Category: Uplevel

A quiet morning spent on journaling, quieting the mind, and reading deep truths.

Start Controlling Your Own Experience

“We never really encounter the world; all we experience is our own nervous system”

~Unknown

I’ve been taking advantage of this drizzly Fall weather by reading – a lot! Lately I have been immersed in various texts, mostly yoga but other books related to trauma, NLP, and following your creative passions – a mix as usual 😉

As I was reading through the Bhagavad Gita I came across the quote above. What I love about this quote is that it’s another reminder of the many blog posts written previously about our minds and our experiences. If you’re new let me re-cap: What you experience is controlled by your own mind. Yes, if you can laugh at the irony.. great! The punchline is that we control it all!

I’ve mentioned before how much power there is in realizing this truth. Sure, there might be years of neural work that have paved a deep groove within our networks but our brains are just as powerful to create new ones. This is empowerment; knowing you can change any time, any where.

So let this one sink in a bit. Imagine, if I’m controlling my own experiences without even realizing it how much more power could I have by really owning it?

Really owning is more than half the battle. For anyone desiring additional assistance I, and many others, can help what is known as the meta model to really reinforce the desired change. In NLP there is a technique described as the meta model. A proven methodology to help you pave a new neural pathway for real change. I’ve seen this do amazing things from greatly reduce anxiety, fear, to increasing confidence, and much more. Again, the great part is, if you’re already nodding along to this blog post you’ll get the swing of things much quicker and on to real change!

But there’s a lot we can do in the meantime! Here’s to realizing 1) we have the ability to control our experiences and 2) that the power of choice is equally available to us and in our control, yup, the choice between the good experience and the bad experience.

Stay warm and most importantly start owning!

In deep wellness,

Susan

Friday Focus – 11/10/17 {Resting In Silence When You Need An Answer}

Have you ever wrestled with a big decision and didn’t know what to do? Then you have multiple conversations with various people trying to hear the “right thing” that will give you the big ah-ha?

I’ve come across this many times  as one of the “various people” as well as experienced this myself whenever I needed to talk things out with friends. However, if there’s one thing I realized throughout the years, it’s that only you know the answer.

There’s something special about resting in the silence. Not thinking, just sitting in silence and resting in that space between thought and feeling, and observing what comes up.

Ask the question aloud and sit in silence. Watch the analytical debate. As you rest in silence longer you will begin to notice which voices (or nudges) are from your small self and the ones from something much greater within you. They sound a little different don’t they? 😉

Of course, some times we may not be able to get the ultimate answer we wanted to hear, but we now realize we are OK with the outcome, the direction we decided to go in. There is now a peace around the decision because ultimately you know you are held. You know that whatever decision is made you now will have one more data point to make the next decision, and the next, and the next.

Lastly, I’ve realized that ultimately life is a dance! How do we want to interplay with life and see the greater picture of what we are composing? Can we allow what is to be and approach any next step as an adventure? Can we love what is and drop the many fearful voices that keep us strapped in anxiety and worry?

So as we rest in silence during moments of distress and decision making, don’t forget one thing: dance. play. allow. lean in. love. and have faith.

You are magnificent no matter what.

In wellness,

Susan

Sharing Your Voice

“Yes, but there are hundreds of people already doing this.”

“But aren’t blogs dead now?”

“I don’t know… what does it matter if I share X when it’s been said a hundred times?”

These are all reasons why NOT to share your voice. Actually, let me clarify: these are all reasons your FEAR would have you not share your voice, isn’t it?

I’m sure it’s happened to us all where you read a book, or listened to a podcast, or even heard your friend say something to you that inspired him/her, and suddenly a light goes off inside that sparked an inspiration so deep it got through to the heart of you. Or maybe you saw a movie that tugged at your heart… only to later find out it was a re-make of a book written 15 years ago.

Well, guess what? It’s been said before but it was the energy, the likeness, the word choices, the person that got through to you…

As A Course in Miracles says, everybody is a teacher to someone and that someone is a teacher to someone else.

Let me be the one to remind you today – your voice is unique. The world needs you!

Who are we to dim our light and be so arrogant as to say we shouldn’t share our voice anyway?

When we do it for the higher purpose of spreading the light the answer is easy isn’t it?

So I encourage you, don’t dim your light. Share your voice when needed. It doesn’t have to be in a big or loud way, it can be in your small actions, a gesture, speaking up for someone, being kind… the ways are endless but it starts with you.

Here’s to being a little more brave and vulnerable, and trusting you have something to offer. Because trust me, you have an impact.

In wellness,

Susan

Our Wholeness

“When you realize the depth of your soul, you know, the wholeness of who you really are, suddenly life gets a whole lot simpler.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Gianandrea Villa on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 11/3/17 {Time Is Of The Essence}

Only 2 months left in the year… Can you believe it? I sure can’t. It’s as if with every passing year it goes by faster and faster. Makes me recognize, yet again, how precious our life is and how wisely we need to choose how we spend each moment.

This reminds me of something Naval Ravikant once said, (and I’m paraphrasing) “our time on earth is like a blink of a dragonfly”. It’s true, in the grand scheme of the Universe our time is so short and I often ask myself, do my actions reflect this truth?

So for this week’s Friday Focus I wanted to ask another set of powerful questions we can use to reflect on time. Especially since we only have 2 months left in 2017!

Powerful Questions

  • What were some initial goals I had for 2017?
  • With what I’ve learned in the past 10 months, where do these goals fit in to my evolving Purpose?
  • What matters most in my life?
  • How can I spend these next 2 months so that they can be something to remember years from today?
  • What is one special thing I can do for myself and/or others every day?

Go ahead, spend some time for yourself reflecting on these powerful questions and allow your heart to answer these questions. You may notice some new truths that have been brewing within yourself begin to surface, or some overarching themes that consistently come up.

Speaking of time… don’t forget to set your clocks back this weekend. We have an extra hour to make things extra special 🙂

In wellness,

Susan

Micro vs. Macro

Are you living your life with a micro perspective or a macro perspective? Here’s what I mean; you get rejected from a sales opportunity, a friend, a lover, a job, a client, a barista, whatever it may be… and if you find yourself dwelling in the rejection this is micro living.

It’s important to learn, acknowledge, but what’s more important is to move on and look at the macro picture.

What is the bigger picture of your life? What is your purpose? If you are strong in your own vision of your self and your life the micro doesn’t need to paralyze you.

It doesn’t need to carry the weight you give it.

Give yourself permission to let go. You are precious. You have something to offer. You have an unlimited supply of energy within you if you tap into the right resource states we all have within ourselves.

We give ourselves too much of a hard time for what life is meant to be, which is why so much of this blog is dedicated to bringing greater awareness around neural networks, paving new pathways, mindfulness, and self compassion.

Live with lightness. Enjoy every second. Be grateful for every breath. Hug someone you love.

Live in the macro. It’s where you’re meant to be.

In wellness,

Susan

Natural wonder of the PNW.

Moving Forward

Everyday may not be perfect, but one step backwards doesn’t suddenly define where you actually are. LEARN then most importantly FORGET.

#keepmoving
#lookforward

In wellness,

Susan

Building The Personal Power Mindset

In an earlier post I wrote about personal power and how easy it is to give it away to other people, objects, or simply daily events that happen in our lives.

Today, I wanted to focus specifically on one major way we give away our power so easily, and that is: caring about what other people think.

If you’ve done the 24 hour self realization test you may have noticed this particular theme come up over and over again. Why is it that we care so damn much about what others think? To the point that it actually changes our very own behavior and possibly the trajectory of our path?

Let’s be honest, we’ve all done this at one point or another in the past. Heck, maybe even within the last day!

  • Your baby is uncomfortable and crying on his/her first flight and you’re flushed and embarrassed at the thought of other people being annoyed at you and your baby.
  • You wear something amazing to school or work only to notice someone else is getting much more attention. You decide to keep your jacket on and wear your outfit on another day.
  • You pack your lunch because there’s an important lunch meeting and you notice no one else is eating. You decide to eat later and hope to God your stomach doesn’t growl during the hour.
  • You have an accent and you’re afraid other’s might think less of you so you avoid any job that requires speaking over the phone or public speaking.

The list can go on…

What I’ve noticed a million times over is that people who have this tendency are doing one thing 90% of the time – they aren’t caring enough about themselves.

What’s happening in our brains is that we are already looking outward and caught up in a fear based state of other people’s projection. Now, remember what I’ve said over and over again – with every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. This is power.

If you have a tendency to immediately jump to what other people think, you also have an equal tendency (or the opportunity) to  immediately jump to what YOU care about in yourself.

Instead of caring about what other people think about you, why not care about what you want to do?

  • Why not care about your world for once?
  • Why not care about your voice?
  • Why not care about how your potential failure can lead to future success?
  • Why not care about yourself?

You may begin to feel something shift within you. You may begin to imagine all the times that if you shifted your mindset to caring about yourself first, how empowering this actually feels.

Remember,  no one is actually thinking about you as much as they are thinking about themselves.

Take baby steps to build your personal power. Use the right tools whether they be books, meditation, a spiritual practice, or a coach/therapist to get you along the right path.

Owning your personal power is a birth right and we need as many people (with the truest of intentions) to step into their God given power – your true Light!

In wellness,

Susan

Friday Focus – 10/27/17 {Shedding Trauma}

I don’t know where you guys are in the world but Seattle is having an absolutely gorgeous day. I mean, look at the sky and these beautiful amber turned leaves!

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As I walked the pup this morning hearing the crunch of fallen leaves… I couldn’t help but think about old stories. Experiences. Hurts. Past Traumas.

If you’ve been reading along you know I emphasize how powerful our brains are. It’s interesting and noteworthy, again, to recognize our brains are powerful. So powerful that they hold on to these old stories, experiences, hurts, and past traumas in order to help us. But without special attention what can happen is that they begin to inhibit us.

It keeps us small. afraid. quiet. simple. frustrated. angry. bewildered. anxious.

And in staying small (and afriad, quiet, simple, frustrated, angry, bewildered, anxious, etc.) we begin to generalize these core feelings until it becomes a THING. Suddenly it’s not in the past anymore it’s something you believe you have now. 

So what’s REALLY the thing, the thing in the past or the thing now?

Does it even matter?

No matter what conclusion you came to, what matters is re-training your brain to stop from firing the old story over and over again in the present moment. The larger YOU knows you are safe. You have options. You aren’t IN the past you’re IN the NOW. And largely, we have God.

When we come to understand this truth, we begin to break the barrier.

We begin to notice the firing.

That’s not to say there isn’t more work to be done such as Release Work and Re-Training The Neural Network. While it sounds deep and heavy, trust me… with a good practitioner you can be healed and released from old hurts and begin taking steps toward the life you know you deserve. Yes, it’s possible.

So back to Fall… as I listened to the crunch of fallen leaves this morning I couldn’t help but think what a great time it is to release and re-train. Nature reveals everything. After the harvest comes death and rebirth. Yet, it’s ironic how this is barely practiced in our own lives. Where are the rituals to process our latest stories and hurts? Do we take the time for the yearly tune up we all could use?

So this Fall I am thankful. I am thankful for the reminder of death and rebirth. With every action there is a reaction. With every force there is an opposite force. With every old story there is a new story. Nature proves this so and how powerful is that?

In wellness,

Susan