Personal Archives - Page 2 of 9

Making Everything New Again

As I was sitting down to write I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. As I took another sweet breath of fresh air the thoughts suddenly faded and suddenly I could hear silence.

I heard the tick tock of two different clocks, the distant base of a passing car, the birds happily chirping, and the sound of my own inhale and exhale. Then suddenly more new sounds started to introduce themselves! A skwak of a crow, new cars passing by, a buzz from my phone. And in this new moment I am reminded of a great truth I learned earlier on – every moment is a new moment.

A strikingly simple way to be fully alive and present in the moment is to be still and discover what’s new in this very moment. You’ll suddenly realize you can’t stop! Everything is new all the time. You’ll notice the presence in a completely different way and suddenly you are the observer.

The more you practice this the more you will also realize how many “new” and some times not so new thoughts pass through your mind all the time. But you’ll be so busy noticing what’s new in the moment there won’t be time to indulge. This is the practice.

So give it a shot. Try to experience the present by making everything new again. You’ll begin to feel an expansion in your heart and feel alive in a whole new way… at the aliveness of it all; the pulsation of life.

Here’s to another wonderful week full of new.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Danka & Peter on Unsplash

There Is No Order Of Difficulty In Miracles

“There is no order of difficulty in miracles.”

~A Course In Miracles

This post will be short but hopefully it’s importance and truth will impact you nonetheless.

Have you ever felt a miracle? Felt or seen a complete 180 and wondered how did that happen? Perhaps you were witness to a miracles by a family member, friend or co-worker. Or perhaps you know deep down that you’ve experienced a miracle before in your life but have lost faith in miracles appearing in other areas of your life.

A Course In Miracles says there is no order of difficulties in miracles. So how can we believe in miracles but not have faith in one specific area(s) of our lives? Remember, the mind cannot believe in both, it only believes in one.

Which belief is running dominance in your life today? The one of miracles or the one of fear?

Take careful inventory of where you have doubt, worry, and fear in your life. Write it down, burn it, and declare faith in miracles and surrender all outcome. When has doubt, worry, and fear every worked? If you look back in your life wasn’t in complete surrender and blind faith when new doors opened or things magically worked out?

This post may be slightly different than the NLP based posts but the one thought of having a split mind (believing in both fear and miracles, which doesn’t exist by the way) struck me so hard this morning I needed to share and remind – If you’ve ever believed in miracles then you know it to be true in ALL areas of your life.

What miracle are you waiting for?

In miracles,

Susan

Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving rolls around the corner I wanted to share a bit of what I am most grateful for this year. If you’ve been around the blog at all you know that I don’t reserve gratitude for just the holidays, but I do love how this Season offers a time to quietly reflect on what has unfolded the last few months and re-focus our attention on what matters most to our hearts.

How about you? How do you treat this time of year? Besides the delicious food and pumpkin spice everything that is… 😉

With that said, here’s my list of reflections:

I am in constant awe of the immense peace that is present when we allow things to unfold in its own timing
I am excited for what the future holds despite not knowing at all what to expect
Faith has been an ever present theme in my life and I can only hope to share and instill more of this peace by continuously sharing via this blog
Writing has been a gift. As much as I love hearing from you all it is just as much as a gift to myself as it is to others. It’s the gift that keeps giving!
I am reminded again and again what is most important in life: health, peace, and contentment
If we can learn to use our breath as a way to deepen our experiences and come back to the moment we have achieved a great deal
I am grateful for the many creative endeavors and experiences I have had this year

Most of all I am thankful for you and this blog for allowing me to connect and to share. Life is a journey and I am forever grateful for the many souls that I have met.

Wishing you a very beautiful Thanksgiving holiday filled with joy, laughter, and peace.

In wellness,

Susan

The beautiful photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Yoga And The Mind

“Because personality is a process, the human being is constantly remaking himself or herself. Left to itself, the mind goes on repeating the same old habitual patterns of personality. By training the mind, however, anyone can learn to step in and change old ways of thinking; that is the central principle of yoga.”

~The Bhagavad Gita

I knew this deeper dive into Yoga would be the perfect union ♡

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash

Hand made, high quality crystal bead mala. Sage cleansed and high vibe. Rose Quartz

The Incredible Gift Of Malas

Malas are hard work. If I had the inventory of a crystal/bead shop then maybe not so much, but even still, once you discover someone’s root intention the hard work comes in trying to find the perfect alchemy of stones, crystals, colors, and the perfect ornamental piece (wherever that may be!) to complete the mala. In the case of the picture below, it happened to be a naturally shed deer antler that made this beauty complete:

But I love the work. It’s humbling to be witness to someone’s raw and beautiful intention of the next few months. And it’s rewarding to discover each piece of the puzzle and to see it finally come all together the way it was supposed to for each person.

What amazes me each and every time is the complete trust every client has had in me. To provide me creative freedom means I have earned your trust, and for that I am forever humbled and grateful.

For this next piece I am creating I was delighted to find THIS beautiful amethyst stone which will complete the Divine Heart mala.

I can’t wait for this mala to finally meet its owner. Just in time for the new year!

Namaste,
Susan

Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga. How do I put into words what this ancient practice gives me?

I find myself on the mat as I go through a variety of emotions throughout this life. Elation, peace, anxiousness, hurt, you name it, the mat has felt it all.

But let’s back up a minute…

I’ve always been drawn to yoga but didn’t have a consistent practice. The earliest recollection I have of any hint of what yoga offers me now was back in 2009 when I started to go to hot yoga. What I remember most was how I felt afterward. Immense peace and awareness. A stillness even.

But it wasn’t until I moved to San Francisco and adrenal fatigue hit hard where I somehow discovered Dana Damara and in my gut KNEW yoga would be a part of my life.

If you haven’t noticed by now yoga has been the best medicine for my soul. As I find myself falling more and more in love with this practice and community I have found another layer of me that fits the alchemy of my soul and heart.

You know what’s really funny? I found an Evernote that I jotted down in 2015 (yep, 2015!) and it reads exactly like this:

Practice yoga for a few years
Take yoga teacher training(s)
Teach at some point

And this year the timing is right and things have fallen into place where I will finally be taking yoga teacher training this Fall! I am incredibly excited and honored to be experiencing what every yoga teacher has experienced and most importantly to deepen my own practice.

I’m sure this won’t be the last I write about this… 🙂 More to come as I step into 200 hour yoga teacher training.

All the love,

Susan

Best healthy PMS milkshake! Guaranteed to solve any chocolate craving. Decadent and delicious!

The Best Chocolate Milkshake Recipe for PMS

Men, you may need to skip this post or if you have a woman in your life, read on because this post is GOLD.

Before I dive into this I need to mention one thing, the best part about this chocolate milkshake recipe is that it’s completely healthy for you! Yes, you read that right, HEALTHY. Put yo hands up!!! ?

I know so many women who suffer some form of hormonal change right before menstruation. This could result in feeling hot, irritable, bloating, and/or of course craving all the salty and sweet foods a person can ask for.

I’ve actually found NLP and training the unconscious mind to be immensely helpful when it comes to reprogramming your brain on the expectancy of PMS but that is a whole other (possibly series) of post for another day.

Today, I wanted to share with you a recipe that I love to indulge in even if I’m not craving a milkshake because it’s THAT good.

The recipe:

2-3 ice cubes
1 cup almond milk or milk of choice
2 tablespoons of pure cocoa powder
1 tablespoon of raw cacao nib for an extra chocolatey punch
Sweetener of choice such as dates, honey, agave, etc. but purely optional
Stevia to taste (just make sure you put enough sweetener whether stevia or caloric based into this shake, indulge a little!)
1/2 and avocado (yes this is what makes it SO creamy plus it’s full of magnesium!)
Adaptogens or other garnish to taste. You can put in your favorite adaptogens such as rhodiola or ashwaganda without it distorting the flavor, OR you can add in cinnamon and turn it into a Chocolate Horchata Milkshake!

I don’t know about you but just writing about this is making me want one RIGHT NOW and I just had one a few hours ago 😉

I hope you have access to these ingredients right now, I guarantee you it will satisfy. Enjoy and happy craving busting!

In wellness,

Susan

Summer & Questions To Guide Inner Reflection

There’s something about going back home… While I grew up as an army brat with many “homes”, I consider Seoul and Tokyo my old stomping grounds. It’s where I spent more of my formative years.

As I head back to Seoul for a much needed break I can’t help but be thankful for Seattle. Since my re-entry this wonderful city has been a place where I met the most unexpected people; a place where I grew in ways I never thought I would. Guess it goes back to, “You never know what the Universe will provide if you surrender and let go of expectations.”

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset — Seattle Summer Nights

I’m looking forward to this break so that I can spend time with family and old friends. It will also be a time for inner reflection, and I won’t lie… there will be a few meetings sprinkled in here and there but when you put your highest intention in them it doesn’t feel like just a “meeting” if you know what I mean 😉

As we close out this Summer I urge you to take time for inner reflection. While everyone’s questions and time for reflection will be different, here are a few you can use to guide yourself:

What have been the consistent themes/thoughts these past 3-4 months?
What have I done to take action toward these themes/thoughts?
Am I in a place where I am ready to take action?
Who or What can help me take action? (i.e., books, meetups, teachers, coaches, etc.)
As I prepare for Fall, what do I need to close out to complete Summer?

May these next few weeks be filled with last minute bbqs, more laughter, and time spent with our loved ones.

Namaste,

Susan

How Doing Something New Can Lead To Discovering A New Side Of You

As Summer slowly comes to an end so does my experiment with clay (but not for long…).

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a deep curiosity with this art form. For better or for worse, the timing never showed it’s prime opportunity so it wasn’t until this year, 2017, where I had a chance to take the dive into learning all things clay. And boy was it AMAZING.

Getting lost in how the clay feels, structuring the slabs, to learning how to center my first piece on the wheel were only some of the highlights from this Summer. I can’t tell you the amount of burst out loud laughs erupted from the studio as I and these newfound friends shared life stories.

I’m forever a proponent of switching things up, doing something new, and re-discovering yourself all over again, and I’m so glad clay was my form of outlet this Summer.

I’ve found another form of meditation and a new part of myself through clay. This will certainly be a part of my life and I can’t wait to see how this new journey unfolds.

Here’s to trying new things and going after the small inklings we feel throughout our lives, because you never know what you might discover until you find out.

In wellness,

Susan

Naturally Shed Deer Antler. Hand made with real, high quality crystal beads. Sage cleansed and high vibe.

Divine Prana

What does it mean to live with unconditional love? To infuse this unconditional love with your personal power? Your life force? Just how different would our lives be if we lived from this state?

Not too long ago I completed this mala for a beautiful soul. When choosing the gemstones I found Blood Jasper and Honey Jade to be the perfect combination to help support Divine Prana. Let’s do a quick deep dive into what these gemstones represent and support.

Blood Jasper: Ahh, this stone is special. I love how you can get lost in the depths of its dark green mass mixed with a unique blending and swirling of it’s equally dark counterpart – red. Legend has it that the red represented the tears of an ancient dragon. Blood Jasper is known for its prana, Qi, and life force. This stone supports anyone to develop and harness one’s courage, strength and vitality.

Honey Jade: When looking at this beautiful stone I am reminded of the sweet, delicate drops of natural honey. I choose Honey Jade to complement Blood Jasper due to its representation of the third chakra – the Solar Plexus – the power house chakra. Not only does Honey Jade aid in supporting your personal power, it radiates divine, unconditional love. It is also a grounding and calming stone.

Lastly, I felt called to choose the naturally shed deer antler to complete the piece. For some reason I felt that it represented the full circle of life.

Very excited for this mala to meet its special owner. May this mala support personal power and living life with integrity, yet showing up in the world with the most powerful force available within all of us – Love. May Love always lead us to co-create with Nature to uplift and raise each other up.

In wellness,

Susan