel like you’re growing and making progress in your daily world. What then?
This is where FEED YOUR MIND comes into play and I have also had Instructors and Coaches offer this priceless advice. And I have really never put it into practice until recently.
It is calling us out on our environment. You and me. Everything we read, watch, listen to, hear, observe, the people around us….even with regards to our nutrition, which is another discussion….it is all feeding our mind in a positive way or a negative way. And this influences our day; the actions we take, the energy we feel, our motivation or lack thereof, and so on. So, it seems to me that fueling the mind with material that moves us in the direction we wish to go is a key element for the change we wish to see. Yes?!?!
This is what I have started doing. Listening to podcasts and motivational speakers on YouTube. FREE and totally worth it.
I have started sifting through Netflix, looking at documentaries that sound inspirational, empowering, and that contain information that would benefit me and my curiosities in some way. To learn something new or to adopt a new perspective for a couple of hours.
Lastly, I decided that I wanted to start reading books with messages and intentions that spoke to me. Gaining knowledge, insight, and perspective on a range of topics that could assist in transforming my life. Through friends, (Steve!!! 😊), the podcasts on Spotify, and the motivational speakers on YouTube, powerful reading material was recommended that made a true difference for those individuals. So I made a list of what I heard, ordered some books that intrigued me, and now I have a stack of life-changing information to process, little by little. Here is my new reading list:
FEED YO’ MIND…..AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW!!!!!! Like this phrase and one intention behind the En Vogue song, as I see it: open the mind to new possibilities that you maybe haven’t even considered yet. Then fuel the mind to set your sights skyscraper-high and aimed in the direction of your dreams, goals, targets, and everything that means the most to you. Following this, you’ll have more freedom and more tools under your belt that will assist you moving forward, at the very least. It’s a win-win!!! ☑️
Let’s vow to never stop learning and to stay open to new ideas that maybe we know very little about. It’s in these realizations that perhaps spark a flicker of “AHA!!” and leads to profound change. We’ll never know unless we check it out, stay curious, and try. That we know for certain.
And on that note, happy reading to me!!!! If you have any other books that you love or would highly recommend, I am all ears!! 👂❤️👂❤️
Thank you for being here and hanging with me on this “light and heavy” journey that is this post today. Woooo, lots of feels, that is FOR SURE. Please take care of you, be safe, spread your beautiful kindness, and keep contributing to the love and connection that we all need. This world needs more people like you.
How do I know? Because if you made it through this entire post and are reading these words right now?????!!! It is proof in itself. Thank you so much and I am so grateful for you. Truly. ❤️🙏🏼🌺🌞🌎✨