Uplevel Archives - Page 21 of 26

Friday Focus – 7/7/17 {There’s Nothing Wrong With You}

There’s nothing wrong with you

Are your hormones are a bit wonky? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Do you feel like crawling under the covers because of a string of bad days? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Struggling with a health issue? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Dealing with relationship issues that keep coming back? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Fighting an intense fear of failure? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Experiencing grief that doesn’t seem manageable? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

Wondering why it feels like it’s taking a million years to achieve X when for others it seems so easy? Sure
But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.

There’s nothing wrong with you

No matter what is happening in your life just remember this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

Namaste.

Friday Focus – 6/30/17 {Intuitive Journeying}

Lately, I’ve been feeling into what feels right in the day to day. I have my focus and my peripheral vision wide open so that I can receive all that is available to me in this moment, intuitively feeling into this journey we call life.

And what does it mean to intuitively journey? It means you are feeling into what you, let me repeat, what YOU, the deeper you wants to experience along this journey. Sometimes it may be the grind, other times it may mean to spend more time with family and friends, and sometimes it means exploring parts of you that wants to experience something.

I have felt the creative part of me want to expand and explore like never before. As I dive deep into it (writing included), I am creating space for this experience along the journey we call life. Rather than listening to the shoulds, buts, or ifs, I am intentionally creating a deeper awareness for what wants to –be– and –experience-.

Lately, this has shown up as writing and physically doing things with my hands such as taking up ceramics. (Yes, ceramics and I am SO excited to get my hands on clay!)

There are a few other projects brewing but I am keeping it sacred for now.

With that said, what does intuitive journeying mean for you? Where in your life can you expand and grow? What do you need more of in your life to feel, not good, but GREAT?

All good things to consider during this long holiday weekend ?

Be safe and namaste.

Susan

Seattle and Bellevue Senior Portrait Photographer

Littleness: What Value Do You Put Upon Yourself?

“The lesson may seem hard at first, but you will learn to love it when you realize that it is true and is but a tribute to your power. You who have sought and found littleness, remember this: Every decision you make stems from what you think you are, and represents the value that you put upon yourself.”

~A Course In Miracles

Often times action becomes patterned. What you chose to eat for breakfast, how you react to a certain friend or boss, how you treat yourself and your relationship to money, and really, how you treat yourself and all of your relationships.

At first, it stems from an initial set of decision points until it becomes a behavior. Can you take a moment and look at where in your life this may be true? Remember, no judgement, just awareness.

The most important question to ask yourself is – “Why?”.

When you look at your Why’s behind all of these actions and behaviors, you will see the truth of whether or not you play in the field of Littleness or Greatness.

I am here to remind you today how GREAT you truly are. How playing small doesn’t serve anyone and certainly not you. How playing GREAT is your natural tendency and birthright. How playing GREAT helps elevate the world and everyone who is here.

So pause for a moment today and watch your Why’s and notice where each decision stems from. Remember to play in Greatness.

Namaste.

Creating For The Sake Of It

When was the last time you felt inspired to create something? Do you remember what inspired you? Was it a piece of art? An idea while out on a hike? Or perhaps you saw someone else’s creation and thought, hey, I can do that too!

Lately I have been deeply inspired to simply create. Not for any desired outcome but to simply tap into what I feel drawn to and give it a shot! And what has been even more inspiring is the sense of ease that comes along with detachment. It has been absolutely beautiful to laugh, experiment, and learn along the way!

My next new creative hobby will be jumping into the world of ceramics & pottery. I can’t wait to get my hands on clay and see what happens ?

Ok, so what if you haven’t felt inspired in a while? Or, how do you get out of your own way so that creating can become fun again? I’ve listed a few simple hacks that have never failed me and thought I would share them here.

Go on vacation
- Yes, it’s as simple as that. Sometimes you need to take your mind OFF of the usual 5 repeated thoughts to leave space for new ones, and vacations can often help. When you’re in a new environment you become hyper aware and sensitive to what is going on NOW and that could mean trying new foods you’ve never had before, walking down a beautiful street, or meeting new people, all of which can help spark new ideas.
Do something new
- This is similar to the first one but try something new! Whether it’s simply trying out the new Ethiopian restaurant that just opened up in your neighborhood, checking out bootcamp if you’re only used to Pilates, or attending a new meetup in a completely different genre, trying something new can switch up the senses and jolt the system.
Create or try a new recipe
- I find cooking to be a way to meditate. Whether you’re avid cook or not, try a recipe that is a little more complicated or a cuisine you haven’t ventured into yet. Oftentimes this will get you exposed to new ingredients or methods of cooking and can serve as the mental break you need to feel refreshed again. Plus, it feels good to serve other people after you created something delicious!
Be unattached to the outcome
- This is probably the most important. Don’t worry about the outcome! Whether you find out cooking isn’t your thing, or watercolor isn’t what you thought it would be, that’s ok! The beauty is in the journey, the laughs along the way, the moments when you felt a rush of inspiration or new ideas, and even better? the people you meet along the way. When you become unattached to the outcome you open yourself up to other possibilities, and if you give yourself a bit of grace those new outcomes can blow your mind.

Hopefully this inspires you to other new ideas on how to get creative. I’ve been feeling even more creative since returning from New York and wanted to share my own bit of inspiration with you all.

Here’s to switching it up and new summer hobbies!

Namaste.

New York

Oh New York, how do I describe you?

I just returned from an intensive diving deep into the world of change work, NLP, unconscious mind training, neuroscience, embodied cognition, and so much more. Having experienced this work firsthand, months prior, undoubtedly allowed me to take these new findings to a whole other level. A level to where I have seen its effectiveness and how my current practice and frameworks are not only compatible, but strengthened with this new information.

Despite having around 3 hours of sleep a night (I blame it on the broken service door on our floor at the hotel. Every time room service needed to access the room, the door would slam shut and rattle all the other doors on our floor! But I digress…?) my energy levels have never been higher! The pure energy one feels when you know you are making an incredible difference in peoples lives is exhilarating.

Thank you to all my teachers, students, colleagues, friends, and to every single person (stranger or not) I met in New York – THANK YOU! Your kindness is mindblowingly heart warming and I can’t wait to be back.

With much love,

Susan

A Student Of Life. Always

What do you love learning? In what ways do you learn best? Workshops? Online? YouTube? 1:1?

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with learning. When I was a little kid I would go to the library and eat up all the books ranging from nature, science, travel, culture, and of course all the fiction I can handle (SVH or Goosebumps anyone?!)

To this day, I listen to podcasts any moment I am not singularly focused on something. As I get ready in the morning, while I’m cooking or cleaning, and definitely when I am commuting. It’s the perfect opportunity to gain new perspectives and learn something new! And it doesn’t stop there, I watch online seminars, consume large amount of literature, and sign up for workshops.

I am a student of life. Always. Because I believe we are evolving every minute of every day and discovery & growth is at our fingertips if we’re open and willing to learn.

Tomorrow, I head to New York for an intensive on coaching the unconscious mind. I am in love with it already. We will be learning everything from re-wiring old programs, neutralizing triggers, rapid change techniques for working with emotions, and more. ?

I can’t wait to share what I learn ?.

Namaste,

Susan.

Trusting Where You Are

Can you trust you are exactly where you need to be?

When you look back weeks, months, even (especially) years, can you see why things might have happened the way it has?

Can you trust you’ve been led to this place for more growth, wisdom, expanded heart, and love?

And through any present day resistance can you see where this might be leading you?

Can you sense a deeper part of you that might understand where this is going?

Can you have faith in knowing you are one step closer to where you want to be?

Can you feel, or blindly trust, or even desire you are being held ever so gently?

Have you felt love, however small or big in whatever fashion or from, from someone, something, or within YOU throughout your life journey?

If you answered yes to any of the above, can you trust you are exactly where you need to be?

With love.

Tim Ferriss: Why you should define your fears instead of your goals

“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”

~ Jerzy Gregorek

“The hard choices — what we most fear doing, asking, saying — these are very often exactly what we most need to do. And the biggest challenges and problems we face will never be solved with comfortable conversations, whether it’s in your own head or with other people.

So I encourage you to ask yourselves: Where in your lives right now might defining your fears be more important than defining your goals? Keeping in mind all the while, the words of Seneca: “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.””

~Tim Ferriss from his most recent Ted Talk, April 2017

Sharing a bit of goodness that I enjoyed listening to while sick in bed. ?

Namaste.

Friday Focus – 6/9/17 {What Is}

There has certainly been a theme that sticks out for me this week and it is this – being ok with what is and knowing it is unfolding in perfect divine order.

The mind is a slippery one. An innocent thought about one thing leads you down 10 deep rabbit holes until you find yourself in a complex maze of what ifs and one way too many options. And then what? You’re paralyzed. Does anyone feel me on this?!

While it seems healthy and proactive to be solving, thinking, planning… whatever you want to name it, if any of this leaves you with any of the following feelings:

angst
anxiety
tension
worry
fear
generally unsettled

…then we need to hold the phones. ?

The moment any of these feelings start to creep in it’s time to inquire – what am I striving for?

I find that the moment I ask myself this question it all becomes clearer. And while sometimes it may take more time than usual, it always gets clearer.

With clarity comes peace. A knowing that in THIS moment (and the next, and the next, and yes, even the next one :)) I am always held and perfectly where I need to be. Tension would indicate otherwise. Yes?

I find that this is a much more freeing experience than needing to control every outcome…

Namaste.

A Course in Miracles – Lack

“While lack does not exist in the creation of God, it is very apparent in what you have made. It is, in fact, the essential difference between them. Lack implies that you would be better off in a state somehow different from the one you are in. […] Needs arise only when you deprive yourself. You act according to the particular order of needs you establish. This, in turn, depends on your perception of what you are.

A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need to correct. This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lacking.”

Whether you are new to A Course In Miracles (ACIM) or not, I love this excerpt specifically talking about “lack”.

We are told left and right that we are not enough until one day we believe it to the point that it seems so real. Actually we end up believing there is no other reality.

Take some time to assess your thoughts, decisions, and actions… do you notice how in some way “lack” might be an influence however small or large? Can you notice how in some way things might be “better” by doing things one way or how you might “fix” something by doing things this way?

How much of a relief would it be to not be driven by lack? How much freer and spacious would YOU be?

When I first came across this text I was floored, and I mean FLOORED. It was as if a light bulb went on in my head and immediately after I felt a huge sense of relief. This was around the time I was in deep recovery from adrenal fatigue and not only was this sense of lack one of the major players of getting to the point of adrenal fatigue, it was playing a small part in my desire to be in a different state other than adrenal fatigue as well. Ironic isn’t it?

The sense of relief was immediate and lasting…. What a relief it was to know there was no need to strive so hard! What a relief it was to just BE!

So take a moment… if your mind is driving you crazy with thoughts that are fueled by tension, striving, or desire, take a moment to inquire and allow for a bit of space. Allow for the possibility that you are MORE than enough in this moment, and even the next.

Namaste.