Only a self-aware parent, one who understands and protects her own sovereignty and connection to God, can recognize and nurture the same in her child. She cannot honor in another what she cannot witness in herself.
Self-care is not selfish in the way our culture has defined it. It is the essence of aligning in the healthiest of ways with the abundant love and wisdom of God.
By honoring ourselves we give others, including our children, the permission to do the same, to attend to themselves–to the truth of who they are are.
Satya
What is this page about?
Satya is Sanskrit for “truthfulness” and is the second of the five yamas (restraints) as described in the Yoga Sutra. It is meant to guide us to live with integrity in the way we think, act, and speak.
The word sat means “that which exists, that which is.” Satya, thus, informs us how to live, seeing and speaking of how things actually are, not the way we wish they were. This “restraint” is a virtuous one, free from falsehood and distortion of reality. It inspires us to live consciously and awake in the present moment.
In a way similar to the Three Transcendentals, Satya resonates with me. It mirrors the teachings of countless wisdom teachers who emphasize that the first step to living a conscious and mindful life is the ability to accept the “as is.” Without clearly understanding this–the truth of a situation, a thought, an experience, a person–not only do we deny ourselves a secure foundation on which to focus our attention, but so do we also forfeit any meaningful spiritual evolution. We cannot elevate ourselves and take flight from an emotional and energetic foundation based on deceit, denial, and fear.
Although the idea of satya informs much of my writing, this particular page will be mostly devoted to my son Sean and our journey together towards recovery from cancer. Sean was diagnosed with medulloblastoma on April 1, 2019. He had a successful surgery on April 2, and for about 6 weeks now we have lived in and out of the hospital, preparing for the next steps, 6 weeks of radiation and 4 months of chemotherapy.
My commitment to satya, and Sean’s, too, informs the way we are approaching life everyday. We are living in the present. We are living in the as is. We are accepting the truth of his diagnosis. But we are also choosing to observe and live in the abundance and joy and wellness that we experience everyday. Because that is true, too. It is the ability and choice to think abundantly, act in love, and speak kindly and compassionately that inform the truth of our everyday. And as moment leads to moment and as one day leads to another, this energy shapes our life and informs our spiritual and physical wellness. This is how we’re choosing to live in integrity. This is our satya. We are honored to share it with you.
The Sovereign Child 