Namaste Dear Community,
The week before Thanksgiving, I had dinner with a very special group of friends for our annual Friendsgiving celebration. The tradition is that we all go around the table and share with the group what we are grateful for. Some of the speeches are witty, some hysterically funny, some deeply moving, and some even sorrowful. It’s not uncommon for tears of both laughter and sadness to be flowing at the same time.
My friend Carrie, the host of the dinner gave a short speech where she talked about this concept of “Living a Bigger Life”. It’s a term coined by Gretchen Rubin on her Happiness Project blog.
The concept is simple, it’s about consciously making the decision to Live Bigger! What does that mean? Well, I honestly think it means something different to all of us and can mean different things at different times. My friend Carrie described it as what helps her to get out of bed in morning and out into the world. She tends to be introverted and sometimes needs to push herself to connect and leave the safe cocoon of her studio apartment.
For me, I have a friend who can sometimes be unkind, and she recently did something that hurt me to my core. My heart hurt so much that I was ready to end our friendship. But after hearing Carrie talk about Living a Bigger Life. I decided to rise up and forgive my friend to give her another chance.
So, what happens when we make the choice to Live a Bigger Life? Well I think that it gives us an opportunity to experience the gift of Happiness. I would say that my friend Carrie, feels happy when she gets out of bed and into nature or connects with friends. I would definitely say that I felt happy when I decided to forgive my friend and offer her compassion. It really does feel good to make the sometimes-hard choices to take the higher road and Live Bigger.Life can be filled with mundane suffering, there are so many difficult moments. But when we choose to Live a Bigger Life, we are giving ourselves a chance to be happy. What does Live a Bigger Life mean to you in this moment? What different decisions can you make that might make you happy? And, if you are happier, who else might experience the benefit of your happiness?
When I’m happy I vibrate at a higher level. Everyone I interact with benefits from my happiness. I am a better person, mother, wife, daughter, teacher, when I’m happier. Happiness is contagious. When I’m happy I know my husband, my daughter and even my dog are happier.
I’m really liking this Living a Bigger life concept. It’s helping me to actually be the kind of person that I admire, and it feels really good. Give “Living a Bigger Life” a try and let me know how it feels for you!
With Bigger Love,
Lauren
Stay connected with Lauren:
*Come celebrate 18 years of Sonic Anniversary on Friday Dec. 6th at Sonic Yoga.
*I am hosting a very special one day Self Love Yoga and Meditation Immersion and Sacred Cacao Ceremony in Montauk on Dec. 8th.
*Virtual Meditation and Conversation on the Winter Solstice Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 8pm.
*Sacred Fertility Facebook Live every Wednesday on the Sacred Fertility Yoga FB page.
