Theme: I Love
Acknowledging our choices
Chapter 1: Love & the Identity Battle
The lower 3 chakras are considered the physical chakras that ground us as humans onto the earth. Like the base of Maslow’s pyramid we feel their weight. The upper 3 are considered the spiritual chakras that have more to do with our desire to fulfill our own potential and connect to something bigger than ourselves. The spiritual and physical chakras are bound and bridged together through the heart chakra. Ever feel like your physical demands and your personal goals are tearing at you in opposite directions? Well the heart is this battle’s home base.
Love
It’s covered by philosophers and poets, religious texts, movies, musicians, and everyone in between. How to love, what to love, when and who to love, how many people can you love at once, how many people can you love over time, can those loves overlap, how do you show love, and how not to, how to know if someone else loves you too, and how to know when someone else loves you but can’t show you. How to know when someone you love doesn’t love you, and what that means for you. What do the people and things you love mean about you? What happens when any of these things change? How are they different based on local cultural norms or geography? Or nature vs. nurture?
We don’t each exist in a vacuum, and love isn’t a quantifiable object, which keeps this topic so fluid and interesting throughout the whole freaking span of human history. There is no right answer everywhere for everyone forever. The only constant is people. Physical people grounded to the earth with thoughts and desires and feelings bigger than we can comprehend. Our senses take in a beautiful sight or a wonderful smell or a strong hug, and our bodies make serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins. And all these happy hormones flood our brain, and we feel good, and we want more, and so we attempt to fill our lives with these signals that bring us “love”.
The people and places, memories, objects, or hobbies that you love will continuously change, and wax and wane like the moon. Some change the more you learn about them, some grow or dissipate with time. Who and what you love is entirely you. You are the beginning and the end of you. Your actions in a society will have reactions, that’s just physics. But you are a solely independent entity from anyone who may or may not love you. You are not the objects you love. Your identity doesn’t change based on what you own. And your identity is not defined by others’ reactions.
While doing your stretches this week, let your mind wander over specific memories that you felt a love for something, or someone, or somewhere. What did it feel like? What people, or places, or objects do you think you cling to because they boost your happy hormones? Can you tell that some of those things have changed for you now versus when you were younger? The following exercises focus on grip and release using our forearms and wrists. How can you safely hold onto the things that are important in your life?
Wrist Roller, at home mod.
Dumbbell Wrist Curls & Extensions
The Plate Pinch, at home mod.
The Towel Hold, at home mod.
References this week from Atlas Biomed.com
Jet Tries 