Category Archives: Encouragement

Aug 10
0
Courage

Courage

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We often see the image of courage represented as a courageous warrior going into and winning a battle. To me courage represents so much more. Courage is getting up after you’ve been knocked down 100 times. Courage is continuing to move forward even if the odds are against you. Courage can be getting up every day. Courage can be big and small victories.

Courage is finding your smile when life may be rough. Courage is being optimistic and positive when you have much to complain about. Courage is stepping into new territory. Courage is feeling the fear and moving forward anyway. Courage is moving while scared. Courage is not just confidence. Courage is the energy to move through the scary and unknown.

Courage is following your instincts. Courage is doing something without having all the answers. Courage is the energy to move through your day without getting any credit for it. Courage is not always jumping out of an airplane. Courage is the energy you muster with the unknowing.

Courage is creativity. Courage is movement without knowing the outcome. Courage is often underrated. I think you should acknowledge the courage you bring forth into the universe. When you have the courage to try again, courage should be credited. When you can’t see how things are going to work out, courage should be rallied. When all seems to fail, courage is still there. Still there to greet you. Still there to be lived with you.

Courage can be your friend and ally. Courage isn’t always easy, but it does give you the power to move anyway. Courage lives within us all. And courage is a dance. A rhythm and flow. The beautiful thing about dance, rhythm, and flow is that they look different for everyone. Courage is like an art. No one’s art or courage looks the same. It’s something you can’t tangibly see, but you can feel it and see it move through others.

Courage is a bit of knowing. A trust. We use courage to process, handle, and operate. Courage is our influence through uncertainty. Life can move us through unfamiliar territory. We don’t have to freeze or run from the mysteries in life because we have courage to help move us through uncharted energy.

If you wait for life to reveal all the variables that you will encounter on your journey, you may find yourself sitting on the sidelines. Rather than seeing life as unsettled territory, you can use courage to view it as an adventure. It’s kind of like opening your gifts early and getting no surprises on Christmas. The element of surprise has to leave behind the plans and expectations. Use courage to allow surprises and curiosities in life.

Courage is allowing. If you like the idea of an extraordinary life, then I encourage you to allow courage to astonish you. You’re probably using it daily and not giving yourself the credit. Let courage be an art in your life. It can certainly take you places you’ve never been before!

Aug 04
0
Vacation breaks

Vacation Breaks

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How often do you incorporate vacation breaks for your mind? Many times we wait until we are on vacation to let our hair down, unwind, and leave our stresses of our daily lives on a break. Think about how you feel when you have some free time or a break from work, chores, and responsibilities while you vacation. That feeling is very good for your health and mental status. And it would be of greater benefit to do it more often than once a year. For some busy folks out there, you may not even take one that often.

The point isn’t how often, when, or where you take a vacation. The point is that you can utilize many avenues in your daily or weekly life to create the feeling of vacation more often. Not only does it play a positive aspect in your health, it also presents a reinvigorating opportunity to journey in your daily life. Giving yourself mental vacation breaks in your routines affects your life the way getting good sleep does. When you can get restful sleep regularly, you can function better in your awake, daily life.

It may take a little time to explore what brings you mental breaks and joy. The key is to incorporate it as often as you can. Pay attention to how you feel. How do you feel when you’re on vacation? For me a mental vacation break is relaxing. It’s focusing on the joyful moments. I feel lighter, freer, and at ease. Those are the feelings you are looking for in your day. I encourage you to look for as many pleasing things as you can through your day. The more you focus, the more you can create a feeling of ease.

I have found great benefits in creating my feeling of being on vacation at home. When I am on my “ideal” vacation, I love to relax by a pool or ocean, read a book, maybe listen to some music, or write. It’s taking it easy and enjoying small moments. I love being out in the sun and I love to eat outside when I’m on vacation. It’s doing some nothingness and the things I enjoy. Now you can create some of these factors in your day instead of waiting until you take a literal vacation to allow the experience.

Since I spend a good portion of time at home writing, taking care of my animals and spending time with family, I have slowly over time added more and more vacation feeling experiences in my backyard. I was fortunate enough to purchase a home with a deck. Through the years, I continue to add to the details. On my deck I have a table, an umbrella, and tiki torches surrounding my deck looking out at many beautiful trees and gardens. My family has also added many of these details furthering our experiences for us all to enjoy together. We have a pond with a waterfall to listen to, a small pool to float and relax in, and we are currently adding more details each year. It’s amazing what you can do when you open your mind to possibility—and you don’t even have to have a lot of space.

I have a friend who has a very small area for a porch, but she has one chair, a small table with some plants, one tiki, and candles. It’s a very small inviting space, but it allows the mental space for relaxation anytime she can sit down and take some fresh breaths of air in. It’s creating a relaxing space with what you have no matter where you are.

When I sit on my deck relaxing, reading, or writing, I am surrounded by the atmosphere that helps me feel like I am on vacation. When I can take a few hours (or if I’m really lucky, a couple of full days) that week to be on my deck relaxing, I feel like I have had a few days of vacation—without all the work that taking an actual vacation requires When you have the time for a literal vacation… great! Seize the opportunity when you can. What I’m describing is the time in between when you may not be able to go on a vacation. You can mentally create the feeling without feeling deprived.

I encourage you to find ways that bring you a little slice of vacation in your everyday life. It may be creating your environment as I have described of myself. It can be a candle placed on your desk at work. Grabbing a snow cone on a hot day. Reading a couple of pages of an interesting book. Doodling before dinner. Anything that you may wait to do on your vacation or anything that brings you that same giddy joyful feeling that arises when you are on vacation. It’s bringing that excitement in moments of your daily or weekly life.

Be aware of how often you experience these feelings and mental vacation breaks. If they are seldom, make it a priority to create some space for more vacation breaks. However they look to you. As easy as you can. Make it an easy game. Leave the pressure behind. The idea of vacation is to leave your worries and stress behind more. See how implementing the time helps you in your everyday life. You may open your eyes more to noticing and enjoying more moments in your day! That lighter energy is good for your body, health, mind, and soul!

Jul 18
0

Nervous System

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As a massage therapist, I work closely with the nervous system in clients’ bodies. The nervous system is a complex collection of nerves and specialized cells known as neurons that transmit signals between different parts of the body. It is the body’s electrical wiring. Massage positively affects every system in your body, but today we are solely focusing on the effects with the nervous system.

One of the reasons the nervous system plays an important role in our body and health is because it works with the brain to communicate with every cell and organ in our bodies. There are many books and chapters dedicated to the education of the nervous system and the body, but for this blog, I’m going to simplify it the best I can. It is a topic clients often ask about.

Therapeutic massage stimulates the nervous system, helps to produce hormones that have tremendous (documented) benefits on the body, and also decreases out of balance chemicals. The communication within the body to help release and produce hormones and chemicals for a calming effect is one of the many benefits of therapeutic massage.

Massage offers sedating effects to help the body heal, rest, function, and restore its balance. Massage increases endorphins (the body’s natural pain reliever) to help promote healing, decrease swelling, and speed recovery by bringing more oxygen to the tissues via the circulatory system. Massage always increases your circulation and in turn works to increase every system in your body.

Massage increases available dopamine for increased joy, enthusiasm, and what we basically call our happy chemical. Massage also increases serotonin, producing a calming effect. This calming effect gives the body a biofeedback response to aid in relaxation and healing.

Massage also decreases the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It’s the body’s response to stress. Cortisol is designed for our body to benefit a short term problem. The problem is that too much stress and cortisol in your body produces many health problems long term. The overproduction and stimulation of cortisol can produce high blood pressure, fatigue to your adrenal glands and kidneys, stomach acid problems, infertility problems, increased inflammation, fluctuations in blood sugar, imbalanced thyroid production, and decreased testosterone. There are many more studied effects of too much cortisol, but these are the main ones I frequently seen as a massage therapist and nurse.

A main focus in massage is the balancing and stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system—the “rest-and-digest” system. When we are very busy and stressed, we release too many chemicals and hormones for our body to break down. Over time, these out of balance chemicals tax certain organs, affecting your health. I believe to maintain health and to aid in healing, we can help the body in its balance and restorative function.

For example, let’s say you have a bad case of heartburn. What do you normally do? Most of us grab an antacid or some sort of alkalizer to balance it out. This is what massage does for the body through the nervous system and balancing of the hormones.

Massage is a very powerful aid for the body. Massage helps the body in its superpower to heal itself. The body and its brain and nervous system have the wiring and function as a team. I like to think of massage as a team player. The massage and therapist are not the healers themselves, but rather the helpers who assist the body in its capabilities.

There are many tools that help stimulate the pns system, such as meditation, a relaxing environment, yoga, deep breathing, being in nature, and anything bringing a relaxing feeling to your body and mind. I recommend trying as many as you can to find what is most beneficial to you. Just be aware that there is much to offer in helping your body achieve and maintain health and balance.

Jul 10
0
Play

Time for Play

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How do you create time for play? Do you give yourself any amount of time to play? Often we become overly busy and so tied to our responsibilities that we do not carve any time aside to do things we truly enjoy. It’s how our passions die, and it’s how little pieces of our soul drown.

It is so important to have some time to get out of ourselves, our heads, and especially a break from all of our roles and responsibilities. If you spend all of your time on just your duties and responsibilities you may be out of balance. Your soul may be yearning for a bit more in life. If you are not carving time out for things outside of your chores and deadlines, you may want to ask yourself what you are saying yes to. Why aren’t you making time to play? Do you feel guilty or judge yourself for allowing time for play? Could you be in fear of what other people will think of you? Or have you ever even truly pondered how you spend your hours in the day? These are some questions to ask yourself if you are feeling out of balance in your daily life.

Your life and time are worth investigating. You are worth the exploring. I’m a busy person just like you. I’m not trying to convince you that it’s simple to give yourself large amounts of time devoted to your hobbies or creative endeavors. I am saying you can carve small amounts of time towards what fascinates or interests you. And you can start wherever you are. I have often noticed people choosing not to take any steps towards things they would like to learn how to do out of fear that they do not have the time or aren’t good enough. These are lies many of us tell ourselves. We could be holding ourselves back from undertaking creative projects, spending hours of time lost in our art, and stumbling across our own masterpieces.”

The only way to get anywhere is to start. Start with your knees shaking, your insecurities quaking, and your lack of confidence aching. No one expects you to be an expert at anything on Day One. You don’t even have to share what you are doing, creating, or learning. A start is simply there initially as your sheer intention. Then we move forward for our enjoyment. Spending time on things we love or what interests us is our therapy. It is how we balance out the roles and responsibilities in life.

You don’t even need a goal to start. After spending some time in your interests and endeavors, it will be up to you as to what you share with the world. Initially it’s carving out small amounts of time to follow your passions and bliss. It doesn’t necessarily have to become your next career. If it evolves that way, great, but we do not have to have an end goal to be creative and enjoy the things that bring us to life.

For example, I regularly attend a pottery/art class. Due to my busy schedule, I do not always get to attend every week, but I do get to attend often. And over time, I have really gotten better at little creations. I’ve learned one thing for sure, your crafts do take time to develop. If you can hold off on judging yourself and your results, you have the capabilities of learning many great things. Much of it has to do with being OK with being a beginner and allowing yourself the time to progress. Just the fact that I make time for this class has helped me in my more serious aspects of work like my writing.

I would have never guessed initially how much practicing and learning art would enhance my writing skills, but they have. I think part of it had to do with giving myself that permission to learn something at my age as a beginner. It was also allowing myself to be terrible at it and still continue to do it. It has helped build my confidence in many areas in life, and it also allowed me the space to focus creatively. I had to leave out my roles and responsibilities to learn some pottery. It did not come so easy to me initially. With dedicated time and repeated practice, I have greatly improved and have much more to show for it. Another great benefit is that my teacher and I have become intimate friends and that relationship has helped us to encourage each other, and we hold space for each other’s creativity.

I don’t have plans to become a professional potter. Over time, perhaps I will become skilled enough to sell pieces of work or perhaps not. The main point is that it doesn’t matter. I do not take my pottery classes for the end result. It is for the play and enjoyment for a brief period of time. It helps me to breathe better when I carve some space for play. I’m a kinder human to all that interact with me. And last but not least, it enhances my confidence in improving my writing and blogging skills which I do take seriously. It allowed me the bravery to start where I was with the knowledge that I can get better.

You do not have to be at a professional level to start anything. How else do you even become experienced until you have utilized much time there? The time spent on any craft or hobby will have moments of greatness and sheer failure. That is how we learn. That is also how we get better. The good news is when you enjoy what you are doing or learning, the failures you may encounter are all worth it because you love or enjoy it. You’re still having fun in the process. Learning is a process just like life. Don’t forget to carve out some time for play.

We often omit play for ourselves and only allow it to our children. Play often balances out those everyday tasks. And when we play, we have to let some responsibilities go for a period of time. The time is an investment to yourself; it can help you balance life better, be more light hearted toward others, and hold important space for fun. We all need a little Peter Pan escape time. Otherwise you will grow old.

Jul 06
0
Age is just a number

Age is Just A Number

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Age is really just a number. It does not have the ability to reflect who you are or what you can do. Often I find focusing on our ages only limits us from possibilities. I’ve noticed in our culture, that we accept details and deterioration of certain ages. For example I’ve seen many friends agonize on what age they are turning even before their birthday. As if it were to mean they are on a slippery slope of things getting worse, their bodies and their looks falling apart.

We are often sold these images and beliefs to sell products and keep many companies in business. I found more often that age truly is only a state of mind. Some of my 80-year-old clients are in better mental and physical shape as some of my 50- and 60-year-old clients. Most of it has to do with how they see life, their age, and their possibilities. I have also worked on some 20-year-olds who feel like they are 80. What your mind conceives actually manifests. It not only shows up in how you feel and how you look, but also how you function.

When you believe you have the potential to get better, younger, or simply age effortlessly, you can. This is not only coming from observations of patients and clients through the the years, but also from my own experiences as well. When I was in my 20s I was very independent and stubborn. I could do everything myself and you couldn’t convince me otherwise. I could do anything anyone could do especially the strong boys I worked with. That naive thinking did cost me some unfortunate injuries at the time. I pushed myself so hard for my stubborn ego that I ended up with bulging discs in my back at age 19. I was told by my physician that I had a back of an old person according to my MRI reports. He also told me I would later probably have surgery and be on heavy pain pills as I got older.

The good news is that I didn’t allow my brain to believe the latter of the advice. I did take to heart my injured discs. I changed how I took care of myself and was much more careful with my body. Along the way, without surgery and medication, I do not feel I have back problems. I rarely have a back ache and I do not take medications. It did take me changing of my state of mind and better practices like massage and yoga. I also regularly see a chiropractor, but I have beaten the odds initially given to me.

It took me looking at things differently and treating myself better. I now feel better at 40 than I did in some of my 20s. So I do know that age is nothing but a number. Or an acceptance of the number. Age is what we make of it and believe. It doesn’t have to be a big deal or production. Now when I hear someone dreading what age they are embarking on or turning, I kind of snicker to myself because I have many friends in their 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s feeling great and having the time of their lives. I myself would much rather age in fun and grace than remorse or regret. The way we feel is how our body responds. So if we feed it feelings of being old or getting older, it will respond with more of those results. On the other hand, if you can spend some time allowing a better perspective on age, you body can glide towards more youthful experiences.

How we feel affects how we look and function. Treat age like a friend. It is time not given to all. More time to have fun. More time with our loved ones and more time to experience joy. Each day you wake up and age is more time for life and love. Before your time is up, I encourage you to appreciate time and age. It doesn’t matter what age you are, it matters what you do with it and how you feel. You transcend age with your emotions. You just may have to break up with the saying that you are “too old” for anything.

Be excited for every birthday. See each year as a celebration of what you have enjoyed and how much time people have had to enjoy your presence in the world. Rather than dreading being older, shift your perspective on what else you get to do, learn, or be. We can reshape how we look at age and set better examples to the younger. The choice in how you age is up to you. Age is just a number.

Jul 02
0
Confidence

Confidence

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Confidence is one of our greatest assets. I think we often miss how powerful and positive our impressions are when we feel and express confidence. In our culture we are frequently taught how to focus on and fix our weaknesses and flaws more often than how confidence can make up the differences.

Confidence is an emotional journey. You do not have to live without flaws or be perfect to feel and act confidently. That is the beauty I have found through the years. It doesn’t matter how I look, how much I may weigh at the time, or how well my resume may stand out. If I am confident, I line up with better outcomes. When you feel well and confident, people react differently toward you. You draw more people, circumstances, and events to you based on that self-assurance.

Confidence is a positive feeling you have about or within yourself. You can have confidence without being your ideal weight, embodying your ideal image, or obtaining your ideal goals. It’s the spark that flies you higher on your journey along the way. It’s like having a positive side effect just as you already are. We are often so caught up on our way to a better self, a better position, or a better opportunity that we forget all we have to offer in the now.

Confidence can take us further on our trails. We can move forward more easily when we are confident in what we already have and are. We can be confident where we currently stand. People notice and feel the energy you project when you are confident. We attract more wanted experiences with confident energy. I’ve often heard “It’s not what you look like, but how you carry yourself.” This goes a long way with not just our appearances, but also our professional endeavors and future goals.

Now I realize confidence may not be a strong suit if you aren’t used to practicing it. The good news is you have many ways to go about building that confidence. One is to talk yourself into it. You can start first thing in the morning by making a list or looking around to notice what you do have to be confident about. You can grow this practice each day and add to your lists. The more you notice the good things about yourself and the many talents you have to offer (as everyone has something unique to offer), you will see more in yourself. You are training your brain to see a little differently.

Once you start to play the game of noticing your strengths more and wiring your brain towards what makes you feel better about yourself, you learn to either let go of what you consider flaws or weaknesses… or you aren’t so bothered by them that they affect your abilities. Confidence is a state of mind or feeling. And you can be confident under any circumstances. When you are confident and amplify the feeling of confidence you change your energy, your potential for wanted attraction, and the vibration you operate in.

It’s kind of like upgrading or updating to the best version of you. Train your brain a bit every day at seeing all the great qualities you have to offer. We all have some great qualities. You just may not have practiced the habit of seeing them in yourself. We often encourage our children, family, and friends, but point out our flaws to others. It’s a habit that isn’t very serving to us. Putting ourselves down doesn’t help any upward direction. Taking the time to look at ourselves the way we look at our loved ones will increase our confidence and what we actually see. When we do this we offer a better version of ourselves and have greater potential to feel good.

Feeling good and seeing the good in ourselves helps to build our confidence. Everywhere you go with confidence helps improve your representation of yourself. Your improved security shows to others and increases the responses you’re aiming for. Like happiness, and joy, your confidence can build and improve over time. It takes focus, awareness, and practice. Confidence is something that can be your asset now. And confidence can take you anywhere.

Jun 29
0
Balance centers

Balance Centers

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I work in a field where many people use terms like chakras, energy centers, and imbalances in the body and nervous systems. This can be confusing and scary to people unfamiliar with modalities outside of western medicine. There are many ways and cultures that see and treat the imbalances in our body, mind, and spirit. In my field, we view them all as important.

When one is out of balance, it affects all the others. Many therapists and practitioners include your emotions, energy, and intuitive aspects to assist in greater impact of healing of illness, injuries, and imbalances. The gift is working with the client’s own body’s ability to heal itself. I believe we (as practitioners ) are more of the helpers/assistants of humans rather than the healers. Your body, mind, and spirit do the actual healing.

To think of it a little more simply , we are made up of energy, we put off energy, and we interact with other energies in the world/universe. For example, it may not easily be seen with the naked eye, but we have a magnetic field of energy that surrounds us and our cells need a source of energy to run, walk, and sleep. Basically we do not exist without energy.

When we have imbalances of our energy whether it be from our emotions, feelings, stresses, worries, experiences, or pain, it often affects our body, mind, and spirit. The good news is there are many avenues and ways to offset the imbalance and add to the deficits in our lives. In my chakra certification, I was trained in working with the seven main chakras in the body. There are many throughout (or thoughts about) the body and more than one modality or school of thought/practice. The seven chakras that I’m referring to are wheels of energy that align from the base of the spine through to the crown of the head. You can imagine or visualize them as a swirling wheel of energy where matter and consciousness meet. This energy is the life force within each of us. This energy helps keep us healthy and alive.

Each chakra corresponds to nerves and major organs as well as psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual states of being. Since everything is moving (energy is always in motion), it’s essential for our chakras to be open and aligned for well-being. If there is a blockage or slowing down of energy in our chakras we find the imbalances in our health and life. Through awareness or working with a trained therapist in this area, you can assist your energy chakras for mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.

I find often working with clients when we pay attention to the energy centers that are out of balance, you can align and help the body with its own super powers and “heal thyself.” The body is always seeking balance in its internal environment. Many people acknowledge the importance of our physical, emotional, and spiritual health, but may not be as aware of the balance in our energy centers. Balancing your energy can be a powerful and subtle way to enhance the balance of your body, mind, and soul.

Whether you decide to educate yourself to work with your energy centers, or seek out a trained practitioner , it’s nice to know you have many healing tools available for you. Well-being can abound and you can further support it with balancing your energy.

Jun 25
0
Self Doubts

Self Doubts

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Something I think we all struggle with and have in common are self doubts. I have never encountered another human being who didn’t experience them too. Even with great experience and in our elements, we still experience some self doubt. The point I want to make is that no matter what you do, you will most likely experience some doubts along the way. Since it’s a dilemma that we all share, why not go for your dreams and callings anyway?

You won’t ever get to a place that you will be fully prepared and are guaranteed it’s the “right” step. I don’t care how much rationale and justification you’ve given it. You will still have some doubts here and there. The good news is you don’t have to have all your ducks in a row or circumstances in place to go for those dreams and goals. The steps seem to just unfold as you go.

We often stay in our comfort zones or what we may consider stability over the fear of the journey. When we stand with our excuses and limitations we hold ourselves back from the progress and potentiality of our goals and dreams.

Is it going to be scary? Probably. Are you going to have doubts? Most likely. No one gets anywhere without them. Even within your safe comfort zones. So why not go for the the things that bring you joy?

You can also go about it a couple of different ways. First you can thank the doubts for letting you know you’re right on track. Many of our doubts have been planted over time from other fearful people. We adopted them and filed them in our minds. So when the naysayers pop up in your mind or in an actual individual, know that fears generally come from our egos and not our hearts and intuition. Fears are often made up scenarios and using our imagination poorly.

I can also say many of the people you admire and entertain the thoughts of wanting to be in their shoes also felt some fears and had doubts as well. The only difference that helped them get where they are today is to keep moving forward despite the doubts and fears. Regardless of how “sound” of a decision you think you’ve made, chances are self doubt will creep in.

Another way to approach those doubts is to talk back to them. Thank them and put them in their place. You don’t have to accept them as truth. Most often they really aren’t true anyway. Rather than fighting in your mind constantly, thank the doubts for trying to look out for you and help you, but acknowledge you are moving forward anyway. It’s your life. You don’t have to let your mind steer everything—really!

I have found the more I practice, the easier it gets. I still get self doubts too, but I don’t let them stop me so much any more. And they have lessened over time as well. I have a wonderful friend and colleague named Eleanor. We get to explore many creative endeavors and she not only helps me with my creative side, her friendship offers much support and therapy in the process. We often joke about the “committee” in our heads. It’s like a little panel of voices that compete for attention. There is the judge, the doubter, the worrier, the naysayer…and so on. I’m sure we each have different voices on our committee and hopefully you’ve got a few positives in there too, but the point is we all have a committee.

When I struggle with my committee, my friend Eleanor will call them out. She will say, “Now, is this how you really feel, or are you allowing your committee too much air time?” Just because they have a voice in your mind does not mean you have to accept them as your truth. Nor does it mean you have to hold yourself back from your own goals and dreams. You walk through them with the doubts.

You can survive self doubts and make some peace with them. Knowing that they affect most of us, it may help you navigate them better daily. Allowing doubts to move through you without adopting them for beliefs can help you to move forward with your dreams. The more you stand up to those doubts, the more positivity you can allow in your mind. You get to choose which thoughts are true and good for you, and you are allowed to let many doubts go.

Jun 22
0

State of Mind

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Caring for our state of mind daily is as important as eating, bathing, or sleeping. Frequently I notice how easy it is for us to get caught up in our daily activities. We rush and move through the actions without taking care of our thoughts. It’s like we are on a rushed time clock to get things done. As you move through your day, be aware of whether you are checking off tasks and chores, or taking time to be in the moment of what you are doing. Are you mindful when you are doing the laundry, dishes, or picking up the kids?

Are you joyfully present in those moments or rushing to get through them? When you sit down for dinner are you present with your food and family, or busy thinking about the next things that need to be done? We can get carried away in thoughts of our daily to do list rather than engaging ourselves through each activity. When you are caught up in thought of the next thing rather than the thing/activity in front of you, you are not present. You may be moving through the motions accomplishing things, but you are not in the state of mind of peace, enjoyment, or presence when your mind is elsewhere.

It takes a little practice of being mindful each day. The more you try, the more you may find out how often you are not being present. You miss many blessings and much peace when you allow your mind away from the present. You may be breathing more shallowly, not allowing sufficient oxygen to your brain. You may be stressing or worrying over events that aren’t even happening yet. When you aren’t careful with your state of mind, you can cause more harm than good. Especially when it comes to your health.

Your thoughts direct your brain and communicate with the rest of your body. Health does start with your state of mind. Your brain is that powerful! Isn’t it cool to know that you get to choose your thoughts and be a team player in your own health and happiness? It’s not up to default or circumstances out of your control. You get to contribute to how your life unfolds. You can choose happy, healthy thoughts every day. You get to choose how you spend your energy and gauge your state of mind.

In every moment regardless of what you see, hear, or experience , you get to choose how you feel and how you respond. You can care for your state of mind like you would your child, your pet, or anyone very special in your life. Your state of mind deserves the care and attention you would give to your loved ones. Just as you would lift the spirits of your child, spouse, or perhaps your best friend, you need to lift your state of mind daily.

The more you practice care in your state of mind throughout each day, the better you habitually will become. And with small steps continuously, you can incorporate a healthy mind with a clean body, full stomach, or good night’s sleep every day. A healthy mind in turn results in more joy, peace, and happiness. These also lead to a healthy internal environment that your body has more power to take care of you. When you take care of your state of mind, you are taking care of everything else. By empowering our thoughts and feelings, we are empowering our overall health.

If your mind is going to be busy thinking every day, you might as well choose how you want to take care of it. Be mindful of what your brain is saying to your body. Choose how you want to feel and function. You are not without options. Isn’t that nice to know? Be good to your state of mind. Care for it and see how you mind, body, and soul improves. Slow down in each chore and task in your day to experience them more fully and you can create a state of mind to experience them more joyfully.

Jun 18
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Vulnerability

Vulnerabilities

By | Encouragement, positive thoughts | No Comments

I think what often trips us up in life are our vulnerabilities. Being brave enough to share them without the worries of judgement. We often hide behind our masks and labels rather than share our vulnerable gifts in the world. We all have them. And often they are hidden in those subtle connections. When we have the courage to show up and be ourselves, we have a better chance of connecting on a deeper level with one another.

Our vulnerable moments are our personal truths. Vulnerable moments are standing with another without knowing all of the answers. It’s also being present without advice. It’s giving our best without a plan. I find the less I try to hide my vulnerabilities, the easier I connect with others. The more they actually want to connect at a deeper level. There is more room for understanding and patience. That connection of our own truths is what we really seem to want in one another.

Being present with our vulnerabilities also supports this behavior in others. We are all journeying through life not knowing what the next day will bring , how we will handle the detours, and how things will turn and change. We are all truly a bit messy and stumbling together. Our ego’s just have a tougher time admitting it. When we can realize none of us have all the answers, we can allow the space and compassion for our vulnerabilities and differences not only with ourselves, but with each other.

Think about this, when you do business with another, are you more likely to move forward with those you have connections with? I find most people are more drawn to people that can show up with their honest vulnerabilities and be themselves. I know I like doing business with those that show me who they are. Those people may not be the perfect candidate on a resume, but when you interact with them, you know they’re not just trying to impress you by acting like someone they’re not. It’s often about the connection.

In order to connect, we share our true selves. We certainly were not born the same; nor are our likes, dislikes, and personalities the same. So why do we insist on how things go or appear to one another? Are you sharing and connecting from the inside? Or are you judging appearances and labels?

I always encourage you to go out and feel your best. What that looks like will be different for everyone. What we can do is allow those truths and hold the space for the vulnerabilities in each other. We rise and uplift each other by the energy, connection, and space we show up for in one another.

When I listen to or study some of the very successful entrepreneurs and social media gurus they all seem to have that in common. They all are very honest about themselves and their vulnerabilities. I believe it has much to do with how they got to where they are. And where many people strive to be . It’s an emotional journey first.

The next time you have a businesses presentation, an important meeting, or an agreement with another, rather than trying to appear perfect or without flaws, just be yourself: the truest version of you. See where the connection takes you and how your experience goes. The right people and energy will show up when the time is right. If the connection isn’t made, the time just isn’t right. Something better is coming. I sometimes find the connection is actually met and the timing with that person or persons will evolve down the road.

Trust yourself and especially your vulnerabilities. Don’t be afraid of showing who you are. That is how people can connect with you. This can offer more authentic experiences in your life.