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I feel the more we celebrate, the better our quality of life. And there are two holidays worth taking time out for this week. Today, June 19th is Juneteenth, and Tuesday, June 21st is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. I think it’s appropriate that Juneteenth falls so close to the summer solstice, because both symbolize a certain abundance of light.
Juneteenth is a celebration of the emancipation of African American slaves. Throughout the Civil War, many slaveholders moved to remote areas to escape the fighting and hold onto their slaves. When Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, nothing changed where it wasn’t enforced. This was especially the case in Texas, where there were still a quarter million slaves in 1865, even after General Lee surrendered the Confederacy.
On June 19th, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger presented Texas with a proclamation that read, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
Although the enforcement of the law took years, and there’s still plenty of work ahead of us, June 19th became a day of celebration. Known as Juneteenth, it’s the longest standing African American holiday. The abolition of slavery was like clearing a dark cloud that had long hung over the country. It was the beginning of allowing African Americans to be their own people and freely shine their light.
There’s no way to undo the suffering caused by slavery and its aftermath of discrimination and systemic oppression, but one step in the right direction – especially for White people – is to recognize how much this country has benefited from the presence of African Americans. Just when the light of the sun is at its peak, we have the opportunity on Juneteenth (and always) to celebrate the light that’s symbolic of the African American soul, which has persevered through unimaginable violence and injustice, and evolved into an incredible cultural identity.
Despite comprising just 13% of our population, African Americans have had a disproportionately significant influence on the United States. From music to art to cuisine to literature to science to leadership to religion and more, it’s all around us.
So, let’s celebrate the light this week.
☀️ Bask in the sun. Try this simple “solar energy” meditation: Inhale for a count of 4 while imagining you’re absorbing the sun through your pores, deep into your body. Hold your breath for a count of 4 while imagining the solar energy working its way into all your cells and charging all your atoms. Exhale for a count of 4 while imagining you’re beaming the sunlight out of every pore. Hold (with empty lungs) for a count of 4 while basking in your own glow around you. Then repeat.
☀️ Open your heart and shine your light into every environment you find yourself in.
☀️ Make a conscious choice to see the light in everyone you encounter.
☀️ Enjoy the contributions of African American writers, musicians, chefs, comedians, and influencers.
☀️ Whatever your race, consider how you've benefited from the influence of courageous and visionary African Americans, then take some action to honor this light and support our work toward true equity.
Be well,
Peter
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When my wife was a teenager, her stepmother one day advised her that if she didn’t have anything nice to say to someone, she could instead try saying, thank you. Not long thereafter, my wife directed some teenage angst at her stepmom, who got red in the face and responded, “Thank you!” before exiting the room.
At Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of the many flavors of gratitude and the interesting power of the words thank you. These words come up with kind of an unusual frequency in our household, and it’s not because we don’t have anything nice to say to each other.
A major contributor to the rise of thank yous in our home is the fact that my wife and I have been trying for the past few years to teach them to our four year old daughter. She’s at an age when saying thank you is not yet natural. It’s a behavior to be memorized and executed habitually so that your parents don’t get fussy. On Halloween I had to keep reminding her, “There are just two things you need to remember to say – ‘trick or treat’ and ‘thank you.’”
I catch myself sometimes flashing a sheepish look at generous adults as I prompt her with, “What do you say, Sailor?” Later I might tell her, “I don’t want to have to keep reminding you to say thank you.” But that’s not really the way I want to teach her the specialness of these words. I don’t want her to say thank you out of guilt. I don’t want her to say it just because it’s polite. I don’t want her to learn that a steady stream of thank yous is the way to avoid any disruption to the process of gift unwrapping or trick-or-treating.
I want her to say it because she feels it.
When thank you issues from your heart because you feel gratitude, the last thing on your mind is what effect it might have on the other person. It seems a misuse of these words to hope to get something – even better rapport – in return for saying them. On the other hand, it seems silly to reserve them just for special occasions, unless you recognize that your day is full of them.
Sometimes a more calculated use of thank you can still feel earnest, such as when you encounter difficulties. Maybe it doesn’t arise spontaneously when things don’t go the way you want them to. Perhaps thank you is the last sentiment on your mind when, for instance, you find out you’re going to miss a day of your vacation because of a booking error. Instead, maybe you’re thinking, this sucks.
But, the smooth flow of life proceeds by some fairly binary rules. There’s acceptance and resistance, yes and no. Whether we think, this sucks, or, this isn’t what I wanted, or, this isn’t fair, or simply, no, we resist the reality of things, we generate struggle, friction, and conflict. I’m not saying we shouldn’t allow ourselves to think and feel these things (because, of course, that would be saying no on another level). But, this attitude is the equivalent of paddling against the current. What if we just get back into the flow and utilize the trajectory of life, but gently steer toward a happy outcome?
When, on the other hand, we think, yes, or, I’m game, or, let’s see where this leads me, or, I’m open, or… thank you, something very different happens. Not just in our internal experience; the world actually responds differently to us. If you look an obstacle in the face and say, thank you, you deflate its power to bully you. You state your anticipation of an outcome you’ll be grateful for. This Thanksgiving, why not try saying thank you not just for the good stuff, but for the challenges, too.
Thank you – for everything,
Peter and Briana Borten and everyone at The Dragontree
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[post_content] => My 12-year-old is always asking me to tell her stories from my childhood, so I recently described the time when I got into big trouble for making long-distance calls to an out-of-state girlfriend. The phone bill was over $500. “Wait,” she asked, “you mean, the phone company charged you more money because the person lived farther away?” It’s such a foreign concept today when we can have a video conversation with someone on the other side of the planet for free! (Moment of gratitude for communication technology . . . Amen.)
Our talk turned to how the world was more culturally insular back then. I explained that many of the Eastern philosophical and medical concepts that are commonplace in our house and community only became mainstream in the past few decades. Global connectedness has allowed us to share the pearls of our cultures with receptive others around the world in an unprecedented way. It’s awesome.
The only downside is that details – and sometimes even the core value – can get lost in translation. One particular “incomplete translation” I’ve been working on correcting for 20 years has to do with the yogic practice of neti – which can be a valuable part of our immune enhancement routine in these crazy times.
Neti – AKA “nasal washing” – comes from the millennia-old tradition of Ayurveda. It cleanses and soothes the nasal passages and is great for people with allergies, crusty nasal mucus, difficulty breathing through the nose, snoring, and frequent colds and flus. By helping to clean and heal our upper airway, it may help the body to more effectively catch and kill airborne viruses. However, traditionally neti has always been prescribed in combination with another practice called nasya – but somehow almost no one knows about it.
While salt water in the nasal passages can clean out the gunk and calm the membranes down, it can also leave them dry and vulnerable. Sometimes the dryness even causes these membranes to respond by producing more mucus. This is why nasya – the practice of lubricating the inside of the nose with oil – is essential. Whereas neti can potentially “strip” your nasal passages, nasyacoats and protects them.
Several years ago, I developed an herb-infused nasya oil called
Dragontree Nasal Oil, and it’s been one of our best sellers. I think it’s been popular partly because of the unique combination of herbs it contains and partly because there just aren’t many products like it out there. One doctor tells me she gives it to all her patients who get frequent colds and flus and says it has helped them tremendously.
Let’s look at the whole neti-nasya practice. A neti pot is shaped like a small tea pot, the spout of which fits comfortably in a nostril. You start with warm, clean water (body temperature is good) to which you add a little salt. The ideal degree of saltiness varies from person to person – about the saltiness of tears is usually good. A standard solution is 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/2 cup of water. Try this concentration first, and adjust the saltiness if necessary.
Fill the pot with your saline solution, stand over a sink, and place the tip of the spout in one nostril. Tip your head sideways without leaning your head forward or back. As the pot is tipped, the solution should enter one nostril and flow out the other. It helps to keep your mouth open and try not to breathe through your nose. Pour half of the solution through one nostril and then the other half of the solution through the other nostril. This process cleanses the nasal passages of dust, pollen, bacteria, viruses, and other debris which can cause allergies, colds, and sinus infections. If it causes a burning sensation it’s often because there isn’t enough salt for you. Try a little more. Sometimes a pinch of baking soda in the solution can also help.
Now for the nasya. We have often heard from clients that they feel congested after doing neti. This is probably because they didn’t do nasya. There are two main ways of applying oil to the nasal passages. One is to place oil on your (very clean) little finger and use this to lightly coat the inside of each nostril with oil. The other option, which I prefer because it’s more thorough, is to use an eyedropper to instill 4-5 drops of oil into each nostril while lying on a bed with your head hanging slightly off the edge. With this second method, it is best to relax in this position for a few minutes to let the oil penetrate deeply.
A good all purpose (tridoshic) oil for neti is safflower (which is what we use in the
Dragontree Nasal Oil). If you don’t have any on hand, you can use olive oil or even liquid ghee (clarified butter). Nasya provides lubrication and protection against pathogens in the nasal passageways after being cleansed by neti. If the nasya step is skipped then the process of neti can potentially make our membranes more susceptible to irritation and infection.
I have studied and experimented with many forms of “medicated” nasya oil over the years. Typically these oils are infused with various herbs and/or essential oils to enhance the protective and cleansing effect of this practice (or occasionally to calm the mind or achieve some other therapeutic effect). For my own herbed nasya, I chose herbs and oils that are traditionally used to kill germs and calm irritated mucus membranes.
I know it’s a bit of an unusual practice, and due to the herbs sometimes people experience a bit of stinging and a bitter taste when they use it – especially if they have an early stage infection. But I’ve been told so many times that it rapidly cleared whatever was in there, so apparently the effectiveness trumps the weirdness factor!
If you try it, I would love to hear about your experience with it.
Wishing you clear, full breaths,
Peter
P.S if you'd like to use our Dragontree Nasal Oil in your immunity routine, you can find a bottle here:
Grab a bottle of
Dragontree Nasal Oil
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I feel the more we celebrate, the better our quality of life. And there are two holidays worth taking time out for this week. Today, June 19th is Juneteenth, and Tuesday, June 21st is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. I think it’s appropriate that Juneteenth falls so close to the summer solstice, because both symbolize a certain abundance of light.
Juneteenth is a celebration of the emancipation of African American slaves. Throughout the Civil War, many slaveholders moved to remote areas to escape the fighting and hold onto their slaves. When Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, nothing changed where it wasn’t enforced. This was especially the case in Texas, where there were still a quarter million slaves in 1865, even after General Lee surrendered the Confederacy.
On June 19th, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger presented Texas with a proclamation that read, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
Although the enforcement of the law took years, and there’s still plenty of work ahead of us, June 19th became a day of celebration. Known as Juneteenth, it’s the longest standing African American holiday. The abolition of slavery was like clearing a dark cloud that had long hung over the country. It was the beginning of allowing African Americans to be their own people and freely shine their light.
There’s no way to undo the suffering caused by slavery and its aftermath of discrimination and systemic oppression, but one step in the right direction – especially for White people – is to recognize how much this country has benefited from the presence of African Americans. Just when the light of the sun is at its peak, we have the opportunity on Juneteenth (and always) to celebrate the light that’s symbolic of the African American soul, which has persevered through unimaginable violence and injustice, and evolved into an incredible cultural identity.
Despite comprising just 13% of our population, African Americans have had a disproportionately significant influence on the United States. From music to art to cuisine to literature to science to leadership to religion and more, it’s all around us.
So, let’s celebrate the light this week.
☀️ Bask in the sun. Try this simple “solar energy” meditation: Inhale for a count of 4 while imagining you’re absorbing the sun through your pores, deep into your body. Hold your breath for a count of 4 while imagining the solar energy working its way into all your cells and charging all your atoms. Exhale for a count of 4 while imagining you’re beaming the sunlight out of every pore. Hold (with empty lungs) for a count of 4 while basking in your own glow around you. Then repeat.
☀️ Open your heart and shine your light into every environment you find yourself in.
☀️ Make a conscious choice to see the light in everyone you encounter.
☀️ Enjoy the contributions of African American writers, musicians, chefs, comedians, and influencers.
☀️ Whatever your race, consider how you've benefited from the influence of courageous and visionary African Americans, then take some action to honor this light and support our work toward true equity.
Be well,
Peter
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Cart
I realize I have invested my power in my partner for many years. I felt so much love towards him. He is talking about leaving and I feel devastated but also recognize I contributed to the problem with this power imbalance. Had I been more aware of it, we could have corrected it long ago and created a more balanced life. I did not know it was possible to feel this sad. Thank you for writing such a gentle clear explanation
of this, at least I have some sense of understanding as to how it happened. Looking forward to the next writing. Thank you
Hi Marianne,
I’m sorry to hear that you are in pain. And also, I have seen pain be an incredible catalyst for realization, transformation, and creativity. It sounds like it has already provoked such an important discovery. If it is possible and good for both of you to continue this relationship, perhaps this realization and the steps you take next will be instrumental in resurrecting it. But even if it’s not, I believe the self-awareness you’re gaining will serve you for the rest of your life. I recommend feeling everything as willingly as possible, keep your heart open, and forgive yourself (and him).
Be well,
Peter
Wow! I have been meaning to read this for a while and finally did (not surprised that I put it off a bit, since I really needed to here it right NOW). A couple quotes that stood out to me:
In my relationship: each party’s agency and your mutual choice to be together
With my family: your power is your power. You can’t give it to someone else in a way that’s truly good for them or you. If anything, giving others your power is an infringement on them and a weight on the relationship.
Healthy boundaries is the work I am called to heal through this year.