8/10/23 Live Session Recording

The discussions on Asteya in the 8/10 live session broadened my awareness of the many different kinds and forms of stealing.  I now feel I have been gifted the ability to determine ways of non-stealing for myself.  In turn, the ability to give to others by observing this valuable discussion.  For example, by not stealing opportunities of connections with myself and others gains for me and for all the ability to share information by listening and responding, not aversion of one another or avoiding interactions.  Inclusion helps us to work as one to share and access resources in an all-inclusive environment.  Resources pertaining to optimal health in mind, body, spirit, soul, interpersonal relationships, and environment.

Centering practices in my yoga practice I would like to include will bring awareness to the breath and to our today's body.  To acknowledge the now and give time to reflect on the present.  To encourage feelings of safety and wholeness within oneself.  In hopes to de-stress and take the pressure off avoiding the "yoga show".  To bring awareness to ourselves on our own mat and how to care for, nourish, bring awareness of using this time for restoration, and reflect on how we care for and love ourselves.

Hello,

I really appreciated the conversation on Asteya. I was present for some of the lecture and feel shared a bit on this topic then as well. I feel there are many times in which stealing occurs due to many factors. I believe this lecture really opened my eyes to what can be considered stealing and seeing in in a different light. 

A time in which I feel I have stolen from myself is through imposter syndrome. Especially as I was beginning in the field, I found myself tentative and needing reassurance to bring a new idea, intervention, etc. to groups. I honestly feel this has impacted my current burnout as I felt I needed to be like other dance/movement therapists and did not allow myself to really find my own style of providing therapy to patients but rather took on their style. I am now in a process of allowing myself to discover what is authentic to me in this area of my work. I feel due to this lack of confidence in myself and abilities, I have stolen many opportunities, jobs, experiences, and growth opportunities from myself. 

I am also thinking about the idea of Asteya as it relates to social justice. An example that comes to mind for me is the experiences I have had with my identity as a woman feeling that my voice is not heard or taken as seriously as a man. Once, we had a patient who was approved for light therapy and a discussion arose in regard to when nursing staff would have time to provide this to him in a supervised manner. They brought forward that it needed to occur in the afternoon shift, and I verbalized that it would be better to do it in the morning as it was supposed to wake him up but received pushback and arguments. The psychiatrist on my team came into this meeting late and brought up the discussion again. Nursing verbalized wanting to do it in the afternoon to which the psychiatrist stated this was not acceptable restating what I had shared. I really felt in this moment I was not valued, and my voice and opinions were discarded and, in a way, stolen from me. 

I am not perfect, and I have also been the one who has stolen from others. When I think about this, I think about being a staff in a forensic facility and the opportunities that are stolen from patients that I am a part of daily. Some specific examples I can think of include when alarms occur on the unit. I feel in these moments, staff, including myself, really steal an opportunity for patients to express their emotions, feelings, and interpretations of a situation. I believe this occurs as everyone's trauma responses are firing as we have responses to the sounds and scenes we have witnessed. Because everyone is moving fast in these emergency situations, patients sometimes are attempting to verbalize or talk to staff, and we will shut down the conversation to enforce rules. To me, this is stealing. 

Centering is important for myself and for my patients. I will become activated and developing centering tools is vital for my nervous system. Those we work with in forensic environments live in a traumatizing environment and may not have the resources to center frequently due to the environment. By integrating small centering practices into our yoga sequencing, we are inviting calmness and regulation into our lives and the lives of those we serve and reminding our bodies it is possible. 

-Kali 

The discussion and slides on Asteya were eye opening in that I had never considered a lot of the behaviours, things and processes as stealing, but agree that they are. I find it somewhat difficult to focus on the positives in the world when it's so evident that human beings are constantly stealing from one another whether at an individual level, systemic level, etc. I try to remember, when I see stealing behaviour, that most people are going about their lives trying to have their needs met and some people do so at any expense. I remind myself that people who lead their lives this way may in fact be survivors of the same behaviour, not to excuse the behaviour, but to be aware that there are many different contributing factors to consider. 

In my personal journey, I explore the concept of self-abandonment and abandonment in general. I found it interesting that for me, stealing from self is also self-abandoning. I have stolen from myself in many ways over the years and the ways in which I do it now are through scrolling aimlessly through social media, getting stuck in the past or future, keeping busy all the time, being preoccupied with my physical appearance and weight. In all of these behaviours I'm stealing from myself, my time, my love, my energy. 

I witness stealing on a daily basis, through my job which results in moral injury and can result in burn out. The reassuring perspective on stealing is that I can contribute to making changes by changing my own behaviour and setting an example for those around me. Centering practices I engage in are checking in with my emotions throughout the day, identifying them and asking myself what I need in that moment. Other practices I engage in are smudging, saying positive affirmations and mantras and chanting. These are all rituals I can incorporate into a practice either at the beginning, end or throughout.  

I connect so deeply to this piece of "competency," that's so deeply connected to "Asteya." Impulsivity is a piece of myself that I have been working with for a while now and it is interesting to slow down and be intentional with the process of taking time to learning about what it is that I am bringing into my life in a society that tailors to impulsivity and instant gratification.

I love this idea of "inflictions of the human heart," in relation to the pieces of ourselves that might lead to stealing from ourselves. Reframing things such as self doubt or impulsivity almost gives myself to permission to work with this pieces instead of shaming myself for them.