Happy Thursday beautiful hearts! When was the last time you sat in the present moment and gave thanks for all of life&apos;s peculiar quirks and valleys? We are these gorgeous spiritual beings having a human experience, and in that experience we fluctuate through the emotions of life. We tend to focus so much on the pathways that bring us joy, but what about the ones that crack our hearts open and lead us to deeper understanding? As Byron Katie shares, "A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It&apos;s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it&apos;s true without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we&apos;re been attaching to, often for years."
Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts! Running around today I spotted this gorgeous sign and decided it was the perfect backdrop for my green juice. Life truly is BEAUTY FULL...taking care of our bodies is such a gift. As J. Stanford states, "Health is a state of body. Wellness is a state of being."
Today on talking about it Tuesday I want to share a favorite website and enlightened spirit....Her name is Kris Carr! I discovered Kris Carr several years ago and fell in love with her passion for life and her quest to create a more meaningful and deliberate life in the face of a terminal illness. Her personal journey is such a testament to the hero's journey. Here's a little back story directly from her website-"On Valentine’s Day in 2003, I was diagnosed with a very rare and incurable (yet thankfully slow-growing) stage 4 cancer. This whiskey tango foxtrot moment (that’s military lingo for WTF?!) sparked a deep desire in me to stop holding back and start living like I mean it! I wanted to feel better, love harder and enjoy my life more fully. So I hit the road on a deep healing pilgrimage and have never looked back. Nearly ten years later, my life is truly, madly magical–even with cancer. If I can pull that off, just imagine what YOU can do!"
1. Blend it up and absorb the energy!
"May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom or all."
These words kept echoing in my heart yesterday...during my practice on my mat the instructor suggested we find our connection to the Earth. To tap into our root. The place where tradition is tucked away, the space where rituals are repeated. I accessed this space with my breath and found it easily and thoughtfully. She bellowed out in a soft voice for us to set our intentions. My intention wallowed up from the inside out. Without even thinking about it I began to notice the rise and fall of my breath. On my next inhale, May all beings everywhere be happy, on the exhale- may all beings everywhere be free. Each breath I took throughout my practice became a chance to liberate the world of its suffering. Each breath was a reminder that my practice is not only for me, but for all beings who wish to experience happiness and freedom. I could hear my brother Ben breathing next to me. How cool that we were both in this space sharing this experience? Divine timing had coordinated our paths to cross at this particular class. When class ended, Sarah closed it with gratitude, bowing to her students. Her closing words were, "May all beings everywhere be happy and free." I could feel the chills of spirit moving through my body and I noticed a shower of tears fill my eyes. So much gratitude for this practice, for this life. May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
"Whatever life takes away from you, let it go. When you surrender and let go of the past, you allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment. Letting go of the past means that you can enjoy the dream that is happening right now."
Happy Thursday beautiful hearts! I'm loving this video from GoodLifeProject.
How would you answer this question for your own life, "What's your good life?" The world is full of so many rich and wonderful questions. These questions become guides for our journey's.
Wishing you a wonderful day of celebration, exploration, and inspiration!
Happy Tuesday! There are so many awesome topics to be sharing today on the blog post! The musing for today's post comes from Mindful Magazine. In the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, we need to create center points for our awareness and our well being. By creating this center point we also need to create an understanding of the core concept that we are working with.
Mindfulness has been receiving a lot of positive press over the past several years. When you think of this word, what comes to mind? In the February 2015 issue of the magazine the editor takes a look at clarifying this power packed word. Barry Boyce shares, "One of the first things to clarify is that the word is doing double duty. For one, it refers to an innate quality or way of being we all have access to that allows us to be fully present, attending to the moment, deeply engaged and yet at peace. Mindfulness also refers to techniques that train our minds to be that way more often. Understanding the difference between the practice and the innate quality is vital. If we don't, it becomes far too easy to think mindfulness is something possessed by experts and conferred by them on others."
The magazine is treasury of tips and thoughtful practices that might enhance ones ability to be in present moment awareness. One of the tips that I thoroughly enjoyed was entitled, Winding Down and Falling Asleep. How many of us can raise both hands at the thought of sleeping after an action packed day? We are modern day superheroes minus capes and X-ray vision goggles. We live in a world that is electronically stimulating and constantly bombarding us with bigger and better ways to connect. We hop into our beds at night still buzzing with connections and the last minute email or game of Candy Crush. According to Shelby Freedman Harris a Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program in New York, there are 5 tips to help us wind down at night.
2. Avoid looking at anything with a screen- You heard the lady, put away your electronic devices- the light from the screens can keep you alert and awake.
3. Ten minutes before bedtime, begin a focused mindfulness exercise- she shares a quick exercise in the magazine.
4. If your mind begins to wander, notice that it wandered and get yourself back on track.- stop judging yourself, just get back on track.
5. Get in bed and focus on your breath!
May your day be full or presence...it is truly the most amazing present one can give themselves!
Happy Monday beautiful hearts!! I hope that your weekend was bursting with love and some R & R! Monday always opens the week with unlimited possibilities. Possibilities to create, to break-thru, to break down and to nourish our hearts desires!
When I was searching for a quote today, I found this one by Steve Jobs and his words instantly sparked an inspiration! Each one of us is authentically blessed with gifts to share with the world. We might be trailblazers in a specific profession, we might cultivate and hold a space of awareness for the world, we might be artists using life as our muse, we might be teachers offering knowledge within our communities, we might be body-workers offering relaxation to our clients, we might be engineers, we might be entrepreneurs....no matter what your work is, notice if you can tap into the ecstatic energy contained within it. This trail of passion, creativity, kindness, and love often lights the way for our exploration.