December 2013: Impedimenta

The Mandala Lady,

December 2013 MotMDownload the December 2013 Mandala of the Month

Last month we explored the idea of putting ourselves out there…being all in.

This month we take a bit of a pause on our journey to explore what excess baggage we carry around with us that impedes our progress forward.

By definition impedimenta means:

equipment for an activity or expedition, esp. when considered as bulky or an encumbrance

In our case we’re on a journey to self-enlightment, to being our full potential while in this lifetime. Are we bringing along tools that impede us?

Such as:

  • limiting beliefs
  • self-doubts
  • fears

Or are we bringing along tools that help us?

  • spirit of adventure
  • passion
  • belief in ourselves

I’ve been participating in a weight loss program for about 18 months now. I dropped almost 30 lbs rather quickly. However, for the last 6 months I’ve fluctuated between being 4-7 pounds from my goal. It dawned on me about a month ago that I’ve been sabotaging my progress. While knowing this has been helpful, I continue to consciously sabotage.

At our last meeting we were asked to make a list of why we started this program in the first place…mainly as a way to keep us motivated with moving forward. For me, however, I’ve already achieved everything on the list:

  • feel good
  • look better
  • healthier
  • more active
  • fit into clothes I haven’t been able to fit into for years
  • buy cute clothes in easy-to-find sizes

As the meeting progressed, I realized that while I do feel good without the excess 30lbs, because I have yet to achieve my goal weight, I fail to feel good about myself despite achieving everything on my list. How can I feel good about myself when I still have 4-7 lbs to go?

With this newfound awareness, I noticed how I always seem to fall short of my goals in some way. I grew up believing that it’s wrong to feel good about myself…that it’s bragging or boastful. So I created this paradox for myself: I want to feel good about my accomplishments; but since I’m not allowed to feel good about what I achieve then I need to create situations where I “fail” in some way so I can’t feel good about myself. In short, why accomplish anything when I’m not even allowed to feel good about it.

Now that I understand this, I can re-invent one of my encumbrances by adopting my new mantra:

I allow myself to feel good about my accomplishments

So before we continue along our journey, this month’s mandala asks us to

  • Take a closer look at our fears, our limiting beliefs, and self doubts
  • Explore their source and how they impede our progress
  • Convert these impedimenta into tools that allow us to excel on our journey

Ponder this as you color the December 2013 Mandala of the Month.

Happy Coloring!

joyfully, Maureen,
The Mandala lady

www.facebook.com/TheMandalaLady

Be sure to download Section 12 of the 2013 Mandala of the Year.

Published by The Mandala Lady

My Mission: connecting with our Inner Light in delightful, inspiring ways For me, creating mandalas is more than just coloring pretty patterns in a circle. I do it because my spiritual evolution and creativity require it of me. My mandala designs come about within an active meditative state, connected with my higher self, my spiritual guides and nature spirits. Together, we bring into form, mandala art the allows me to re-connect with my own inner peace and joy, letting me explore and expand my own creative spirit to however far and in whatever direction I want to take it. As part of my own spiritual journey, I encourage, and hopefully inspire, others to explore their own creativity, to help them re-connect with their own inner peace and joy. As a means to that end, I make all of my mandalas available for people to color. Why should I have all the fun?

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: 2013: Section 12 | Mandala of the Year

  2. Dear Maureen,

    You probably don’t remember me.  I was in a tribal bellydancing class with you during the fall of 2010 in Corvallis, and I bought a small mandala from you at one of the arts fairs… and a mandala coloring book.

    I still get your monthly e-mails, and i just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate them.  Your topic always seems to uncannily apply to wherever I am in my own journey at that moment, and it feels like a huge hug to read about your journey and your insights. 

    I have moved twice since leaving Corvallis in the summer of 2012, and I have not yet found the same kind of warm community that so many people (like you) create in Corvallis.  I miss it very, very much, and your monthly e-mails feel like a reminder to stay connected with my own heart and my journey… as it was so easy to do in the environment of Corvallis.

    Your coloring book stays on our living room table with a box of colored pencils so that anyone can open it up and start coloring on a whim.  

    Thank you for everything that you share and for the beautiful work that you do.

    Warm regards, Laura

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  3. Excellent!

    Thanks for your support last week. So much was going on with me connecting to my higher self – as you would say

    * Take a closer look at our fears, our limiting beliefs, and self doubts * Explore their source and how they impede our progress * Convert these impedimenta into tools that allow us to excel on our journey “Not thinking” was a challenge. Fear of not being connected to the realms I had come to rely on, yet I have realized this belief was limiting me. Why not go for the gold and tap into all that is? The doubt that it can’t be true was just behind the curtain.

    I am taking time every day to “go up,” as I call it, and connect, which has continued the thread from Patrick’s workshop. I guess this last one is a tool.

    Drove back yesterday morning from Heather’s in Washington Heights and was home by 11:30! Makes a difference that she lives on 174th St. vs. the Lower East Side. Only 4 hours with a stop for gas and coffee. The roads were virtually empty at 7:30.

    I tried to tune in along the way, but was almost numb for some reason. I did do a lot the last day, Friday. I went to all the metaphysical shops I could find except one, which I will save for next time. The last place was the Rock Shop & I ended up doing a healing on Ryan, a ?23 yr. old who had only been working there about 9 months. He had some crazy mother stuff going on, which he released pretty quickly.

    The room, about the size of your living room, was filled with shelves with every kind of stone imaginable. The shelving around the room was floor to ceiling and shorter ones in the rest of the room. There were large skulls of citrine andlabradorite and clear quartz, plus clear quartz with water inside a bubble from Tibet! Never have I seen anything like that. Amazing.

    I realized that the spirals around Columbus Circle were energy ?vortexes that were encrypted with ? energy that were awaiting all the parade participants to walk through. They all passed through that area I activated between the statue and the entrance to the Park. I am now sensing there were many spirals because just as there are 12 tribes, there were that many from each tribe and the messages were different.

    I feel tired and it’s only 8:20. Wow, I swear I just jumped time. I thought I started this around 7:30. It could not have taken me that long to write. I had 9 hours last night, then I slept for 2 hours around 11 and now all I want to do is go to bed.

    Oh, I just remembered Thursday night I only got 4 hours sleep. We did have 2 cups of Chai at our Thanksgiving feast, but that was over by 4. Anyhow … Oh, I remember. That woman who is a remote viewer I sometimes “see” showed up. She asked me to go with her on the other planes to the Statue of Liberty with her. We did and she told me that I did not have to physically have to go there. There was going to be trouble there, she said, and then she said all was OK after we “got back.” It seemed that the whole interaction took me over an hour to work through. Let me know if you get a hit on that. Thanks.

    Off for a shower and bed. Have a great week. Love, Wendy

    Wendy Fletcher (603) 479-8188 http://www.wendyscottfletcher.com

    >________________________________ > From: Mandala of the Month >To: wendyscottfletcher@yahoo.com >Sent: Sunday, December 1, 2013 3:35 PM >Subject: [New post] December 2013: Impedimenta > > > > WordPress.com >The Mandala Lady posted: “Download the December 2013 Mandala of the Month Last month we explored the idea of putting ourselves out there…being all in. This month we take a bit of a pause on our journey to explore what excess baggage we carry around with us that impedes our” >

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  4. Hi Laura,
    I’m glad you enjoy coloring the mandalas and that you find the emails helpful and comforting. I appreciate your kind words, they are a comfort to me.

    Happy Coloring! joyfully, Maureen

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  5. Hey Wendy! Wow…what an amazing trip. Next time I’m in NYC I’ll have to visit that rock shop…sounds wonderful. Major hit for me on the Columbus Circle spirals and the Statue of Liberty visit…felt like a cloud needed to be lifted or cleared at S. of L.

    Keep making your daily connections…the more you do so, the more the doubts will dissipate. I understand the doubts…they have a way of creeping in especially when using a new tool.

    love you Wendy

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