Freedom Is a State of Mind
By: Dana Damara
I have written about freedom several times now, and it’s fun to look back and re-read how I defined freedom on various occasions, along the timeline of my life.
I’m not surprised I like to write about freedom or that it evolves each time I come to it; I mean the word is tattooed on my arm. Apparently, on some level it is important to me.
This time around I want to say this: freedom is a state of mind.
How free you are can be directly related to how free your mind is from being sucked into the drama, circumstance and issues of others. And believe me, this has been a hard one for me because, well, in the past, I got sucked in pretty easily. But no more.
I stared at that moon last night, the night before, and many times before, honestly. I have stared at Her for many cycles and from many angles, asking Her about freedom. I have cried to Her in times when I felt like I was suffocating, compromising, losing, and dying. And She always, without fail, illuminated Her bright light, sharing her wisdom and grace with me.
As I look back on my past, which is in the past, I am inspired by own self. The path I have carved, the challenges I have overcome, the darkness I have owned, and the love I continue to share unconditionally.
- I bow to my teachers…the ones I love and the ones who I am challenged in loving.
- I bow to my embodiment of the word empowerment and how it has shown up over and over again.
- I bow to my new pattern of allowing love and support to come in, acknowledging it and offering it up, all in one swift breath.
I remember what it was like to not know if I would eat that day, where my next paycheck was coming from, or where I would be sleeping that night. I am grateful I can now watch my children ride their bikes to school, dance, sing and play sports when they want, and eat healthy food every day. I have felt the constriction of illusion and the expansion of truth. I have been in relationships that have sucked me dry and ones that have illuminated my heart so vastly, I have felt deeply connected to the Divine.
Freedom is a state of mind that we can choose to experience in any given circumstance. We always have a choice to “be” free. Never once in those moments of perceived despair did I point the finger out or feel like I didn’t have a choice. And if I did fall into that trap, you better believe some angel/teacher was there to remind me of something different.
That’s what I’m doing for you now. In service of expansion and connection to the Divine.
I have been getting a lot of emails from self-proclaimed “healers” who offer to help you: “Free yourself from limiting beliefs and patterns that keep you stuck”
Free from negativity
Free from oppression
Free from drama
Free from disease
Free from stress and anxiety
Free from patterns
Stuck where, actually? Because if you are stuck somewhere, no one can get you out but you. No one can offer you freedom but yourself.
I looked outside myself for so long. So very, very long to find freedom. It was always there, in my heart, waiting to be recognized. It’s there for you too. You just have to be willing to live in all that freedom…It’s such a place of familiar calm you can’t help but breathe into it and say…Now what?
Also in Blog
Body Peace & Personal Empowerment
Yoga for Swimmers: Poses for Strength and Mobility
