Personal Responsibility

Ah, if there are two words that have become the ultimate power play for 2018 it’s this: Personal Responsibility.

When I think of personal responsibility it automatically presumes the power is in my hands, not anyone else’s.

Think about it, how many times these past few days have you allowed others or some thing to put you into a mood? Whether we like it or not, things will happen beyond our control and it’s up to us whether or not we want to give away our power or take personal responsibility and own how we react.

When we allow outside influences to control how we feel this is giving away our innate power. It reinforces our subconscious mind that we aren’t in control of how we feel, when in actuality we have immense power over how we feel.

Allow yourself some time today to reflect on the following questions in order to understand your own level of personal responsibility:

  • How easily do I “get over” things once they happen?
  • Do I mull over the incident repeatedly?
  • Is there a particular time of day or place when these “incidents” happen?
  • What helps me to realize I am the one in control?
  • How have I allowed others or some thing to take responsibility over how I feel?

 

Personal Responsibility is a powerful force. Once you realize you’re the one that’s actually in control of your life you can begin to fly.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Louis Smit on Unsplash

You Have Everything You Need

“You have everything you need; a miraculous body, a phenomenal brain, and a vast and Powerful subconscious mind. Now it’s just a matter of focusing them in the right direction.”

~Marc Allen

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Energy Building vs. Energy Wasting

When we think about every thought and every action, and distill them down to the essence of what they are, they always stem from two things: Love or Fear.

In other words, energy building or energy wasting.

From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep every little thing throughout the day is either energy building or energy wasting. The thoughts, the decisions, the actions, the foods, the intentions, literally everything stems from these two.

A Course in Miracles states, “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”

When we look at it from this perspective we can see how we waste our energy when we act or think based on an unreal “reality”. When we act from fear or lack, we are essentially believing in something that doesn’t truly exist, and therefore leak energy trying to chase or prevent some thing out of fear.

How much more enriching, simple, and true can life be when we act from Love? It feels lighter doesn’t it, when we act from gratitude, service, joy, and abundance knowing this is our truest reality?

Suddenly when we shift our perspective everything we do becomes energy building.

It’s incredible just how this tiny shift can change our energetic capacity.

So tell me, how does life feel to you when you are in the mode of energy building? What do you feel in your body? How does life look to you? What does your voice sound like? How does food taste in this state?

Here’s to recognizing the opportunities to build more energy into our lives.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Katy Belcher on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 3/16/18 {It’s All About Appreciation}

This week’s Friday Focus is all about appreciation.

Perhaps it’s a sign of Spring, but these past two weeks have been particularly hectic. As if a budding flower is feeling the sudden heat of the sun, I felt a surge of chaotic energy that felt both good and tiring. And as the bud becomes the flower, basking in the sun, I am now feeling that sweet release and contentment as I gear up for international travels.

Which brings me to appreciation.

Throughout the hectic moments in our lives it can be incredibly easy to forget our true nature. We can get caught up in the small stresses and obstacles that come up. We begin to stare at our to do list or our calendar and begin to wonder, “how is this all going to get done?” or “when will this ever end?”.

That’s when I turn everything around to appreciation.

I begin to appreciate every little thing in my life. From the blankets that keep me warm as I turn to bed to the transportation I am riding to get to my next destination. I begin to truly give thanks and amplify what is already in my life.

And when I do this, suddenly the task at hand doesn’t seem so big. I begin to realize everything is happening for me.

When you can appreciate everything in your life now, then you can appreciate everything that comes. The fear or anxiety that suffocates you in the moments of chaos falls away too, instead of following you to the next thing.

Appreciation is a powerful and real energetic quality we should all invite into our lives. It changes your perspective. It raises you up. It brings you to the truth, your light, your true reality.

May we invite more appreciation into our daily lives and in each and every moment, and watch how our life magically unfolds.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Ludovic Gauthier on Unsplash

The Answer You Seek Is YOU

Have you ever felt the need for someone or something to affirm your thoughts, feelings or emotions? Someone who can say, “Yes, that is totally normal.” or “It’s ok, give yourself a break! Great things are coming”.

If so, you’re not alone.

Best friends, books, online forums, and heck, even strangers are some ways in which us humans try to receive affirmation. It’s our human-ness, and dare I say it stems from our innate, instinctual need for the tribal qualities we find in deep community living and relationships that aren’t so common in this day and age. Unfortunately, the more advanced our society becomes, the more lonelier we are.

This might be one reason why everyone in the future just might have a coach, but in today’s post I wanted to focus on this need for affirmation.

First, there’s nothing wrong with the need for affirmation or frankly, you for asking. When you find the right person or people you can turn to, affirmations are a great way to ease your soul; to give you the peace and inherently deep knowing (you already have) that you are in fact, OK. The problem begins when you begin to depend on these outside resources and it becomes a crutch.

You see, this post today is to remind you of your own personal power. Your soul voice that already knows the answer.

What if I told you, you can turn inward to receive your answers? Whether through automatic writing, meditation, visualization, journeying, whatever it is that works for you, there’s a way to become still and listen to your own intuition.

Trust your own self. Trust the dormant power within. Trust your soul voice that is always speaking to your heart. Have ultimate faith in your own personal power.

And of course, when you do reach for outside help try to find a mentor, spiritual guide, coach, someone who can help you develop your own personal power. Someone who recognizes your own strength and light. Someone who understands you already have the capability to find the creative solution to your very own question.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Carli Jeen on Unsplash

Follow Your Own Inner Timing

Anodea Judith states it perfectly. We are taught from a very young age to look to the outside for approval and guidance when truly, our very own body and essence knows what’s best for us.

“Our world is full of people who tell you how to look, more, have sex, and be. This means you shape yourself by outer instruction rather than inner guidance. […] Having too many external commands takes you out of your inner temple rather than deeper within it. The ultimate point is to deeply feel your own body and breath […]. Follow your own inner timing.

~Anodea Judith

Take the time to cultivate your own personal voice, personal power, and intuition.

Listen to the small, still voice. Observe the mind. Illuminate your intuition through meditation.

We have the answer within.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Amy Treasure on Unsplash

Patterns That Run Our Self

“Breaking the chains of your self involves learning how you imprison yourself through your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings and discovering had to change them and set yourself free.”

~Owen Fitzpatrick

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Raw Pixel

Why Everyone Will Have A Coach In The Future

Yesterday, I wrote on how exercising the mind is just as important as exercising the body, and today, I wanted to share why I believe everyone will have a coach of some kind in the future.

To be honest, informally we already have them! Whether you know it or not, you receive some form of therapeutic benefit from your local yoga instructor, your boss, a dear friend, or heck, someone you may randomly meet at a dog park. In certain ways over a period of our lives, we’ll run into people that help relieve some part of our psyche, whether it was through their words, the safe space they provided, or their presence alone.

For example, have you ever left a Soul Cycle or a Yoga class in a completely zen state? Perhaps there was something about the instructor’s words that spoke to your heart and reached into a part of your brain that sensed relief, peace even. Or how about standing in line at the DMV and somehow you meet someone who was able to give you a hit of inspiration.

You see with the way technology is integrating every aspect of our inner and outer lives, and therefore making it hard to “turn off” and “slow down”, it’s no wonder more and more people are searching for ways to feel a sense of ease!

The rise of meditation, spirituality, psychedelic use, and personal development are on the rise and it’s not hard to guess why. We need relief. And it’s a good thing we’re recognizing it!

Our world is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Prior to the kind of technology that crept into our personal lives we were left to perceive the world through the tangible interactions and experiences we had; and now with the introduction of social media and text (to name a few) we are left for a lot more room for perception and interpretation in ways that are driving our minds crazy.

So where does that leave us? For one, it’s important to invest in your own personal practice of inner stillness. Working on meditation, being out in nature, journaling, taking hot baths, whatever it is that works for YOU, finding a personal practice that will build your inner stillness will be more important than ever.

And just like how there are coaches and trainers for just about anything, looking to a coach, therapist, whomever it is that you need, will be a growing trend. No longer will there be a stigma around having a personal relationship with a coach or therapist just as there is no stigma around having a personal trainer or chef! As we continue to appreciate and understand the importance of our minds (as we currently do our bodies) we will come to realize having someone to guide your mental life is just as important of an investment to yourself.

So, in what ways can you see having a third party perspective be helpful for you? In what ways, whether you realize it or not, do you find mental relief currently? What are the easiest ways of releasing stress for you and can you incorporate this into your life daily?

With that said, here’s to more stillness and building our own personal power so that we can dance  with this beautiful life with more ease and grace.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Anna Demianenko on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 2/15/18 {What Truly Matters?)

Happy Lunar New Year! For those of you following the lunar calendar you know this is a special time. It’s the turn of a new year following the phases/cycles of the moon and many countries in the East has followed this tradition for years, and still do!

It’s a time, just like our traditional New Year on January 1st, of re-birth and moving forward.

Identifying with both American and Asian culture I loved celebrating this special holiday. It was a time to shed anything still lingering from January 1st, and it was an opportunity to take a second, hard look at what truly mattered.

And while this isn’t a practice that should only be done during the beginning of a new year, the Lunar New Year is another great opportunity (whether you celebrate it or not) to ask yourself – what is it that speaks to your heart? What truly matters to you at the end of the day?

These are the type of questions that really zing at your heart aren’t they? They allow for such clarity to arise so that what occupies the mind 90% of the day immediately falls away,…or at least begins to crumble.

So,what speaks to your heart? What truly matters to you? In this moment?

You may find it’s the simple things. The small moments of stillness, the moments of laughter being shared with someone you love, spending time with your furry friend.

Whatever it may be for you, take a moment to honor the Lunar New Year and do a little more of what it is that brings you closer to your own heart. As I’ve always said on the blog, the more we focus on what we want, the more it expands.

Happy Lunar New Year!

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

You Hold The Key To Every Situation

“As a being of power, intelligence, and love, you hold the key to every situation, and contain within yourself that transforming and regenerative agency by which you may make yourself what you will.”

~James Allen

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash