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Energetic Shifts & Tattoo Removal

2012-01-28T02:06:30Z

Last August I started the painful journey of getting my tattoo removed. For those who have not seen my tattoo, I have a mermaid on the side of my left calf. It is quite large and full of blues and greens. which are supposed to be the most stubborn colors. I got this tattoo in 1994 while I was in the Marine Corps and stationed in Okinawa Japan! Although the mermaid was still very pretty, it just didn’t resonate with my energy any longer, so after many years of being on the fence I just felt it was time to get it removed. Today I got my fifth treatment, and holy cow did it hurt!!! (Most tattoos take about 8 – 10 treatments to completely disappear.) So needless to say, I knew what to expect but energetically it really packs a punch!

Since starting this process I have noticed various energetic shifts happen in my body and the energy field around my body. Things I thought I dealt with years ago are suddenly coming up and surfacing. Much to my dismay, I was really shocked by this side-effect. Until I likened this to Auric/Energetic Cord Removal, a service I offer in which I remove dense or semi-dense energy cords that no longer serve you.

The process of doing a cord removal is quite freeing for the individual who is receiving it, quite literally. I go in and scan the body for dense energy cords, and remove the ones that their guides have given me the go-a-head to remove. After the removal process I give the client after care instructions since it is an energetic surgery and tell them to rest up. Some of my aftercare instructions/information is that things from the past that were connected to the cords that were removed, may come up; if so, just notice them and allow them to surface and neutralize.

After my tattoo removal sessions, I was noticing the same type of shifting that happens with cord removals. How exciting to link the two together!!! Yay!!! I only wish our current, modern day medical personnel, would understand the huge amount of shifting that happens with a tattoo removal or any other type of body augmentation. It would make the patients recovery time not so chaotic energetically. When people know and understand that energetic shifts can and will happen during their recovery time, they may feel a bit more at ease with the myriad of symptoms that can accompany those shifts. Some symptoms may include:

Feeling unbalanced
Lightheaded
Vivid dreams
Old “Stuff” coming up that one has previously dealt with [either personally or with a therapist]
Crying
Laughing
Feeling hot
Feeling cold
The need or desire to eat excessively...
Many more…

Here is a video in which I speak a bit more about this subject and go into a bit more detail.

If you’d like to know more about my Auric / Energetic Cord Removal you can check it out here.

Happy Shifting!!! Yay!!!

How to harness the energy of 2012!

2012-01-16T18:11:43Z

WOW!!!! This year’s energy is so amazingly fantastic!!! Yay!! So many of you who participate on my Facebook page have been saying how productive this year has been for you and how fluid the energy has been thus far. Others have been saying how scattered the energy feels, because of how MUCH energy is coming through! So where and how do we find that happy medium? How can we harness this energy and let it work for us instead of against us?

We can do this by grounding and centering our energy and by practicing this often. Yes, it is nice to fly high in the energy of New Year, but let’s get realistic, after a while, we have got to get our head out of the clouds and find our centers so we can maintain the balance in our everyday lives.

When we ground and center our energy, we allow our body’s natural energy field to stay intact and therefore, will remain unburdened by extra energy. Extra energy coming in can cause:

A racing mind
Fatigue
Feeling scattered
Feeling ungrounded
Confusion
Urge to over eat or eat when we are not hungry (to help temporarily ground us)
Not feeling satisfied after you have just eaten
Emotional highs and lows in a blink of an eye
Memory issues
And on and on…

The list really is too long to list here. But I am sure all of you can relate to having felt fine one moment and the next feeling scattered, or maybe you forgot why you came into a room etc.. It can seem like a never ending battle.

Check out this video “Grounding and Centering” I explain and show you how to do a few methods of grounding and centering your energy so you can go on with your day in a productive and centered way! Yay!!!

You can also check out my fantastic Meditation 101 class in which I teach you five methods of centering your mind and body that you can do almost anywhere! Yay!!! Check out the class here!

Wishing you a day filled with Yay’s!!

M. Flora Peterson

Rough Waters = Fun Times???

2012-01-14T14:42:30Z

A few months ago, I vacationed at Juniper Beach Florida with my husband. While there we went to the beach every free moment we had. Standing on the beach one morning watching the tide come in, I was reminded of how events in our lives come and go with such grace and ease, but sometimes with extreme force, enough to knock us down and pull us under. Every time I have gone to the beach in my life, I have felt so much power, so much life force coming from the Goddess Yemaya that I just stand there look at the waves rolling in and am in utter awe of it all.

Looking out at the beach I was reminded of a time in back in 2003 that would change my life forever. I was living in Milnerton, South Africa. [A suburb of Cape Town] I had given away all of my worldly possessions and moved my two children and myself half way across the world to create a better life for us there. After three months of trying to make it work, it wasn't. I felt like a failure! Exhausted, beat down, and needing a break I brought the boys to the ocean so they could play and I could collect my thoughts. This was one of the most challenging times in my life; I truly thought things would be different, but it wasn’t. The day was cool and over cast, the water was rough and gray. I sat watching my kids, who were about three and six at the time, playing in the water. They would walk just where the water met the land and wait for it to go over there ankles and then run and squeal with laughter. I remember thinking to myself how scary it is to be a parent sometimes, so much responsibility it is to raise a child to be the next generation of adults. Hopefully they would turn out to be kind, loving, compassionate, caring, empathetic, respectful, passionate, empowered, confident, etc…. I remember thinking what a gloomy day it was and how rough the surf looked and how raw everything seemed.

The boys playing on the beach in South Africa on that very day!

And then I saw something that would change my life forever. I saw a seal playing in the water, twisting and turning, jumping and rolling. The rough waters served as a source of fun for this beloved creature. Then I looked at my kids and saw their amusement with the waves tumbling in. A saying my Mom said quite a lot as a child “Fun is an attitude, not an activity.” rang loudly in my mind. Then, I felt it… a distinct shift in my energy; that “ah ha moment.” I was no longer going to be swept away by the currents of life. Instead of trying to swim against the currents of life, I would just “Be” in the waters, or better yet, play in the waters. No matter what the sky looked like, no matter how hard the waves came in, I would allow my body to go with the current and see where it took me. That day was the day I decided to move back to the United States to turn my life around and finally start living for me and my Spirit! That is the day I found my “Yay!”

This is the very seal that changed my life!

On our last full day in Juniper Beach, I waded out about knee deep into the water, bent over and put my hands in the water. I took a deep breath and called Yemaya, the Goddess of the Great Waters. I found my center and secured my footing under me. With each wave that came in, I tried to focus on keeping my center and keeping my footing secure. I was doing great at first, but then I started to see the waves coming in three or four back… they looked so big, as if they would knock me over. I would turn and run, only to look back and see that they would fizzle out when they got to where I was standing. Again, I would dip my arms in the water standing knee high waiting again…over and over again; I would get knocked around, unable to keep my balance and my center. Frustrated, I started to just look at the wave right in front of me, not the ones three or four waves’ back. When I did that, I was easily able to keep my center and my focus. I was reminded of that time in South Africa I had watched the seal in the rough waters, then it hit me, life is like this; when we focus on things we “think” will happen in the future, we can freak out and run and miss out on some fun times. What we really should do is to stand firm in our truth and only focus on the situation at hand, the present moment and really allow our mind to stay fully present, life can throw us waves (events) of any size and we can still come out okay. I was called to grab three shells during this ritual that I did and I keep those shells on my altar next to my bed. They remind me that no matter what happens in life, if I just focus on the present, everything will always be okay.

The seal of change.

The boys on that faithful day! Yay!!! : )

The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude. ~Dennis S. Brown

Inoperable Terminal Cancer...

2011-12-23T22:10:54Z

Inoperable Terminal Cancer..What does it all mean? Life, Work, Play, Jobs, Kids, Family, Health, Sickness, Joy, Pain......

My goal in deciding to write a blog was to hopefully have something profound and inspiring each week to offer my readers. Some weeks I would get great ideas for topics, but other weeks would come and go without a profound moment coming to mind, so I would forego writing a blog post. Feeling a bit disappointed in myself for not providing some thought-provoking content, I mentioned my frustration to a close friend of mine. She told me that the value of a blog is in sharing the everyday stuff that people can relate to and really gain guidance from. I realized that in the blogs that I follow that really is the case! It really is the everyday stuff in which we have those “Ah-ha!” moments.

So this blog post will be just about the past two weeks in my circle of life. Two weeks ago, my Dad was told he had cancer. Several tests and exploratory surgeries later, they told him that he has inoperable terminal cancer: cancer of the bile duct, a rare, slow-growing cancer. Not the best news to hear right before Yule and Christmas! My sisters and I all gathered in Minnesota to visit with him the Sunday before last; yes, all seven of us were there! It was so wonderful to see everyone and catch up and just be together as a family. I have received such a tremendous outpouring of questions, love, and light. Let me give you a brief timeline so everyone is up to speed on what has been going on.

Thursday December 8th – My Stepmom noticed my Dad looked a bit jaundiced.
Friday December 9th – My Dad went in for testing and found out he had an inflamed bile duct with a possibility of cancer. The doctors were hoping it was just a stone in the bile duct and there would be no cancer.
Sunday December 11th – Took the red-eye to see my Dad.
Tuesday December 13th – Flew back to Oklahoma.
Wednesday December 14th – My Dad went in for an ERCP procedure to look in the bile duct and they discovered that there was no stone, and that it was in fact cancer. Since my Dad’s health is so good otherwise (no meds, no diabetes, healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels) he was a great candidate for surgery.
Thursday December 15th – My Dad went in for an MRI.
Friday December 16th – Went to University of Minnesota for a consult with the surgeon and my Dad was scheduled for surgery on December 22nd. The surgeon was very certain he could probably get out all of the cancer and that my Dad would be on the mend soon. This surgeon is very conservative and wouldn’t attempt surgery if he didn’t think it was going to be successful.
Monday December 19th – The U of M moved my Dad’s surgery up to Tuesday.
Tuesday December 20th – My Dad went in for surgery and then came out four hours later with the news. They went in and the cancer looked like a spider web around my Dad’s bile duct, liver, pancreas, and small intestine. It was too extensive to operate successfully. The doctors did not give my Dad a clear estimate as far as how long he may live…they said it could be 5 months or 5 years!

This type of cancer is usually unresponsive to chemotherapy and radiation, but my Dad will start on chemo in two weeks, for up to six months of therapy, to hopefully slow the growth of the cancer.

This entire two-week period I have gone through such a shifting of emotions, from numb to crying to being very optimistic. I have read stories about people who have cured cancers in their bodies or are living with cancer without any problems. All in all though, I have felt this profound sense of peace about this whole thing, like there is a reason, a master plan if you will, about this whole thing. I know that energy cannot be created or destroyed. I know that the Spirit lives on after our physical bodies expire. I know that our thoughts and feelings can create dis-ease in the body. Even though I know all this stuff, I still feel a struggle between my ego (No, he can’t die!…I’ll miss him…etc.) and my Spirit (everyone’s physical body has to die sometime, but his Spirit will live on).

For now, I am just trying to live moment to moment, in the moment, cherishing every moment for what it is because we don’t know how long our physical bodies will be here. My Dad said that he was very grateful to be able to have time to do what he wanted to do to wrap up his life, per se…a luxury my Mom did not have. (She passed away in a car accident when I was 12.)

So I guess my piece of wisdom or advice for this blog post is this:

Cherish and honor everything in your life now. Be fully present in your life. Do not worry about the past or become anxious for the future. If we live in the past or future, we are missing the gift that is Right Now! None of us know how much time we have left, so we must try to truly cherish the present.

Here is an article that really illustrates my point. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Zen-of-Eating-Cream-of-Wheat:-A-Journey-Into-Dementia&id=5366320

Yule Blessings to you!

The Piece of Glass

2011-11-29T17:04:47Z

This morning, while thinking about possible topics for a new blog post, I remembered about a rather interesting morning I had this past April. The following blog was sent out as a newsletter this past April. I hope you enjoy.

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The Piece of Glass

A typical weekday morning for my family and I is as follows:

5:50am my alarm goes off; I get up, I get dressed and do my morning meditation.

6:00am my Husband wakes and goes to take a shower.

6:15am I wake the boys by switching on their lights, sitting on the side of their bed and rub their backs and slowly wake them up by saying “Hey sweetie, it’s time to wake up…Wakey wakey… “Sometimes I’ll put on fun music and dance around their rooms etc… each day I try to wake them up in a positive and fun way.

Once they are awake and sitting up, I go and make breakfast leaving them to get dressed on their own.

6:30am – 7:15ish we all sit at the table to eat and chat.

7:15 – 7:35ish we finish getting ready while hubby walks the dogs. And by 7:40am we are all out the door to our respective places for the day.

Last Monday morning started like all the other mornings, I was in a great mood and then something shifted and my morning began to just go downhill fast. The kids seemed more tired than usual and I was just plain irritated. Everything seemed to be rubbing me the wrong way. I felt rushed, the kids tone of voice sounded harsh and the dogs were just getting under my feet, my hubby seemed oblivious to all the irritants, which made me more irritated. The energy started to get thick and everyone was feeling it and we were at each other’s throats.

Tired of the tension I stomped off into my bedroom and then it finally came to a close when I walked into my room and stepped on a large chunk of broken glass. $@#&*^!!!!!!!!! I looked down and saw this huge chuck of glass sticking out of the bottom of my foot. I pulled it out and my foot started to bleed. I went into the bathroom, sat down, and started to cry. That was it! I just wanted to go back to bed and start over.

Sitting on the floor with my foot bleeding; pain rushing through my foot and up my leg, tears streaming down my face and the cat climbing on my lap, I just closed my eyes and asked what I needed to do to get this day back on track! My guides were loud and clear! “Slow Down!” It was getting late and I said out loud “Really? Slow down? Ugh!!!” Flabbergasted I moved the cat aside, stood up, put a Band-Aid on my foot and finished getting ready.

Driving my youngest son to the bus stop I said mentioned how today was not a good day for me at all and my son said with a huge smile on his face; “Don’t say that Mommy! You can change it! Just say ‘I’m going to have a great day today!’” I laughed! This is a mantra I have said to the boys for years! I would have them repeat it over and over while on the way to school or some place that they were not too excited to go to. I said, “Ya know… You’re right! I’m going to have a great day today!!!”

Feeling so grateful for the discussion with my son, I continued my morning drive to work. On my way to work I thought about where that piece of glass could have come from. Then I got the answer loud and clear. My guides told me they put it there to get my attention! “Thanks Peeps!!!” I said out loud.

When life starts to spiral out of control and we get caught up in the collective unconscious “You against me” mindset, our guides will come in and intervene. When that doesn’t do the trick then our loved ones will remind us, using our own words, what we need to do to shift our energy back to our true authentic self.

With so many things going on all the time, projects to do, books to write, classes to plan, homework to read, it is challenging to find time to stop. Even though it doesn’t feel productive to do nothing, realize how good it feels to take an afternoon off and just BE. To just sit on the couch and curl up with the dogs and take a 20 min nap and regroup. I am learning more and more that it is a must for me, and when I don’t my guides will put obstacles in my way so that I have to slow down and take some me time.

If you are feeling rushed, irritated, annoyed, or just exhausted…slow down and take some time for yourself. Take some time to really allow your brain to shut off and your breath to fully fill your lungs. Shut off the cell phone, switch off the TV and computer and just BE with yourself. Read a good book, paint your nails, take a nap, go for a walk or do something you love.

When we give our body and mind the rest it needs (often) and allow our consciousness to be receptive to the messages we get from our guides, life works out so much more smoothly without chunks of glass getting in our way.

Wishing you all Glass free days!

Happy Thanksgiving! Or is it?

2011-11-24T16:52:28Z

Being an active Pagan and observing the Sabbats roughly every six weeks, by the time Thanksgiving comes around my family and I have already celebrated three Harvest Festivals. (That's a lot of food!) So to celebrate another Harvest Festival so quickly after Samhain can sometimes seem a bit redundant to say the least, but we still celebrate because of the symbology of the event.   But this year...we chose to celebrate a day early...

Let me give you some background of this year... This year, I have been busting my butt to get many things in place so I can be a position to quit my day job, of which I am still working at.  During which time, I have noticed how precious time is and how it is a must that I weed out the "busy work" in my life. Having so many projects completed but a few still in the works, I have really had to prioritize my time, my efforts and my energy on things that really matter.

This year my oldest son did some traveling through a program at his school and I had the opportunity to go with him. I also had the chance to go to Florida recently and spend some time with my husband at the beach, connecting with old friends and connecting to the powerful energy of the Goddess Yemaya. Needless to say, with travel comes long flights/road trips, long nights, short sleeps, very rich food and very little down time. When I got back from the last trip for the year and felt my energy come crashing down. I knew what I needed to do, I needed to practice what I preach in my life coaching program; honoring myself and practice self-care. I slept as long as I could every night, I slept in on the weekends, took naps and tried to eat whole foods to aid in my bodies restoration process.

Now, after weeks of self-care I am finally back to "normal" (I use that term lightly as those who know me, know I am anything but normal! : ) just in time for the holidays to come into full swing. There is Yule/Christmas shopping, the annual holiday letter to write, gifts to buy, wrap and ship to my family in Wisconsin and Minnesota, etc... The list goes on and on...

"So what does this have to do with having a Happy Thanksgiving?" you may be asking!

Well, I'll tell you...knowing how precious our own energetic body is and our own vital resources the best way to have a Happy Thanksgiving is to do as little as possible the with most meaning behind everything you do!!!

Yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving we had our Harvest Celebration. We ordered the turkey from a local restaurant, made Stovetop stuffing, warmed frozen veggies, made ranch mashed potatoes, opened the bag of Hawaiian sweet rolls, popped a can of jellied cranberry sauce, made a packet of pre-made gravy, unfroze the pre-made chocolate pie, made a tofu pumpkin pie and all sat down for a wonderful meal! Prep-time: Only 1 hour!    I didn't do any massive cleaning of my home, which is traditional hear in the states, as those who attended see my house frequently in states of disarray as well as at its best. The meal, conversation and company was perfect!

All too often we succumb to others expectations of what we "should" do for each meal during the holiday season, or what we "need" to do. What you really need to ask yourself during this holiday season are these things:

What is the meaning of the season?
What do I really want to do that will be in keeping with that meaning?
What is my energy level?

When you answer these simple questions it makes it all more simple and complete. Thanksgiving for me this year is to honor those who have gone before us, honor everyone in my life, and as a time of reflection and gratitude for everything my life entails at this moment.

We celebrated a day early for several reasons: 1. The restaurant we got the turkey from would have our turkey ready on Wednesday, as they would be closed on Thanksgiving. 2. My step-daughter and her new husband would be up for a visit on Wednesday.  3. Thanksgiving is usually so busy with putting up the Yule/Christmas decorations that it seemed only natural to do it all on Wednesday this year.

The moral of this story/blog is to take into account your own energy level whilst planning your menu, activity load and schedule. Honor the day for what it is and not what we think others do. But mainly really let family take center stage during the day and how precious each moment is with them.

With that said, I am off to make leftover Turkey quiches and put ornaments on the Yule tree while listening to the soundtrack from "Elf" the movie about an human who thought he was an Elf! : )

Yay!!! Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

What are the Cards Telling You?

2011-10-28T22:17:27Z

Can you feel it in the air? The veil between the two worlds is very thin and Spirits are making their way around every corner, every bend in the road and behind every looking glass. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will see signs everywhere of these Spirits!

On October 31^st, droves of kids will be out asking for Tricks or Treats… But adults sometimes feel left out in the cold if they don’t have kids or are not one to partake in the “Halloween Ball” or Party that ends up being a contest to see who can wear the least amount of clothing…(as pointed out by one of my rather witty students!) Have no fear….Divination time is here! Yes… This is perfect time to embark on the art of Divination.

“But I’m not psychic” you say! And to that I say, “Yes you are! All you need a bit of practice.”

All of us are in tune to the world of energy, but most have trained ourselves to dismiss the information we are getting on a daily basis and tell ourselves that it is our imagination that is making up the information. It is said that the human mind processes well over 3,000 thoughts and pieces of information in one day. But we only focus on a small percentage of these pieces of information. We have trained ourselves to tune into the information we “think” is important and dismiss the rest without a second thought. But what if you could train yourself to tune into not only the parts you “think” are important, but the information that “feels” important?

Think of energy as a radio frequency, and if you just learn to “tune into” the frequency of your intuition, you could have a life that runs much more smoothly. Intuition is essentially “paying attention” or “noticing” the things around you and then going with the information you are given. Intuition is that guiding sense that is within all beings.

I am sure you have all heard in science class about energy;

- All of life is energy

- What may appear to be solid is not, it is simply energy moving at different rates

- Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it just is.

Well psychic messages are forms of energy that come to us, but most of us are so caught up in the everyday hum drum of life that we miss almost 95% of the messages given to us daily.

Psychic messages are very subtle and usually come out of nowhere. Because of the soft nature of psychic messages, we tend to think we are making up those thoughts or pretending we didn’t just get a message. It isn’t until after some of them manifest that we think, “Oh I knew that!”

These happen to us daily, you may be driving in your car and you think of your sister, so you call her and she was having a really tough day and really wanted to talk to you. Or your partner said “I got your birthday present today!” And you blurt out “Is it a trip to the coast?” And he looks at you and says. “Dangit!!! How did you guess?” Shocked that you were right, you ask yourself, “Wow… how did I know that?” What you tapped into was your intuitive sense, your inner spirit, your psychic ability, those energy patterns that are all around us that some choose to tune out most of the time.

We just have to be open to receiving the messages and “tune into” the frequency and we will begin to get the messages. The more we tune in and practice hearing them, the easier it gets.

A few ways to begin tapping into energy and those frequencies are through meditation, talking to your Spirit Guides and trusting in the information you are getting.

So this Halloween or Samhain, gather your friends and family pull out a deck of regular playing cards and begin to shuffle. As you shuffle think of a question. When you feel guided, lay out three cards in front of you. Ask yourself, “I wonder what these cards mean to me?” Then see what pops in your head! It’s that simple.

If after you try a few times, and you still aren’t getting anything, your ego is getting in the way. So to that I say “Make something up! When you make something up that will allow your ego to get out of the way and then the true frequencies will start to come out. This is a very fluid process.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" ~ Neale Donald Walsch So get out of your comfort zone this Samhain and pull out those cards or tea leaves and have a howling good time.

Blessed Be )O(

The Benefits of Day Dreaming

2011-10-14T17:24:32Z

The past few weeks I have taking you through the steps required to create the life you have always wanted, doing what you have always dreamed of doing. But recently I have been getting emails from people telling me that they have lost their dream years ago, and have no idea on how to access that part of themselves. So I thought I would repost an article I wrote for Spiritual U http://spiritualu.eu/. In which, I talk about the massive benefits that day dreaming can have on our lives.

Enjoy!
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How many times in your life has someone said to you “stop day dreaming and pay attention”? How long have you struggled with trying to focus on this or that only to find yourself, up in the clouds? Well what if I told you that day dreaming is a vital component to achieving our highest potential? It is true!

Through my entire life, I have struggled with keeping my focus and attention on the task at hand; whether it was homework, house work or my taxes, my mind would constantly want to wonder. I once had a teacher tell me that when I day dreamed I “check out” of her class and “check into the clouds”. I began to notice a pattern in my life, when times got tough, I would start to clean out things in my house; things such as a closet or drawer. When I would do this would shift into this auto-pilot state or trance like state and would clean things out without really thinking about anything, ie day dreaming. It was a type of meditation for me.

While in college I found my day dreaming was getting out of hand. I was determined to beat this pesky need for day dreaming once and for all, so I enrolled in a Yoga class in hopes that I would finally beat my desire to day dream. In the middle of the first class, I was thinking “Oh good grief, when will this end?” The physical part was fun and challenging but the mental part was painful. “Just Notice” the teacher would always say…. “What?” I thought? “Notice what? This is ridiculous.” I dreaded the next few months in this class. But as the days went on I noticed that when he would say, in the middle of a pose, “Just notice” my mind began to wander and wonder about my body, my breath, my life and my purpose. I found my life started to flow more fluidly and more efficiently. I couldn’t quite pin point what it was exactly that had shifted but I began to feel freer.

It wasn’t until after I had completed the class and had moved on to other classes and other activities that I felt the urge to day dream again. I begin to think there may be a correlation between “Just noticing” the present world around me, my body and my peace of mind in relation to my state of being.

In his book “Just Notice…Just This” My yoga instructor and author Richard Stathem say’s this:

“The word YOGA is a Sanskrit word which literally means union. What is united in yoga varies with the level and the type of practice. Yoga may refer to the union of interpersonal relationships, union between the various physiological systems of the body, union between the many psychological systems of the mind, union and integration between mind and body, or the union between ones worldly self and the vast, nameless Spiritual Essence. Yoga refers to the joining together, the uniting, of all of the many selves and identities we all have like the hub connects the spokes of a wheel and as the wheels rim surrounds it all. In our daily yoga practice, which includes all that the day offers, we focus on the philosophy of yoga. Yoga philosophy is neither eastern nor western ... it is universal as stated in the title of this book: just notice; just this. Above all else, yoga is a philosophy of common sense a philosophy of being in the moment. Yoga philosophy holds that we are whole and complete just as we are, but many of us have lost touch with an awareness of that perfection by becoming attached to the things of this world ... including (and especially) attachment to, and identification with, the body.”

When I read “…the union of interpersonal relationships, union between the various physiological systems of the body, union between the many psychological systems of the mind, union and integration between mind and body, or the union between ones worldly self and the vast, nameless Spiritual Essence… & …we are whole and complete just as we are, but many of us have lost touch with an awareness of that perfection by becoming attached to the things of this world…” It stopped me dead in my tracks. How many times have we looked for approval or answers from outside sources? Whether it is friends, relatives, drugs, alcohol etc… We beat ourselves up for things we feel we cannot control or things we can control but choose not to. What we should be doing is looking within and just noticing what our bodies and minds are telling us: noticing through day dreaming and just being with our mind, body and breath. Through this noticing of ourselves we start to gain a deeper understanding of our true purpose in life and start to give ourselves the freedom to be our authentic self.

I started researching this to see if I could find studies that proved day dreaming or just noticing could do for our minds and state of being. Many studies and journals pin pointed these correlations but one in particular really stood out from the rest.

In the award winning study published in the May 12, 2009 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it finds that day dreaming activates the brain in the areas associated with high-level and complex problem solving even more so than when we were consciously working on highly complex situations. Day dreaming allows your ego to “check out” and your unconscious brain to “check in” to what is the most ideal approach or solution to things without consciously working on it. By day dreaming we can actually achieve our highest potential by allowing our brains to sort things out instead of our egos.

So I began to experiment this theory by just sitting quietly for 5 min a day to just be with myself and my thoughts. At first it was very difficult to just sit and do nothing, but after a week or so I really got the hang of it. I also noticed benefits of this while doing active meditations such as walking or gardening, a perfect time for the body to be busy and the mind to wander.

An exercise I give my clients to help them regain the ability to freely (without guilt) day dream, is to just sit for 5 min a day and start to notice what is around them. Actively notice all that is around you and mentally note it…”I see a cup, a silver lamp, a window…oh wow, I need to wash the windows…It’s so nice outside today… etc…” When you start to notice the things around you, then your mind will begin to wander where it needs to go and by just sitting there allows this natural pattern to emerge with little resistance. This allows your mind to be free from the daily focus of our ego and our tasks, and work on the more complex issues in our lives.

Often times you will get the best ideas or breakthroughs after you have had a session of day dreaming; whether it is from just sitting or doing something like walking, gardening or painting. When we go with the flow of life and allow our minds the freedom to day dream, we are allowing our brains to work on the more complex problems in life for us instead of having to worry about the best way to solve them ourselves.

So the next time you find yourself “checking out” or “having your head in the clouds” know that you are actually doing something very productive and give yourself a break and the freedom to dream.

You Want Me to do What???

2011-10-06T20:51:00Z

In Last week’s blog post I wrote about getting clear on your vision by creating a vision board to aid in gaining clarity. Many of us think that once we get clear on our goals that the goal will just fall in our lap and success will be achieved with little or no effort. That once we make the vision board the work is done. Isn’t this what the Law of Attraction is all about? Isn’t it supposed to be that easy?

As a child I saw my parents work in many different sectors of the economic world. My father was the director of purchasing for over 50 years at a paperboard company that created boxes for everything from Kleenex® and breakfast cereals to motor parts. My mother was a very successful insurance agent winning sales awards left and right not only in the state of Wisconsin but in the entire tri-state region. My parents were also established Bee Keepers, which included selling honey and bees wax, they were Shaklee® distributers (natural health products) with a mini store in our basement, and they also owned a “Video Center” before the days of Blockbuster. So needless to say, I grew up seeing what it’s like “behind the scenes and in the trenches” of living a dream (or two or three). : )

One thing that my parents taught me, through their actions, was that it takes a clear goal, a plan, as well as patience and persistence when following your dream. I learned not to give up when all seems lost or when you get to what seems like a dead end. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn.” Author Unknown

You may be asking, “So if doing my vision board isn’t all there is to do, what comes next?” Let’s break this down. Envision you have your goals and dreams on your vision board; really look at your main goal or destination. Next map out the baby steps needed to get to your goal. Let’s say you want to go to college but have no money. (Step by step)

You put a photo of the college you want to attend on your vision board.
Plan baby steps towards that goal.
Knowing you will need scholarships to be able to go….
You speak to someone at the college and share your dream of going to college.
You also begin to look for scholarships available for your demographic.
You find several scholarship categories that you fit into and apply.
You find out that several scholarships require you to write a three page essay, and for one of them, you have to interview someone working in your desired field of study.
You become discouraged at the amount of work, but you push on and complete the work required of you.
You not only qualify for those scholarships, but you also qualify for several others that the scholarship coordinator at the college found for you! Yay!!!
You are now on your way to funding your college years!

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. When you encounter road blocks allow that to feed you instead of defeat you. Allow the road block to speak to you so you can learn from the struggle and block. “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.” Frank A. Clark. So many times I have my clients tell me they were “this close” to making it to their dream, but they were just tired; tired of the let down, tired mentally, emotionally and physically. They let the obstacles and the work defeat them.

I know some of you are thinking: “Why do I have to do work? Why bother writing, recording, printing and distributing Cd’s? I know someone will ‘discover me’ somewhere.” Or “I am so talented, I’ll just be able to write my manuscript, send it in and I am sure to get the book deal.” I am here to tell you it takes work to achieve goals. As the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison made 10,000 unsuccessful attempts. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 10,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 10,000 different times. The light bulb was invented with 10,000 steps.”

“The secret of success is focus of purpose.” Thomas Edison

Look at your goal; break it down into manageable baby steps and then keep moving forward towards that goal. Even though some days it seems as though you are going backwards, keep on going. When you encounter “road blocks” move around them or stop and look around, what can you do differently? Always be willing to change your course, as there is not one path to accomplishing your dreams… there are many. Just pick one and start moving forward.

Go ahead, jump…

2011-09-28T16:57:22Z

In my last blog, I wrote about change and finally being angry enough about sitting stagnant in life to once and for all face our fears and move forward. By using that channeled anger as fuel to start living life on your terms, you really can take your life back. Once we feel that building up of energy the momentum of energy brings you to take action towards our goals. I have met many people, myself included, that at times; feel a bit unsure of ourselves in taking that next step forward.

Moving forward means taking action and with action comes risk! With risk sometimes comes the possibility of failing, fear of looking “stupid” to our pears and having anxiety about those risks! Walter Anderson, states in The Confidence Course, 1997 “Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.”

How many times have you been on the edge, ready to take that final leap, and you allowed fear to stop you? One of my favorite quotes illustrates overcoming this fear, “When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.” ~Cynthia Heimel, Lower Manhattan Survival Tactics. Go ahead, take that leap. Those leaps of faith based on your vision, your dream, your goals and your life are the ones that are the most productive and the most satisfying of them all! “Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.” ~ Author Unknown

You may be asking “How do I start to move forward?” That’s easy, write down your goal so you can see it in the real world. All too often when people have a vision for the future, but so many keep it hidden in their minds for fear of being scrutinized for having “unrealistic dreams or goals”; when you write it down, you will see it for what it really is your future. Once you write it down, it’s time to make it happen.

“This nation was built by men who took risks - pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, business men who were not afraid of failure, scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who were not afraid of action.” ~Brooks Atkinson

I often create vision boards when I have a new dream or goal that I am working towards. A vision board is a focal point and gathering place for your mind to really see that dream manifest through to your reality. To create a vision board, simply take a piece of paper or a poster board of any size and start to fill the blank space with your dream. Cut out pictures from magazines that show people doing what you want to be doing, use glue and glitter, ticket stubs, photos, things you find off the internet or just simply words. Let your creativity soar. Allow your dream to manifest on your board. Once you complete your vision board put it up where you can see it everyday. You will naturally begin to take baby steps towards your goal and finally take back your life; driven by that dream, that new reality that you see on that board everyday.

I have a client who spoke about her lifelong dream of going on an exotic trip to a “jungle destination” she said with excitement. I asked her if she had her passport. She looked at me like I was nuts, then her face lit up. “Well I suppose if I am going to travel, I should get one! I can’t believe that never occurred to me!” She got her passport and within six months she was off to her “jungle adventure”! When you have a dream, a vision, and you exclaim to the universe you want to make it happen, the universe will give you all the opportunities to make it happen!

I talk about my own experiences in making things happen in my own life, when I had no place to go but up. I was a homeless, single mom, with no money and no job, but I did feel that stirring inside and I had a vision in my heart. Check out my Vlog about the experience here.

Remember, “You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky and “What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” ~ Robert H. Schuller

Go ahead, jump and realize that you do have wings!

Helpful Links:
Vision Boards
Vision Boards Workshop

Are You Angry Enough Yet?

2011-09-20T20:37:16Z

Recently I was at a high school football game with my family. We were sitting in the stands waiting for the game to start when I over heard a group of kids talking. In this group of kids, there was a heated discussion between two girls taking place. To recap the interaction I will call the participants girl one and girl two.

Girl one said “I hate you! You are so fake! Ever since you came back you have been all ‘look at me, look what I can do.’ You’re not all that so why don’t you just shut up and stop telling everyone lies about who you are! I was your friend before remember I know how you really are.”

Girl two said “You don’t even know me anymore, I’ve been gone two years and I have changed. You treat me like I am the same person I was then. A lot has happened to me and I am not the same person. Why can’t you just be happy for me and get to know the me that I am now?” Girl two ran away crying. The rest of the group was laughing and applauding girl one, but I did see two members of the group go to console the girl that ran away.

People in our lives change and much to their dismay the people around them; friends, family, even co-workers tend to resist that change. Change is the one and only constant in our lives and change is something we can either do with grace or with resistance. Speaker and author Caroline Myss says “Many of our life crises are divinely scheduled to get us to change and head in a different direction.” Through those changes we begin to emerge a new person and a new persona. I love this quote by Woodrow Wilson, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” It really does show someone’s true character by how they respond to someone else’s change and evolution. When someone, anyone starts to change, there is always one person who lashes out. They lash out out of jealousy, resentment and fear. Fear of change. Fear of the constant flux that is our lives here on Earth.

I see it every day in my clients and students of people who want to change but are so afraid to do so out of fear of what is on the other side. Fear that they will be rejected by their partner, co-workers or closets friends. They stay in unhealthy relationships, demeaning jobs, or dis-empowering friendships for the sake of what others “might” think about them if they choose to change, if they choose to live their life on their terms. So many are angry that they have wasted so many years resisting change, angry with others for changing and ultimately angry with themselves for sitting still too long. They see others succeed in life and moving forward where they seem stuck.

One of my clients recently went through a situation where she had watched one of her coworkers start with the company and in five short years move up to a senior management position; my client was passed up due to lack of action on her part. She said that she felt the calling to act on things at work, and be the “go getter!” but felt she was less than, and if she tried to be the “go getter” she would be acting as a fraud. That made her so angry that wanting to be more, made her feel like a fraud.

The amazing speaker and author Karly Randolph Pitman said in a talk about how when she was a stay at home mom, she was jealous of this other stay at home mom she was friends with, “Because she was so well put together.” Her friend gave herself permission to change her life so it empowered her. She gave herself permission to wear jeans instead of sweat pants all day. She gave herself permission to be more than what her fear allowed her to wallow in. Karly finally realized she wasn't giving herself permission to live life on her terms, she was holding herself back out of fear.

The brilliant speaker and empowerment coach and my personal mentor Crystal Andrus says in her book Simply Empowered “It takes courage to wake up and make the right choice. It’s the brave people who embrace their feelings rather than numb them, feed them, or run from them. It takes strength to face ourselves – the good, the bad and the ugly. It takes strength to tell the people in our lives how we really feel, what we really want and who we really are."

Most people change out of necessity or out of courage which is channeled anger.

“Channeled anger is a powerful force that gives us the fuel we need to shift into higher levels of consciousness. When transmuted, it allows us to move into courage, willingness and ultimately love. What most of us don’t realize is that anger and frustration aren’t necessarily bad things…unless we remain stuck there! In fact, it’s only when a person gets angry enough that things change – they must change. Success will never come until you take action. No amount of praying, meditating, or visualizing will get you there.” Crystal Andrus

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” Harvey MacKay

Now is the time to face those fears of change, now is the time to stand up to all the “girl number one's” in our lives. Don’t run away; stand tall for everyone in your life to see that you are in charge of your dreams, your goals and your life! “It's the most unhappy people who most fear change.” Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Author unknown, commonly misattributed to Charles Darwin

Who are you to tell me this???

2011-09-12T17:11:54Z

Recently I connected with a new mentor, Crystal Andrus, who is one of the most amazing women I have met to date. In her mentoring program a few of the things we are doing is to really look at who we are, why we are doing what we do and where we want to be in the future.   In doing these exercises and digging deep within myself and my business I have started to make some changes; weeding out things here and there and really getting to the nuts and bolts of myself and my business. I have started to streamline certain things and really hone in on my purpose; being of service to everyone that I can. These changes have been so exhilarating and so freeing for my Spirit.

I have found, however, while making these changes, a few of the people that follow me are quite angry at me and boy are they letting me know it. I have gotten some very heated emails regarding the changes in my business and "Who are you to think you can do this?" To them I have but one response. "Who am I not to do it?  This is my passion, my purpose and my life!"

To illustrate my point, I am going to quote Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.

          “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

So my friends please use my success story as inspiration for your own. I have been a single mom on food stamps with nothing. I have been in a place consumed by fear, doubt and betrayal. I asked the Divine for guidance and help and I received it.  I received a vision of what is to come. I have used that vision as my driving force to create the life I want for my today and tomorrow.

Who are YOU not to be Great? If you are feeling angry, jealous, envy, disgust, hatred...ask yourself, what am I afraid of in my own life that is causing me to not be joyous for another's success. Use this as your fuel to propel you forward to your own today and tomorrow, to your own dreams, desires, purpose and passions.

I honor you and your Spirit as you soar high. I rejoice in your success!!! Yay!!!

The Swing Set

2011-08-31T17:08:06Z

Recently my husband and I were walking our dogs Teddy and Marley around the neighborhood and decided to take a new route. This new route brought us to a neighborhood playground. Yay!!! My husband, not really being a spontaneous type of guy, took the leash out of my hand and tied it, and the leash he was holding to a bench and got on a swing. Again "Yay!!!"

I sat down on the seat, grabbed the chains that secured the seat to the set and started pumping my legs to move the swing higher. I was transported back in time to grade school and pumping my legs back and forth over and over again to get as high as I could. I would close my eyes and it would feel like I was flying. The motion of the swing, the fall of my stomach, the snugness of the seat holding me. I got lost in the moment.

After a few minutes, I turned and looked over at my husband and he was just safely swinging very slowly and not going very high. I said "Come on Honey, go high!!!" "No, I'm good just like this." he said. Then something came out of my mouth that I really struck me, that I must share with you today.

"What fun is that? Come on Honey, pump your legs and go so high that it feels like your flying! You'll feel the seat so you know you'll still be safe! Ya know, this is just like what it feels like to trust in Spirit. You work really hard to go as high as you can, then just close your eyes and you know you'll still be safe. Just do it and feel the excitement. Feel that drop in your stomach! Yay!!!! "

Are you playing it safe with your Spirituality? Are you afraid to really fly as high as you can and allow your Spirit to grow? Really discover what you full potential is and your full true expression of yourself is my really trusting in your Spirit!!!

Start living today!

Welcome

2011-08-30T15:52:35Z

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.