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It Starts Today

It’s the first Monday of 2016. What does that mean? It means back to business. Back to the business of getting your life and dreams on track. If you didn’t set an intention for 2016, put that at the top of your list for today. In addition to setting your sights on what you want, pause and reflect on what you’re ready to be free of. Don’t unconsciously drag the energy of 2015 into 2016.

In 2016 I will say NO to__________

In 2016 I will say YES to_________

Share with us if you dare. Let us cheer you on! Happy 2016!

 

 

 

 

Listen to Your Internal Cues

I’m fascinated with why anyone would want to track their sleeping habits. Do you really need an app or device to tell you that you slept poorly last night? Great, now you have one more thing to worry about all day long- you become concerned about personal achievement even in sleep.

Do you need something to measure your activity level?

I sit at my desk all day = inactive

I take time to exercise = active

Mystery solved.

There are heart rate monitors and all sorts of gadgets I could buy, but I feel pretty well connected to my heart beat. I want to encourage you to pay real attention to yours. It is a powerful indicator for what is right for you, what you feel passionate about, or what scares you. If you’re interested in whether or not you’re in your “fat burning” zone, I’m pretty sure you can figure that out too. Sitting on the couch is not fat burning. Unsurprisingly, movement is.

Take back control of your life by taking back control of your internal cues.

When you feel tired, rest. When you feel hungry, eat. When you feel too sedentary, it means you’re being too sedentary.

We are already very disconnected from all the internal signals that would lead us to a more gratifying and peaceful life. Log off and go inward.

Sat Nam

 

 

 

 

 

Are you really ready for Valentine’s Day?

You’re about to be bombarded with paper hearts, red roses, rom-com movie releases and Hallmark cards.

I love flowers but there is nothing less personal than getting flowers on Valentine’s Day (you’re off the hook again Scott). Spontaneous displays of affection are way more meaningful.

Send me flowers when I least expect them or when I really need them. Anyone had a tough day lately? Wouldn’t it have been great to have gotten some flowers then?

You can do this too. Put your priorities back at the top of your list. What is important to you? Who is important to you? Does that person know how you feel?

Unsolicited TLC is the best kind. Thank you to the people who surprise us with unexpected visits, flowers, thoughtful notes, but most importantly for their ability to see and hear us. Sometimes what we need most is a sympathetic ear, one that is one hundred percent advice free. We cherish the opportunity to share something or get something off our chests.

The work never ends, and time never comes back.

Relationships don’t dissolve over night. The end begins with the neglect of the self.

Feeling burdened, stressed and burnt out doesn’t foster loving feelings.

You’re more likely to feel like telling your loved one to go solve their own darn problems than being a supportive partner.

Your capacity to love others is limited by your capacity to love yourself.

Self care is fully in your hands.

If you’re not caring for yourself, you can never be fully receptive.

Check in this Valentine’s Day and see if you might need to fall in love with yourself.

 

 

Let’s Agree to Disagree

Sitting with an acquaintance recently, this line came up over and over again. My friend was convinced of his point of view, and certainly I was of mine.

Who is right and who is wrong? There can’t be a right or a wrong. He was speaking with great conviction about his beliefs, just as I was sharing what I thought was right and true from my beliefs. In an attempt to salvage some connection, we kept coming back to , “let’s agree to disagree.”

There are times when you can sit with this old standby to keep the peace but it doesn’t always work.

With so much disagreement how can you experience peace? You can only discount what you feel and what you believe to a point.

No simple answers here. We see the world not as it is but as we are.

My reality is only my reality. My friend’s reality is his.

Peace is not possible with so much internal discord. Sometimes we have to wish others well and move on.

At the end of the day you have to be able to live with yourself.

If you’re constantly compromising your beliefs, there is no peace.

Sat Nam

 

 

 

 

Check In

Here we are at the end of the month. Before you know it, we’ll be at the end of another year. Is your resolve to have a great year as high now as it was in that first week of January?

If not, why? Did you get too busy to accomplish what you set out to? If so, when is it going to be the perfect time to start working on your dreams and goals? There is no perfect time. The world is not going to slow down for you. You have to slow yourself down instead by starting to create “don’t do” lists as often as you create the ever-present “to do” lists.

Beware of the things that take you further from the person you’re ready to become. What are you really willing to exchange your energy and your time for? Your life is made up of the minutes of your day. How are you spending your life? Make sure you always have your dreams in sight.

Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed by the magnitude of all that you want to do. What is most important to you now? Focus on that. Focus on what you love.

No one can do this work for you. We’ll cheer you on, but we all walk our paths alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Omission

Does your definition of lying include “omission”? Isn’t hiding, or not being up front about something just lying?

It’s an easy trap to fall into; telling little white lies, avoiding conversations, skirting the issues. It’s so much simpler to avoid some subjects, isn’t it? You may even believe your lies are helping to “keep the peace.”

In the short term, sure it’s easier. But at the end of the day we all have to be able to live with ourselves.

If you lie to others, that means you’re also lying to yourself.

It’s hard enough to trust other people, but what if you can’t even trust yourself?

Lies weaken you from the inside out.

Life will hand you many challenges, and getting through them will require unshakeable faith in yourself. Don’t weaken your faith, or break your own trust.

A committed daily practice of yoga and meditation wakes you up to your true behaviours. The distance between how you want to be acting and your actual behaviour becomes very uncomfortable.

The practice will help you make minute adjustments so it’s easier to stay on course in the long run. Don’t be afraid to look, don’t be afraid to change, and don’t be afraid to apologize.

Stay on the path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dissuasion and Procrastination

What’s your addiction?

Addiction is about more than just substance abuse.

Addiction is, “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming.”

Addictions are a great way to take the focus off of what is eating you and go numb.
Numb won’t help. It gives you a very temporary reprieve from discomfort…very temporary.

Reframe your discomfort. When you feel like you’re in the hot seat, it means change is coming. Change is good! Get comfortable being uncomfortable. You don’t grow in your comfort zone.

One of the most unpleasant things I learned is that procrastination is an addiction. And chronic busyness simply masks that you are procrastinating.

Dissuasion is another addiction you might not want to face. Dissuasion is that voice inside your head you shouldn’t be listening to. It talks you out of doing the very things that are most important to you. The more times you talk yourself out of doing something, the less likely you are to do it.

The voices in your own head are often the greatest obstacles to fulfilling your dreams. Fill yourself with unshakeable faith. Fake it until you make it.

Your destiny lays somewhere behind your procrastination and your dissuasion.

Sat Nam

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Answer to Every Question

When it’s not your problem to solve, the answer always seems clear. Your friend gives away the answer to their own question in the tone of their voice, their facial expression, their body language, and especially in their choice of words.

Our own questions are more difficult to answer because we are emotionally hooked to the outcome. Without a stabilizing daily practice, we are at the mercy of our subconscious fears, outdated beliefs, and habits. We are too close to the “subject” (ourselves) to be objective.

Meditation and “moving meditation” (yoga) give you the clarity you need to better direct your life.

These practices increase your self-awareness. You are finally able to see things from a new and clear perspective. You feel the emotions but are less reactive. You can sit with discomfort until the answer comes and the way becomes clear.

The answer to every question is in the stillness, the place where you experience peace, calm and clarity. That place is inside you. Close your eyes, and keep going inward towards the stillness until you understand. There is no expert on you outside of you.

You must choose what makes you happy, what brings you peace.

Sat Nam

 

 

 

What Are You Going to Let Go Of?

You want something new in your life, but there is no room for anything new.

You are already full of outdated patterns of behaviour and outdated beliefs. You have left no space for anything new to come to you.

Before you start obsessing about what “more” you want in your life, make a list of what you’re ready to let go of. Are you ready to let go of your negativity? Are you ready to let go of your anger?

They say we only really live twenty years. It is during that time that we grow. After year twenty, we just keep repeating the same patterns of behaviours, and gravitating towards the same likes and dislikes.

Are you ready for something different in your life? Then you have to get unstuck, and grow past twenty.

You have to let go of your judgments and you have to release your fears, particularly those that lay deep in the subconscious.

Thankfully, there is a method that addresses all of this. It is a daily practice of yoga and meditation. Have I stressed “daily” enough lately? I’m not asking you for 90-120 minutes of your day but you’re going to have to dedicate something, no matter how small, to your personal well being. Put some effort into your happiness and fulfillment. The people you live with and hang out with will really appreciate a happier you. If you can’t do it for yourself then do it for the people you love.

 

Core Strength, Your Strength!

Here is why you need to work your core: your core, made up of the abdominal muscles, is associated with your third chakra. Your Third Chakra is about who you are and your ability to move forward in this life.

Balancing the third chakra builds your courage and helps you harness your personal power.

It will help you set things in motion and see things through.

It’s about not quitting this time!

It’s about your self esteem.

Each and every time you criticize yourself you weaken this chakra. Each and every time you judge another, you weaken this chakra.

Your judgmental attitude weakens you and keeps you stuck.

Do more ab work.