Well I had a nice trip home to the east coast. Despite the frigid weather, it really was beautiful to see the trees caked with ice. I guess it was nice because it didn't impede on my plans ;-) hee hee.
However, this time I really felt connected to my roots and where I grew up. I had a twinge of this before when I was visiting in September. I don't know what it was or is for that matter. I know we all miss where we come from at times (some of us do) and it's normal to think, "Gee, maybe I want to move back here sooner." That's what I was thinking towards the end of my trip. of course, the weather can be a downer, but that's not what it should always be about.
This year I really want to change my relationship to money which has been very negative most of my life. "There's not enough!" my mind used to shout endlessly through my head. But going back to moving back to the east coast, it struck me that I'm learning so much at school and starting the massage program in 5 months (yiippee!), that I could bring all of it with me! There's not many wellness centers on Cape Cod (where I grew up) and I would love to share the knowledge. Teach people what they're missing out on...let them know that they have the power to change. I start the massage program in June, but in a way I'm thinking of starting early.
If you know the Law of Attraction, you know that what you think is what you get whether you want it or not. I've definitely got the vibrations running through me and it gets stronger everytime I think about moving back east. I just have to breath, love and accept.
Showing posts with label Realizations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Realizations. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Creating for 2009
So it's 2009! Wow, how time flies. There are many things that I'm grateful for and would like to celebrate for 2008:
-I completed my Holistic Health Practitioner Program Talk (20min in front of 50 people!)
-Work on my business newsletter and website
-Practice Yoga
-Didn't judge myself after my husband reacted to something I said (Big One for me!)
-Celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary with my awesome husband
-My cold is going away
-I have a job!
-I cooked xmas dinner with my husband for 7 friends
So that's 8 things and I know I could go on. But when I woke up this a.m. I began to reflect upon what I want to create this year. I want to create more abundance in my life of connections with people, income and celebration. After completing the Holistic Health Program, I realized how I don't celebrate or acknowledge things about me. Even the little things such as I got out of bed this a.m. That's big for some people! It helps us really be in the present, especially during those times when we get caught up in that negative self-talk (what if this happens...I should or should not do this or that...there's just not enough...). It's also a great thing to do when practicing yoga. As I was practicing this a.m., I would pause in a pose, be with my breath which connected me to the present moment. Even if it was a pose I was struggling with, I was with it. Not against it. We should celebrate the good with the bad; the positive with the negative; the stress with the calm; the happy with the sad/angry. It's very humbling and healthy.
So I invite everyone to celebrate life and prosperity this year. We deserve it!
oxoxoxo
Liz
-I completed my Holistic Health Practitioner Program Talk (20min in front of 50 people!)
-Work on my business newsletter and website
-Practice Yoga
-Didn't judge myself after my husband reacted to something I said (Big One for me!)
-Celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary with my awesome husband
-My cold is going away
-I have a job!
-I cooked xmas dinner with my husband for 7 friends
So that's 8 things and I know I could go on. But when I woke up this a.m. I began to reflect upon what I want to create this year. I want to create more abundance in my life of connections with people, income and celebration. After completing the Holistic Health Program, I realized how I don't celebrate or acknowledge things about me. Even the little things such as I got out of bed this a.m. That's big for some people! It helps us really be in the present, especially during those times when we get caught up in that negative self-talk (what if this happens...I should or should not do this or that...there's just not enough...). It's also a great thing to do when practicing yoga. As I was practicing this a.m., I would pause in a pose, be with my breath which connected me to the present moment. Even if it was a pose I was struggling with, I was with it. Not against it. We should celebrate the good with the bad; the positive with the negative; the stress with the calm; the happy with the sad/angry. It's very humbling and healthy.
So I invite everyone to celebrate life and prosperity this year. We deserve it!
oxoxoxo
Liz
Monday, November 24, 2008
Don't Get Mad, Get Yoga
(From YogaJournal.com)
Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions like anger.
Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are as strongly linked to heart attacks as are smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from the drama of your own life, to remain steady in the face of bad news or unsettling events. You can still react quickly when you need to—and there's evidence that yoga speeds reaction time—but you can take that split second to choose a more thoughtful approach, reducing suffering for yourself and others.
IN THIS ISSUE
Meditation 101
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1307
Unmasking Anger
Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions like anger.
Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are as strongly linked to heart attacks as are smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from the drama of your own life, to remain steady in the face of bad news or unsettling events. You can still react quickly when you need to—and there's evidence that yoga speeds reaction time—but you can take that split second to choose a more thoughtful approach, reducing suffering for yourself and others.
IN THIS ISSUE
Meditation 101
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1307
Unmasking Anger
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Free Yourself
Resistance becomes a problem when the psychological immune system doesn't know when or how to let down its boundaries. Then resistance stops being a useful filtering device and becomes a wall, a kind of armor. Sometimes the habit of resisting is so deeply ingrained that you can't tell whether your inner "no" is a legitimate warning or just obstructive. You can live for years with a tendency to resistance that reveals itself in insidious ways: as an inclination to slide away from intimacy; a habit of avoiding difficult emotions by sleeping or watching TV; or simply the onset of restlessness, anxiety, or boredom that keeps you from resting in the present moment. Then, when you truly want to make a change, the wall of resistance can seem impenetrable.
Developing an awareness of your resistance style is the first step in working with it. Yoga and meditation often help develop and break through these styles of resistance. Try to respect your feelings of resistance as well as let the feelings that seem less beneficial to your life dissolve. Part of this is pure conditioning from those deep-seated beliefs that success, love, meaningful work, social justice, and whatever else you value come from outer-directed effort and that inwardness is somehow a waste of time. More often, however, the resistance stems from fear—fear of your emotions, fear of the unknown, and, finally, fear of your own essence, your own grandeur. To move past resistance in your practice is to free yourself in ways you have never anticipated.
IN THIS ISSUE
Free Yourself
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2516
What Are You Resisting?
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2580
Developing an awareness of your resistance style is the first step in working with it. Yoga and meditation often help develop and break through these styles of resistance. Try to respect your feelings of resistance as well as let the feelings that seem less beneficial to your life dissolve. Part of this is pure conditioning from those deep-seated beliefs that success, love, meaningful work, social justice, and whatever else you value come from outer-directed effort and that inwardness is somehow a waste of time. More often, however, the resistance stems from fear—fear of your emotions, fear of the unknown, and, finally, fear of your own essence, your own grandeur. To move past resistance in your practice is to free yourself in ways you have never anticipated.
IN THIS ISSUE
Free Yourself
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2516
What Are You Resisting?
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2580
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Leave Judgment Behind
From Yoga Journal Daily Insight: This one is so important to me...
When situations make us feel uneasy, we often blame ourselves or others. But if we learn to discern rather than judge, we begin to see our feelings for what they really are. You can't win with your inner judge: It even judges itself for judging. Sometimes that judgmental state feels like a sword driven right into the delicate fabric of your consciousness.
Any feelings of love, relaxation, or peace that you might have been nurturing are chopped to bits. Whether you're judging others or yourself, it's impossible to aim negative judgments in any direction without experiencing the sharp edges of judgment within yourself. Doubly so, in fact, since the faults we judge most harshly in other people usually turn out to be our own negativities projected outward.
IN THIS ISSUE
Judgment Calls
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/1631
Breathing for Relaxation
http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/1468
When situations make us feel uneasy, we often blame ourselves or others. But if we learn to discern rather than judge, we begin to see our feelings for what they really are. You can't win with your inner judge: It even judges itself for judging. Sometimes that judgmental state feels like a sword driven right into the delicate fabric of your consciousness.
Any feelings of love, relaxation, or peace that you might have been nurturing are chopped to bits. Whether you're judging others or yourself, it's impossible to aim negative judgments in any direction without experiencing the sharp edges of judgment within yourself. Doubly so, in fact, since the faults we judge most harshly in other people usually turn out to be our own negativities projected outward.
IN THIS ISSUE
Judgment Calls
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/1631
Breathing for Relaxation
http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/1468
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Mini-Meltdown
I had a mini-meltdown last night. I've been preparing for my 20 min talk for certification in holistic health. I'm talking about something so deep and personal it's going to be intense for me. However I want to do it because it's going to be of great value and healing. But resistance comes up and I think it's because my father is going to be there, along with his wife and my husband. It's nothing that my husband hasn't heard, but my dad isn't the emotional type. He also moved out when I was 11, when my parents divorced. I saw him a lot, it's just during those years he wasn't there, so much stuff went on for me. This is something I've wanted to share with him, it's just going to be a room full of people!
I'm better today, still a little jittery though. I really can't wait for this class and program to be over. I know I'll get so much out of doing this talk, it's so scary.....
I'm better today, still a little jittery though. I really can't wait for this class and program to be over. I know I'll get so much out of doing this talk, it's so scary.....
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Why do we envy?
Nothing to Envy
Because we want to keep it hidden, envy can be particularly difficult to deal with. How many of us are willing to cop to the heart-twisting feeling that pops up when a friend calls to tell you she's just received a fellowship, or the sense of injustice that clouds your first glimpse of your wealthy friend's fabulous new apartment?
Envy so often looks like something else—resentment, perhaps, or a sense of dissatisfaction with your own life, your own income, your own family. For many people, envy simply merges with an overall feeling of not being quite good enough. Because envy is rooted in the feeling of lack or deficiency, the assumption that there's not enough to go around, its best antidotes will be practices that activate your own feelings of natural abundance.
Forget about the person you envy. Forget about what she has that you wish were yours. Look instead at the energy that feeling is made of, and you'll notice that nothing in the feeling has any real solidity. Perhaps, at that moment, you might open to the insight that the energy forming and dissolving within your mind and heart is not really separate from the energy around you. Perhaps, at that moment, you might realize that the person you envy is not really someone separate from you; that you lack nothing because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains potentially everything you could ever want or need.
IN THIS ISSUE
Nothing to Envy
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2545
Because we want to keep it hidden, envy can be particularly difficult to deal with. How many of us are willing to cop to the heart-twisting feeling that pops up when a friend calls to tell you she's just received a fellowship, or the sense of injustice that clouds your first glimpse of your wealthy friend's fabulous new apartment?
Envy so often looks like something else—resentment, perhaps, or a sense of dissatisfaction with your own life, your own income, your own family. For many people, envy simply merges with an overall feeling of not being quite good enough. Because envy is rooted in the feeling of lack or deficiency, the assumption that there's not enough to go around, its best antidotes will be practices that activate your own feelings of natural abundance.
Forget about the person you envy. Forget about what she has that you wish were yours. Look instead at the energy that feeling is made of, and you'll notice that nothing in the feeling has any real solidity. Perhaps, at that moment, you might open to the insight that the energy forming and dissolving within your mind and heart is not really separate from the energy around you. Perhaps, at that moment, you might realize that the person you envy is not really someone separate from you; that you lack nothing because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains potentially everything you could ever want or need.
IN THIS ISSUE
Nothing to Envy
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2545
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Mindfulness eating
This really hits home for me. In my holistic health program, we just talked about this in class last night. I have such a weird relationship with food and for many, we don't realize we do. we figure that's bad because it has this much fat, carbs, calories and this food is better b/c of A, B and C. If we really be present with what we're putting into our body's when we need nourishment, perhaps we can understand ourselves and our bodies more....
Be Present, Three Meals a Day
We've all heard that "we are what we eat." A more specific way to translate that axiom is to say that what we eat, to a great extent, determines our health. More complex is the idea that how we eat affects our health. When we appreciate and are conscious of our food, we derive incredible benefits from eating, in part because such awareness makes it difficult for us to eat food that is bad for us.
Discover food anew every time you eat. What you will find is that every apple, slice of toast, or meal in your favorite restaurant has its own unique, subtle qualities that often slip by, unnoticed, when you eat habitually or in a distracted state of mind.
If you can bring yourself back to the present moment for just an instant and pause to see how your food aligns with you deep in your core, you'll find you have an unfailing tool for knowing what is truly healthy and satisfying for you.
IN THIS ISSUE
Healing with Food
http://www.yogajournal.com/health/54
Yoga Recipes
http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/food
Be Present, Three Meals a Day
We've all heard that "we are what we eat." A more specific way to translate that axiom is to say that what we eat, to a great extent, determines our health. More complex is the idea that how we eat affects our health. When we appreciate and are conscious of our food, we derive incredible benefits from eating, in part because such awareness makes it difficult for us to eat food that is bad for us.
Discover food anew every time you eat. What you will find is that every apple, slice of toast, or meal in your favorite restaurant has its own unique, subtle qualities that often slip by, unnoticed, when you eat habitually or in a distracted state of mind.
If you can bring yourself back to the present moment for just an instant and pause to see how your food aligns with you deep in your core, you'll find you have an unfailing tool for knowing what is truly healthy and satisfying for you.
IN THIS ISSUE
Healing with Food
http://www.yogajournal.com/health/54
Yoga Recipes
http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/food
Monday, May 5, 2008
Why can't this always happen?
On Saturday, I decided to celebrate cinco de mayo with a few margaritas w/ friends at my fav mex resturant, Puerto Allegre in the Mission. We had a yummy feast and yes, a few pitchers of margaritas between the 5 of us. Then off to another bar down the street for beer. I knew what I was getting into (especially when you've read my past blogs about drinking alcohol).
It was a fantastic day! I set an intention for myself for the day that I would create laughter, fun, play and community. When we got to the bar we joined in on a fabulous dice game with some people. Even though some of them were the hipster-type, they were super friendly cool! We were playing this game, laughing, connecting and having fun.
My husband and i left around 6ish and yes, I was drunk! But just enough, that I do remember the walk home, the route I went etc. I also remember the conversation I had with my husband, so this is good! (hee hee hee)
When we got home, we decided to order chinese food. As I sat on the couch, that's when the motion started. I wasn't actually moving, but it sure felt like it. So I decided to go to the bathroom and hang out there for a bit. I did the classic position: kneeled down beside the toilet bowl and rested my arm on the side and then my head. Then 10 min later I puked. When I was finished, I went to bed. this was 7:30 I think.
The next morning I woke up feeling like a million bucks! A little dehydrated, but no headache and no queasiness. Wow I thought to myself, "Why can't I do this everytime I drink too much?". I had friends in college who could do this on command if they felt the need. I personally hate puking, so would avoid it as much as possible.
Anyway, I actually did stuff on Sunday w/o feeling horrible. Still, I wouldn't do this every weekend....;-)
It was a fantastic day! I set an intention for myself for the day that I would create laughter, fun, play and community. When we got to the bar we joined in on a fabulous dice game with some people. Even though some of them were the hipster-type, they were super friendly cool! We were playing this game, laughing, connecting and having fun.
My husband and i left around 6ish and yes, I was drunk! But just enough, that I do remember the walk home, the route I went etc. I also remember the conversation I had with my husband, so this is good! (hee hee hee)
When we got home, we decided to order chinese food. As I sat on the couch, that's when the motion started. I wasn't actually moving, but it sure felt like it. So I decided to go to the bathroom and hang out there for a bit. I did the classic position: kneeled down beside the toilet bowl and rested my arm on the side and then my head. Then 10 min later I puked. When I was finished, I went to bed. this was 7:30 I think.
The next morning I woke up feeling like a million bucks! A little dehydrated, but no headache and no queasiness. Wow I thought to myself, "Why can't I do this everytime I drink too much?". I had friends in college who could do this on command if they felt the need. I personally hate puking, so would avoid it as much as possible.
Anyway, I actually did stuff on Sunday w/o feeling horrible. Still, I wouldn't do this every weekend....;-)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My weekend of classes and The Work
I just learned about The Work by Byron Katie. She wrote "Loving What Is" which pretty much says it all.
From the website www.thework.com:
"The Work is a simple yet powerful process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question thoughts that cause all the suffering in the world. It's a way to understand what's hurting you, and to address your problems with clarity.
People who do The Work as an ongoing practice report life-changing results."
It's truly amazing stuff. However, a lot of "stuff" came up for me while doing this process (me and everyone else in class). I couldn't believe how much resistance I had towards this practice. The questions that you ask yourself are so simple, yet incredibly difficult. It's scary when you go to that place of suffering and begin to experience it again.
After class on Sunday, my mind was racing, so I had to go for a nice, long walk and get some fresh air. However, a lot of things carried over onto Monday but I realized it was just my mind talking shit again. Some tears did come up again but I felt like it was the last of them for awhile. It's like when you hold back tears and all of sudden they well up again the next day or next week or month.
All I can do is breath.......
From the website www.thework.com:
"The Work is a simple yet powerful process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question thoughts that cause all the suffering in the world. It's a way to understand what's hurting you, and to address your problems with clarity.
People who do The Work as an ongoing practice report life-changing results."
It's truly amazing stuff. However, a lot of "stuff" came up for me while doing this process (me and everyone else in class). I couldn't believe how much resistance I had towards this practice. The questions that you ask yourself are so simple, yet incredibly difficult. It's scary when you go to that place of suffering and begin to experience it again.
After class on Sunday, my mind was racing, so I had to go for a nice, long walk and get some fresh air. However, a lot of things carried over onto Monday but I realized it was just my mind talking shit again. Some tears did come up again but I felt like it was the last of them for awhile. It's like when you hold back tears and all of sudden they well up again the next day or next week or month.
All I can do is breath.......
Monday, March 17, 2008
More Mind Chatter
Wow, it keeps coming! Learning about mind chatter is a never ending thing. all that crap that's in your head--"I should have done that....Why do I do that....What if..."--Where's the emotion?
In class this weekend, we connected our mind chatter with our feelings. Instead of letting the mind take over, we let our emotions take the reigns. It was very intense for a lot of people b/c so much came up. but it was comforting in a sense that we all feel and think the same things. In other words, "I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!".
In class this weekend, we connected our mind chatter with our feelings. Instead of letting the mind take over, we let our emotions take the reigns. It was very intense for a lot of people b/c so much came up. but it was comforting in a sense that we all feel and think the same things. In other words, "I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!".
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Mind Chatter
I had my first day of class last nite in the Holistic Health Practitioner Program. It was really comforting b/c the other 26 people in the room have the same thoughts as I do. We all have that mind chatter both positive and negative going 24/7. "Will I make the right decision?", "I don't have money to go back to school", "What if...what if...what if....what if...."
We all have this. We discussed various ways on how to channel this, be present with and accept it. A lot of stuff I had heard before and other stuff just made my eyes pop open. but what was also nice was that there was laughter in the room. The fact that we can laugh about it is so important. Laughing at myself (in a nice way) hasn't been easy for me. I would usually just beat myself up if I made a mistake or bad decision. And these things can be sooooo small. I've definitley noticed how "too" seriously I take things. It feels good to loosen up.
I'm very excited for the weekend's classes. I already feel certain changes happening within myself. The mind chatter is even funny and I will learn to laugh at it because it's just me and my experience to the situation at hand. No one else is doing it.
:-)
We all have this. We discussed various ways on how to channel this, be present with and accept it. A lot of stuff I had heard before and other stuff just made my eyes pop open. but what was also nice was that there was laughter in the room. The fact that we can laugh about it is so important. Laughing at myself (in a nice way) hasn't been easy for me. I would usually just beat myself up if I made a mistake or bad decision. And these things can be sooooo small. I've definitley noticed how "too" seriously I take things. It feels good to loosen up.
I'm very excited for the weekend's classes. I already feel certain changes happening within myself. The mind chatter is even funny and I will learn to laugh at it because it's just me and my experience to the situation at hand. No one else is doing it.
:-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)