Tag: Mindfulness

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

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