I take a deep breath as I begin to write today as I am tired and overwhelmed by Christmas rush and busy-ness.
How are you doing?
Are you looking forward to a break? Are you the host that feels the pressure to make it all perfect? Are you feeling money pressures? The loss of someone you love? Distance from family or too close to family & wanting to escape the craziness?!
Most likely you are not feeling peaceful and prepared and with everything in order but I may be wrong!!!
And you know what?
Its all OK.
I recently heard a TED Talk about making stress your friend. The speaker, a psychologist, who for decades had been advising people to take time out, to breathe, to relinquish some responsibilities in order to bring their life back into balance, to take up yoga, meditation etc. etc. had read new data on stress which said its not so bad for you afterall!!
Its the BELIEF that its bad for you that has a detrimental effect!!! A bit like money being the root of all evil....in fact its the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil.
So time to change our beliefs again!!
Affirm, I thrive on stress, it motivates me, it helps me achieve a great deal, it allows me to connect with others and ask for help. I am a dynamo, I am dynamic, full of energy and courage, all is well in my crazy world. I love the energy of Christmas. I dive in and take part in the festivities with gusto! Life is good!
Dont knock it till you've tried it!!!
Thats what Im going to do. Im off to a party tonight after 5 hours sleep and a full day of work. I choose to see the stress response of my body as helpful, as giving me courage, I can trust my body, knowing that stress keeps my heart be strong and my body helps me rise to any challenge.
Have a wonderful Christmas week everybody!
To read the transcript of the TED talk go here
http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend/transcript?language=en
In and through all things Love is the message that Spirit would have us know; that we are loved, that we are love and that love is always the answer. Let the words you read here be a message for you today from the Universe that created you, perfect as you are.
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Holiday Eating
It's that time of year when everything we love is on offer in the realm of food and many items in that arena that don't love us! I adore dark chocolate and I have to admit rarely a day goes by that I don't eat some, for the antioxidant qualities you know!
I will admit also that its easy for me to put on a few pounds and find myself so unhappy about the way my jeans create that lovely muffin top look! Eek!
Well I have been working on bringing food into a new perspective and recently read Marianne Williamson's book "A Course in Weight Loss." It has helped me see not just food but my body in a new way.
Our bodies deserve our respect. In fact if we really think about it, our bodies deserve our reverence. Our bodies are miraculous machines that allow us the gift of living, doing the things we do daily, and supporting our experience of life. Walking in the nature, seeing our loved ones faces, hearing the birdsong, touching velvet or the hand of a lover, speaking words of love, thinking grand ideas, remembering wonderful moments, smelling the turkey baking in the oven, what joys our precious bodies give us.
Yet we don't often fully appreciate it. Instead we berate it, criticize it, and sometimes abuse it. And it is simply responding to how we have treated it and held it in our minds.
Its time to love the body you are in.
I invite you to listen to Marianne talk about this subject and this holiday season be kind to your body, it deserves your love. As much or more than any other body!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wo7VGuPbNo
I will admit also that its easy for me to put on a few pounds and find myself so unhappy about the way my jeans create that lovely muffin top look! Eek!
Well I have been working on bringing food into a new perspective and recently read Marianne Williamson's book "A Course in Weight Loss." It has helped me see not just food but my body in a new way.
Our bodies deserve our respect. In fact if we really think about it, our bodies deserve our reverence. Our bodies are miraculous machines that allow us the gift of living, doing the things we do daily, and supporting our experience of life. Walking in the nature, seeing our loved ones faces, hearing the birdsong, touching velvet or the hand of a lover, speaking words of love, thinking grand ideas, remembering wonderful moments, smelling the turkey baking in the oven, what joys our precious bodies give us.
Yet we don't often fully appreciate it. Instead we berate it, criticize it, and sometimes abuse it. And it is simply responding to how we have treated it and held it in our minds.
Its time to love the body you are in.
I invite you to listen to Marianne talk about this subject and this holiday season be kind to your body, it deserves your love. As much or more than any other body!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wo7VGuPbNo
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Time out
If we are always busy how can we truly savor life's greatest gifts?
As you move through all that needs to get done this holiday season I urge you to make the time for some stillness. In the quiet is where we really get to be with our truest feelings and we get a chance to reflect on all that we have achieved in our busy times, our family gatherings, all that our senses have so quickly absorbed. We can access if there was something left unsaid, or undone, we can access if how we spent our time was truly valuable or if we need to make adjustments. Remember too than in the stillness daydreams bring in valuable visions and new ideas.
Its my intention this year to create this kind of time intentionally because I wont be travelling home. In my mind I will make many journeys. I will visit with people I have known who are no longer with me, some of my past Christmases have been my best gifts and I intend to truly savor them in gratitude. I also intend to be grateful for whatever days are left to me, for there is not one of us who knows the day nor the hour that we will take our leave. I reap as I sow, I intend to sow a lot of love. In stillness I imagine how that will be.
Make time to savor and to intend, its your life, is it good? If not, look harder for the good in it. There is always, always something to be grateful for. What actions can you actively take to make it better? You are the creator of your own experience, there is no one else to look to to make a change.
I wish you time, peace and balance, and stretches of stillness at all times of the year but especially now so you can access what your heart wishes to experience this Christmastime and for all time.
Namaste.
In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.
As you move through all that needs to get done this holiday season I urge you to make the time for some stillness. In the quiet is where we really get to be with our truest feelings and we get a chance to reflect on all that we have achieved in our busy times, our family gatherings, all that our senses have so quickly absorbed. We can access if there was something left unsaid, or undone, we can access if how we spent our time was truly valuable or if we need to make adjustments. Remember too than in the stillness daydreams bring in valuable visions and new ideas.
Its my intention this year to create this kind of time intentionally because I wont be travelling home. In my mind I will make many journeys. I will visit with people I have known who are no longer with me, some of my past Christmases have been my best gifts and I intend to truly savor them in gratitude. I also intend to be grateful for whatever days are left to me, for there is not one of us who knows the day nor the hour that we will take our leave. I reap as I sow, I intend to sow a lot of love. In stillness I imagine how that will be.
Make time to savor and to intend, its your life, is it good? If not, look harder for the good in it. There is always, always something to be grateful for. What actions can you actively take to make it better? You are the creator of your own experience, there is no one else to look to to make a change.
I wish you time, peace and balance, and stretches of stillness at all times of the year but especially now so you can access what your heart wishes to experience this Christmastime and for all time.
Namaste.
In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.
Deepak Chopra
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Happy Holidays
The holiday season always brings with it some stress and lately I have begun to understand that situations that stress or frustrate us are simply asking us to find the real truth at the heart of life.
Let me explain what I mean. Ups and downs are part and parcel of life, big ones like loosing a job and small ones like screaming kids at the mall; they are pretty much unavoidable so what do we do when we can't change something?
Viktor Frankl says “When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” And the Buddha said the more we resist things as they are the more we suffer.
I dont think its possible to go through life without encountering something that triggers our upset or annoyance or challenges our sanity in one way or another. Its part of being human.
The real truth at the heart of life, as I mentioned earlier, is that we all deserve and are love and understanding. Something that makes us suffer is asking us to find our compassion, to remember that on a soul level we can grow through this experience and find love for ourselves and those around us. Circumstances change, things come to pass not to stay. The only lasting thing is our consciousness.
No matter if you are heading out to shop for Christmas or caring for someone with cancer, in whatever situation you find yourself pushed to your limits, remember it is in your power to practice compassion.
Soften your heart and speak gently to yourself. There is already enough stress in the world. No less than we would wish for ourselves, let us also wish the best for others. Try to find the best possible reason for a person's rudeness or seeming insensitive behavior. There is always room for more love in the world and you can be a channel for it this Holiday Season.
It is a wonderful opportunity to practice goodwill to all men.
And remember if you feel your goodwill toward men running low maybe its time to take yourself back to your sanctuary and make yourself a cup of hot chocolate as you congratulate yourself on your patience and your ability to change yourself instead of fighting the inevitable. How powerful you are!
Let me explain what I mean. Ups and downs are part and parcel of life, big ones like loosing a job and small ones like screaming kids at the mall; they are pretty much unavoidable so what do we do when we can't change something?
Viktor Frankl says “When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” And the Buddha said the more we resist things as they are the more we suffer.
I dont think its possible to go through life without encountering something that triggers our upset or annoyance or challenges our sanity in one way or another. Its part of being human.
The real truth at the heart of life, as I mentioned earlier, is that we all deserve and are love and understanding. Something that makes us suffer is asking us to find our compassion, to remember that on a soul level we can grow through this experience and find love for ourselves and those around us. Circumstances change, things come to pass not to stay. The only lasting thing is our consciousness.
No matter if you are heading out to shop for Christmas or caring for someone with cancer, in whatever situation you find yourself pushed to your limits, remember it is in your power to practice compassion.
Soften your heart and speak gently to yourself. There is already enough stress in the world. No less than we would wish for ourselves, let us also wish the best for others. Try to find the best possible reason for a person's rudeness or seeming insensitive behavior. There is always room for more love in the world and you can be a channel for it this Holiday Season.
It is a wonderful opportunity to practice goodwill to all men.
And remember if you feel your goodwill toward men running low maybe its time to take yourself back to your sanctuary and make yourself a cup of hot chocolate as you congratulate yourself on your patience and your ability to change yourself instead of fighting the inevitable. How powerful you are!
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