“I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.”
-Johnny Depp
Happy almost Halloween friends! I ran across this quote the other day and it resonated with me on such a deep level. I grew up in a family of weirdos, we were jokesters and like any other family we had our fair share of issues but we always found a way to make each other laugh and make light of some seriously fu**ed up scenerios and come out the other side smiling.
My Uncle Steve was one of the goofiest of us all. He never had children of his own and me and my two little sisters were like his babies. He spoiled us rotten! He would play video games with us for hours and he would let us eat as much junk food as we wanted. He was the epitome of a big kid at heart. He used to give us one of his big bear hugs and say, “I love my nieces to pieces!” I remember going to spend the night at his and my Aunt’s house and I would feel so light, so happy, not a care in the world because when we were there, we were there to play and have fun, that was it, pure fun, I loved it!
All the holiday gatherings were brighter and more fun having Uncle Steve’s vibrant, happy and silly soul there. He kept it light even when the occasional tensions would arise at any type of family gathering. My Uncle Steve unconciously taught me to embrace the goofy. Embrace the weird. It has taken me years to fully lean into my weird, own it, love it and rock it, it’s a process that I am thoroughly enjoying diving into! He just had that special way of seeing you, almost like you could feel that you could totally be your real authentic self around him and he would still love you the same, quirks and all.
My Uncle Steve passed away on Halloween day 1997 on our front lawn. He passed away from a heart attack and as my sister and I were walking down our street on our way home from school we saw our Aunt on top of him crying and beating his chest in a desperate attempt to waken him. We couldn’t believe our eyes, we thought it was a sick joke. It can’t be... That’s not, that’s not really Uncle Steve? We were in shock.
My mom came speeding home from work to find her brother dead and being taken away in the ambulance and her girls a weeping mess on the front porch, I’ll never forget the look of terror on her face. She was in a position of complete helplessness, one of the absolute worst feelings for a parent to feel. We grieved. We supported one another. We got angry. We talked, we shared stories. We stood together through it all.
My friends from school came over and they wanted to take me and my sister trick or treating and we didn’t want to. We just wanted to stay with the family and cry. All the adults were at our house and I just felt like we should be there.
My Mom asked me “What would your Uncle Steve want you to do?”
I had my answer. Of course he would want me to go have fun. Go out for a little while and get my mind off of all the grief. Get out of the house of crying for a little while and be a kid, eat as much candy as my little heart desired and honor him in this way.
So that’s exactly what I did.
Uncle Steve has taught me a lesson a long time ago that I am only now starting to really take in and embody. He taught me to be unapologetic about who I am. He taught me to have fun in life and not to take myself, others and Life so seriously all the time! Create time for fun! Be open about my weirdness and my goofiness! Because the years I spent conforming to what ‘I thought’ everyone else wanted me to be like was slowly chipping away at my soul until one day I found myself at a place in life where I didn’t even know really who I was anymore. And that my friend was such a scary place to be. When we conform we fall prey to becoming someone that we don’t recognize anymore. That is why Uncle Steve’s lesssons are so vital to me today because I don’t ever want to go back to conforming my values and the way I love to live my life ever again! I want to stand tall and let my freak flag fly for everyone to see, no matter how goofy, no matter how weird and no matter weather people like me for it or hate me for it! Because the biggest thing Uncle Steve taught me was that life is Way Too Damn short to spend time caring so deeply about what other people think. We must live this beautiful gift of a life to the fullest, the funnest and with the things that bring us the most love and fulfillment.
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day my sweet friend! MUAH!!!
Monday, October 29, 2018
Monday, October 22, 2018
Why Making Time For Fun Is Crucial To Your Health and 30 Day Play Challenge Review
Happy Almost Halloween cutie! I hope you are doing well on this gorgeous fall Monday! I am in Awe that its almost Halloween and that means that the holidays are seriously right around the corner. I’ve had my daughter Bella’s Christmas wish list for like 5 months now (EEK) and haven’t made much of a dent in it yet... I seem to wait until the last possible minute almost every year to start the mad dash to the department stores, hell maybe I’m one of those people that do better under the pressure. It’ll be here before I know it and as long as there is a hover board and these super cute boots she wants under the tree this year we’re golden.
OK, moving on to the real reason we’re here y’all. If you embarked on the 30 day Play Challenge that I invited you to do with me our 30 days have come to an end and I have so many great and weird things to say about my experience and I’d love to hear about yours! If you didn’t participate in the Challenge or if you are new to this blog I wrote a post one month ago called- ‘Create Time For Play Every Da** Day’, you can go back and read that post and see the rational behind the challenge in the first place, but the idea is to carve out at least 10 minutes of your day for play in some way shape or form for 30 days straight. That could mean any number of things like dancing, singing, card games, board game, video games, tickling, being silly with your kiddos, anything that brings a smile to your face and makes you feel goofy, silly, kiddish or corny, that’s what you do for 10 mins each day for 30 days straight.
Creating that time for play every single day was not easy for me. Here I was writing the post in a fabulous mood on that day thinking, this will be Wonderful! I know that making fun and play a priority in our lives has insanely incredible health benefits (which we’ll get into in a moment) so Why Not introduce a Play Challenge? Because I’m an adult that’s why, and I noticed that this challenge got a little bit confronting for me. I did it though. I made the time to do it every day for the whole 30 days. And what I discovered is that often times I resist play if I know I ‘should’ be doing something more productive or I ‘could’ do something I deem more meaningful in that moment. By the end I realized that my way of thinking in that regard was utter bull shit. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I actually followed through the whole 30 days because it showed me a lot about myself. When it came to playing with Bella or Chad it was way easier, felt more natural. When it came to creating my own kind of fun I struggled, some days were easier then others, I’d get in the car turn on some tunes, dance like a jack ass and feel on top of the world. Other days I’d dance around whilst getting ready in the AM and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and feel foolish. Point is, I did it and I am better for it. I learned the sincere significance of loosening up and creating an atmosphere of playful, joyful fun. It makes life so much more enjoyable and the health benefits are staggering.
This article outlines all the major health benefits that having fun has on our bodies. https://heelthatpain.com/8-health-benefits-of-having-fun/
Give it a read and then imagine Not creating a little time in your day or your week, it makes it hard not too. Adding more play reduces our overall stress levels by reducing cortisol levels and those of us that live here in the U.S. have insane amounts of Cortisol running through our bodies on a daily basis anyhow and that lowers our immune system and can cause us to gain unnecessary weight over time. Having fun boosts our concentration and memory, not to mention it gives us more energy. It also increases our Seratonin levels which regulates our sleep and other major bodily functions.
I encourage you to go on a hunt to find your inner child! Where is she/he? Has she been stuffed down for so long that you don’t remember what she likes to do anymore? Does she feel foolish or stupid when she gets too excited and comes out to play? Screw that-let her play babe! Be goofy, be silly, go for it and do whatever the hell it is that just gets you giddy with excitement! Do that fun thing that when your doing it an hour goes by in the blink of an eye! And seriously if you don’t know what that thing is don’t you dare give up! Your happiness is worth a little bit of digging, a little bit of soul searching, hell its worth everything! It all starts with the doing though, you must try, you must start! Join me and lets have more fun, lets be more playful and lets make more room for the silly stuff, the light hearted ness and the carefree moments. We all have plenty of the seriousness that comes with adulting, so lets make sure to bring forth a sense of childlike wonder into our lives as often as possible. Are you with me?
Remember in your core that you are made of light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
OK, moving on to the real reason we’re here y’all. If you embarked on the 30 day Play Challenge that I invited you to do with me our 30 days have come to an end and I have so many great and weird things to say about my experience and I’d love to hear about yours! If you didn’t participate in the Challenge or if you are new to this blog I wrote a post one month ago called- ‘Create Time For Play Every Da** Day’, you can go back and read that post and see the rational behind the challenge in the first place, but the idea is to carve out at least 10 minutes of your day for play in some way shape or form for 30 days straight. That could mean any number of things like dancing, singing, card games, board game, video games, tickling, being silly with your kiddos, anything that brings a smile to your face and makes you feel goofy, silly, kiddish or corny, that’s what you do for 10 mins each day for 30 days straight.
Creating that time for play every single day was not easy for me. Here I was writing the post in a fabulous mood on that day thinking, this will be Wonderful! I know that making fun and play a priority in our lives has insanely incredible health benefits (which we’ll get into in a moment) so Why Not introduce a Play Challenge? Because I’m an adult that’s why, and I noticed that this challenge got a little bit confronting for me. I did it though. I made the time to do it every day for the whole 30 days. And what I discovered is that often times I resist play if I know I ‘should’ be doing something more productive or I ‘could’ do something I deem more meaningful in that moment. By the end I realized that my way of thinking in that regard was utter bull shit. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I actually followed through the whole 30 days because it showed me a lot about myself. When it came to playing with Bella or Chad it was way easier, felt more natural. When it came to creating my own kind of fun I struggled, some days were easier then others, I’d get in the car turn on some tunes, dance like a jack ass and feel on top of the world. Other days I’d dance around whilst getting ready in the AM and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and feel foolish. Point is, I did it and I am better for it. I learned the sincere significance of loosening up and creating an atmosphere of playful, joyful fun. It makes life so much more enjoyable and the health benefits are staggering.
This article outlines all the major health benefits that having fun has on our bodies. https://heelthatpain.com/8-health-benefits-of-having-fun/
Give it a read and then imagine Not creating a little time in your day or your week, it makes it hard not too. Adding more play reduces our overall stress levels by reducing cortisol levels and those of us that live here in the U.S. have insane amounts of Cortisol running through our bodies on a daily basis anyhow and that lowers our immune system and can cause us to gain unnecessary weight over time. Having fun boosts our concentration and memory, not to mention it gives us more energy. It also increases our Seratonin levels which regulates our sleep and other major bodily functions.
I encourage you to go on a hunt to find your inner child! Where is she/he? Has she been stuffed down for so long that you don’t remember what she likes to do anymore? Does she feel foolish or stupid when she gets too excited and comes out to play? Screw that-let her play babe! Be goofy, be silly, go for it and do whatever the hell it is that just gets you giddy with excitement! Do that fun thing that when your doing it an hour goes by in the blink of an eye! And seriously if you don’t know what that thing is don’t you dare give up! Your happiness is worth a little bit of digging, a little bit of soul searching, hell its worth everything! It all starts with the doing though, you must try, you must start! Join me and lets have more fun, lets be more playful and lets make more room for the silly stuff, the light hearted ness and the carefree moments. We all have plenty of the seriousness that comes with adulting, so lets make sure to bring forth a sense of childlike wonder into our lives as often as possible. Are you with me?
Remember in your core that you are made of light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
Monday, October 15, 2018
3 Reasons Why You Should Be Setting An Intention Everyday
Happy Monday Beautiful! I hope all is well in your world and that you’ve been enjoying plenty of Pumpkin Spice anything and all the wonderful, rich flavors that Fall time has to offer! Personally I can pretty much take, or leave the whole pumpkin spice craze. I know, I might lose friends with that statement, giving that so many folks are down right Pumpkin Spice Junkies, but I just don’t see the big deal. Sure, its good. I mean I won’t turn it down, but I surely wasn’t running out buying up all the pumpkin spice everything in September when it first started coming out for the season. And its not my first choice of coffee, I ain’t hatin though, Just Sayin. K, we’re going to get off that little tangent and move onto a topic that is a bit more meaningful to you and to me then Fall’s favorite flavor.
That is the sincere importance of setting an intention.
According to Wikipedia, an intention is, “A mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.” Before I started living with more intention and before I actually started bringing intention into my daily life I would get disappointed, A lot, at all of the little life situations, scenerios and actions that would happen out of my control. Not just that, a lot of time I felt like I was walking through life Willy Nilly. Kinda aimlessly. Almost like I was letting life happen around me, like I had no control over any part of my life and I was supposed to just go along with everything going on around me and be cool with wherever life took me. Gosh even just writing this and feeling back into those emotions of helplessness I sure as hell don’t want to go around feeling like I’m wandering around again on auto pilot! I am so happy to have found a better way! A way to live the life that I love, in a way that feels passionate, meaningful and purpose driven! I seriously can’t wait to share it with you sweetness! Today we’re going to go over 3 simple reasons why You should live an intentional life day by day. And the why will turn out to be the how in a lot of ways as you’ll see, so lets get to it!
#1. Provides Clarity.
When you walk into a situation or a day with a set goal in mind it makes it easier to keep that very goal in the forefront for your mind and that’s a beautiful thing because, whatever you intentionally focus on in your life will grow! Focus=Energy=Results.
#2. Helps to Ground You.
Again when you approach a situation or day with no set intention everything could still turn out just fine, but that’s not the case the majority of the time because us humans like to put expectations on people and outcomes. And even though you didn’t ‘intentionally’ set any type of intention on that day or situation a lot of times you already have an inner expectation of how its going to go and when
it doesn’t go that way you will be left disappointed and maybe even hurt.
VS. when you take the short amount of quiet time in the morning to set an intention for the day you are setting yourself up for a more relaxed and focused day because you will come to realize the only thing that you can control is how You show up. We cannot control the actions of others or the outcomes to situations, but we can certainly control how we choose to look at them and deal with them, and that, my beautiful friend is where the magic starts to come into play with this whole ideal of living with intention.
#3. Alleviates Anxiety.
This is so great, this part of setting an intention really surprised me for some reason because I figured if I was just ‘going with the flow’ I’d have less stress and anxiety but for me that turned out to be furthest from the truth. When I just went with the flow like I was saying before I felt like I was just going through life on auto pilot. Beacause in essence I wasn’t designing the life of my dreams, I wasn’t getting any closer to my goals. I wasn’t bringing any type of Real Intention into my life. So now by taking time each morning for anywhere between 5-20 minutes to feel into what I want out of the day, or what I want to bring to the day, or what kind of goal I am working towards that day it keeps these emotions and goals in the forefront of my mind and that is the intention that I bring with me through the day. And that alleviates anxiety for me in a really big way because I am in control of how I Show Up. What I’m bringing to the day VS. letting the day ‘Have its Way’ with me so to speak.
Before I go I want to share with you a situation where I was so insanely grateful to have set up an intention before a trip that Chad and I went on. We were going to the mountains for a few days just the two of us, we hadn’t been able to do a weekend away just us in a while and I was so excited! And I had come to the realization that I put the most expectations on him, me, and my daughter. It can really ruin a day when your busy trying to control someone else, Not Cool. It sucks but that is my reality. So by knowing that I set the intention before we even left (I wrote it all out on a piece of paper) that I wanted to walk into this weekend with an open heart, love and understanding, non judgement and zero expectations. None on him, none on me. You want to know what? It was literallly one of the Best weekends of my entire life Y’all! For Real! The power of setting intentions is No Joke and if your aren’t doing it yet I Urge you to go ahead and Start, Today, Right Now!
It really is as easy as sitting quietly in the morning and focusing in on what you want your intention to be that day. You can visualize, you can write it down, or you can say it out loud. Whatever works for you and whatever resonates with you. For now don’t over think it, just do it and I promise you’ll be so grateful you did!
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
That is the sincere importance of setting an intention.
According to Wikipedia, an intention is, “A mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.” Before I started living with more intention and before I actually started bringing intention into my daily life I would get disappointed, A lot, at all of the little life situations, scenerios and actions that would happen out of my control. Not just that, a lot of time I felt like I was walking through life Willy Nilly. Kinda aimlessly. Almost like I was letting life happen around me, like I had no control over any part of my life and I was supposed to just go along with everything going on around me and be cool with wherever life took me. Gosh even just writing this and feeling back into those emotions of helplessness I sure as hell don’t want to go around feeling like I’m wandering around again on auto pilot! I am so happy to have found a better way! A way to live the life that I love, in a way that feels passionate, meaningful and purpose driven! I seriously can’t wait to share it with you sweetness! Today we’re going to go over 3 simple reasons why You should live an intentional life day by day. And the why will turn out to be the how in a lot of ways as you’ll see, so lets get to it!
#1. Provides Clarity.
When you walk into a situation or a day with a set goal in mind it makes it easier to keep that very goal in the forefront for your mind and that’s a beautiful thing because, whatever you intentionally focus on in your life will grow! Focus=Energy=Results.
#2. Helps to Ground You.
Again when you approach a situation or day with no set intention everything could still turn out just fine, but that’s not the case the majority of the time because us humans like to put expectations on people and outcomes. And even though you didn’t ‘intentionally’ set any type of intention on that day or situation a lot of times you already have an inner expectation of how its going to go and when
it doesn’t go that way you will be left disappointed and maybe even hurt.
VS. when you take the short amount of quiet time in the morning to set an intention for the day you are setting yourself up for a more relaxed and focused day because you will come to realize the only thing that you can control is how You show up. We cannot control the actions of others or the outcomes to situations, but we can certainly control how we choose to look at them and deal with them, and that, my beautiful friend is where the magic starts to come into play with this whole ideal of living with intention.
#3. Alleviates Anxiety.
This is so great, this part of setting an intention really surprised me for some reason because I figured if I was just ‘going with the flow’ I’d have less stress and anxiety but for me that turned out to be furthest from the truth. When I just went with the flow like I was saying before I felt like I was just going through life on auto pilot. Beacause in essence I wasn’t designing the life of my dreams, I wasn’t getting any closer to my goals. I wasn’t bringing any type of Real Intention into my life. So now by taking time each morning for anywhere between 5-20 minutes to feel into what I want out of the day, or what I want to bring to the day, or what kind of goal I am working towards that day it keeps these emotions and goals in the forefront of my mind and that is the intention that I bring with me through the day. And that alleviates anxiety for me in a really big way because I am in control of how I Show Up. What I’m bringing to the day VS. letting the day ‘Have its Way’ with me so to speak.
Before I go I want to share with you a situation where I was so insanely grateful to have set up an intention before a trip that Chad and I went on. We were going to the mountains for a few days just the two of us, we hadn’t been able to do a weekend away just us in a while and I was so excited! And I had come to the realization that I put the most expectations on him, me, and my daughter. It can really ruin a day when your busy trying to control someone else, Not Cool. It sucks but that is my reality. So by knowing that I set the intention before we even left (I wrote it all out on a piece of paper) that I wanted to walk into this weekend with an open heart, love and understanding, non judgement and zero expectations. None on him, none on me. You want to know what? It was literallly one of the Best weekends of my entire life Y’all! For Real! The power of setting intentions is No Joke and if your aren’t doing it yet I Urge you to go ahead and Start, Today, Right Now!
It really is as easy as sitting quietly in the morning and focusing in on what you want your intention to be that day. You can visualize, you can write it down, or you can say it out loud. Whatever works for you and whatever resonates with you. For now don’t over think it, just do it and I promise you’ll be so grateful you did!
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
Monday, October 8, 2018
Starter’s Guide To Tuning Into What Your Body Needs
Hi there Friend! I am so glad to have you here with me today! This post today is literally a guide for me to keep myself accountable as I am very much a newbie in the realm of surrendering and listening to what exactly my own body needs. I hope there will be a few nuggets of wisdom or an ‘AHA’ moment you will get from it as well and then we can hold each other accountable in the future.
OK, so I used to be really good at abusing my body. I would even go as far as to say I was a Pro at it. It was my norm for many years to completly ignore the signs, signals and symptoms my body would try to whisper, or rather, scream to me. I learned how to push it past its extreme abilities, I learned how to damn near starve it, I also learned how to poison it with toxic chemicals and drugs and then do it some more until all that was left was a malnourished and dehydrated body. Another thing I learned was to get angry at my body when it would finally get to a breaking point and inevitably get sick or slow way the hell down. I felt detached from my body. I took it completely for granted and I was probably the furthest distance away from tuning into what my body needed then I can even express to you.
Fast forward about 9 years and a complete lifestyle change I have started to learn to look at my body as a blessing. An invaluable gift. A gift that deserves to be worshipped, loved, cared for and tuned into. This took many years of healing in all areas of my life to finally get to this point right here. To view my body as a precious and delicate gift that deserves the utmost care is not a place I ever would have thought I’d be capable of getting to. Now when I take a look back on the way that I so easily, without question or hesitation abused my own body I mourn for that girl, the girl that hadn’t learned there was a better way, there was a happier, healthier, more fulfilling and loving way.
I started slow. For me it started with eating healthier and working out in a healthier manner, meaning, not trying to run my body into the ground every workout, rather adding some yoga in, doing shorter workout sessions. Taking the time to feel into and tune into how my body feels that day. Do I feel energetic and strong? Ok, cool, do HIIT. Do I feel slow and sluggish? Not a problem, do some light yoga or, you know what? Skip a day! Not a big freaking deal. You might be reading this and thinking, “Duh, why not skip a day, What’s the big deal?” Well I used to make it a big deal. That used to be a big part of the way I used to abuse my body by pushing it harder and harder when really by body was screaming for a rest day.
The next tool I have found to be tremendously helpful on this beautiful journey of tuning into my own bodies needs is to meditate. Meditation is proven to have major health benefits. An article written by The Pharmacy Times says, “Meditaion helps mitigate stress by decreasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response, which is typically responsible for constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure and the heart rate.”
I literally cannot say enough good about the powerful effects that meditaion can have on your life. Like it’s just insanely amazing to me how this one simple technique can enhance your life in so many incredible ways! Meditaion has helped me to get more tuned into all areas of my life, especially my body. So if you think you simply cannot find the time, life is just too crazy and hectic to add in one more thing, think of it like this, if you devote 10 minutes out of your day every single day for quiet time that is literally only 2% spent out of your day. And that 2% is you making a declaration the YOU matter! You matter enough to You that you will devote those 10 divine minutes going inside and tuning into You and Your needs. Sounds pretty freaking great to me if I do say so myself!
Lastly I do a check in with myself about three times a day. In the morning I tune in with my body and how its feeling, do I need to skip a workout or get in there and crush it? Then around lunch time I feel into my body as I eat, am I pretty much inhaling my food or am I enjoying every bite, eating slowly and stopping when I feel full? Then towards the end of the day I check in with my body I check in with my emotions, how do I feel, how was the day? Is there anything I could improve on, or is there anything I need to stop and pat myself on the back for?
All of these tools laid out here are a work in progress. Every single part of this process is something that I strive to improve on, I strive to tune in more and more everyday. Lawd knows I don’t have it all figured out but I’ll tell you what, the progress I’ve made in my life thus far has been a freaking game changer in the most epic way! Seriously, that is why I am soooo passionate about sharing with you every week! It literally lights me up from the inside out!
You Rock! Tune into your body and show it the love and care that it so rightfully deserves!
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!!
OK, so I used to be really good at abusing my body. I would even go as far as to say I was a Pro at it. It was my norm for many years to completly ignore the signs, signals and symptoms my body would try to whisper, or rather, scream to me. I learned how to push it past its extreme abilities, I learned how to damn near starve it, I also learned how to poison it with toxic chemicals and drugs and then do it some more until all that was left was a malnourished and dehydrated body. Another thing I learned was to get angry at my body when it would finally get to a breaking point and inevitably get sick or slow way the hell down. I felt detached from my body. I took it completely for granted and I was probably the furthest distance away from tuning into what my body needed then I can even express to you.
Fast forward about 9 years and a complete lifestyle change I have started to learn to look at my body as a blessing. An invaluable gift. A gift that deserves to be worshipped, loved, cared for and tuned into. This took many years of healing in all areas of my life to finally get to this point right here. To view my body as a precious and delicate gift that deserves the utmost care is not a place I ever would have thought I’d be capable of getting to. Now when I take a look back on the way that I so easily, without question or hesitation abused my own body I mourn for that girl, the girl that hadn’t learned there was a better way, there was a happier, healthier, more fulfilling and loving way.
I started slow. For me it started with eating healthier and working out in a healthier manner, meaning, not trying to run my body into the ground every workout, rather adding some yoga in, doing shorter workout sessions. Taking the time to feel into and tune into how my body feels that day. Do I feel energetic and strong? Ok, cool, do HIIT. Do I feel slow and sluggish? Not a problem, do some light yoga or, you know what? Skip a day! Not a big freaking deal. You might be reading this and thinking, “Duh, why not skip a day, What’s the big deal?” Well I used to make it a big deal. That used to be a big part of the way I used to abuse my body by pushing it harder and harder when really by body was screaming for a rest day.
The next tool I have found to be tremendously helpful on this beautiful journey of tuning into my own bodies needs is to meditate. Meditation is proven to have major health benefits. An article written by The Pharmacy Times says, “Meditaion helps mitigate stress by decreasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response, which is typically responsible for constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure and the heart rate.”
I literally cannot say enough good about the powerful effects that meditaion can have on your life. Like it’s just insanely amazing to me how this one simple technique can enhance your life in so many incredible ways! Meditaion has helped me to get more tuned into all areas of my life, especially my body. So if you think you simply cannot find the time, life is just too crazy and hectic to add in one more thing, think of it like this, if you devote 10 minutes out of your day every single day for quiet time that is literally only 2% spent out of your day. And that 2% is you making a declaration the YOU matter! You matter enough to You that you will devote those 10 divine minutes going inside and tuning into You and Your needs. Sounds pretty freaking great to me if I do say so myself!
Lastly I do a check in with myself about three times a day. In the morning I tune in with my body and how its feeling, do I need to skip a workout or get in there and crush it? Then around lunch time I feel into my body as I eat, am I pretty much inhaling my food or am I enjoying every bite, eating slowly and stopping when I feel full? Then towards the end of the day I check in with my body I check in with my emotions, how do I feel, how was the day? Is there anything I could improve on, or is there anything I need to stop and pat myself on the back for?
All of these tools laid out here are a work in progress. Every single part of this process is something that I strive to improve on, I strive to tune in more and more everyday. Lawd knows I don’t have it all figured out but I’ll tell you what, the progress I’ve made in my life thus far has been a freaking game changer in the most epic way! Seriously, that is why I am soooo passionate about sharing with you every week! It literally lights me up from the inside out!
You Rock! Tune into your body and show it the love and care that it so rightfully deserves!
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us! Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!!
Monday, October 1, 2018
Learn To Surrender
~What is it to surrender?
~Why would we want to surrender and whom do we surrender to?
~What are the benefits of surrendering in any given situation and is surrendering giving up or becoming passive and detached?
These questions right here are the exact thoughts that were popping up in my head when I was first faced with the idea of ‘active surrender.’ As I’ve mentioned here before I am a recovering control freak, its something I still have to be aware of daily. I had a really hard time learning how to surrender in short because I didn’t even realize or acknowledge the degree of control freak ness I had established in my life. Hell, I thought I was quite laid back and chill. I wouldn’t have acknowledged for a second that I had any type of real issue with control. That right there is the immense power of the mind. We have the power to create our reality.
The reason I started to become a little more open and receptive to this idea of surrender was because I often would get completely and utterely disappointed and upset when things or situations wouldn’t go the way I planned, imagined or expected. I would allow these circumstances that I thought I had complete control over ruin my whole entire day or sometimes more if they didn’t go my way.
What the shit?
I’m not the almighty, I don’t have that type of power, so why the hell was I putting that kind of pressure on myself anyhow?
I’ve come to learn my beautiful friend, that surrender is very far from being passive. In fact the reason some call it active surrender is because surrendering is very much so an act. It is an act of will and it is an act of faith. Faith in whatever and whom ever you believe to be a power greater them yourself. You actively hand over your fears, your control and the entire outcome to the universe, God, Buddha, the pope, Jesus, the trees, Shakti, whomever and whatever is your almighty.
As we go through our own unique journeys of life one thing that we all want more of is love. We humans can’t get enough of it. It’s what fuels us. One element that goes hand and hand with love is peace. When we are at a state of peace in our being we feel love and receive love much more easily. So to feel peace more frequently in our lives we must learn to surrender that which we cannot control. The biggest tool that I have found in my everlasting journey of active surrender is to acknowledge the fear that is present in the situation I am trying to control. Once I simply look at and acknowledge where the fear is coming from I can start to let it go. I don’t need to berate myself for feeling it and I don’t need to try and change it I must simply look at it with an honest and open heart and then, Surrender. Choose faith in that moment instead of the fear. Take the leap, do the thing. Whatever it is I have the power to be stronger then my fear and So Do You!
“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” ~Steve Maraboli
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us!
Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
~Why would we want to surrender and whom do we surrender to?
~What are the benefits of surrendering in any given situation and is surrendering giving up or becoming passive and detached?
These questions right here are the exact thoughts that were popping up in my head when I was first faced with the idea of ‘active surrender.’ As I’ve mentioned here before I am a recovering control freak, its something I still have to be aware of daily. I had a really hard time learning how to surrender in short because I didn’t even realize or acknowledge the degree of control freak ness I had established in my life. Hell, I thought I was quite laid back and chill. I wouldn’t have acknowledged for a second that I had any type of real issue with control. That right there is the immense power of the mind. We have the power to create our reality.
The reason I started to become a little more open and receptive to this idea of surrender was because I often would get completely and utterely disappointed and upset when things or situations wouldn’t go the way I planned, imagined or expected. I would allow these circumstances that I thought I had complete control over ruin my whole entire day or sometimes more if they didn’t go my way.
What the shit?
I’m not the almighty, I don’t have that type of power, so why the hell was I putting that kind of pressure on myself anyhow?
I’ve come to learn my beautiful friend, that surrender is very far from being passive. In fact the reason some call it active surrender is because surrendering is very much so an act. It is an act of will and it is an act of faith. Faith in whatever and whom ever you believe to be a power greater them yourself. You actively hand over your fears, your control and the entire outcome to the universe, God, Buddha, the pope, Jesus, the trees, Shakti, whomever and whatever is your almighty.
As we go through our own unique journeys of life one thing that we all want more of is love. We humans can’t get enough of it. It’s what fuels us. One element that goes hand and hand with love is peace. When we are at a state of peace in our being we feel love and receive love much more easily. So to feel peace more frequently in our lives we must learn to surrender that which we cannot control. The biggest tool that I have found in my everlasting journey of active surrender is to acknowledge the fear that is present in the situation I am trying to control. Once I simply look at and acknowledge where the fear is coming from I can start to let it go. I don’t need to berate myself for feeling it and I don’t need to try and change it I must simply look at it with an honest and open heart and then, Surrender. Choose faith in that moment instead of the fear. Take the leap, do the thing. Whatever it is I have the power to be stronger then my fear and So Do You!
“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” ~Steve Maraboli
Remember in your core that you are made of love and light! The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us!
Have a great day friends! MUAH!!!
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