This 4-minute video will get you started...
Taking time to look back at the year ending before setting intentions and creating visions for the year ahead can help clear the slate and prepare the soil for the new seeds. This 4-minute video will get you started... Make list of your accomplishments over the past year, including major categories of life such as your health and wellbeing, work, finances, relationships, authenticity, growth and learning, etc. Really let yourself see what you've done with your time and energy. Be careful not to judge the size or importance of the list - this is about seeing what you DID rather than what you didn't :) Create at least a few minutes of space for yourself to just bask in the glow and celebrate and appreciate all that you’ve done, all you're becoming, and all that you are.
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Yesterday’s Winter Solstice marked the longest night of the year, but it’s at a time of year where many of us often get very little rest. Like much of life, the holiday season can be a giant contradiction: festive, beautiful, heartwarming, cold, peaceful, overwhelming, and confusing.
Within the span of a few minutes, we can be both the best and worst of ourselves as our kind and generous hearts are besieged by fatigue and stress. We may graciously wish joy and peace to total strangers in one moment, and then proceed to fight them in traffic the next. I’ve long said bad traffic and crammed parking lots tend to bring out the worst in people – it’s a particularly interesting juxtaposition during a time when people are (generally) at their most loving and compassionate. Have you ever watched a child eat lots of candy, their mood and antics swirling and escalating higher and higher, louder and louder until they hit the inevitable peak of the sugar high, followed by the equally predictable crash? This time of year feels a little to me like the grown-up version of that scenario. Sometimes sugar is the culprit. Sometimes it’s a lack of sleep, too much social interaction, or too little authentic expression of our real thoughts and desires in an attempt to keep the peace. But the collapse is just as inevitable. So before you find yourself screaming or cursing or crying (or all of the above), GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. REST!!!!! The world won’t fall apart, I promise. Even if you take a bag of chips to your office potluck or ask your friends to skip exchanging gifts this year, or use gift bags instead of fancy wrapping, the world will keep spinning. Guaranteed. Or it won’t, and then all of that really won’t matter :) To me, Child’s Pose represents rest - an opportunity to regroup, re-center, and take a break. Let go of the illusion of control. You can get down on the floor, or just visualize pulling into your imaginary turtle shell and breathe deeply for a few moments. In the stillness of rest, listen for the voice of balance. BREATHE. "Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. It is all we ever have, so we might as well work with it rather than struggling against it. We might as well make it our friend and teacher rather than our enemy." ~Pema Chodron Every moment contains an opportunity for a choice - love or fear? Possibility or limitation? Seriousness or light-heartedness? Resistance or acceptance? Growth or comfort? Creating change requires consistently making choices in alignment with your goal. That may sound simple, but it requires a level of awareness most of us don’t have much experience maintaining. Have you ever arrived somewhere in your car with no recollection of the journey? Walked away from a conversation and had no idea what was said? Events like those remind us how often we operate on auto-pilot, without being fully present. While our ability to function automatically can save us a lot of time, it can also undermine our transformation. Practicing presence is absolutely crucial to our personal revolution. Two of the most powerful keys to presence are sensation & breath. Notice your thoughts, emotions, actions, and physical responses. Pay attention to what tempts you to check-out, run away, or numb out. Be there for every possible moment. No matter what is happening around you, you have a choice. Who you will be in the face of it? What story will you tell about it? Will you suffer over it or accept it? Will you let it stop you or find a way to learn and grow from it? Your life is the sum-total of the choices you made in the ever-unfolding present moment. Choose! |
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Tools that fit into your hectic days and busy life... If you feel like you've hit the wall, are exhausted, feel like something's missing, or just need some new tools and techniques in your back pocket, you're in the right place. We all get stressed and overloaded from time to time. My strategies and blog offer support, tools, perspectives & reminders to help you be your most powerful & make the biggest difference in your work & your life. You can read more about me and my journey on the About page. Archives
January 2015
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