 As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect upon the Brexit vote. The truth is that when I first heard about the results that rocked the Globe as well as the stark drop of the value of the Pound Sterling that occurred just as the vote was accrued. I immediately shed a tear. Not so because of the monetary factor. but because I thought of my family living in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, and Scotland. Not only my family but also the people. All people who are working so hard to make a survival. I immediately made sure that my family was OK. They told me all was well. But then as the dawn broke, markets around the world opened. What happened, the global markets suffered drastically. The worlds people have suffered. Quick facts:  According to the New York Times article - Turbulence and Uncertainty for the market after 'Brexit': "The pound plummeted, reaching depths not seen since 1985 — well below the value at the worst of the 2008 financial crisis. The euro dropped. From Tokyo to London to New York, stocks tumbled sharply on Friday, as markets digested the changing world order. American shares were down 3.6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average sank 611 points, its biggest drop since August." From the above data we can take a moment to analyze the tremendous devastation that was caused to a Global economy. The exit of Britain for the European Union affected not only the members but also countries who are trading partners with the EU. Living in a time of globalization, I am sure that countries around the world who don't belong to the EU are trading partners as well. Trade is one thing, but what about all the people that are spread over the corners of the world whose origin is European? What about them? Why not take a minute to reflect upon the Brexit results?  From the above results we can see that there is a 3.8% difference. Is this a significant difference to base such a strong decision? Maybe the poll rules should have specified that the difference should be within the range of a 5 - 7% difference? These results and how a poll is run is can be called into question. Reflection:
Further Reading The New York Times - Turbulence and Uncertainty for the Market after 'Brexit'
BBC News - EU Referendum Results Washington Top News - British Political Turmoil Deepens After EU Referendum My thoughts to share with love & Kindness! :) Image 1 - Web link Thoughts originally hand written June 26th 2016
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 "Our Body Is Our Greatest Possession." As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take some time to pause and think about health and wellness. During the busyness of life, it is easy to get caught up, tangled in the web of life. It is important to reflect upon our body. Our body is a vessel that we must take care of, it is the most important ownership that we will ever possess. Our Body. It needs our care. I thought to share a simple exercise. It is easy and does not require much time. It works in conjunction with the body and breath, rather than requiring us to stretch our muscles it works with the bodily muscles, and the everyday accumulated energies. Too much of any energy is not beneficial, these can be both positive or negative. As with bodily health we always want to maintain a set point of health and wellness, this can also be accounted for with our emotions. We always want to maintain an equilibrium. To further explain my thoughts please refer to Figure 1:  Figure 1 - Emotional Set Point The Somatic movement practice uses the idea of the breath and body. We are interested to release energies to bring our being into a place of rest. Almost as though we have become re - born. It tries to connect the heart with the mind / brain. The heart is so vitally important as is the brain. The hearts importance can be symbolically interpreted when we think about its origin in the womb. It is the heart, the heart that is the first living organ that formulates in the womb, through the heart everything grows. Just as the flower that blooms from the bud. The following exercise is just one simple exercise that is performed with a routine. It is simple and effective. Exercise
 Final thoughts: We all have our ways to develop coping mechanisms. This is just one simple exercise, there are many ways to find and maintain our emotional set point. This could be exercise, writing, running or a creative outlet. I have also been taking the time to find my set point. With all the sufferings, the bloody killings, the fires, the floods, that have happened at a rapid point over the few months, I was also getting to the negative alert zone. I had to remind my self that it was time to take a step back and find that point again. In the end if we ever hurt another being, the only person we are truly hurting is our own self. Yet, this thought should never be a burden to the self, because we are always learning and constantly evolving. This piece of art is currently a work in progress. I wanted to share this to exemplify how the power of negative emotions can be harnessed to create a positive. Why not take this energy and create something with it, because positive or negative it is all creative energy. Further Information:
For further information with regards to the Somatic practice please visit: The Center For Somatic Studies - New York Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to all beings, our body is and will be our greatest possession ever. My thoughts with love & kindness! :) Notes: Originally hand - written on 21st June 2016 and amended on June 26th 2016. Image 1 - Web link  As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. The truth is - I was reminded of a time when I entered the Vice - Principals office, probably about six years. I was there as a parent advocating for one of my children. The purpose of this writing is not to get into the details, but rather the questions that I was left to ponder upon. A bit frustrated, I thought why does it have to be this way? Or if we don't try a different way, or find solutions, we will always get the same results. In any given situation such as a discussion there will be the exchange of the conversation, sometimes there will be misunderstandings, sometimes understandings, we will make meanings through our prior experiences, thoughts etc. Sometimes we will be afraid to try new things, ways of thinking because we fear the unknown . To exemplify my thoughts I will present the following thought and exercise: What else is a thought form but an art form, Let us begin by taking a look at the following image: 
When I look at this piece of art work, my answers and meanings will differ from another persons answers or meanings. We will each construe our meanings differently, because we see things as we are. It takes a wider understanding to put ourselves in the place of another to understand how they are making meaning. When we look at a piece of art work, we are not really looking at the piece as a whole, we look at the different areas, sections to derive the meaning of the whole. These thoughts can also be connected to the idea of thought form. A thought itself is just a thought, just like a painting hanging on a wall. It hangs and waits for the human interaction, to bring it to life. Just like a thought form, as these thoughts are written, they simply sit and wait for the a reader, as the work of art. They are not there to force a thought, or force an action, the thoughts are simply presenting as a suggestive, an invitation, asking, inviting, maybe a poke, maybe a prod, a warmth, a smile, or an invocation, allowing us to expand our own thinking, our heart. This is how we learn and grow, to continuously think and push forth a thought. To question the self and the others. If we don't engage in this type of inquiry then everything will remain flat, the same. Just like how I walked into the Vice - Principals office, leaving hopeless and frustrated. We must continue to question, if we don't question then the purpose of the question defeats its purpose.
An invitation to question, my thoughts with love and kindness. Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to all beings, the human mind is a beautifier flower, water with love, water with kindness. Notes: Originally hand written June 16th 2016 Image 1 Web link Image 2 - Wall Papers App iOS6
And within the darkness of the night, there is a light that shines so bright. As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect upon my previous thoughts. The absurdity and barbarism of the Orlando attack continues to disgust me. As I previously mentioned the "Muslim Terrorist" has just assisted to perpetuate stereotypes of hate and hurt. Once again the cycle of violence will reveal that Muslims should be feared. The hurt continues ...
On a more positive note, we can see how Muslim leader are coming out to speak about the attacks, condemning and also revealing that Islam is not what the "hater" has shown through his actions. They have shown support for this community by taking part in this out - reach. What we should also be mindful of is the fact that it was not only the LGBT community that was a target, it was also a community populated with individuals of the Mexican descent. What does this suggest? Not one but two communities have been targeted. 1. The Muslim communities - to instill hate and 2. the Mexican LGBT community, to hurt and harm. Two dear communities have been a target. Broken heart ...... heal ... ... The Mexican people's heritage is that of one to be proud of, with lands that were historically rich in Gold, Woods, Mahogany, Rubber, and fruits. This is a land that is blessed with beautiful natural resources. This is a heritage of honor, a heritage to be proud of. These people deserve to be loved, not hurt, not harmed, why did you kill? With regards to guns. It just seems like so much is being done to get guns out of the hands of the wrong people, yet they continue to be accessible. As the world mourns this loss. We must remind ourselves, America has always been a nation of Inclusion. The true focus should be upon the gun problem. Pearl Of Wisdom: Look beyond what has happened, find the root and you will see, the truth of what must be tackled, Guns. Further Reading Muslim Leaders Are Condemning The Orlando Mass Shooting - Business Insider How To Curb The Madness - Harvard Gazette Orlando's Latino Community Hit Hard By The Massacre At Nightclub - The Washington Post Image 1 - Web link Image 2 - Web link Notes: These thoughts were originally hand written on June 15th 2016  As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. The truth is that the world was and is mourning the loss of Muhammad Ali. A hero that spread the word of love. A boxer who fought in the boxing ring and a human rights activist that fought for the rights of human beings outside of the ring. The depth of this mourning and suffering was deepened as we learned about the Orlando Massacre that took place on June 13th 2016. A shooter that claimed to be a "Muslim" and who was also identified as a homosexual opened fire at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. This heart raging and heart breaking act left innocent civilians injured and dead. Not only are the injured and dead affected, it is also the ones that are left to mourn, a country, a nation, a world, and also individuals like me who are left to question and wonder. Why so much hate? Why so much hate? Why so much violence? What is the point of lifting arms, shooting innocent human beings because of the way they choose to live? It just does not make sense. This is such a senseless act. That infuses disgust and utter shame. A shame to the ones who carried out this act, but also a shame to the ones who live and practice a peaceful religious way of life. It is acts like these that wound and cripple, the ones directly affected because of the loss and grievance. It has also crippled a healthy flourishing society. Certain stereotypes are, and will surface, rhetoric of hate will emerge. Muslims who are on a path of peace will once again be targeted. The shooter is simply a contradiction of the self, it is utter nonsense. At the very core of this faith is the ideology of love. Love your fellow human being, love them and be kind, be considerate. Love them for who they are. Do not judge someone because of their sexual orientation. We live in a world where we must make inclusion a priority. On all bases, which means regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or sexuality we must harbor and foster the basic human rights for all. This is not just an attack on the LGBTQ communities, it is an attack on all of humanity. If certain shooters "terrorists" are targeting a group of people, then this will raise a question: Why should other groups be allowed to exercise their rights? If we impinge one group shouldn't the other groups also be impinged as well? This is the questioning harm that has been aroused from this attack. This act has caused harm beyond measure. It has shown how separateness and divides can injure a fully fledged flourishing society. This is a time of a great grief and a great loss. As we begin to come to grips about the reality that we are faced with, we must choose to love, we must choose togetherness on all fronts. We must choose love over fear and believe that there is still, and will still be goodness in our humanity. A Thought To Ponder: If Muhammad Ali could love each and every human being for who they are and for what they are , then we should also try to emulate this example, we too can choose togetherness, we too can choose to love.  My heart and my prayer to all those who have suffered, who have lost, we are all coming to terms wit this heart breaking, heart dripping senseless act. No words, not even these words can describe the depth of the injury that I have felt. Peace and Love - Shazia.
Notes: These thoughts were originally hand written 1.00 pm, June 14th 2016. Image 1 Web link Image 2 Web link  Muhammad Ali 1942 - 2016 As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. The truth is that last weekend was a time when we heard of a great loss, probably the greatest loss of all time. Muhammad Ali also known as Cassius Marcellus Clay passed away. When I first heard of this news I was in a state of complete shock. It just would not sink in. We knew that he was suffering, but with all honesty, knowing the fighter that he was, I imagined his recovery. The shock affected deeply, leaving me in a state of rawness, not able to fully comprehend this. It was when I spoke with mum and dad, to hear their reactions that I truly grasped that this was real. Listening to how they felt, hearing from them allowed me to, finally grieve. My father uttered the name " Muhammad Ali", it caused an inner eruption, I couldn't bear the fact that my father was hurting. Now, I am finally able to gather my thoughts and reflect.  Image Source Credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c3/94/9c/c3949c67d79afb1a58c2458fa886f72a.jpg On this tragic day we saw the entire world grieving, mourning. Everyone was in a state of shock from NBA Basket Ball League, the NHL, celebrities, Nations, teachers, individuals,. The world was and continues to mourn this loss. Out pours via news portals, social media, trending hash tags such as #RIPMuhammadALI #MuhammadAli were trending all day long. The world has truly suffered from his loss. What also drew my attention was the fact that at a time when Muslims are being shamed and scrutinized for practicing their faith of Islam, we witnessed a world grieving over a Muslim. What is this saying? I began to think about this ...... 1 man's impact upon a world. To me this showed that at a time of destruction, grievance, and loss, all of humanity can strip away their hurt, hate, and become one, because at our core, our essence is to love. As I continue to reflect: I would also like to take the time, I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Donald Trump with his kindness and reflections upon Muhammad Ali's death. Your thoughts inspired and exemplified that regardless of religion, ethnic minority, or colour of skin, at a time of suffering we can all unite. The world has suffered a great loss. May you rest in love, may you rest in peace. From God We Arrive, To God We Return. Further Reading: Donal Trump Reflect On His Relationship With Muhammad Ali - The New York Times The Greatest? Here's Why? - The New York Times Shaquille O' Neal Remembers Muhammad Ali NHL Community Remembers Muhammad Ali Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to Muhammad Ali, your loss can and will never be replaced. We Love you. These thoughts are also dedicated to Mr. Donald Trump, thank you for your words. If I ever hurt you through my previous thoughts please remember these were not to be taken personally. I have seen what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur, the hard work and the dedication it is not easy, and for this I commend you. With love and kindness, Shazia. |
