Listen

Listen.
What do you hear?
Right now I hear a bus passing outside and a child turning the page of a large book.
I listen some more and I can hear a newspaper being folded and as I close my eyes to eliminate distractions I become aware of my breathing. I cant hear it but I feel it.

How often each day do we actually feel our breathing, maybe with a sigh, or a yawn.
Breathing is one incredibly powerful way to control our stress levels and consequently impact our health. And the best thing is - its free!

Listening and becoming aware of our breathing is the first step to body consciousness. So often we are unaware of our bodies. I know this has been so for me for most of my life. I am a head centered person, thoughts running me here and there and keeping me occupied for hours on end. What can I read on the internet, what can I watch on TV, find me a good book, write me a journal, who can I call...OMG it wears me out! And there's more.

Probably over 20 years ago I made my first attempt to meditate. It was a disaster! Yet I knew there was something there for me. I came back to it after a decade had passed. Slowly, slowly I began to release myself to it's benefits.
The benefits to me are the release of fear. When I sit and simply be, allowing what is, being with my body and beyond that the ether/energy/life. Imagining the universe is breathing me, I allow the knowing, that the spacious place within me is the same place I came from and the place I am going to, beyond this life. Its not a scary place of oblivion with which my ego/mind fights. It is a peace that goes beyond understanding.
Meet me there.
Listen.
Do you feel your breathing as you close your eyes.
This is the gateway.
Come on inside.
Listen.

Merry Stressful Christmas!

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

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.

Deepak Chopra

Natural Healing

Live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find eternity in each moment. - Henry David Thoreau

I took a hike this morning for the first time in a while. I offer no excuses but wonder why when I enjoy hiking in the hills so much that I don't go more often. It was a perfect October morning, a little chilly, I needed a sweatshirt at least part of the way. I used to hike three or four times a week so walking on the gravelly earth with the scent of sage all around me brought back happy feelings of deep pleasure.

I had recently listened to a CD on developing your intuition and one of the things recommended is to be in nature and drink deep of its healing energy. We are so bombarded by energy from people all day, particularly in cities. Even buildings and places have energy that affects us in both negative and positive ways. The earth is naturally regenerating and can sooth our jangled nerves and stresses. I think we all know that, but we forget it, caught up in the fast pace of life.

My experience this morning showed me how it takes effort to really relax if you have not done so on a regular basis. I found as I walked I would get caught up in my thoughts and miss the moment. Then a scrub jay would screech and I would be brought back to my environment. I thanked the birds for reminding me to be in the present moment.

Children don't need to be reminded. I think their ability to be present is why time seems to go so slowly for them. At least that's my memory of it. A half hour car drive to the seaside seems like an eternity. "Are we there yet, are we there yet?" Now I drive a half hour and blink, I'm there! I likened my hiking experience to our life experience, if we are not present, we miss the gifts of the moment; time flies by and next thing you know, blink, its over. Is it possible to slow down and smell the roses? It's certainly worth trying. Meditation helps, awareness helps, a desire to be here now helps. Do you have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. Don't miss it.- Leo Buscaglia

Love is everywhere.

"Love is in the air, in the rising of the sun,

Love is in the air, when the day is nearly done,

and I don't know if you are illusion, don't know if I see truth,

but you are something that I must believe in, and you are there when I reach out for you." Lyrics by Tom Jones

Love is everywhere, really, it's true. Look for it, don't stop looking till you see it.

So often we decide where love is to be found or how it should appear and then miss it completely when it stares us in the face because it doesn't look like we decided it should. Love is not just romantic, like that great Louis Armstrong song says, its in babies cries and blue skies, trees of green, cluods of white...why? Because of what these things evoke in us. These are miracles, joys free for the having. Friends shaking hands, they really are saying "I love you." If we listen really closely we can hear it. Love really is not something external to us, it's in us to discover by being aware, listening, waiting, allowing it to show itself to us.

Listen awhile today, see what you hear on the deepest level of life. It really is a wonderful world.
Enjoy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaZBNJ6SD1I&feature=response_watch