Tag: Personal Power

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

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

Hand made, high quality crystal bead mala. Sage cleansed and high vibe. Rose Quartz

The Incredible Gift Of Malas

Malas are hard work. If I had the inventory of a crystal/bead shop then maybe not so much, but even still, once you discover someone’s root intention the hard work comes in trying to find the perfect alchemy of stones, crystals, colors, and the perfect ornamental piece (wherever that may be!) to complete the mala. In the case of the picture below, it happened to be a naturally shed deer antler that made this beauty complete:

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Divine Prana Mala

But I love the work. It’s humbling to be witness to someone’s raw and beautiful intention of the next few months. And it’s rewarding to discover each piece of the puzzle and to see it finally come all together the way it was supposed to for each person.

What amazes me each and every time is the complete trust every client has had in me. To provide me creative freedom means I have earned your trust, and for that I am forever humbled and grateful.

For this next piece I am creating I was delighted to find THIS beautiful amethyst stone which will complete the Divine Heart mala.

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I can’t wait for this mala to finally meet its owner. Just in time for the new year!

Namaste,
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

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