The last Sunday of every month, I host the Blackstack Salon here in the Substack app, and today did not disappoint. I can’t think of a time it did, honestly. If you missed it today, no worries, here’s the replay.
Mark your calendars now for Sunday, November 30th, at 10am PT for the next Blackstack Salon. See you there!
Playlist is at the bottom of the newsletter, start with the meditation and follow with the warm-up prompt. Or you can follow along with the replay.
Warm-Up Prompt
If freedom had a texture, it would feel like…
Freedom feels smooth but uncomfortable at times, like velvet. The moment on stage when the curtains pull back, sliding against your arm, making the hair stand up, and the spotlight appears on the stage. The echo of the audience applauding brings a feeling of discomfort. Although I feel uncomfortable in my body, my soul has so much to say under the spotlight, and I want to let loose.
She motions for me to come under the spotlight, little me. The version of myself that still had the brightest shining light, the same light I’m working overtime as an adult to get back. She looks so innocent, before they dimmed her light, and she turned cold and mysterious.
Freedom feels like velvet because when I rub the fabric in one direction, I can feel my power and that everything is working in my favor, but with the shift in direction just in seconds, my idea of freedom feels unfamiliar, and that brings about the discomfort. So I quickly get back focused in the right direction because I can manifest a smooth journey as I explore the freedom that is a birthright to me and you.
First Sprint
Write a letter to the version of you that believed you had to earn rest.
Babygirl, listen, just like your muscle needs rest to build, so does your soul. All this healing you do cannot manifest in your reality if you are not resting to allow the changes to integrate in real time.
They want you to believe that you have to earn rest because why would this society encourage positive growth? This is how we think outside of the box, outside of the conditioning. We give ourselves permission for unlimited rest, and we manifest income as we rest.
Second Sprint
We know the survival skills all too well, and as we are working to regulate our nervous system, we find rest to be difficult and slowing down to be a task we struggle to manage successfully. Why does softness feel so hard, yet we desire it so much?
Softness feels hard to me because all I’ve known is rock bottom. Surviving over the years has not granted me the privilege to be soft. The people I gave my heart to forced me to be rough around the edges as they pruned my thorns to gain access, but played loves me, loves me not with my petals.
I believe softness has to be learned; I believe softness is a skill trade.
Pain is the result of survival; softness shouldn’t have to be earned, but it is treated like a reward, not a result. I’m done proving my worthiness of softness, especially when I think about how I was forced into accepting pain. Why didn’t anyone force softness onto me if they pruned my thorns to gain access?
Perhaps my softness is not what the people I once loved saw within themselves, and they intended to rob me of mine. But you cannot rob someone of their softness; that’s why I view it as a skill trade. I trained myself to soften my shoulders in difficult moments with a deep breath. That does not make me special; it makes me aware, and most people do lack that skill.
Playlist Vibes
Start with the meditation, and use the warm-up prompt with a 15-minute timer, let the music vibe as you use a 25-minute timer for the following prompts. End the writing session with the breathwork.
Here’s the link just in case: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5BF73LHtAdm64or0ZK63gi?si=21c43e530e5a417f
