If you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed or a little out of control – try these quick fixes to ground yourself into your body again.

 1.       Breath.  Breathe deeply into your stomach.  No holding your breath!  Flow.

 2.       Touch.  Massage your lower abdominal muscles.  Rub the space between your stomach and pubic bone in a circular motion – creating heat.  Notice your shoulders relax and your breath deepens… 

3.       Heat.  Place heat pads on your lower back or abdominal region to release the tension.

 4.       Short guided meditation; try my free My Best Self mp3 download.  Less then 5 minutes to better thinking… 

Let me know if you have any questions…Enjoy.

I love Spring and it also makes me a little nuts.  I like to remind myself and all my client of the many faces of Spring right about now…Yes, Spring tends to be a time of new beginnings and opportunities, but also there is the tilling of the earth…or more personally, chaos in your life.

 Think of a seed bursting open in springtime and driving it’s seedling to the sunlight above – it takes a lot of energy, a violent force of nature really.  In Eastern medicine – the season of Spring is connected to your liver and anger.  So what this suggests is people struggle with liver, urinary and issues around anger more during this time of year.  Just like all the seasons, there are wonderful opportunities for growth and transformation, but Spring holds a dizzying balance of new beginnings and endings…Joy mingled with loss.

 Are you struggling with feeling of rage or anxiety this Spring?  Is there a nervous energy of possibility clinging to you?  Feeling a bit overwhelmed or out of balance?  Here are five quick things you can do today to support yourself during the Springtime…

 1.       Water.  Drink more water.  Go for walks in the rain if possible.  Intentionally bathe more or spend time in a body of water – the ocean is best, but a good salt water bath is a great alternative.   

2.       Clean out a drawer, closet, or room.  The best way to attract more into your life is to purge the things you no longer need.

3.       Eat fresh fruit.  When you eat only processed foods, you disconnect from the earth.  Maybe this is the year for that vegetable garden you have been dreaming of?  Lettuce and peas are ridiculously easy to grow…

4.       Laugh.  Nothing changes energy faster then good humor.  Call a friend or read a funny book to connect to that light place again.  Sometimes the most chaotic and stressful situations are absolutely ripe with humor if you can just get a lighter point of view…

5.       Meditate…Spend a few quiet minutes each day focusing on what you DO want your life to look like.  Just anytime you have couple extra minutes, close your eyes and see this Spring unfolding the way you desire – be it with a new job, or maybe a health transformation, or a new awakening of love, whatever, just that you are focusing your energies on what you DO want instead of negatively responding to what you don’t want. 

 Happy Spring…The blooms are coming…

Feeling overwhelmed?  Stressed?  Try this short guided meditation to stop a whirling mind and sink into peace…

Recently I had an interesting discussion with a dear friend about creating miracles into being.  Miracles come in all sizes and shapes, some expected and some not. However, at the center of all miracles is quivering peace.  Join me today as we connect to miracles with simple breath work and intention…    

Meditation is more than just a way to feel better in the moment. It is a transformational pathway to your best self. Transformation is not a passive activity. Even a caterpillar may appear on the outside to be resting in its cocoon, but, in fact, there are many changes beneath the surface to become a beautiful butterfly.

Look at your life, really look – where is there lack? Is there no love or joy? Are there aches and pains, maybe even money problems? Has your life become full of “not enough.” Guess what? It didn’t happen overnight. There were many choices and decisions that have lead you to this place. A large measure of what has lead you to a “less-than” life is your belief system formed through the conditioning of your childhood, social status and economic level. This belief system most likely is sabotaging your life right now.

For example, if you were like me and raised in an alcoholic, violent home, you may have issues with safety – not feeling safe, not trusting. These unconscious messages of, “you are not safe. Nobody is trustworthy,” cycles over and over in your mind and in your heart sabotaging you choices and decisions.

Instead of discovering the abundant life that surrounds you right now, you draw into your life people and experiences that validate the belief of, “I am not safe.” This belief may well have been true when you were a child, but now you are an adult. This thought pattern no longer serves you, but traps you in an unhappy, frustrated experience.

How to make a change? Try adding daily guided meditation – a path to release self-defeating patterns and thoughts and begin to integrate a new, abundant belief system into your life. Why daily? It takes time. It took you years to lock these unconscious negative thought patterns into place. So, it would stand to reason, that it would take some time to establish new ways of thinking and being.

Once you’ve established a new, healthy belief system, daily meditation continues to support and connect you to your best self each day. Meditation grounds you to the present moment and provides you the space to focus on manifesting your most abundant life today. Doors open and opportunities appear.

1.         Go for a walk – alone, and without the iPod.  Let yourself sink into the environment with each step.  Breathe in deeply.

 2.         Listen more, talk less.  Let others finish their thoughts and their sentences.  Begin to focus on the words people are using when they speak to you – do you notice any patterns?  Same words?

 3.         Divination tools.  Pick out some cards, runes, numerology…whatever, just open yourself to more.  Create the space for intuition and guidance to bloom.  Have fun. 

4.         Art.  Create something – draw, knit, paint, woodwork, write…When you create from nothing, you step into the flow, time stops and the outside world falls away…in this space rejuvenation and healing is found.

 5.         Quiet time.  Spend a few minutes each day in complete silence – watch the birds out the window, look at the flowers on the table, absorb yourself in completely in this moment through your breath and an appreciation of beauty – how ever it may appear to you.  This settles the mind and creates balance from deep within.

 6.         Join a community…maybe a church, meditation group, social circle, book group…Something to engage others in a new way.  You will be surprised by the new, healthier people you will attract into your life as you step towards your own fullness, but you have to be willing to open the door for these new relationship to unfold…

 7.         Be kind to yourself.  Today be more patient with yourself.  Be understanding with your missteps as you strive to live a more authentic life…You are closer then you know.

 8.         Finally, as you slip into bed tonight, be grateful.  Be grateful for the bed you sleep in, the food you ate today, the abundance that is sometimes a struggle to notice – even though it is there all the time…Be grateful.

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I watched Oprah.  Frankly, I was curious.  There had been so much hype – Oprah’s fat again and talking.  So I sat and listened…and I saw someone not getting it still…

 She spoke about her blooming weight and exhaustion as being a sign of her life being out of balance – not taking care of herself, not putting herself on her own list.  Her cure – love by way of manicures, eating right and exercise.  Ummm, excuse me?  What? 

 Yes, the blooming weight is a sign of her life out of balance, but the weight is a symptom of something bigger.  The weight is the outward sign of her grief; her wounded place…food has become the comfort to keep grief away, the nagging hunger that is never quite satisfied.  All of us carry this grief, born individually in needs gone unmet in childhood or in horrific moments; it looks different for each of us…

 The pain is revealed through our addictions – addictions to food, drugs, alcohol, shopping, always being right, cleaning incessantly, victim mentality, control…Each of us finds our “fix” – the thing that blunts our pain – if only for a moment.  It becomes our go-to-strategy when the pain or grief is triggered.   The trickiest part is, no matter how much “work” you do – this grief/pain can be unexpectedly triggered at any moment.  And this is also an opportunity – your life is speaking directly to you – help me…But how to?

 With massages, manicures, and exercise?  Well, yes and no…Yes adding these things will help you feel good, but alone, they are just surface fixes of the body.  They are the surface part of taking care of self, but they don’t truly nourish your heart or soul.  It is in your heart and soul that your grief, your pain waits with pleas of not enough…not enough love. 

 It’s the grief that drives the blooming weight, drugs, alcohol, controlling behaviors to fill the “not enough” places within…The grief can not be filled up with activities – no matter how healthy – the pain causing the grief has to be pulled out into the light and only you can heal it…Through quiet meditation, silence, journaling, creating art, music…through being with yourself – kindly, gently, accepting of all the good and the bad, humor…by being your own best friend, parent, child…

 Instead of just finding outside strategies to handle your stress, anxiety, out-of-balance behaviors; I encourage you to you create more resources within, so when you are triggered, you don’t have to fall so far. 

 I absolutely agree with Oprah that we are constantly evolving, challenged to grow, no matter our place in life.  Money or fame does not isolate you from the messy business of life, just look at the Travolta family.  There is no plateau in enlightenment…life still comes with its ups and downs.  It’s you who decides where to focus your attention and notice your own life calling out to you…help me.

I am not one of those people who have New Year’s Resolutions, but I do have intentions for a better year. I feel the New Year offers a chance of rebirth, a fresh start, a cleaning away of the old to make way for the new. Over the years, I’ve developed an exercise for myself and my clients to enhance the process of cleansing from the last year and welcoming a fresh, abundant new year into your life.

I do this exercise once a year, sometimes in January or around my birthday in the springtime. I don’t think the calendar date matters as much as your own personal desire for a clean slate and a new beginning.

First, write down everything you did not like about last year. No censoring. Include all your disappointments. Difficulties in love. Financial struggles, fights with family or coworkers. Concerns with health. The loss of someone you love. Ended relationships. Possibly the loss of a beloved pet. Moments you let others down, even yourself. Get everything out.

This may bring you to tears: that’s ok. Let it out. By writing these experiences you can release the negative energies that tie you to the past.

Once you have finished, read through the pages. Upon finishing say out loud, “I am grateful for the lessons I have learned from these experiences. I now release myself of the past and the pain.” Then destroy the pages through burning, or the like. Once the pages are completely gone, say out loud, “I welcome love, joy and abundance into my life today and every day.”

Now write out all the things you did like about this past year. Things you’ve learned. New relationships. Advances in your career. Family. Vacations. Spirituality. Great books or movies that have stayed with you. Write about any experience that brings you profound love for others or yourself. Acknowledge all the gifts this year has brought into your life.

Again by writing it all out you experience the joy of those moments all over again. It becomes tangible and more real. Once you’ve completed the pages, read through them and then say out loud, “I am grateful for the love I have received and freely given. I am blessed. Thank you.” Set the pages aside for later.

The next part is truly my favorite part of this exercise; write a letter to yourself. The letter is everything you would like to see happen or accomplish this next year. I divide the letter into seven parts; self, career, financial, relationship with significant other, health, motherhood and spirit.  In each of the seven sections, ask yourself these questions; 1.  How do I want to feel about this aspect of my life this year?  2.  What will I do differently this year?  3.  What do I want it to look like?

For example, take your finances, say you are in financial difficulty today, here’s how to get specific…In 2009, I discover balance and unbelievable financial independence.  I feel confident in the abundance that continues to flow into my life by the reality all my credit card debt is paid off easily and effortlessly in 2009.  I am comforted by money now, instead of stressed.  I will stay focused on the big picture and not get pulled down by my own fears of “not enough”.  I now accept the blessings and good fortune that come directly into my life, every day… 

Please feel free to modify the seven sections identified above to fit your life. Everything you write down is for your best life. Think big and stay positive. Dream the very best year and write it down. Be specific. Your thoughts become words, your words become deeds and your deeds build your life. Notice any “what ifs” or fears that come up as you write and let them go.  I encourage you to not be distracted by any negative thoughts and stay focused on your very best year.Personally, I have struggled with fear my entire life. I read somewhere once that, “fears are dragons that keep us from our most precious treasures.” For me those treasures are love and freedom. What are your most precious treasures? What blocks you from those treasures?

Once you have completed the letter and are satisfied with it, take this letter and the pages you set aside previously and put them in an envelope. Address the letter to yourself, place a stamp on it and put it in the mail. This is very important: DO NOT SKIP THE POSTAL SYSTEM. The message must go out into the universe, freeing you to receive your most abundant year ever. When I get the letter back in the mail, I don’t open it. I put it in a drawer, knowing my message has been received and the universe is conspiring to make it so.

I have been doing this exercise for several years with great success. Not everything works out the way I envision. Sometimes it is even better and sometimes not, but I am always surprised. This exercise helps you release the negativity and pain of the past year thus not bringing it into the New Year. It also allows you the opportunity to bring the good things of the past into the next year. Most of all it opens the door to a more abundant life in the New Year.  May it be so. 

Do you find yourself thinking, “If he/she would be more supportive, then I could feel better about us,” or “If I don’t get a raise soon, then I am ruined…”?  “If…then” thinking is a vicious circle that can block our own empowerment, but it can also be an opportunity.

 Last Sunday I noticed this “if/then” concept tripping from my own lips…I wanted my husband to behave or really react to an incident the way I wanted.  If he did this, then I could let go.  What???  Did I really frame my response, my mental/spiritual well-being, on his behavior?  Red lights flashing – what is really going on here?

 Fortunately, the incident in question happened as I was on the way out the door to a sound healing mediation group – so I was able to detach and really see my crippling “if/then” thinking.  Why is it crippling?  Because his behavior/reaction was the barometer of how I would feel.  I was willingly giving and blaming him for my emotional well-being.  The silent dysfunctional pattern of co-dependence…

 Let me go further in saying “if” implies two things – not being present and fear.  The “not being present” speaks to time – you are either worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet or something that has happened in the past, only to repeat again, maybe.  The fear is sticky – appearing a little different for each of us on the outside, but at is core is a longing for love, acceptance…to be enough. 

 I invite you to watch your own language for this “if/then” pattern…I think you will be surprised to discover how this concept sneaks into our thinking only to cause problems.  If you discover this pattern, I encourage you to be gentle with yourself and explore what is really going on… Are you trying to control the situation as to give yourself the illusion of “everything is ok” or safety? 

 Try meditating, journaling or go for a walk by yourself to explore what is really going on within.  Remember, you are half way there – seeing where you are tripping yourself up is half the lesson.  You have the choice to continue tripping in this old pattern or to go within and discover a new response…Here’s to a new day! 

Winter is a time for quiet transformation.  This season offers each of us an opportunity to enter our own kind of cocoon to refresh, recharge and emerge in Springtime as a beautiful butterfly. 

 Meditation is a perfect tool to aide in your transformation by allowing you the space and words to make a real change in your life.  Below is a quick list of the Meditations on sale and some benefits of using them…

 Let Go  - Unlock Subconscious Blocks * Create Movement * Free yourself of Self-defeating Patterns

 I Forgive - Learn to Forgive Gently * Ease Anxiety & Stress  * Give up “Perfect”

 Beloved - Sooth & Heal Old Wounds  * Learn to Love Self  * True Love

 I Am Here - Build Spiritual Connections  * Develop Intuition  * Deepen Faith

 I Meet Success  -  Create Success  * Manifest Abundance  * Best Life

 Sweet Dreams – Find Peace & Relaxation  * Sleep Better  * Stress-buster

 I Am Safe  * Build Self-confidence  * Feel Secure  * Trust

 Use these meditations to identify and most importantly “Let Go” self-defeating thoughts and patterns.  Integrate new beliefs of “Success” and deep happiness easily and almost effortlessly with daily guided meditation.  Come, begin your transformation today…Go to Sale.