Tag: Ego

Understanding Your Power

Do you actually know how powerful you are? How much light is within you? How beautifully perfect you are? How your soul is the perfect creation of this much grander piece of art that we are all connected to?

When we understand what is truly important, we have a means of accessing this at any time. Especially during the moments we need it most.

Any emotion other than Love is fear. Fear of loss, shame, embarrassment… even anger, jealousy, anxiety… these are all emotions that lead to the ROOT of what it means to be human – the need to be loved and accepted.

What tends to keep us in this state of fear is like a dense, murky fog that hasn’t been lifted yet. If we can realize we already ARE the love and acceptance we are searching for and in need of the fog suddenly fades. You can see the light that was always there, hidden from your view.

Trust where you are. It is showing you something… Feel all the feels, follow through on your emotion, then look to see the hidden gift. Was it to strengthen your faith? Was it to strengthen your knowledge? Was it to reaffirm your own light? Time and time again, there is a gift in every situation but only you can find it.

So, after you read this post take a moment and close your eyes, and when you do feel into your heart. What do you notice? What is it whispering to you? Listen to your heart and don’t forget your light.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Anthony Intraversato on Unsplash

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

Burn It All Away

Ok, not really but there is a little burning involved, or if you don’t have access to a safe place to burn a piece of paper, there is a little ripping involved.

But hold your horses, before you get any wild, crazy ideas let me explain.

I’ve always been a proponent of journaling. Writing out your thoughts and/or feelings is one of the best ways to provide your analytical mind an outlet. Instead of “it” swirling around in your head you can write everything down in your journal and (this is the most important part) SEE what you were thinking. You see, there’s something magical about visually seeing your thoughts; because once you actually see it on paper you realize what’s driving you crazy is the actual overwhelm of rumination, not so much the thought itself.

Upon listening to a podcast recently I came across Dr. David Hanscome. He very much seems like a kindred soul.

He goes a bit further than just journaling and encourages people to either burn the pages or rip them up. The point here is to, again, visually see your thoughts disappear and recognize your thoughts are just thoughts! We feel they are real because of the chemical reaction we get once the thought is produced.

I write a lot about habituated patterns and the brain’s ability to groove familiar pathways. The more you think a thought, the more it creates an emotion, and the more you become the thought. It can be a vicious cycle but that’s not to say mindfulness, compassion, and working to activate techniques such as journaling and burning can’t turn things around so that you can gain perspective!

Even in the more spiritual realm there are rituals where around the New Moon or Full Moon people will write out what to let go of, as well as intentions, and burn the paper while offering the ashes up to the moon. Burning is not a totally new concept but that is beside the point – it can have dramatic effects for disengaging rumination and offering perspective.

Try it out! If you’re not already in the habit of journaling before bed or when you rise, try writing out 5 thoughts and burning/ripping the page. As you visually watch the page become ash or tiny pieces quietly repeat to yourself, “there goes the thought(s)”.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash

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

Friday Focus – 11/17/17 {What Does Faith Look Like?}

While earlier this week the 15 day forecast showed nothing but overcast skies and rain, the weather today unexpectedly turned out to be BEAUTIFUL today! I found myself appreciating the radiant hues of the sky as I watched the earth turn from dark to light this morning… I also love how my plans today have completely changed from working out indoors to making plans to walk Green Lake in order to take advantage of this small blessing. After all, it’s the little things right?

So for this week’s Friday Focus I decided to write about faith. I’ve gotten a few questions this week that relate to assurance about the future, how to deal with stress in the present, or even not knowing what to do and feeling a bit frustrated.

While the specific answer will vary from person to person I thought I’d post a set of powerful questions that come down to faith. (Bonus: related reading to previous posts on control such as this one.)

Taking the time to truly reflect on your responses below will allow you to have a better idea of what faith looks like to you. Especially during the times when we feel the need to control the situation. Ready?

Powerful Questions on Faith

  • What does it mean to have faith?
  • How does faith feel like when you are certain of it in your life?
  • How is it reflected in your voice when you know you have faith?
  • What does your body feel when you are in complete faith?
  • How do your actions change based on faith?
  • When you know you have faith, do you feel a shift in your overall mindset? How does the world look now?

If you’ve ever questioned whether or not you truly have faith in certain situations answering these questions will allow you to have a deeper sense of your truth. You may realize logically in your brain you know you need faith, but also quickly realize your body and actions don’t reflect the full ownership of this faith.

Take the time to truly listen. Once you’ve identified what faith looks like to you (because it looks and feels different for everyone) you can work to embody these details for a more faith-ful life.

Here’s to cultivating faith, especially in times when we need it most.

In wellness,

Susan

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