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............