Let Your Life Bloom

Self-Love Manifesta

What better way to let your life bloom than by making a declaration of self-love? I was recently inspired by Madly In Love with Me to put together a Self-Love Manifesta. Here's mine. Do share yours!

Self-Love Manifesta

 

I love myself.

I eat healthy, nutrient rich foods that nourish my body.

 

I love myself.

I rest when I'm tired, breathe deeply when I feel scared, and believe in my own strength.

 

I love myself.

I move my body with exercise, dance, flexibility, and power.

 

I love myself.

I fill my life with people that love me, creating my own community who are open to possibilities, supportive, and value themselves too.

 

I love myself.

I listen to my heart and its deepest longings - to belong, to contribute, to create, and to love.

 

I love myself.

I appreciate the little things I do to take care of myself, like brushing my teeth and drinking water.

 

I love myself.

I invest in my mind by reading inspirational books, writing down creative ideas, and engaging in solution oriented conversations.

 

I love myself.

I listen, trust, and follow my intuition knowing that it always leads me to the next best learning place in my life.

 

I love myself.

I laugh often, cry unabashedly, and sing out loud no matter how I sound.

 

I love myself because I know by loving myself life becomes more enjoyable and loving others becomes easier.

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I love Coconut Bliss ice cream

Many of you may know I feel this way since I tend to pimp out this delicious, healthy, flavorful ice cream to whoever I come across. When I stumbled upon this contest by Luna & Larry of Coconut Bliss, I couldn't resist creating an entry. Here it is:

Following your natural rhythm

When's the last time you gave yourself the freedom to follow your nose, intuition, and natural rhythm? How often do you complain about not having the time to do what you really want to do? What would your days look like if you had full authority to set it up how it bests works for you?

It can be easy to forget that you have a choice in life. To think that someone else is pulling the strings and directing the show. Yet, we are all given the gift of discerning the most supportive and fulfilling path for ourselves. 

Whenever I meet someone who is struggling with health issues, it's inevitable that our conversation turns to a place of their regrets or wishes. A desire for change and longing to live one's truth. And, without fail, as they made a choice in the direction of their heart - whether small or large - health is restored.

Ever since I volunteered at Mountain Bounty last season, I became much more aware of this whole other world where following the natural rhythm rules the day. It's inherent in us as much as it is in the earth and the seasons. Pay attention to what you're being called to do. Step up to the plate. It's time to take that path.

How do you "do" meditation?

There's lots of books about meditation - the how to's, health benefits, what to do with the monkey mind, and more. This post is more about how you specifically "do" meditation. There's a concept and workbook that I wholeheartedly support called How you do anything is how you do everything. It's all about the way in which we approach what we're doing. When's the last time you paid attention to how you're being? How are you different when something's happening that you like compared to something you don't?

When we have the courage to look at how we are showing up in relation to life, we start to see our own strength. You begin to understand that you are more than your behavior, habits can be changed, and nothing is "the way it is." Things are the way you are and the lens you are looking at life through.

What does this have to do with meditation?

It is one of the easiest ways to watch how you "do" life because the only backdrop you are resisting against is yourself. There's no one else to blame, no external circumstance to distract. You are just sitting there, either with a soft focused gaze, or with your eyes gently shut, breathing. How is it to be with your thoughts? How easily are you distracted? How is your body responding? What are the stories you're telling yourself as you sit there? Do you react, dialogue with, or just notice those stories? 

No matter how you "do" meditation, the remedy for shifting where you are to where you want to be and finding peace in the moment - in meditation and in life - is to breathe. Follow your breath. When we get scared, resistant, angry, sad, we automatically restrict our breathing. It's a survival strategy and defense mechanism. It's a "get small to be safe" mentality. That worked back in the day when we had to run from animals. Now, it's time for a new way of doing and being in life. Meditation and breathing can bring about the exact transformation you've been longing for.

When you can relax into what's happening, be it your mental process in meditation or a challenging situation in life, you have much more access to your intuition and the ability to take effective action.

Here's what to remember:

1) How am I doing life? Use meditation as your playground to discover the answers.

2) Breathe into the distraction, resistance, and tight spots. Let your breath relax you. Use this in meditation and life.

3) Choose to notice, reflect, acknowledge, and breathe through how you're "doing" it all. Then: Speak your truth. Get clear. Effectively act. Transform.

That's your recipe for the day. Have at it!

bhmnnnnnnnnnnnnn Ω

Wondering what that means? Well, wisdom comes in many forms, and sometimes it takes a little deciphering to make sense of the signs that come our way. I've found a few fun ways to play with the clues of wisdom, turning life into a treasure hunt instead of a confusing roller coaster. It's a way to break out of the serious mode we get into when "trying to figure out" what's happening in our life. Here's two that I like:

♥ Turn words into acronyms with each letter standing for something important and/or is silly to you. It's especially good with words that have a potentially negative emotional charge. TIME could be Tender Intimate Moments of Ecstasy. FUN could be Fantastic Unlimited Nightgowns. 

♥ Every time someone talks to you, take it as a message from God/Spirit/Universe. It may be the most mundane phrase, but there's beauty in that too. You'll start to look at conversations in a whole new way, and synchronicity will abound (it's always there, you'll just start to notice it more.)

Still wondering about the title of this post? It was my cat running across the keyboard when I wasn't looking. My interpretation? To lighten up! I had the wrinkle brow when thinking about a topic on wisdom for this post. Ah, the circles we spin ourselves in! Now, it's your turn. Pick one of the above and share it here in the comments...

The importance of intuition

Having just finished an article on intuition for Living Holistically...with a sense of humor, I wanted to share a snippet of it with you. A teaser, if you will. Partly because I'm excited about the topic and also because I cannot emphasize enough the importance of intuition in having a healthy, fulfilling life. For all the changes happening, and all those to come, following our intuition is imperative. It's the light and inner wisdom that guides the way. It connects us directly to the divine, and our inherent nature.

Here's an excerpt from the upcoming article - Intuition in 5 steps:

"Have you ever wanted to change something in your life but aren’t sure which path to choose or decision to make? Want better options or to make sense of the ones you currently have? What about learning how to go with the flow?

 

The answer to each of these questions is the same: Use your intuition.

(The steps in short version)

Step #1 – Assume, trust, and set it up

Step #2 – Pay Attention

Step #3 – Acknowledge & Reinforce

Step #4 - Distinguish intuition from fear

Step #5 – Intuition + your other senses = A champion team!

***

If you want to learn more about intuition, take my Get Clear classes. Here's a few other posts on intuition -

How to use your intuition with food

Here are the answers

Intuition 101: From Cluttered to Clear

What are your keywords?

When you write a blog post or create a website, in order to get your content found and enjoyed by the people that are looking for what you have to offer, you include keywords. I started thinking about this on a personal level - what are the keywords I search for when I'm wanting to feel good?

A few years ago, while in a funky mood, I decided to make a list of all my favorite words. After I was done, my mood had completely changed and I felt way more connected to what was important to me. Reading and writing out the words that mean something to me is a little shift that makes a big difference. What are your keywords and phrases that light you up when you hear them?

My keywords:

Nourish                Juicy                Fabulous                Integrity                Apple               

Beauty               Love                Acceptance                Coconut Bliss ice cream               

The river                Dance jam                Playfulness            More than enough           

Jasmine                Joy                Wake up               Marshmallows        Foot rub          

Almond flour bread                Yes                Bountiful                Figs

Fennel                Inspired                 Open                Thank you               

Plenty                Allow and receive                The kitties                Paul               

Spaciousness                It's possible                Of course

Walk gently. Speak kindly. Love deeply.

Sometimes all you need is just a few words to live by. This phrase was rolling around in my head this morning. Whenever I found my energy going in a different direction than I wanted it to - thoughts, feelings, or action - I'd hear this phrase and easily shifted course.

What few words could you live by?

Unexamined fear

The other day I saw a huge spider sitting on a sock in my house. Spiders don't scare me as much as they do others, though I will escort them out when discovered. I put the sock outside the sliding glass door, and went about the rest of the day.

Enter Stella, you may remember when I wrote about her escape from a bag of blueberries. Well, for whatever reason, she was completely, utterly, freaked out by this sock. She got low to the ground, crept slowly toward the door, her fur raised, growling. I did what anyone else would do - tried to reason with my cat. "Stell, it's a sock, a sock. It's safe. The sock can't hurt you." She was not having one bit of it. For the next two days, she was needy and jumpy even after I removed the sock. She'd hesitantly peek through the door, checking to see if it had magically reappeared to haunt her.

Don't we act like that with our own fear sometimes?

What we're scared of may make no sense intellectually, yet it's still there and very real for us. We make up stories about what would happen if the fear was realized. More time and energy goes into fearing the fear than it would to examine and create a new story around it. 

Next time a fear comes up that makes your heart beat faster, your breath shorten, and your mind spin - take a new route. Ask yourself these questions:

What am I really scared of here?

What can I do or tell myself so I feel more safe and secure around this subject?

What are a few positive possible outcomes from this situation, including what I could learn?

Sometimes, it just takes a little acknowledgment to move through the resistance of unexamined fear.

Being complaint free

Have you noticed that it takes much more energy and is an overall drain when you complain?

It's easy to notice when other people do it. You feel yucky when you're around them. Or you might even pick up some of their heavy energy in the process of listening. What about your level of complaining? If you had to rate yourself on a daily basis, 1 being complaint free to a 10 where you're always complaining, what would you be?

I consider myself a generally sunny side up kind of gal. I do get stuck, moody , and complainy (woohoo all three at once, when it rains it pours!) but I have lots of tools in my toolbox to ease my way into a better space. Despite all that, I didn't think I complained that much. It wasn't until I declared a complaint free day for myself that I realized I can complain with the best of them!

On that day, I didn't set out to think only positive. I just decided that I wasn't going to complain. If something came up that I deemed complaint worthy, instead of going that route, I asked myself - How would I like this to be and why is that important to me? With this question, you get to the heart of the matter - your values - addressing the issue at its core rather than circling around the symptoms.

As the day continued, I felt better and better - healthier, stronger, happy, open to possibility and change. It was such a contrast! I no longer felt swayed by what was happening around me, or even the swirling of emotions and thoughts within me. I felt solid, clear, and light.

Now it's your turn. Declare a complaint free day for yourself. Visit A Complaint Free World. Let me know how good your results are. ✿