Tag Archives: nature

Is Self Care Selfish?

Leave a reply

Many mothers will tell you that they put their children and families needs first. Now while taking care of your family is and should be a high priority….taking care of yourself FIRST should be an even higher priority. Often our societal norms dictate that we should be selfless, and think of others before ourselves, that it is selfish to think of yourself.

I learned early on when I had young children that I needed what I called “mommy time” every once and a while. My mom or my husband would take the kids off to do something fun with them, and I could just BE. I didn’t have to do anything. In fact, just sitting on the sofa reading a book or taking a nap was heaven. This time was vital for me.

Now that the kids are grown, I’m finding a new way to have “my time” and it is essential. With the corporate clients I work with, there are so many who have calendars that are jam-packed. Recently in a meeting with an HR Director, she was trying to find a time for a follow-up meeting, and I saw as she scrolled through her calendar, that is was non-stop meetings from 8 to 5 every single day for weeks in advance. I asked her if she’s catching up on her real work after she puts her kids to bed and I could tell I hit a nerve. Yes, she was taking time after hours to complete what should have been her normal day-to-day tasks.

It is not an uncommon story. Unfortunately, I see it more and more and this is NOT sustainable. 

Scheduling time for self-care is not a luxury—it’s a necessity!

When you take care of yourself first, you are then able to give more to others. Why do you think on airplanes you’re supposed to put your air mask on first before your kids? Same reasoning. If you aren’t doing well, how can you expect to take care of others?

So drop the guilt or the shame or the overwhelm. Be selfish! Because it’s not! Block out time in your calendar if you have to. Otherwise, there’s a high risk that eventually you may burn out or that your body will give you a major health issue that will stop you in your tracks.

Discover the things that feed your soul and put them into your days and weeks regularly. It can be taking a walk, being out in nature, painting, yoga, meditation, biking, spending quality time with your best friend, dancing, skiing, whatever it might be. Just do it! You will be glad. Especially because it’s the things that recharge our batteries that will give us a life we love to live.

11 Easy Steps to an Inspiring Life

Leave a reply

Inspiration comes in many forms and from many sources. Let’s keep it simple. When you choose to be on a quest to find inspiring information, you can really change the way you look at the world.

I’ve learned on my journey that we need to be discerning about the information we take in, especially the visual images and what we read. It’s a concept I call “Feed Your Brain,” because like all things, we must nuture to grow and be the best versions of ourselves.

If you are constantly bombarded by negative news, images, and information, it brings you down. It’s hard not to be depressed by that. And our mainstream media thrives on bad news. As they say, if it “bleeds, it leads”. Defaulting to our fear based instincts worked back in the cave days when our lives depended on paying attention to the threats of our environment. It was our survival instincts that kicked in and kept us alive.

Our societies have moved on from this. However, our automatic reactions haven’t—unless you actively work on it. When you become aware that most things are not a threat to your survival, you can choose to respond from an entirely different perspective. You can recondition your brain to look at what’s going well, instead of always looking at what is going wrong or could go wrong.

This brings me back to our quest for inspiration and joy. Here are 11 easy tips to change your mindset and start to recondition your brain so that you can have an inspiring life:

1) Stop watching the news. Read the paper or news online. It’s easier to skim headlines and choose to take in what is of interest to you. Choose to read good news instead. Imagine that any information you take in is like food for your brain. Feed your brain inspiring and positive things and you will feel so much better!

2) Spend time in nature. Get connected to the natural beauty that is abundant in our world. Walk barefoot whenever you can, this is called “earthing” and studies show that just a few minutes a day connecting to the earth this way helps reduce stress and lowers blood pressure. It actually helps get your electromagnetic resonance in tune with the earth.

3) Pay full attention when having a conversation. Often we listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. We are thinking about the next thing we are going to say instead of truly listening and understanding what the person is saying to us. Practice conscious listening and you’ll feel a difference in the connection and relationship.

4) Know what inspires you – and then act on it. If reading books makes you feel good, do it. Going to conferences, do it. Listening to good music and dancing like a manic in the privacy of your home, then DO IT! Whatever you love to do, put these things into your daily life.

5) Laugh, laugh, and laugh more. Laughter is the best medicine. It raises your energy, makes you feel good, and releases endorphins, helps you deal with stress, breaks up the tension…the list of benefits goes on forever with this one. Watching babies laughing on youtube is one of my favorites here. Just don’t take life so seriously anymore. It’s all going to work out for the highest good for you.

6) Be aware of how you are feeling. Using the Joyometer (www.Joyometer.com) is a great tool to help you check in on a regular basis to monitor your feelings throughout the day. If you can stay in the positive emotions coming from love 51% of the time on a minimum, you’ll be bringing your dreams and goals into your life.

7) Choose love over fear. All of us have a choice in how we respond to circumstances and situations. Instead of allowing our survival instincts to drive our lives, we can pause and ask, how can this situation serve me? What can I learn here? What would be the best response? You may never have control over circumstances, but when you understand that always have control over how you respond, you become very empowered. You become the creator of your life instead of the “victim” of circumstances.

8) Surround yourself with supporters. It is said that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. Often times, we have some of our toughest relationships that serve to bring us the greatest lessons. Be aware of who you spend time with most—are they living the life you desire to experience? Are they giving you energy, or do you feel drained just by spending time with them? You can minimize the time spent with those energy drainers (I call them energy vampires because they suck your energy out of you) and make an effort to find those who make you feel happy, inspired, and joyful.

9) Do what you love to do. The great equalizer in life is time—we all only have 24 hours in a day. If you aren’t doing work you love, you are not living fully. Figure out your passions. Know your values. Discover your true purpose. And then find work that allows you to express that. Our work is an extension of ourselves, it is our opportunity to create and bring into this world our talents and gifts that no one else has.

10) Be playful and imaginative. As children, we have wonderful imaginations and know how to play. As we grow up, we lose that sense of playfulness. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Richard Branson is willing to dress up as a flight attendant on a dare. What can you do to bring more playfulness into your life? And spending time day dreaming is a great use of your time. Every man made object in this world first started as a thought in someone’s mind. Dream about the life you want to have and the experiences you desire. Before you know it, you’ll be living it!

11) Practice gratitude. All successful people have a high degree of appreciation for life. They are able to take the challenges and see the opportunities that lie within them. When you focus on what is going well by using gratitude, you can shift your mindset and get yourself to a positive frame of mind. For every complaint, come up with 3 good things to counter balance the situation. All situations serve us on some level so look for the lessons and move on.

You have the power and everything you need within yourself to be the best that you can be. Get inspired and you’ll inspire others too. So what is your next step?

5 Simple Ways To Finding Peace in Chaos

Leave a reply

It may seem like the world is in a horrible state and everything is falling apart—and on one level it IS! This may seem very frightening to many. A huge range of emotions is being felt right now: from sadness and depression to anger and rage to despondency and helplessness. It is very horrible with all the tragedies that have been happening lately.

But let me tell you…we have a choice…the choice to feel HOPE as well. Let me explain.

Our old systems are not sustainable…they are damaging to the planet and to humanity. So they need to go! It doesn’t matter which “system” you look at, it is in the process of either collapsing or transforming—governments, businesses, finances, education, healthcare, agriculture, environment, etc. It’s happening all over the world so no one is free of this right now. So much of what is happening right now is revealing issues, giving us an opportunity to face them, and to choose another path.

Many people are feeling cognitive dissonance. According to Wikipedia, “in psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, performs an action that is contradictory to one or more beliefs, ideas, or values, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.” When we have deep beliefs that we discover are not true, this is a natural process because we don’t want to let go of those beliefs. But as soon as we open our eyes to the possibility, then we can start to discern the truth of the situation. It can be painful, people can get physically ill, dizzy, go into denial, and if they fight for their old beliefs, it only prolongs the process.

What we are witnessing right now is the collapse of so many of our world systems. At the same time! The depth of corruption and lies runs deep. This is why it feels like the world is falling apart, because it is. And it needs to!

But that doesn’t mean it’s all gloom and doom. On the contrary, this is the sign we’ve been waiting for! The majority of cultures and religions talk about the end of the world–as we know it–and that we will enter into a golden age.

A powerful force that we all can have faith in is the resiliency and love of human beings.

We are awakening to the ways the world has been controlled and on a destructive path. And I believe we are going to fix this. We are coming together as we understand that we need a new way. A better way. A higher level of consciousness or awareness about how we are truly connected, we are one human race. This is the path that will help all of us thrive on this planet.

So I am excited and hopeful when I see the signs of destruction (but not the unnecessary deaths) because I know we HAVE to go through this in order to get to the other side. This is helping to bring people together and to take action for the good of our world.

Just as the birth of a butterfly is the death of the caterpillar, we are in that process of metamorphosis. Understanding this bigger picture will help in seeing things for what they really are. By empowering ourselves on an individual level to be hopeful and find our own peace, we CAN make a difference. We have a tremendous ability to influence this transition just in how we manage our own emotional state. (If you want a tool to help in managing your emotions, you can get my Joyometer here).

The key to this for each of us is to focus on love, compassion, forgiveness, peace, and knowing we can co-create a much better world together!

Conceptual peace and cultural diversity symbol of multiracial hands making a circle together around the world the Earth globe on blue sky and green grass background.
 

So how to find your own peace in the middle of the crazy chaos? Here are five great strategies that will help.

  • Gratitude—find things to be grateful for each and every day. Regardless of what you are feeling, this will help make you feel better and brighten your day. Use this as a conscious tool. No matter what the circumstances are, you can always find something to be thankful for so appreciate as much as you can every day!
  • Feed Your Brain Positivity—for goodness sake, turn OFF the TV! Whether it is the mainstream media or the mindless TV shows, just turn it off. (For alternative positive programs, I can highly recommend http://www.gaia.com) Also limit your time on social media. Choose to read some good books. Make sure that the images that you take in are at least 3 times more often positive than any negative ones. Find things that inspire you. Be with people who give you energy. And try to keep a higher perspective or understanding on what is happening in the world.
  • Get Out In Nature—this goes along with turning off the TV and limiting your social media. Take a walk, go for a hike, swim, sit by a tree, take a picnic, allow the sunshine to warm your face, breath in fresh air, listen to the birds. Walk barefoot in the grass–did you know that this is actually called “earthing”? The Earth’s electromagnetic frequency and that our brains in the alpha state (a relaxed, deeply calm state of mind) are the same! This is known as Schuman’s resonance. So this is why being in nature is so good for us!
  • Question Everything!—this is important, especially in these times because there is so much propaganda and disinformation out there. Do NOT take anything at face value but do your own research and find trustworthy sources (I can recommend David Wilcock and http://thrivemovement.com as good places to start.) Anyone with access to internet has no excuse not to do their own research. BUT also listen to what your body feels as you are doing this. We have intuition—that gut feeling—when something feels right or not. Learn to trust it!
  • Meditate for 10 to 20 Minutes per day—if you have not meditated, this may seem more challenging. But meditation can be done is so many ways. I highly recommend guided meditations to start. But even sitting in nature or focusing on peace or doing deep breathing helps ground you tremendously so that you feel calmer and less stressed, which in turn has a positive effect on those around you. There are numerous studies that show how the power of intention by a collective group of people can positively influence society. Here I can also recommend the research from Heartmath Institute.

We are living through some of the most interesting, challenging, yet exciting times humanity has ever faced. It will be a rocky road, and if you can find your peace on this journey, you will be contributing to making the world that we all wish to see! Read the Earth Manifesto here