Nia Technique: The Voice of Creating a Sacred Livelihood

This concept from the Nia Technique White Belt training offers insight into a wonderful place for all of us to being the necessary task of creating a livelihood. Since we must, why not do so from a place of personal growth and purpose? Notice the accompanying definition of "Sacred"...


The Voice of Creating a Sacred Livelihood

Definition of “Sacred”: Merriam Webster–1 b) devoted exclusively to one service or use (as of a person or purpose)

White Belt Principle #11:
The Voice of Creating a Sacred Livelihood
–Karri Winn

I am the voice of Creating a Sacred Livelihood. My universal wisdom comes from knowing that you and the body are a gift. I am coded to inspire and direct you – and your body – to do that which will fulfill you in deep and meaningful ways. You will find me when you connect to your spirit and when you listen to your heart, reminding you of what you are here to do. I am never far from you.

Creative and sacred, we are designed to manifest greatness in the world. Doing is of utmost importance, as “doing” in your life is how you discover the right path, your purpose. Listen to your desires. Feel them deep from within the core of your body. Recognize and acknowledge this ache as a call to manifest your greatness in the world. Recognize the sensation of deep longing within you, my voice calling for you to do. This ache is my call for you to come, come, to live and walk in your greatness.

Creating a Sacred Livelihood begins when you fall in love with your body and learn the arts of self-love, self-healing, and self-responsibility, taking a stand for your own Pleasure in life. Know you are Creating a Sacred Livelihood when you feel an intensely positive emotion each time you do something. If the rapture of discovering yourself, your purpose, is revealed to you in something you do, keep doing it. When you find a community of people and sense a marvelous expansion in your heart and spirit, stay. If you find yourself inspired, motivated, and committed to learning, growing, and transforming who you as part of your everyday life and business, stay on this path.

If you have a profound sense of wellbeing and peace, if you feel a deep sense of gratitude and fulfillment when you do what you do, do it again and again. If you continue to have peak experiences no matter how many times you walk through a door, come again.

My philosophy is simple: Make every action in life personal, a creative and sacred act. Commit to consciously transforming your body and life with love and recognize that you are a teacher to the world. Seek your destiny, walk your talk, and discover what is meaningful and sacred to you. Make what you do motivating and inspiring for yourself. Recognize you will manifest your greatness. Awaken your inherent power to change, to be better and happier, and you will awaken others. Consciously take care of your own body and life and you will become a leader to others.
Help people know without knowing; teach them to treat their body, mind, emotions, and spirit with respect and love and you will become a great healer. Whether caring for a patient, a client, a child, a parent, or your staff, make everything you do a reflection of a Creative and Sacred Livelihood.

Above all, honor all the unique individuality of all people. View every human life as something sacred, to be crafted with great care. Know that life and business are one, for the process of being sacred offers rewards beyond financial measure and gifts that make living in your body a joyful experience each day. Know the truest, most evocative expression of your greatness manifested as gestures through your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self, will result in you—Creating A Sacred Livelihood.

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Weekly Wonder #6: The Somaly Mam Foundation

The Somaly Mam Foundation




From the site (http://www.somaly.org/)

Every day victims of human trafficking face a world without possibility. These victims have endured worse than what most of us can imagine and they have overcome difficult odds to survive in a harsh reality. Their courage is something we can all aspire to.

No longer will we look upon these young people as helpless. They are strong individuals with much to offer the world and their voices call for global change. The Somaly Mam Foundation will ensure that these voices are exposed to the world and from those who have struggled through the pain of slavery will arise a new generation of leaders who stand for freedom and justice.

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Not long ago a friend shared the name of an online video about something too trivial to recall. And, as usually happens, watching that one video led to watching the next and the next until...WHAM...I was struck in the chest by a short documentary on human trafficking. (Unfortunately, I ran across that video so randomly that I am unable to find it again.)

I was not unaware of this travesty's existence in the world. But, I guess the issue had been stuffed into that place where I put those things I can't think of too deeply and function at the same time...alongside: Darfur, burka, my daughter's virginity, global warming, genital mutilation, puppy mills...

I do not make this list to make light of tragedy. It is just an observation of how we all must compartmentalize this world's horrors in order to go through the daily motions of living. However, it seems, the more we pack into the compartment, the thicker our armor of apathy becomes....but maybe that is another post for another time....

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About Somaly Mam from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaly_Mam):

She was born in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia. Mam was sold into sexual slavery in her childhood. Beaten, raped and tortured as a child, at the age of 30 she became a spokeswoman for women and children tortured in the brothels of Cambodia. She, with her husband Pierre Legros, created the AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire) NGO in 1997 in Cambodia. Since then, this international NGO has developed in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Its goals are to save and socially reintegrate people who are victims of these kinds of hardships. Despite threats against her, Somaly Mam has been able to help thousands of young girls and teenagers who have been coerced into prostitution.

The mission of The Somaly Mam Foundation is "to give victims and survivors a voice in their lives, liberate victims, end slavery, and empower survivors as they create and sustain lives of dignity."

I am imbued with a deep admiration for Somaly Mam, and all people, who turn their own tragedy in to true positive change in the live of others.

I hope she can inspire me, and you, to find one issue or cause or deed we can allow to live outside of our armor of apathy...find one thing we can bare to look at--no matter how painful--in the interest of manifesting change for good.

The good we do for one individual life betters our collective state of being human.

Click the image below to get involved. You can also follow Somaly Mam on Facebook and MySpace.

Weekly Wonder # 5: All for Good (and United We Serve)

All for Good helps each of us find local opportunities to serve. United We Serve is President Obama's summer initiative that launched on June 22 and will continue through September 11, 2009.

From the site:

All for Good helps you find and share ways to do good.
Each of us has a role to play in improving our communities and our country. Small actions add up to a big difference.

Help improve your community

* Find volunteer activities near you.
* Share volunteer activities with your friends.
* See what your friends are interested in.
* Track volunteer activities you care about.
* Sign in with Facebook, Google, or more »

This project is endorsed by our First Lady, Michelle Obama and seems to serve as the backbone for President Obama's United We Serve initiative by connecting people with local opportunities to serve.

From the United We Serve site:

"United We Serve" is a nationwide service initiative that will help meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn. With the knowledge that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when given the proper tools, President Obama is asking us to come together to help lay a new foundation for growth. This initiative aims to both expand the impact of existing organizations by engaging new volunteers in their work and encourage volunteers to develop their own "do-it-yourself" projects. United We Serve is an initial 81 days of service but will grow into a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans.

The All for Good project has been met with some controversy centered in concerns that it duplicates existing efforts and includes "the requirement to grant All for Good the right to license the information they provided to third parties" (from The Chronicle of Philanthropy http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=8596)

It is this writer's opinion that the duplication of access to participation in good works can only be a good thing. Isn't the idea of proprietary philanthropy just a little oxymoronic? But then again, there may be factors of which I am unaware.

In any case, a national call to serve is not new. But, somehow, this time it feels less like propaganda and more like a genuine movement toward compassion and unity in America.

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President Obama Speaks on the United We Serve effort that kicked off on June 22, 2009 and will run through September 11, 2009:

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It is only been a day since the last Weekly Wonder. But, I felt the need to balance the tragic nature of the last wonder with something a bit more positive...

Weekly Wonder #4: Iran Green Revolution 2009 Blog

This Weekly Wonder is not such a wonderful topic but a wonder none the less:


Iran Green Revolution 2009

From the blog:
Iran Green Revolution 2009 is the voice of unheard people of Iran. Voice of who risked and lost their lives to bring freedom in the land of Cyrus the Great, in the land who honored human dignity and right 2500 years ago. We try to publish the untruthful face of Iranian Dictatorship of Iranian's Ayatollahs. Some contents of this site might not be suitable for younger children or audiences. Please send your blessing for those who lost their lives in the path to freedom. (http://irangreenrevolution2009.blogspot.com/)

This site is a personal and poignant view of the struggle in Iran blogged by a young Iranian. Others are invited to join in with their own impressions of this tragedy for freedom.

The blog is new, but it is my hope that others can join in the conversation. It is fine for thousands of small blogs to spring up here and there...but it is powerful for people to join their voice. Small voices can help us keep perspective when the big ones turn political...as they always will.

I think reading, following, supporting, contributing to this small effort will give a great voice to all our humanity...

Weekly Wonder #3: Akoha-Play it Forward Card Game

I have been intrigued by this "Play It Forward" game for nearly a year. Of course, I let one thing and then another get in the wa of my actually starting to play. Well, today I am buying my starter deck! (And, maybe a few extras to share with friends...can't play the game alone :-)!)

I don't a great deal of my own words to offer...yet...so I will introduce what Akoha has to say and update with my own experiences later:

From: https://akoha.com/

What is Akoha?

Akoha is a real-world and virtual game where you carry out missions that involve performing small acts of kindness for others. The activities of Akoha players are described on Akoha cards that involve real-world and virtual missions. As Akoha players perform more missions, they advance in the game, recruit new players, and spread good deeds across the planet. Akoha cards include missions like “Donate an Hour of Your Time”, “Give Someone a Book” and “Make Someone Smile.”

In contrast to increasingly rich virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games on the Internet, Akoha takes place in the real world, turning everyday life into a massive playground. Akoha is simple to play with your friends and family, so that every public place becomes part of Akoha’s world.

Akoha allows players to see their accomplishments, track the movement of cards in play, and share photos and videos, creating a highly interactive and immersive experience.

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From: http://community.akoha.com/

As a company we are working to create a fun platform that provides a structure for players to be inspired to complete acts of kindness, a social and viral mechanism for those acts to spread throughout the world and a business that can support a variety of people and organizations goals for spreading their acts of change.

But the principles behind Akoha are beliefs that don’t require someone to play our game.

1) We believe that everyone has within them the ability to make a difference in the world.
2) We know that spreading kindness is fun, should be documented & celebrated by sharing those stories with friends.
3) We believe that we can aggregate many small acts to improve the world to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Together we can use technology to bring together other like minded agents of change and empower them to band together to be capable of tackling even the largest issues facing our world. We sometimes refer to this as the “Wikipedia of World Improvement” — where everyone can participate and together we can accomplish more then anyone of us could alone.

Weekly Wonder #2: "My Commitment" Volunteer Database from the Clinton Global Initiative

I am sure the Clinton Global Initiative has been given ample publicity in the blogoshpere. What I would like to highlight is the database of volunteer opportunities included within the MyCommitment.org site.

Within what CGI calls the My Commitment 101 Kit is a link to a database that allows one to search for volunteer opportunities by zip code (there are other searches, but the zip code search brings volunteerism close to the reality and doability of home):

[Quote from site] Are you looking for a specific opportunity in your community? Use this form to search our Volunteer Database to find out how teens, groups, seniors and even those looking to volunteer virtually can get involved in their community—once or on an ongoing basis: http://www.mycommitment.org/my-commitment-101/volunteer

I know many of us, me included, have the essence of "I hope to help" floating ever-near. But, we spend more time wishing to help than taking action. The Volunteer Database is a catalyst. In fact, after searching my own zip code, I am not sure I will be able to remain in a state of hoping. The opportunities are now palpable, close. I will now be haunted by the guilt of inaction.

So, YOU....GO NOW....find the people near you who need your help! Again, from the site:

Thank you for your interest in making a commitment to better the world, one act of giving at a time. There’s so much to be done, both down the street and around the globe. We know you want to make a difference, and we’re excited that you’ve decided to come to MyCommitment.org to take action.

Welcome|Get Inspired|Get Informed|Get Started|Stay Engaged

No act of giving is too big or too small. Whether it’s hosting a potluck to raise money for your favorite cause or volunteering with your church group once a month to clean a local park—everyone can give something.

Inside this My Commitment 101 Kit you’ll find everything you need to get started on your commitment, including a database of volunteer opportunities available in communities worldwide, downloadable charity badges to post on your blog or website, 50 tips for improving the world, lists of organizations and groups you might want to join or buy from, and more!

We hope you will invite others to join you on your commitment to better the world and we look forward to hearing your story about giving of your time, of your skills and of yourself.

Happy Giving!

Sincerely,
The MyCommitment.org Team

GO DO!!!

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