• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Heart - Head - Hands logo

  • About
    • Beth Godbee
    • Commitments
    • Offerings
    • Publications
  • Blog
    • Contemplative Practices
    • Emotional Literacies
    • Everyday Feminism
    • Higher Education
    • Interviews
    • Racial Justice
    • Recipes
    • Why Vegan?
  • Courses
  • Coaching
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

Listening for/to the “Strong YES”

Filed Under: Contemplative Practices, Higher Education By Beth Godbee November 22, 2017 Leave a Comment

In the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about when and how I tune into my “strong YES” for decision-making. I find that I’m truer to myself when I’m following Marty Tribble’s guidance: “The absence of a strong YES is actually a no.” Reflecting on this advice is what led me to write “Using Your ‘Strong Yes’ to Guide Career Decisions” for Inside Higher Ed:

I hope that this article helps others tap into the strong YES not only for navigating job searches and career decisions, but also for everyday decision-making and living for justice. I share in this article five strategies for finding the strong YES:

1. Follow the deeper breath.
2. Check in with the heart, head, and hands.
3. Keep an emotion journal.
4. Look for signs in everyday life.
5. Look inward through guided meditation.

Each of these strategies asks us to prioritize embodied knowledge, inner knowing, and emotional literacies that we too-often downplay or discount, especially in higher education.

Each of these strategies asks us to unlearn ways of being-doing-living that keep us limited to less than our whole selves, less than fully human and messy.

Each of these strategies asks us to slow down through imperfect meditation and other contemplative practices so that we stop shutting out what hurts and instead get to know ourselves and our commitments with greater clarity.

Despite practicing these strategies, I still often act without checking in with my body, without intentionality, and instead with procedural efficiency. I’ve had several recent reminders—from dropping my phone to becoming sick—that I need to slow down and listen more carefully.

When I listen for/to my strong YES, I sometimes have to change plans. For example, recently I’ve sat on several blog posts, not sure if or when they’ll feel ready to share, and I’ve canceled several meetings, not sure if or when I’ll feel ready to have them.

Truly, listening for/to the strong YES is essential for de-routinizing dehumanization, yet it’s so hard to do because I love routines, even when they undermine well-being. Similarly, the strong YES is essential for countering the lies of internalized inferiority and superiority, yet I’m so attached to these lies that I resist letting go. Noticing routines and resistance helps me shift toward more careful, mindful listening.

Toward better listening, I am starting today a daily practice of yoga nidra that I hope will help me stay truer to myself and my commitments. As I work to align with my strong YES, I hope you’ll join me in asking:

  • How can I release the “shoulds” that inadvertently direct my days?
  • How can I notice (and be kinder to myself when I notice) that I’m acting without intention?
  • How can I better align my everyday living with my hopes and commitments?

—
This post is written by
Beth Godbee for Heart-Head-Hands.com. For more posts like this one, you might try “Imperfect Meditation and the Desire to ‘Slow Way Down’” and “Reframing ‘Independence Day’ as a Day for Truth-Telling and Committing to Justice.” 

You might also like the e-course “Career Discernment for Academics: Aligning Career with Commitments.”

If you appreciate this site, if you connect with the storytelling, or if you use any of the recipes or resources, consider making a one-time or sustaining donation and liking this blog on FB. Thanks!

*****

Interested in listening to this blog post and the related IHE article?

Check out my Soundcloud account, and subscribe for new audio content.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket

Tagged with: #52essays2017, career discernment, commitments, countering perfectionism, courage, divination, embodiment, emotional literacies, equity in education, learning, meditation, resilience, social justice, writing

Support the Work

subscribe to posts:

Previous Post: « 40 Days of Yoga Nidra
Next Post: Vegan and Gluten-Free Savory Pie »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About This Site

Embodied knowledge matters. So do commitments. And especially acting on commitments as part of everyday life, BIG and small. This website—a mix of blog posts and research writing, courses and offerings—shares ongoing efforts toward everyday living (feeling, thinking, and doing) for justice.

Subscribe via Patreon

This button from Patreon says “Become a Patron” in white font against a bright orange background.

Subscribe to Newsletter

courses, webinars, and writing groups

This grid shows four colorful cacti (two above and two below) the event information (black font against white background): “Monthly Gathering Space: Recharge and Recommit. For details, see Heart-Head-Hands.com.”This e-course announcement shows a yellow sunflower and blue sky. It includes a textbox with the following information: “E-COURSE AVAILABLE NOW! Career Discernment for Academics: Aligning Career with Commitments. Self-paced study, exercises, coaching, and more ...”

This ad reads: “Time to write! Writing Retreats. Learn more @ Heart-Head-Hands.com.” A white coffee mug and table appear in the foreground, with golden chairs and walls in the background.

This image shows writing tools (phone, keyboard, journal, pencil, and pen) along with the event information: “Online Writing Groups. Friday mornings 10am EST | 9am CST | 8am MST | 7am PST. Come Write Together: Heart-Head-Hands.com.”

Categories

  • Contemplative Practices (57)
  • Emotional Literacies (77)
  • Everyday Feminism (92)
  • Higher Education (45)
  • Interviews (7)
  • Racial Justice (57)
  • Recipes (22)
  • Why Vegan? (11)

Footer

bethgodbee

#Repost @charisbooksandmore with @use.repost
・・・
It’s Give Out Day! You can help us win BIG!!⁠
________________⁠
Give OUT Day is a month-long fundraising campaign culminating today, June 30, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community.⁠
⁠
Charis Circle is competing with Give OUT Day partner organizations for tens of thousands in prizes, primarily Leaderboards, awarded to the organizations with the highest number of unique donors in their category.⁠
________________⁠
How can you help us win? Give Out Day is a numbers game! We win BIG with the NUMBER OF DONORS instead of the actual dollar amount. That’s why our goal is 1,000 individual donors at $10 each. ⁠
⁠
Click the link in our bio to donate $10 or more now and share this post with your friends to help Charis pull ahead!
In addition to the weekly writing group (with regi In addition to the weekly writing group (with registration open this week)—
 
The next writing retreat is a week away: Wednesday, July 6th. Check out the open dates for summer writing support: https://heart-head-hands.com/product/writing-retreats/ --> link in bio.

Retreats are a great way to prioritize writing, connect with other writers, and receive feedback on a current project.

Retreats are also free for anyone who finds registration fees cost-prohibitive, so pass along the word. And let me know if you'd like to plan a retreat for your group.
 
Image shows lined notebook paper; a yellow pencil; and pink, green, and yellow text that reads: “writing retreats upcoming dates: Wed., July 6; Thurs., July 14; Tues., July 26; Wed., Aug. 10; Thurs., Aug. 18; Mon., Aug. 29. heart-head-hands.com.” 

#writing #writinginspiration #writingcommunity #writer #writersofinstagram #WritingGroup #WritingGroups #WritingRetreat #WritingRetreats #WritingResources #WritingSupport #WritingLife #WritingCenterLife #WritingLife #WritingTime #TimeToWrite #writinggoals #writersblock #writingtips #writingmotivation #writersofinstagram #writerscommunity #writers #writingcoach #coaching #retreatyourself
The writing group is currently open for new partic The writing group is currently open for new participants to join July and August: https://heart-head-hands.com/product/online-writing-group/ —> link in bio ✔️💛
 
We meet weekly on Fridays 10am-1pm ET, and we are a small group who builds relationships and supports each other around writing.
 
Reasons to join the weekly writing group include:
Hold creative space for writing projects
Build and strengthen relationships with other writers
Maintain momentum over time
Receive just-in-time support, mentoring, and processing
Co-create a life-giving writing community.
 
This image shows writing tools (phone, keyboard, journal, pencil, and pen) along with the event information: “Online Writing Groups. Friday mornings 10am EST | 9am CST | 8am MST | 7am PST. Come Write Together: Heart-Head-Hands.com.”

#writing #writinginspiration #writingcommunity #writer #writersofinstagram #WritingResources #WritingSupport #WritingLife #WritingCenterLife #WritingLife #WritingTime #TimeToWrite #writinggoals #writersblock #writingmotivation #writerscommunity #writers #WritingCoach #WritingGroup #WritingRetreat #WritingFeedback #SummerWriting
#Repost @charisbooksandmore Today is the 53rd ann #Repost @charisbooksandmore

Today is the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The riots at the Stonewall Inn helped shift the modern LGBTQ rights movements from a primarily assimilationist strategy to a more diverse set of strategies, including identity politics and gay pride, & anti-assimilationist ideas about queer liberation. The modern story of the LGBTQ rights movement began before Stonewall, and has ebbed & flowed in its radicalism, its assimilationism, its diversity of strategies & viewpoints ever since, but what Stonewall offered was a flashpoint--an unforgettable moment of rage and rebellion boiling over in such a way that finally could not be ignored. Stonewall was primarily a rebellion against police brutality, illegal targeting, & violent oppression. As we find ourselves in the midst of another rebellion against police brutality & violent oppression, we have a duty to one another as queer and trans people of all races and all genders to be very clear about that part of our collective history and to use our legacy as people who have, until very recently, lived & loved wholly outside the protection of the traditional laws of this country as a force for radical reinvention, powerful community building, & searing resistance. 

Our legacies as queer and trans people are joyful, colorful, sardonic, campy, brave, vulnerable, pretty, messy, ugly, tough, resilient, silly, catty, brilliant, angry, freaky, beautiful, holy, human, proud. We are being called now to employ all of our histories, all of our legacies, all of our strategies, in the service of helping all people get free. There is no rainbow flag large enough to cover the shame of those who would witness the uprisings for Black lives & call for more police. Throughout the United States, but especially here in the South, trans kids and teens are demonstratively less safe than they were ten years ago. From laws criminalizing equal access to affirming health care & education, to legislatures banning books with LGBTQ+ content, and preventing discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in classrooms, our greater cultural visibility has not equaled greater freedom, safety, or power for the majority of LGBTQ+ people.
The next recharge and recommit gathering is this W The next recharge and recommit gathering is this Wednesday, June 29th 1-2:30pm ET.
 
These gatherings devote time to knowing and living out commitments to justice. Each gathering includes introductions, guided meditation, journaling, and small-group conversation.
 
This week we'll be sure to address reproductive justice, and we may use our conversation time for small-group coaching (something we tried in last month's gathering).
 
Reach out with any questions, and register here: https://heart-head-hands.com/product/recharge-and-recommit/ --> link in bio.

This grid shows four colorful cacti (two above and two below) the event information (black font against white background): “Monthly Gathering Space: Recharge and Recommit. For details, see Heart-Head-Hands.com.” 

#commitments #LivingOutCommitments #SocialJusticeEducation #DailyHabits #DailyPractices #EverydayLiving #GatheringSpace #Gatherings #GatheringOnline #LifelongLearning #CommunityCare #HeartHeadHands #recharge #recommit #contemplative #meditation #journaling #freewriting #intentionalliving #intentionsetting #conversation #connection #discernment #writinginspiration #coaching
Load More... Follow on Instagram

About Beth Godbee

I'm an educator and former college professor who believes our fully embodied selves matter in the world. We can’t just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, violence, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. We must feel and act, too. [Pronouns: she/her.] Read more ...

This image shows books alongside the words: courses, coaching, consulting. learning + unlearning.

Copyright © 2022