A humbling day…

So, how did this day come about? Some of you may know that I have been putting out happy and conscious intentions around Oprah’s new involvement with Weight Watchers. I want to support infusing love into mainstream nutrition, and am standing on the sidelines, now the front row cheering, taking it all in.

I received a “random” email in my inbox  a couple months ago about going to her Super Soul Sessions in Los Angeles. I decided to invest and put my money where my mouth is, and purchased an upgraded ticket. I thought I was going to be center/middle half way up. As I arrived for this day, I felt a charge on the drive that I was going to be moved to the front row, and of course followed by a daydreaming the idea of Oprah sitting next to me. Do I let her speak to me first or do I smile and kiss her:) hee hee. (She sat behind my by two rows:)

I met a wonderful woman in line and away we go to our seats. I couldn’t find mine initially because I couldn’t believe where it was at. I even went back to the usher to reconfirm. Me and 5 other surprised women sat in our seats with open mouths. They took out the seats in front of us and we were now the front row. A huge moment of gratitude came over me, then a minute of insecurity flooded through. Why did I wear stripes? Why didn’t I wear more make-up, are they going to move me? Then a text from a friend shook me out of it. I gave myself a mini squeeze & laughed at how I teach and am a student of practicing and receiving more nourishment, love and GREATNESS.

Here is a low-down of the day with my notes and feelings of each speaker that I was blessed to see & feel their greatness from 10 feet away. This was my version of super stars on the red carpet. The show will be aired soon & I highly recommend taking a look at whoever moves you.

Shaka Senghor was the first man up! His book is called “Writing my Wrongs”, focuses on his life story of killing a young man when he was 19, and having the family forgive him while he was in prison. After spending 20 years in prison and many of those in solitude, he realized he wanted to change. He believes humans are redeemable. Forgiveness is a process and if we all pause and look at the broken child in every person, we can see the child in them and in ourselves.

Marie Forleo, a woman many of my entrepreneur friends and I follow, rocked the stage with her talk on “Everything is Figure out-able”. She made us tear up and laugh with her story line of highlighting her mother as her teacher of life and sharing her mom’s practical discipline. She asked us what is it that makes us unstoppable? The thing that will not stop us from moving ahead. What we say to ourselves drives our behavior and our world. So what would you create and become if everything is figure out-able?

Cheryl Strayed author of the book “Wild”, had us stand up stretch and reach. She reflected on a memory of her being 3 years old and her mom taking her to yoga class. She loved it and the goal was to not attain the perfect pose, but to reach for it. She shared her self doubts and challenges of writing her novel. She was so laid back and was there to just share her true feelings. She said “Surrender to your own mediocracy”, this had the crowd and Oprah stunned. Here we are with all of this hype on being more, and here she says just be mediocre. Be careful of letting your dreams ruin your life she goes on saying, and start with making good intentions. The phrase “bite off more than we can chew” came in to my mind and definitely resonated with me in my work. She called herself arrogantly ambitious through most of her life, but when it came down to writing her book, reality TV took over her time and got in her way for a bit. But when she reckoned with I actually am and surrendered to herself, then she could reach. Even if it is one day or one word at a time.

Caroline Myss book “Anatomy of the Spirit” was one of my biggest game changers 15 years ago. She is a Medical Intuitive and has her own institute to support healing. I had no idea what an intuitive was when I moved to California 15 years ago. She helped me begin my inner journey, teaching me to feel and trust my inner wisdom. My favorite take-away from her was, when you start to feel less vitality, your energy got lost or anchored in your past and history. When you begin to feel incongruent, you will feel it in your core. She goes on to say it is not about the stress, the stress is the result of:

*Inner creativity not being used
*Not birthing something creative from inside of you
*Ungrounded feeling
*Not clarifying your value and purpose

She did an exercise where she had us feel our soul. She believes the instrument of healing is the soul.  The first scenario was to vision someone who hurt you, and they say “I never meant to hurt you”. You may not resonate with this because it did hurt you and it did happen. The second scenario is the person who hurt you says “I consciously meant to hurt you”, this is when you can feel the pain and take the sword out and forgive, this is how the soul heals.

Amanda Stenberg was our gorgeous young actress/activist that rocked the stage. She played Rue on the Hunger Games. She shared that her authenticity is her activism. Her quote “What if we love black people as much as we love black culture”, rocked the crowd as well as social media. The real revolution is when we are free of Self-Hatred and Self-Judgment. Her online presence isn’t to cause controversy, but to create conversation.

Kris Carr is the author of “Crazy, Sexy Cancer”. She filmed her cancer experience and began her participation in her wellness. She quoted, “Life, she is a great teacher”. She was buying kale before kale was cool and had its own publicist. Her approach of unconditional acceptance by having your own back and never abandoning yourself is the ultimate respect and honoring of yourself. Now she is truly living and was a joy and a bright light on stage.

Besides being our fearless hostess, Oprah did her thing and honestly, she WOW’d me. She shared how these Soul Sessions are her true calling and how Weight Watchers came about. She sprained her ankle on a hike last summer and her weight snuck on fast. She received a call from WW, and this is when she said she got out denial mode. She finally looked at the cause of her weight. She never felt feelings, she ate them. When she shifted her intention from a place of gratitude instead of a want, she was committed to herself. She was so funny, when she brought Dr. Oz on to her show she started eating better, however she thinks Dr. Oz only meant a few almonds vs. a whole lot of them. Her courage to identify that she wasn’t feeling is her path to freedom. It isn’t about the points, she says it is the tool she is using to support herself toward her intention to feel freedom in her body and ALL relationships. What is your intention? What is the tool that is part of your journey at this time? Personally, I can’t say it is one tool that I use that reflects my whole being, it is EVERY day, just observing, finding humor, not taking yourself too seriously, and ultimately and authentically pursuing your intention. My intentions at this time of my life are to be a better human being by creating more joy, freedom and nourishment, and how we get there is the FUN game.

India.Arie Song-versation brought up the most emotions for me. Her approach includes part meditation, prayer, fellowship, song and action. We collectively sang the beginning prayer together by singing the word ONE back at her lyrics. It was so moving. She shared her life struggle of the ever present feeling of melancholy and being unlovable. She broke her shell and is being a student of life. I didn’t take as many notes on this one because I was FULLY present and just felt it. She is a true rock star of truth, and her presence this day put the icing on the cake.

This was the one woman I wasn’t familiar with, but my front row neighbor was all about her so I was excited to get my learn on:) Dr. Shefali is the author of “The Conscious Parent”, so she had me @ conscious. She was a force of change by wanting and leading the shift of how we raise children. She says take off the shackles and liberate the children and parents. The old paradigm of love tempered with unconscious desperate need and control can not support the evolution. No parent or child is innocent from this and now it is time to liberate everyone.

Now it was time for who Oprah calls the Mick Jagger of Spirituality. Eckhart Tolle‘s books have come to me at the perfect times of my life. When the student is ready the teacher appears. Eckhart is a true teacher, his quiet and present demeanor is so refreshing and was the best way to end the speaker portion. I will try to decipher my notes, but again this one was a feeler too. We began with a moment of silence and then he started out with a bang. Is the you that is experiencing the dream different from the you that you are? What comes from a consciousness, it appears in consciousness. When your mind subsides and then you know your true identity. Embody this consciousness and presence of you.

We ended the show with an interview of Kerry Washington. My favorite take away from her was the Universe only has three responses for you: Yes, Yes, not right now or No, I have something better for you. Click here for a clip of the interview

Thank you all for allowing me to share and sharing my experience with me. Please comment below if you have any questions or anything to add that has supported you on your journey to freedom.

I want to end with a quote that came to me right before I fell asleep that night. “Whatever will be will be, as long as I let LIFE live and love through me”.

Love,

Heather Fleming, C.C.N
Joyful Life & Freedom Expert