Category: Truths

Watch What You Feed

Watch what you feed.

Whether it’s your thoughts, emotions, your body, your relationships, your own love to yourself, everything starts from somewhere and begins to gain momentum.

How are you metaphorically “feeding” all these areas of your life? What areas need more improvement and can you watch how you are feeding each area in order to identify what needs to change?

Practice meditation, cultivate self awareness, watch what you feed. After all, it all starts somewhere…

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Sleep On It

We all know the importance of sleep, but do you really?

I’ve noticed for myself when I lack sleep or am on the verge of sleep but decide to push off the need to go to bed in order to work more, my decisions and thinking lack the grounded and holistic qualities I normally would have.

Since noticing this I have put an importance around nighttime rituals with a particular focus on timing. For example:

  • Tea around 8:30 PM
  • Shutting down electronics at 9pm
  • Journaling/Automatic Writing if there are recurring thoughts the mind wants to analyze
  • Meditation for 5-10 minutes
  • Reading
  • Essential oils

You see, when you prioritize your core needs to be your best self by allowing yourself a good night’s rest, thinking becomes clearer, you become healthier, decisions aren’t so clouded anymore.

Have you ever gone to bed and woke up the next morning with a whole new perspective? Feeling lighter and ready to take on the day? Possibly even thinking quite the opposite of how you were feeling the night before? This is the importance of sleep!

I always tell myself and others, “If you’re trying to rush a decision – SLEEP ON IT”.

After all, you might just discover your need for rest and quality sleep is skewing your very own perspective on any given situation.

So give yourself the rest you deserve. It just might change your life.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Logan Nolin on Unsplash

Follow Your Own Inner Timing

Anodea Judith states it perfectly. We are taught from a very young age to look to the outside for approval and guidance when truly, our very own body and essence knows what’s best for us.

“Our world is full of people who tell you how to look, more, have sex, and be. This means you shape yourself by outer instruction rather than inner guidance. […] Having too many external commands takes you out of your inner temple rather than deeper within it. The ultimate point is to deeply feel your own body and breath […]. Follow your own inner timing.

~Anodea Judith

Take the time to cultivate your own personal voice, personal power, and intuition.

Listen to the small, still voice. Observe the mind. Illuminate your intuition through meditation.

We have the answer within.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Amy Treasure on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 2/23/18 {There’s Nothing To Worry About}

“Your conflicts, all the difficult things, the problematic situations in your life, are not chance or haphazard. They’re actually yours. Their specifically yours, designed specifically for you by a part of you that loves you more than anything else.

The part of you that loves you more than anything else has created roadblocks to lead you to yourself. You’re not going to go in the right direction unless there’s something pricking you on the side telling you, “Look here! This way!”.  That part of you loves you so much that it doesn’t want you to lose the chance.

It will go to extreme measures to wake you up; it will make you suffer greatly if you don’t listen. What else can it do? That’s it’s purpose.”

~A.H. Almass

Every little thing that you worry about has a purpose. Look deep inside the worry and you will realize it is all for your own growth and expansion of your very own heart.

Love is the answer.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Schicka on Unsplash

 

 

How Many Times?

Have you ever counted your thoughts? Or noticed just how many times a specific thought automatically pops into your mind?

The funny part is that we do everything we can do solve “the thought” or analyze “the thought” in order to make it unimportant, not realizing there’s an equally if not more important thought that takes over. Oh the irony!

The point here is two fold:

  1. Meditation – the more you meditate the more easy it becomes to become aware of exactly how your mind operates. It’s like Joseph Goldstein once said, “If you want to understand your mind, sit down and observe it”. So simple, yet so true. Typically people misunderstand meditation as a practice to ignore or stop thoughts. However, the deeper, true practice is to sit back and be in awareness of the thought; to notice it, to say, “I see you”. When “seeing” the thought you’re recognizing it for what it is, a thought! The more you practice the more you’ll begin to observe in what patterns and reactive ways your mind tends to lean toward; and you’ll begin to notice just how habituated your thinking and so called “problem solving” skills truly are. It’s quite fascinating.
    ///
  2. There’s nothing but the present – we’ve heard this one before, but it’s true and it’s important. If we already know a thought will be taken over by another thought, aside from meditation, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to enjoy THIS present moment. I liken this to a bumpy car ride. You know the ride is going to be bumpy and you’re already on it; are you going to torture yourself by thinking how horrible it is and ask yourself, “will I survive this?”, OR are you going to stare out the window and see just how magical the world is, as well as get to know the people next to you on a more intimate level? If we don’t choose the latter we miss the beauty, magic, and love that is right in front of us when we become wrapped up in our heads thinking the thought is the most important thing!

Did I mention homework?

It’s this – begin to notice your thoughts.

You’ll be quite surprised at just how little a variety of thoughts you actually think in a day, and you will notice it’s about the same 3-5 things your mind wants to mull over again, and again, and did I mention, again?

Here’s to more clarity, simplicity, and peace of our minds.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

What Is It You Desire?

So often we focus on what is going wrong in our lives or our day… but how often do we spend time thinking of what we already have or would rather have?

I see way too many people focus on what is lacking, versus the abundance that already is, or the possibility of what is to come!

Take a moment to answer this question and don’t skip ahead 😉

  • What are the 3 words that pop into your mind with this word: Job

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause a moment

Pause….

Ok, do you have your 3 words? How easy was it to come up with the words? What were the FIRST words that popped into your head before you started analyzing for the perfect 3 words?

You see, there are categories of words that reflect your own resonance with the word “Job”. For example:

  • Words that are similar to: Sucks, 9-5, Ok, Annoying, Not Fulfilling, etc. tend to reflect all the things that are going wrong.
  • Words that are similar to: Love, Thankful, Creative, Friends, Mentors, etc. reflect all the things that are enabling you to feel gratitude and the things that are going well.

This exercise is a great way to see in which areas of your life you focus on the lack rather than the abundance/desire.

You can apply this exercise to any word and you might be surprised to see what words pop into your head. And of course, try not to analyze or change the words right away. The point here is to allow yourself to be honest with what comes up so you can pinpoint what’s truly going on.

Do you see how changing your focus can make you see and feel things differently? How one word can change your enter feeling state toward something much more positive and healthy?

Give it a shot today, focus on what’s working or what you’re sure is coming into your life and see just how different the world looks.

In Abundance,

Susan

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

Patterns That Run Our Self

“Breaking the chains of your self involves learning how you imprison yourself through your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings and discovering had to change them and set yourself free.”

~Owen Fitzpatrick

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Raw Pixel

Why Everyone Will Have A Coach In The Future

Yesterday, I wrote on how exercising the mind is just as important as exercising the body, and today, I wanted to share why I believe everyone will have a coach of some kind in the future.

To be honest, informally we already have them! Whether you know it or not, you receive some form of therapeutic benefit from your local yoga instructor, your boss, a dear friend, or heck, someone you may randomly meet at a dog park. In certain ways over a period of our lives, we’ll run into people that help relieve some part of our psyche, whether it was through their words, the safe space they provided, or their presence alone.

For example, have you ever left a Soul Cycle or a Yoga class in a completely zen state? Perhaps there was something about the instructor’s words that spoke to your heart and reached into a part of your brain that sensed relief, peace even. Or how about standing in line at the DMV and somehow you meet someone who was able to give you a hit of inspiration.

You see with the way technology is integrating every aspect of our inner and outer lives, and therefore making it hard to “turn off” and “slow down”, it’s no wonder more and more people are searching for ways to feel a sense of ease!

The rise of meditation, spirituality, psychedelic use, and personal development are on the rise and it’s not hard to guess why. We need relief. And it’s a good thing we’re recognizing it!

Our world is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Prior to the kind of technology that crept into our personal lives we were left to perceive the world through the tangible interactions and experiences we had; and now with the introduction of social media and text (to name a few) we are left for a lot more room for perception and interpretation in ways that are driving our minds crazy.

So where does that leave us? For one, it’s important to invest in your own personal practice of inner stillness. Working on meditation, being out in nature, journaling, taking hot baths, whatever it is that works for YOU, finding a personal practice that will build your inner stillness will be more important than ever.

And just like how there are coaches and trainers for just about anything, looking to a coach, therapist, whomever it is that you need, will be a growing trend. No longer will there be a stigma around having a personal relationship with a coach or therapist just as there is no stigma around having a personal trainer or chef! As we continue to appreciate and understand the importance of our minds (as we currently do our bodies) we will come to realize having someone to guide your mental life is just as important of an investment to yourself.

So, in what ways can you see having a third party perspective be helpful for you? In what ways, whether you realize it or not, do you find mental relief currently? What are the easiest ways of releasing stress for you and can you incorporate this into your life daily?

With that said, here’s to more stillness and building our own personal power so that we can dance  with this beautiful life with more ease and grace.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Anna Demianenko on Unsplash

Why Exercising Your Brain Is A Must

Have you noticed the latest and hottest trend for the past few years has been how we can take care of our bodies? From the trendiest diet, lifestyle hacks, to exotic supplements that are guaranteed to have you performing like you’re 25 years old again, there’s an expert in every field promising a solution for any ailment you’ve ever experienced.

We’ve heard over and over again how important it is to exercise our body. To start lifting weights in order to prevent osteoperosis as we age, or to take tumeric so that we can decrease inflammation in the body, the list is endless!

But how about our minds? Our minds are the driving force behind how we function and why we’d want to function at all. It’s the one thing we rely on and most often, we rely on it without questioning – it’s on autopilot.

If we really understood the implications of autopilot, we’d want to recognize the importance of exercising our brain, our mind.

For reasons that are far better explained on the internet, we’ve survived millions of years due to one thing – looking out for danger. And unfortunately, while our basic needs are met, our brains have become so adapted to protecting us it’s the first thing that enters our mind. And in so doing we’ve allowed other, not so positive ways, to also enter our mind – comparing, judging, labeling, etc.

Our brains are wired to think and analyze because it wants to protect us. However, we live in different times! It’s time to recognize our thoughts as thoughts and most all of the time our brains have been habituated into thinking the same thoughts every day, all day – autopilot at work in its finest form.

If you’ve meditated for a while you know exactly what this means. You’re able to notice “Thought A” at it’s 50th time and not follow the story down another rabbit hole. You’re able to notice “Thought D” and see its very beginning stages of cycling up to “Thought A” status.

Which is why we must exercise our brains. Meditation is the most powerful tool out there. Coaching is another powerful tool in order to physically hear yourself talk and have that gentle reminder and support, verbally talking to yourself as if you’re a best friend is another powerful way in which you can get out of your head, automatic writing and burning the paper is another physical and visual way of getting it “out of your system”.

Little emphasis is spent on actually doing the work. Our minds cannot be controlled by a pill or a one-stop shop magical experience on psychedelics, and while this might help, our minds, just like our bodies, NEED TO DO THE WORK. It needs the daily exercise so that it doesn’t go off forming neural pathways in your brain that doesn’t serve your highest good.

So, what tools and techniques work best for you? What thoughts have run through your mind already this morning? Can you notice repetitive thoughts? And how do these repetitive thoughts make you feel? Do you see the causal effects?

We already know our brains, our minds, are powerful. In recognizing this we should treat our brains just as well as our bodies.

And don’t forget, this is a life long practice. Let’s do the exercise together in loving compassion for ourselves and others.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Avrielle Suleiman on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 2/15/18 {What Truly Matters?)

Happy Lunar New Year! For those of you following the lunar calendar you know this is a special time. It’s the turn of a new year following the phases/cycles of the moon and many countries in the East has followed this tradition for years, and still do!

It’s a time, just like our traditional New Year on January 1st, of re-birth and moving forward.

Identifying with both American and Asian culture I loved celebrating this special holiday. It was a time to shed anything still lingering from January 1st, and it was an opportunity to take a second, hard look at what truly mattered.

And while this isn’t a practice that should only be done during the beginning of a new year, the Lunar New Year is another great opportunity (whether you celebrate it or not) to ask yourself – what is it that speaks to your heart? What truly matters to you at the end of the day?

These are the type of questions that really zing at your heart aren’t they? They allow for such clarity to arise so that what occupies the mind 90% of the day immediately falls away,…or at least begins to crumble.

So,what speaks to your heart? What truly matters to you? In this moment?

You may find it’s the simple things. The small moments of stillness, the moments of laughter being shared with someone you love, spending time with your furry friend.

Whatever it may be for you, take a moment to honor the Lunar New Year and do a little more of what it is that brings you closer to your own heart. As I’ve always said on the blog, the more we focus on what we want, the more it expands.

Happy Lunar New Year!

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash