When You Are Fed
Honor Source of Your Sustenance
It’s been almost 30 years since I wrote my first little pamphlet, “Gratitude Is a God-Centered Attitude.” That was way before gratitude teachings became popular, but I steadfastly gave the pamphlet away to all my clients and the people who attended my classes and speeches, even though this information was considered “before its time.” Today, I feel really blessed that many are sharing gratitude teachings as part of their spiritual/personal growth offerings. I also get stoked when I see various gratitude journals and apps become so popular. Fellow Humans, we are traveling in the right direction on the path!!!
What Sustains You?
I’ll answer the question, “What sustains you?” quite simply, because it’s the same whether we are talking about sustaining your body or your spirit’s connection to your body. What nourishes you is energy, whether food is being converted into energy during digestion for your body to use or someone’s mega-watt smile tickles your fancy. This is energy coming into your life for your body’s use.
There are hundreds of opinions about what foods and energies are good and bad for your body. (I am emphasizing body purposefully here, as your soul/spirit complex is part of the Source Field and, therefore, is self-sustaining.) From my view, the only guideline I use is “What works for my body right now?” My body shifts pretty much on a daily basis, and I notice certain patterns seasonally. When I notice an energy source isn’t serving my body any more, I make changes. After all, I want my body to experience ease, comfort, mobility, strength, resilience, and so on.
How Are You Sustained?
Just like me, you are sustained by energy exchange – the giving and receiving of energy from a person, place, thing, animal, plant, stone, the Earth, etc. In a Universe like ours which gives choice, there is contrast, i.e., high/low frequency energies. Instead of focusing so much on judging energy and believing that only the highest frequency energies serve our needs, what if there was a simple way to balance energy so that your body could be sustained more easily? What if this practice was simply a balanced exchange of energy – when you are given a blessing, you in turn give a blessing away?
Why Honor the
Source of Your Sustenance?
Let’s talk about physical nourishment without fear, first. The truth of the matter is that when you eat an animal or plant, it gives away its energy to you by interrupting its life cycle (and in most cases dying). This giveaway very rarely is honored outside Indigenous cultures, and I believe that’s why so many people get out of balance in this energy exchange. Let’s face it, when our families are hungry, we don’t pray for an animal or plant to give away its life to feed our families and take its life with honor and thanksgiving. We forget that the animal or plant died to feed us and just unconsciously drive to the grocery store and buy pre-packaged food.
Similarly, when someone plays a beautiful piece of music for you, smiles at you when you pass them on the street, or gives you any other gift, energy is given away. When you consistently are on the receiving side of this equation and don’t reciprocate, lack of exchange creates imbalance.
When you are out of balance energetically, your body stops being at ease in the pattern you are experiencing. As a result, it will give you signals that you are out of balance, and if you do not listen to them, then it may develop a dis-ease to let you know that you are out of balance.
Rebalancing Simply Is a Matter of
Honoring the Source that Sustains You
In the Beauty Way practiced by most Indigenous cultures, we are taught to acknowledge the giveaway of energy to us by thanking the plants, animals, stones, sacred sites, sacred objects, community members, Elders, and Infinite Source for giving us life force energy, work, and knowledge. We can do this by placing our hands over the food, stones, Elder’s hands and thanking them for the giveaway. We can do daily prayers on behalf of all those who sustain us. We can put together an offering, such as a Spirit Plate, where we place our best pieces of food as our giveaway to the beings who nourish us and leave the Spirit Plate outside for the animals to process the offering. We can “feed” our altars by sharing the best of what we have with the beings who watch over us. I often put choice bits of chocolate, coffee, tea, spices, rice, etc. on my altars, because these are some of the things I love, and I share them with the beings who bless my home, my body, and my work with their support and wisdom. We can write gratitude statements in a 3″ x 5″ notebook and include the animals, plants, and humans who have enhanced our lives by giving us energy.
Honoring My Roommate and Rescue Cats
One of the most joyful experiences I have every morning is waking up. I look to see who is around, and I honor my roommate and four rescue cats with gratitude. Here’s a mini-example where I dialogue with my 18-year old rescue cat, Jackie:
Melody-Rose: Good morning, Jackie. Good to see you this morning! Thank you for choosing to be here. Thank you for loving me. It is ok for me to hug you? Mommy loves you, Baby!
Jackie: Purrr….head butt….dainty kiss on Mommy’s hand….verbal request for petting and snacks.
I have these daily conversations with everyone in the house. These are the folks who nourish my soul connection to my body, who help me feel comfortable and stable in form. They choose to be here moment-by-moment, and honoring them with gratitude acknowledges their choice and the energy they bring to the relationship and returns energy to them.
Who Can You Honor?
This is just a basic example of energy exchange through gratitude. Maybe you have a spouse, children, plants, inherited sculptures or paintings, and so on. Find your own connections to Infinite Source in your life and create ways to acknowledge how you are blessed!
To this day, I tell all my clients, “If you only have 5 minutes and can only commit to one daily practice, I advise you to write down 5 things you are grateful for first thing every morning.” I still feel that this honoring of blessings is foundational for living a life of grace and balance. Aho!