Relaxation in Just Minutes

Relaxation-ahhhhh. Just the thought makes us desire it. Unfortunately, most of us tend to think that we can't relax unless it's on a beach, or on the weekend with a brewski and the NFL on the tube. Well, today I am going to give you a technique to use everyday to take a mini-relaxation break.

1. You can do this with your eyes open or closed. Relax your entire body as much as you can. Take 3 slow, deep breaths, in thru your nose, out thru your mouth. Feel where you are holding tension and relax those places. Feel yourself getting "heavy".

2. Now, starting with your feet, clench the muscles as you inhale. Hold, then relax your feet as you exhale. I like to do this 3 times. Take longer on the out breath and the relaxation, than you do on the inhale and muscle contraction.

3. Now, take this technique up through your body. Do your calves, your upper legs, your buttocks, your tummy, your chest, your shoulders, your arms, your hands (clench into a fist), your neck, and your face.

4.When your entire body has been done, sit or lie quietly for 5 minutes. Continue breathing slowly and deeply, in and out. Feel the tension flowing out of your body and into the ground.

5. When you are ready, open your eyes if you had them closed, count backward from 5 to 0, continuing the deep breathing. You may feel a bit disoriented at first, but this will pass. Get up and stretch.
6. Now, don't you feel better!

Daughters=Friends

I have been looking at a lot of problems lately and was starting to feel more than a little overwhelmed. It seemed like I was headed back into some of the same old patterns, even after all of the years I had worked to overcome them. I had forgotten a lot of my coping and problem solving skills. I was, in a word, too close to the situation to see it from a new perspective.
Living in a new town and having experienced quite a few health issues had hampered my ability to make new friends. I have two beautiful, smart grown girls that I feel fortunate enough to call "friends", one even lives in the same town. I talk to both of them on the phone quite frequently. But, being Mom, I didn't want to burden them with my problems. Or, truth be told, have them see me as fallible and very human. I was, after all, MOM. I was supposed to be the one that THEY came to with their problems, not the other way around. To make a long story short, they both could see that something was up with me and before too long, I was pouring my heart out to them. They were just the sounding boards I had needed. They are both supportive and are not above kicking my rump to get me in gear. I love them dearly! I guess, I am trying to say, don't disregard any of the resources you have at hand, smart, caring little girls grow up to be smart, caring women. I am glad that they are my daughters and my friends.

Sleep on it!

We've all heard it, maybe we have even said it, "Let me sleep on that." Well, medical science is finally on board with what we have known intuitively for most of our lives. We problem solve during sleep. Whether sleep just frees up our minds to concentrate or we receive guidance from the Divine or our higher self, this works. Here are some tips to get the most out of your problem solving dreams:

1. Write the  problem down, be brief, just a sentence or key word or two. Place this by your bed.

2. After you are in bed and ready to go to sleep, review the problem.Try to "see" the problem before you.

3.This is the important part. Tell yourself that you will dream about the problem and, YOU WILL REMEMBER what you dream       or any intuitions that come to you.

4. Keep a pen and paper by the bed. This is good to do all the time. You never know when something brilliant will come to         you at night. Don't want to miss that! 

5. When you wake, BEFORE you get out of bed*, think about any dreams or pieces of dreams you remember. Don't force this,      as that tends to push things away. Write down what you remember, even if it makes no sense to you now. You may have        an "aha" moment later in the day.

6. Don't get discouraged. It may take a few days if you are not used to remembering your dreams. You may even get insight        later in the day.

* If like me, you need to get up in the night for any reason, follow the tips in #5. You will think you you will remember it for    when you get up  in the morning. You wont!

Seeing like a child

I have just re-discovered one of my favorite authors/artists. His name is Brian Andreas. His words fill me with wonder and make me think. He can view the world with  a child-like quality that is both joyous and profound.  He makes me realize just how poorly that we, as adults, see and experience this amazing world around us. How long has it been since you lay on the grass and guessed at the shapes in the clouds? Or sat upon the floor and looked at things from the level of a 3 year old? Things become mysterious and magical when you change your perception of them. It doesn't take too much time to start again with this kind of thinking. You can start with something small,  like say,  giving your car a name. My mid-life crisis LeBaron convertible is named Wahoo! Something I stole out of the movie "IQ" with Meg Ryan. My daughter has an older Jeep Cherokee that she calls Jeepers, although sometimes I think Jeepers Creepers would be better due to all the trouble she has had with it. My husband (a very practical accountant type) calls his red truck, get ready for it, Red!  Now, I know some of you have already done this. Why don't you share it with us!

Caroline Myss on Chakras

Cosmic Seeds*

Magic Happens

While watching the Olympics, I saw an ad for the new Harry Potter attraction at Disney World. It looks exciting, and I wish I could go. I got to thinking how the excitement around all things magical in movies, books, and music is growing so much. I love this. BUT, and this is a big But, I think people have forgotten that we are all magical. Each and everyone of us is capable of creating and using magic. You scoff? Really? Do you cook? Is is not magical that you can take flour, sugar, salt, eggs, and a few other things, mix together, slap in a pan in a hot oven and.......VOILA! Cake!!!!!! Trust me, as someone who lived in the Rocky Mountains above 6,000ft for a lot of years, baking is not only magic, it is miraculous!! Or how about taking all those lovely veggies that you grew (another magical ability, I might add) and put them in a pot with your various seasonings and come out with a soup or a stew? When you cook with love and care, you are making magic. You are making something mundane into something that will nourish and enrich a body. Is this not the definition of a beneficial potion?
Ever had a massage, a really good massage? Got 'ya didn't I? Taking all that stress and tension that you have been hoarding in your body out and leaving you feeling light and relaxed, if that therapist isn't a magician, then who is?
Do you sew, craft, scrapbook, do photography, play or write music, write? If you do any of these things or any creative endeavor, you are creating something out of nothing, even if it is only memories. How about creating a character in a stage play? If you have been to the theatre you know the kind of magic I am talking about here.
I guess what I am getting at is that there is magic, and magicians, are all around us. There is even one hidden in you............

Have a go at it!

"The more you depend on forces outside yourself, the more you are dominated by them."
This puts me in mind of something that we all do. I have never encountered anyone who didn't do this. What is "this"? It is waiting for everything to be just right before you have a go at something. You know what I am talking about. All the good stuff has to wait while you get everything aligned properly. The "Oh, I am going back to school, take art classes, travel, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.........when the kids get out of school, when I am married, when I am retired, when I have more money. Get the drift? Been there haven't you? Maybe, you're even still there. And it doesn't have to be just one thing, in fact, when we do it we usually have a case of the multiples. If, as John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're living it" why aren't we doing these things that will make our hearts sing? There is never, ever going to enough time, money, or whatever. We just need to have a go anyway. OK, maybe you can't take that trip to Italy you have always wanted. Do something related. Learn to cook some really mean Pasta, learn to speak Italian, visit a museum or gallery that carries Italian artwork. Do you see where I am going with this? While you are busy DOING something that you care about, the Universe just might find a way for you to get plane tickets to Tuscany. And, just think, you'll know just what to eat and how to order it when you get there.
If you want to go back to school now is the time to do it. There is an unprecedented amount of financial aid out there. Got a computer, take on-line classes. That way you can keep your day job, while you learn.
Want to learn a new skill or take up a new hobby but the kids are still at home. I used to live in a neighborhood where us gals with small children took turns babysitting so that we could each have a Mommy Day off a few times a month. Or if the kids are old enough, get them involved, too. I mean, the family that plays together really does stay together. A few years ago, my oldest daughter and I (and I am no Spring Chicken, wait....I am getting a visual! LOL) took up Middle Eastern dancing together. It was a blast and something we will always share and made my gimpy hip work better.
So, stop with the excuses (I am most definitely talking to myself here, too) and do something. DO something that puts a smile on your face and a giggle in your heart. DO something that makes your feet dance or your mind expand. It is all up to you. Oh, and by the way, I give you permission to leave the dishes in the sink.

Forgiveness

As we enter this weekend of Love, I want to talk to you about what really needs to come first. Before you can be truly free to love someone else, you must love yourself. To love yourself, you need to forgive yourself. "What!" you say. Yes, forgive yourself. We all carry around those things inside us that what we have never forgotten, much less forgiven. All those regrets, big and small, that fester inside you, all those slights that made you mad or made you feel small, all that guilt for things left undone, behind, or unrealized, need to be purged. The way you do that is to forgive yourself. We don't realize just how much we beat ourselves up for stuff that we have done or haven't done. Forgive yourself for not standing up for yourself. Forgive yourself for only doing what you can do. Forgive yourself for those times that maybe you weren't as kind as you could have been because your day had turned to crap. Forgive yourself for all those stupid decisions you have made thru your life. As you give yourself permission to just be as you are, you will feel yourself getting lighter as your heart chakra opens. You will be able to breathe easier. The tension will leave your neck and shoulders. You will sleep better. Your digestion will be better. As you begin to forgive yourself you will find it easier to forgive others, and that releases a whole truckload of pressure and pent up stress and emotion. So this Valentine's Day, send yourself a valentine. "To me---I forgive myself. I love myself just the way I am. With love, Me".

Time

"Time is an invention. Now is a reality. So much creativity is happening for the simple reason that we have withdrawn ourselves from past and future. Our whole energy remains blocked either in the past or the future. When you withdraw all your energy from past and future a tremendous explosion happens. That explosion is creativity."-----Bhagwan Shree Rajnessh from "The Goose is Out"

We hear a lot about "living in the now". But, exactly what does that mean? How can we live in the moment when we are dealing with getting the kids off to school, trying to think what to cook for dinner, what bills are due and when? We are such a linear society. We put everything on a timeline.
These are some of the suggestions that I have found help me.
1. Get organized. If you are not running around always looking for what you need, you will have more time to get things done.
2. Make a list of the things that need to get done, break it down into manageable segments, put it somewhere handy and mark things off when they are finished. This does a few things. First it gets all of that minutia out of your head so you don't have to keep reminding yourself. Second, it is great feeling to take a magic marker and run a line thru a chore. You can actually "see" what you have accomplished. Don't make your list real general, either. Divide it up into smaller pieces, as instead of putting down "Clean house", list it room by room with each chore listed.
3. Most important---DON'T WORRY IF IT ALL DOESN'T GET DONE! You know what? It will all still be there another day. Really, no one is going to ground you.
4. Take time off, real time off. Walk outside, read a book, take a bath, play with the cat, dog, or child, anything that will take you away from all the everyday worry stuff.
5. Prioritse! And this is where it gets difficult for most people. Whatever you list holds, YOU need to go first.
If you are living in fear or anger, you are not living in the now. You are living in the past and the future, thinking about what wen down, went wrong, why, and what to do about it. When you find yourself in this place, just stop. Notice where your shoulders are at. Are they hunched over or tight and up around your ears? Ok, just relax them. Take 3 to 5 deep breaths, slow and even. If the feelings are still there, do it all again. Infuse your living space with the calm of lavender or invigorate yourself with any of the citrus oils.
You can do it. I know this because I manage to do it. Well, at least every now and then! LOL

Animal Lightworkers

I knew when I got up this morning that I was going to talk about the four-legged and the winged lightworkers of which we are surrounded. I got busy doing other stuff ( you know how time-consuming other stuff can be) and am just now sitting down to write. I am glad that I had to wait because it gave me the opportunity to read the blog (www.zenpastry.blogspot.com) of a very talented friend of mine. We were on the same wave length. You see, my friend is an awesome pastry chef and she just lost her job because her boss shut down his business to, sort of, retire. She is busting her butt off looking and applying for jobs. (If you are out there looking for a job, I am sure you sympathize.) You know how it can get you down. Her saving grace is her Puppy that makes her go outside and play with nature and her Kitty that curls up in her arms when she is on the computer searching. They both have taken to sleeping with her at night. Our pets just seem to know when we need comfort. They are, also, very good at knowing when we need protecting, and I am not just talking about keeping out the burglar or scaring away the mugger. I have a cat named Diesel. We rescued him from a no kill shelter. They had about given up on adopting him because he had two strikes against him. He was a black cat and he was six years old. But he was our first cat and we figured he could teach us how to be cat people, so home he came with us. As you can imagine, it took awhile for him to find his bearings. He is a beautiful, but somewhat aloof cat, certainly more regal that affectionate. As a healer, I sometimes find myself having to deal with the "darker" aspects of living. And sometimes, I don't protect or clear myself well enough when I am working. That leaves me open to what negativity is floating around. I have found that when this happens, I most often have to confront and deal with it in the "dreamtime". Now Diesel rarely sleeps with us, but when I am having one of those nights, I always wake up to him sleeping smack dab as close to me as he can get, literally guarding my back. As soon as sees that I am awake and alright, he gets up, stretches, and looks at me as if to say,"My job here is done". I think of him as my guardian and he has proven it time and time again.
My teacher is a horsewoman. Her horses are more than friends and companions, they are like her children. When she lost Cowboy during the winter, she was devastated. She did not know what she would do without him. She has since found out that he has come back to her in the form of a Spirit Guardian and Guide, continuing to comfort and help her as he did in life. What a gift!
So, pay a little more attention to the care you get from your pet when you are feeling down and out. I think you will see what I am talking about. Maybe your dog isn't Lassie, but how good is it to have your own Lightworker just dying to get in your lap. Bright Blessings!

Calling all Lightworkers!

Calling all Lightworkers---and yes, that means you, too! Maybe you don't even know what a Lightworker is, much less how you could be one. Well, let's just fix that. A Lightworker is---(drum roll, please) Everyone! Some just don't know it, or haven't 'awakened', yet. Do you like to help people, see other people smile, enjoy animals and nature? You do? Guess what? You my friend are a Lightworker. I know, some people think that you need to be in a certain profession, or have studied a long time. Not true. Lightworkers come in all professions, shapes, sizes, ethnic realities. True most of these Lightworker types are drawn to jobs where they can be of service to other people, and true, some people do study and learn so they can be of more assistance. But, I am telling you, if you have ever kissed a child's booboo, helped a friend or loved one thru a crisis, were of assistance to a stranger, volunteered anywhere, garden, or a myriad of similar things, then you are doing Lightwork.
My Mother would never consider that she does anything special, but anytime she thinks that someone is in need, she sends Angels. I am not joking! Just ask some of the people that have been on the receiving end of her help and they will be happy to talk about it. So, don't fall into doubt that you can't spread Light on everyone and everything you know and do. Don't sit in self-denial. The World needs you. Stop looking for validation from outside of yourself. Just know that you can do it and well. Don't get depressed and fall into hopelessness. Shine your Light, send it out! You will feel better and so will those you have helped.
As for me? "This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

Healer, heal thyself!

As a Healer, I know better. You can't burn the candle at both ends, rob Peter to pay Paul, run on all cylinders ( you know all the metaphors), and not stop and take care of numero uno-----YOU! There are times when a little extra sleep or an afternoon of downtime can make up for some of the deficit, but not all of it. And because we feel, marginally, better we take off at full tilt again. I am here to tell you that you are just fooling yourself. You have to learn to put yourself first. I know, especially we as women,  are taught to take care of everyone else. It is expected. Maybe, you have even been told that you are selfish if you take the time you need. I see so many people in my practice who are literally running on empty because they have given so much of themselves. Do you know what I hear from these folks (myself included) is that they feel "guilty" because they can't do more! Guilty?!! Now I know that society puts some of this upon us, after all aren't we supposed to "bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan"? But, the real culprit is, you guessed it, ourselves. We don't set boundaries and if we do, then we don't enforce them. We need to make it our JOB to take care of ourselves. If what you need is an afternoon to read, then read. If walking in nature is your need, then walk.  An afternoon in the bathtub? Go get the bubble bath. I know you are all going to say, "But I just don't have the time", so this is what I am going to leave with you today. When you fly on an airplane, the flight attendant explains that in the event that the cabin looses pressure, the oxygen masks will come down and that you are to put it on yourself before you help anyone else with theirs. Why? Because if you pass out from lack of oxygen you can't help anyone else. So----mask up!
Bright Blessings!

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New website

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