Tears are filling my eyes as I listen to this, sipping my cacao, not knowing what this post was even about before feeling called to open it. I too desire to soften the bracing into embracing. I've been drinking cacao daily for the past couple of weeks and have never cried or felt so much. And my god, it. is. beautiful. As always, I have no words to express my gratitude to you Lauren x
Holding you in the softening lovely one. Cacao is definitely guiding me with the same release of emotion and it is truly a gift. Thank you for listening to the call to read and listen and sit with me as I share the words that poured through me. Xxx
SO beyond beautiful Lauren, I loved every drop of this! And I am here for it all. Softening has been my continued learning since I made the conscious decision to move away from the path of striving and the restricting I had been on in order to return to myself. Mothering has brought even more unfolding layers and I entirely agree that yielding and finding space rather than hardening and tensing creates a whole new dimension of feeling and experience. As you say, it is a constant practice of remembering to soften and find our strength there xx
A constant practice, and an unravelling for sure. I love that statement... a conscious decision to move away from the path of striving and restricting... so much peace comes with that. I still have to remember to do it in each moment but I am hoping it will gradually become a more natural default texture for me to embody. Always learning. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. xxx
Thank you for this, Lauren. I found myself humming and cooing in agreement with every last drop of soft truth and gentle experience you shared here. I am currently confronting the apparent tug-o'-war between my need for softening and my need for stronger boundaries. How can I stand up for my truest self with a soft front and a strong back? That is the question I am living into 🙏
You are so welcome - thank you for reading and receiving the words. I totally understand that balancing act - and I have always loved that phrase soft front and strong back - and it is such a beautiful contemplation to reflect on. Loving boundaries - towards ourselves and others, and I always think that when we model this in the world we give others permission to create their own - and so the magical ripple of tending to ourselves spreads far and wide. So grateful for your comment. xx
BEAUTIFUL and so touching and so timely… thank you Lauren! I will return to your words for sure a few more times this week as a reminder. Softening despite and maybe exactly because of uncertainty… 💖
Mmmmm yes softening in uncertainty is courageous and uncomfortable… but I just wonder if softness is like a love note to our body that we are OK… and I do feel the returning to it over and over will become muscle memory eventually… I hope. Thank you so much for reading xxx
Thank you for sharing our collective piece here and for the reminder to soften...I have had some hard questions come up this week and I kept reflecting back to the question you pose of what if I soften instead!
You are so welcome. And that question really has the potential to transform our responses… it takes courage though and is often very uncomfortable. It feels almost more unsafe to soften into a challenging situation than to meet it with defence… but I’m trying every day to melt a little. Sending hugs for the journey xxx
Oh, my goodness, Lauren… You dropped so many gems here. “And yet when I explore the texture of softness I find it to be malleable, versatile and adaptable. Soft allows for movement, for growth, for transformation, for magic…” So many moments like this touched me deeply in the soul and brought me to tears. I, too, have reflected on this hardening for so long! Through music, meditation, deep breathing, journaling, walking barefoot on the earth. So many times have I felt the crackling of my hard shell and rebirthing of my tender self only to then have the hardening creep back up. Again and again. As if watching a movie on reverse mode. I find that the hardening is frequently acompanied by shame, as if softening is a sort of destiny that I keep failing to achieve. Sigh…. So much gratitude for post tonight. Namaste. 💕
'Again and again.' I hear you! It feels so beautiful to soften and then so quickly the hardening happens - but practice, practice, practice - and compassion I think. We need to be so tender with ourselves in the becoming. I relate very much to the cycle you describe. Thank you so much for your words and for reading and receiving this piece with such love. xxx
I adore that! There is so much strength in softness, and actually I think it takes more strength to be soft because it’s going against the grain of expectations!!! Thank you so much for reading xx
Tears are filling my eyes as I listen to this, sipping my cacao, not knowing what this post was even about before feeling called to open it. I too desire to soften the bracing into embracing. I've been drinking cacao daily for the past couple of weeks and have never cried or felt so much. And my god, it. is. beautiful. As always, I have no words to express my gratitude to you Lauren x
Holding you in the softening lovely one. Cacao is definitely guiding me with the same release of emotion and it is truly a gift. Thank you for listening to the call to read and listen and sit with me as I share the words that poured through me. Xxx
SO beyond beautiful Lauren, I loved every drop of this! And I am here for it all. Softening has been my continued learning since I made the conscious decision to move away from the path of striving and the restricting I had been on in order to return to myself. Mothering has brought even more unfolding layers and I entirely agree that yielding and finding space rather than hardening and tensing creates a whole new dimension of feeling and experience. As you say, it is a constant practice of remembering to soften and find our strength there xx
A constant practice, and an unravelling for sure. I love that statement... a conscious decision to move away from the path of striving and restricting... so much peace comes with that. I still have to remember to do it in each moment but I am hoping it will gradually become a more natural default texture for me to embody. Always learning. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. xxx
Thank you for this, Lauren. I found myself humming and cooing in agreement with every last drop of soft truth and gentle experience you shared here. I am currently confronting the apparent tug-o'-war between my need for softening and my need for stronger boundaries. How can I stand up for my truest self with a soft front and a strong back? That is the question I am living into 🙏
You are so welcome - thank you for reading and receiving the words. I totally understand that balancing act - and I have always loved that phrase soft front and strong back - and it is such a beautiful contemplation to reflect on. Loving boundaries - towards ourselves and others, and I always think that when we model this in the world we give others permission to create their own - and so the magical ripple of tending to ourselves spreads far and wide. So grateful for your comment. xx
BEAUTIFUL and so touching and so timely… thank you Lauren! I will return to your words for sure a few more times this week as a reminder. Softening despite and maybe exactly because of uncertainty… 💖
Mmmmm yes softening in uncertainty is courageous and uncomfortable… but I just wonder if softness is like a love note to our body that we are OK… and I do feel the returning to it over and over will become muscle memory eventually… I hope. Thank you so much for reading xxx
Thank you for sharing our collective piece here and for the reminder to soften...I have had some hard questions come up this week and I kept reflecting back to the question you pose of what if I soften instead!
You are so welcome. And that question really has the potential to transform our responses… it takes courage though and is often very uncomfortable. It feels almost more unsafe to soften into a challenging situation than to meet it with defence… but I’m trying every day to melt a little. Sending hugs for the journey xxx
Just beautiful, thank you for the reminder ❤
You are so welcome. Thank you for receiving x
Oh, my goodness, Lauren… You dropped so many gems here. “And yet when I explore the texture of softness I find it to be malleable, versatile and adaptable. Soft allows for movement, for growth, for transformation, for magic…” So many moments like this touched me deeply in the soul and brought me to tears. I, too, have reflected on this hardening for so long! Through music, meditation, deep breathing, journaling, walking barefoot on the earth. So many times have I felt the crackling of my hard shell and rebirthing of my tender self only to then have the hardening creep back up. Again and again. As if watching a movie on reverse mode. I find that the hardening is frequently acompanied by shame, as if softening is a sort of destiny that I keep failing to achieve. Sigh…. So much gratitude for post tonight. Namaste. 💕
'Again and again.' I hear you! It feels so beautiful to soften and then so quickly the hardening happens - but practice, practice, practice - and compassion I think. We need to be so tender with ourselves in the becoming. I relate very much to the cycle you describe. Thank you so much for your words and for reading and receiving this piece with such love. xxx
The photo you posted here is so great. More of this is needed. A good friend said to me once when you're soft you don't have to be strong.
I adore that! There is so much strength in softness, and actually I think it takes more strength to be soft because it’s going against the grain of expectations!!! Thank you so much for reading xx
Exactly