07.19.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 6:07 am by Jennifer
Decision making is morale boosting. It offers us a chance to exercise our personal powers, an exercise that is important for the healthy development of our egos. We need to make careful, thoughtful choices because they will further define our character. Each action we take clearly indicates the persons we are becoming. When we have consciously and deliberately chosen that action because of its rightness for us, we are fully in command of becoming the person we chose to be.
I love this read this morning. It is exactly what I’ve been thinking about. How important it is to empower myself in my decision making. Earlier this week, I was told that it is important everyday instead of thinking that there are things that “have to” be done and then feeling defeated and guilty when I can’t seem to catch up, that I think of it differently. That I choose to water my plants (I don’t have to) and I choose to clean my house etc. Because I don’t have to and when I do take actions that conveys who I am (no matter what the decision) then I feel good, I feel like I’m honoring and living a creative life. And it becomes an accomplishment, a pat on the back that I am living and creating my life the way I envision it.
Then these choices lead to new opportunities to make more creative choices. Continually revealing to me and to the world the person that I am. Wow when more of my actions line up with how I feel and who I am on the inside, that is so cool! And I know things aren’t black and white. That I have been doing this all along, and striving to be authentic and make good creative choices. But today I have a new awareness about this process and it is such a gift!
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05.31.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 5:55 am by Jennifer
Our lives can become so complicated sometimes. We’re moving right along, making decisions, meeting people, and taking care of the daily life living tasks that face us each day. We might start an effort to find balance, by finding a new job, starting a new diet, deciding to go try a new kind of exercise routine or start on a new spiritual path. All of these attempts can lead us to feeling a sense of “finally getting our lives together”. Sometimes these efforts stick and become apart of our daily lives, but most fall away as another attempt that we just couldn’t stick with and leave us with a feeling of failure or discouragement.
We’re in this life, in this body as these spirits that in a way sort of “plug-in” to our physical and bring it to life. We’re guided by our brains that help us navigate our way through the planet. We are surrounded by practices of life that seem purely made up by other humans as a way to exist and no longer do we survive with our animal instincts intuitively leading us to survive from the wildness of nature we now are focused on surviving the stresses of traffic jams and bad jobs. We decide we’re too busy to take care of ourselves and of our planet and we stuff our bodies with chemicals in our foods, heavy metals in our environments and trash in our waters. We flock to self-help books and gurus to help guide us into some way of living that resembles some sort of peace that we can cling to. We look to other humans on this planet to give us the love and peace that we cannot find in ourselves and some of us become so desperate in this search that we completely loose who that soul is that first plugged itself into this human experience.
So what should we do about it? I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe that search is the human experience. Maybe finding those moments of peace that the attempts bring is the life experience. I’m a seeker in this life. I am looking for something here. I have changed and come full circle in my journey. Now don’t think I’m claiming that I live this life as some sort of super human. That coming full circle means that I have it all figured out. Because my life would not show that if you peeked in my windows. But something is becoming clear and it comes from within me… I am realizing the honor that it is to be here, alive. I realize the honor and love I must give to that spirit of mine. Its divine. Its bigger than this body, my brain. It doesn’t care if I’m fat or thin, just that I can honor its divinity. It doesn’t matter if I pick up trash for a living or if I work my way up the corporate ladder as long as I live to honor all that is. Because all of our diets, our spring cleanings, our exercise routines, whatevers are just those attempts to clear out the symptoms of imbalance in our lives so we can briefly touch the divine peace that resides within. Life then takes us back out into the murky waters of human existence so we can swim back in towards the divine.
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02.19.10
Posted in Health & Wellness, Life & Spirit at 6:00 am by Jennifer
It is so important to take the time in our day to quiet our minds, our spirits and our bodies. We can spend so much energy being up in our heads all day long, running from here to there, riding the roller coaster of emotions from the people in our lives. We find ourselves exhausted by the end of the day. Often we feel overwhelmed by life or sometimes even find our selves depressed. Some of us try to go on and put on our happy faces to face the world, when really it is not what we are genuinely feeling. We live like this, and this living depletes our spirit, increases our stress, decreases our immune system and leaves us feeling run down and tired.
There are many paths to re-finding our spirits. Taking a walk, exercising, Yoga, making art, playing with our kids, listening to music. But the one path that has been proven in scientific studies and has been practiced over thousands of years is meditation.
Meditation can be a scary word for some. It draws connotations of chanting and hippies and maybe even challenging religious beliefs. But the truth is, you can create your meditation practice to be what you need it to be and still benefit from it. Meditation can be done in a group or be practiced alone. It can be done formally everyday at the same time of day for the same length of time, it can be a guided meditation using visualizations or can be just a quiet moment you catch before your kids get home from school. There can be “rules” to meditation or there can be no rules at all.
Some ideas to try a meditation practice:
Stopping and being present.
Guide: The goal of these meditations is to get to know our minds better, to cultivate insight and peace, and to become calmer and more focused.
So stop what your doing and just sit there. It is as simple as that. But don’t just sit there, be present in the moment. Notice the birds chirping, or the sounds in the room. Be in the moment. Try this practice many times a day, for as long as you can. And if you are having a busy day, keep it even simpler and continue to do your day, just practice training your mind to be in the moment, moment to moment.
Breathing
Find a comfortable seat. Find a position that you can comfortably hold without moving around. Try not to lean against anything, sit away from the back of your chair, or the wall, allowing your body to find its own center.
Feel your body, your sit bones holding your lower body up, feel your chest open, your shoulders relax, as if they were moving down your back.
Relax your mouth. Allow your tongue to sit softly in your mouth, your jaw soft. Relax the muscles around your eyes.
Place your hands on your belly, just below your belly button. Notice your breath. Take a normal size breath in, and let it ease down your body until you feel the belly expand. Now slowly let the breath ease out. The belly gets smaller. Breathe in the belly expands, breathe out the belly gets smaller. This is breathing in a meditative way. Do this for a minute or longer.
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02.05.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 8:46 am by Jennifer
Graditude, it is so important that I remember to be grateful for all that I have and honor what I have accomplished. I can get caught up in wanting more and for things to be better or different, instead of looking around and seeing all that I have created. The other reminder today is to be in the moment. All will be revealed in divine timing. I don’t have to worry, I am exactly where I am supposed to be. So when I start to get in fear and worry that things aren’t going my way, I am going to list all that I am grateful for!
Here it goes
- My health
- My family and their love and health
- My home
- My dishwasher
- My pets
- My car that runs
- Teaching yoga
- My creativity
- My abundance
- The people in my life that believe in me
- My favorite scarves
- My connection to myself and to God
- For life and all of the great things and life lessons I have learned along the way
- For being a momma, it has taught be so much about myself and brings so much joy to my days
- For the courage to be who I am and live in my truth
Ok your turn…what are you grateful for?
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01.20.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 3:45 pm by Jennifer
Sometimes the smallest things can throw me into a tizzy. I don’t have much patience for the things in my life that aren’t in line with what I’m doing (or think I’m doing) in the moment. Today I had a moment when my smoke detector declared its low batteries. All and all not a major catastrophe, but my smoke detector is located on my high vaulted ceilings out of my reach even when perched on a chair balanced on top of a toy box with a screw driver in my finger tips. And to make matters more the detector chirped a high pitched ping every 60 seconds making my 2 large dogs seek cover from their terror directly at my feet. I started to panic with overwhelm.
I called the maintenance office and they instructed me to go get some 9V batteries and then come in to submit a written request for the work order and they would come to assist me. But, the baby is sleeping, my dogs are out of control they just won’t go lay down and now I have to go to the store? I pictured coming home to a ripped up couch and some baby toys mangled on the floor from the neurosis of my poor animals. My overwhelm was now paralyzing me.
I sat down on the couch to think about my next move and I realized I needed to take a moment. I pulled out my journal and began to write. At first the entry was a flood of emotions. I realized that this tizzy was more than just the smoke detector. In a nutshell, ” I miss my old life, I want something different, things are not okay, I’m overwhelmed, unsure and insecure”
And suddenly as if my guardian angels began to speak through my pen, “You are exactly where you are supposed to be,” the pen moved across the page, ” it is just hard to see clearly from here.”
My inner voice replied, “My intention is clarity, openness, acceptance…acceptance, not resistance.”
Aaha! I’m resiting what”is” in my life. I must surrender to all of the life-y things that make me squirm and that includes being grateful for those things because that is what encourages my growth. . My relationships, my mothering, my household duties, my daily life, that is the practice. Practice being in the moment.
And then I suddenly realized my body had relaxed. The smoke detector’s pings still bounced through my house, but in the divine timing of the universe, my perceptions had changed. In that moment I began to float the current of the river. I quit swimming upstream. It was an amazing feeling and I could see why I felt so tired. I laid down on the couch, feeling tired enough to drift off to sleep but taking a few more moments to write, “I accept who I am today. I see myself letting go of the resistance to life. To live adventurously is to not resist the flow of what is. The flow of my life is honorable. I trust where it wants to take me. I am grateful.” as I drifted off to sleep.
Jack Kornfield talks about in his lovely book After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, “Where we are going is here.”
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01.07.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 4:37 am by Jennifer
It is so important for me to take the time every so often to nurture my body. It is easy for me to push myself to get stuff done or push through my day. I don’t realize the stress on my body taking care of a one year old, two dogs and a household, my business and even trying to do good and fit a workout in can some days feel like the tipping of my delicate balance. Today I took the time to get a massage with Jody at Healthy Life Unlimited and it was so wonderful. I could feel during the massage, my body releasing and even the fog lifting from my brain. I felt in my body and in the present. What a gift!
After my massage, I committed to myself that for the rest of the day I would try to remain relaxed. I floated into the grocery store and casually shopped for yummy items to make a delicious chicken veggie soup. Came home and with loving intention and lots of serenity, created a nurturing lunch that made a leftovers dinner for my family. What a perfect day for honoring myself, giving myself the gift of serenity and the nurturing soul healing that comes from a delicious, nutritious bowl of chicken soup!
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01.02.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 6:05 am by Jennifer
“The soul is here for experience, not security”
That quote has been taped to my desk for a couple of years, but today I read it with an entirely new perception. I am finding that my soul must release all of the old patterns that I have held onto in my life so far. It is a lifetime of survival of the experiences of this earth. My parents and their limitations, friends and their influences, school and the immense pressure to get in line and follow their lead…but where was I led? To find myself gone, searching and when I had no idea who I was I reached out for anybody that could define that for me.
My whole life, I struggled with all of the people, places and experiences that were socially acceptable but defied my soul. I couldn’t understand why, so I ran from those feelings of consciousness. I ran until I ran myself into a corner. It took 12 years of my “adult” life to find myself burdened by the heaviness of denial and the disappointments of what never was, I found myself in a depression. The depression was hard to label, because maybe I was not comparable to the worst case scenarios, but I knew something had to change.
When I began to see that my ship was sinking, and that now was the time, it was unclear to me how to jump ship. It seemed that 2009 was my year to summon courage, to retreat to a deeper soul level, to allow the current of life to sweep me downstream to it’s preferred destination. In my fledgling steps towards surrender to the Universal flow, I created a vision board. On a cold Colorado February day, in a sun warmed room, as my newborn infant slept I eagerly paged through magazines, newspapers, pictures looking for the words of encouragement, for the images of peace, for the glimpses of who I wanted to create of my self. As I pasted my vision onto the paper I could feel my spirit begin to lift. The images, the words weren’t forced, they were me. I hung my board at the foot of my bed. Every night falling to sleep and waking in the morning my eyes immediately drawn to the large print in the middle of the page, “courage”.
I had to let go everything I knew, all my belongings, all the people I had known, my home, my cats, my life with my 9 year relationship. I was terrified. It was so hard. I had a new baby, I had to move to Texas to live with my family for a couple of months, I had no money and insurmountable bills, nothing seemed solid. But somehow the universe provided. At each moment that I reached forward God appeared. Sometimes I could not see him. But in retrospect he was there.
I still sometimes struggle with fear of the unknown. I still wonder what is solid? But my soul is here for experience, not security. And that is my soul. My soul has experienced such growth and this past year I could measure that growth. My 2009 vision board still hangs on my wall. It is still inspiring growth, still summoning courage to face my fears, to let go and dance.
Today I feel like a snake shedding it’s skin. Today I can see myself and I am in reach. So clearly I understand it is not who stands beside me, but who stands within me. I see my big-ness and I also see my hurts and wounds that so desperately need my attention. But today I am brave enough to look at them, I am strong enough to accept them and proud enough of myself to allow them to become apart of the patchwork of experiences that my soul is here to grow from.
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