2011 - Here We Come. (dedicated to two friends of mine)

This is a year for everything wonderful. I truly believe this.

When I sit and think of the year ahead of me, of all of us, I get that feeling in my tummy.. The one that tells you that everything is going to be okay. The ball that you have in motion is going in the right direction. It's almost as if the things you've worked for are right in front of you, and you can reach out and grab it, without failure.

For a lot of us, this is the start of something new. Something amazing. Learning how to be free, without restraints from those around us, or those we impose upon ourselves. Sometimes the hardest hurdles to overcome are the ones we place upon ourselves.

You know, the ones that tell us, that running dialogue in our heads that tells us that we're too fat, not pretty enough, not smart enough, that we don't have time, or that we shouldn't because it's selfish. That if we do blank then blank will happen in return. What if for once, we stopped listening to the negative internal dialogue, and just believed in ourselves? What would we tell our children if we heard them talking to themselves or anyone else the way we talk in our minds?

...That's just it, we wouldn't allow ourselves to be this beaten down.

As mothers, and as women, we often neglect the thing that needs the MOST love and comfort of all. Ourselves. We take ourselves for granted. We fill ourselves full of hateful talk, we don't love ourselves enough or give ourselves enough credit. We don't take time for us, or even just take time to breathe.

Ladies, loving husbands, boyfriends, fathers, best friends, anyone who has a women in their life - Remind her that she is beautiful. Tell yourself you're worth it.

An exercise that I tried years ago, it made me laugh when it was first suggested to me, and it made me laugh for the first three weeks of practice.

-but-

This action needs to be preformed twice daily (three times if you're stressed or having a bad day)

Step One

Find a Mirror.

Step Two

Look at yourself.

Step Three
(this is the hardest step)

Tell yourself you are beautiful. That you are worth it. That the universe is going to bestow upon you everything your heart desires. 


It sounds silly. You will laugh. You will scoff at your reactions in the mirror.
You will choose not to believe it..

I promise you that it will change. 

This is 10 times easier than going to the gym, quitting smoking, not indulging in chips at bedtime. It takes seconds, and can be done anywhere. The car, the gym, the bathroom, ANYWHERE.
It takes 6 weeks to break an old habit and form a new one in its place.
This change is so easy, you'll thank me for it, I promise.

This is the easiest and quickest and most flattering thing you can do for yourself.

Promise me you'll try it okay?


Namaste.

I won an award! (I love my friends)

Thanks to Sri for the award!



The Rules state to share 7 things about myself. 


So here goes!


1) I absolutely adore myself. My everything, who I am, who I was, who I want to be. I have no shame in anything I have done, but I am humbled by my life and my experiences. 


2) I have met most of the people I know on the internet. The people I hold closest to me in my life, yep, met them online. 


3) I am not afraid of anything. True to Buddha. I have no fears, because I know what is meant to happen, will, and I have no control over things, but I do choose to be afraid or not to be. 


4) The furthest distances I have traveled as as follows 
North - Prince Rupert, B.C. 
South - Disneyland, but I don't remember it SO - Camano Island, WA. 
East - Saskatoon, SK. 
West - Port Renfrew, B.C.


5) My child is my inspiration for all the changes I have made recently. To see her childlike happiness, is something I want to share with the world through teaching. 


6) My favourite colour is Orange. It breathes life into me. 


7) My dad is, and always will be my best friend. He's the first one I run to when I am down. 




Now, I have shared with you the terms of my award, off to find 10 deserving blogs!


Namaste. 

108 beads on a thread.

..and the 109th is where a mantra grows into fruition.

I'm sitting outside watching each individual snowflake fall, knowing that each one is unique, and inside I am filled with inner peace. It's an odd feeling for someone who used to worry about so many things that weren't in her control.

I have taken upon myself a 40 day mantra path, one that is to remove those things (known and unknown) that may stand in the way of fulfilling a specific desire. The mantra is a fusion of the principles of consciousness and energy so that they blossom in the mind, and consciousness, they will reveal how to actively work with the conditions in which you find yourself.



In Sanskrit

Shrim Hrim
Klim
Glaum 
Gum
Sarva
Swaha


With each repetition of the mantra, you move your thumb along the beads...

I didn't realize how therapeutic it would be. I felt a renewed sense of soul.
Holding them in my hands, I feel their calm sense of continuity.

Today is another day where I find more connection in my life, more in my soul. I am so happy you're taking this journey with me, even if you're just reading along.

Namaste.

Finding tomorrow through today.

I have embarked upon this path, with eyes wide open, and no expectations. I find every day that there is much to focus on, things that I can soften, more ways to be compassionate.

I have found that I am finding ways to ask for forgiveness to those I have wronged, and am forgiving those I feel have harmed me. It's very freeing to let go of a lot of anger, and anguish, and guilt. No one told me that it was so easy! (okay, well I was told it was easy, but I never really believed it.)

There is no better way to free your soul than to say thank you for lessons learned, and to say sorry if you've wronged someone. Compassion and caring, are the keys to seeing life with eyes wide open.

If I've ever hurt you, I am sorry.

How do you let things go? Do you hold onto the things that would be freeing to release?

The Paths that Lead Us.

Do you ever get the feeling that you're supposed to do more with what you were given?

I've spent years trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with all the gifts I was blessed with. What do I want to "be", what do I want to "do". I used to look at income prospects, but all the things that would make amazing money, required amazing output financially in the beginning, and well, I just didn't have that. I used to look at ways to help people. Being a nurse, or a social worker. A police officer was up there for years.

I took a chance when I moved here 5 months ago. A chance for a new life, a chance for a change, a chance to see different things. I didn't realize that it would be the beginning of both a physical and spiritual transformation for me. I had nothing pulling at me to make choices, all I had to do, was be.

Just be.

It's taken a long time, but I am at peace with myself. I love me, not in a conceited sort of way - but more, the things I can't change, I adore anyways, and the things I can, I always take the path to changing it.

The only thing I haven't done, is given into my desire to be a spiritual being. I spent too much time focusing on the logic behind the religion itself. The reasons WHY I didn't want to be a Christian/Catholic/Jew/Muslim/atheist, instead of why I wanted to find more to life. The only religion that ever made sense to me, even with limited knowledge on the subject is Buddhism, so when my sense of curiosity over religion overcame me again, this was the one I was drawn towards.

I think that my passion is going to lay in studying Buddhism for the next while. Learning, living, being.

Namaste.

The Sky Brings Us Closer

Just a quick one, but I'm sharing the Eclipse with my Best Friend.

<3

Over the River and Through the Woods.

Today, I had one of those days, you know, the Mondays you dread. Yep, one of those. I had a case of the Mondays, and if someone had said that to me today, I probably would have snapped. *g*

My boss found everything possible to be irritating with, the night shift forgot to do something they were supposed to do to make my life easier, I forgot my radio not once, but TWICE, I locked myself out of my vehicle at work, and had to call for help, and then I had to stand outside twice in the blistering cold (Think -26 with windchill).

I NEEDED the gym today. I couldn't think of anything else but during the last 4 hours of a totally brutal 12 hour shift.

I walked in the door, and instantly I felt relieved. I got on the bike, and bitched about work, and I noticed I rode harder and faster than I've ridden in a long time, and I hit that plateau of "I think I might die", and then plowed right through it. I did 250 weighted crunches (or the way I do them is holding the weight balls, on a balance ball) I did 70 weighted squats on the balance board, and then finished off with a delicious 10 more mins on the elliptical.

I feel amazing.

What do you do to get through your plateau at the gym? What's your favourite exercise?

Share your thoughts with me, and enjoy this Winter Solstice, while looking at the gorgeous eclipse! There won't be another for many hundreds of years.

Peace be with you :)