Do you feel a special connection to animals?  Do you have a favorite animal? Join us on Indie Spirit this week Thurs, 11 am EST to explore Animal Guides and how this relationship can Empower your life today. Learn simple techniques to create a fuller life as we meditate, laugh, share new ideas and indie music. Come, join the Circle on Indie Spirit!

Watching your loved ones suffer is hard.  Harder still is not trying to ‘fix’ the problem or the person yourself.

 It is almost impossible for me to hold my tongue when I see my loved ones struggling.  Most of the time I am able to withhold my advice by the simple truth, I am not really doing any of them any favors when I interfere.  Sure, it feels good to me to offer my so called wise council, but am I really helping?  Or am I denying them their own empowerment by wanting them to do it my way?

 I may think I am saving them from making the wrong choice, but don’t we all know it’s in those mistakes that the greatest lessons can be discovered?  Within the lesson, transformational moments happen – ultimately unlocking each person’s own separate peace. 

 When I step in, I deny my loved ones this opportunity.  I learned awhile ago that when you really love someone you allow them their failures.  There is room for mistakes and you continue to love them.  You may not excuse or accept all the behaviors, but with healthy boundaries, you can still love them as they stumble through the quagmire to a new day. 

 Hence instead of offering unsolicited advice, I encourage you to tell your loved ones you belief in them.  Maybe you do need to connect them to outside support.  Do, and then step back.  Return your focus to what you can fix, you. 

 You will discover much of your pointing at another’s problems is really masking your own real hurts that need healing.  This is your work.

 Later this week I will discuss healthy boundaries and family.  Please email me any specific questions that I can include in the discussion.

Dance – Flip on the tunes, grab your microphone (aka favorite hairbrush) and shake-it!  Nothing and I do mean nothing can change your mood for the better faster than getting up and moving around to a grinding beat. 

 Play – a card game, Wii, draw, cook, create anything…Stop looking at the to-do list and begin having more fun.  How did life get so serious anyway?  Too much thinking, not enough playing.

 Dream – a vacation, a new job, a new beginning…Before dreams become reality, first the dreaming…Do some research online, journal, watch travel DVDs and begin talking to new people.  Expand your horizons, be open – who knows where your dreams will carry you…

 Set an Intention – What is one shift you could make today for the better?

 Forgive – does a name pop in when you see the word forgive?  Is it you?  Forgive yourself.  Remember you’re learning, growing into a better you.  Mistakes are to be expected (opportunities…)  When you really forgive yourself, others can be forgiven too and peace becomes possible again.  (Create forgiveness with meditation.)

 Be grateful – for the air you breathe, the food you eat, the warm bed you slip into each day…be grateful.

 Today is a good day to…be.  Who do you want to be?

Let go of the stress and be guided into relaxation easily and effortlessly…

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 until you feel your body internally relax.  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 heating pads along your core (front or back) and/or shoulders to release tension.

 4.       Short guided meditation; try my new podcast on the right – guided to relaxation.  Less then 5 minutes to better thinking…

 Let me know if you have any questions…Enjoy.  

“Do you meditate?”  Well, I should, I know it, but I just don’t know how to get started….  Chances are you are drawn to meditation because you want to relax, reduce stress, maybe become more present, could be that you are trying to stop an incessantly thinking mind.  Guided meditation leads you out of your “old thoughts/patterns” and replace with some new positive ideas…

Having problems, check out Blocks.

What flow? You may be asking…Today I am going to share a technique with you, that you can use any time you are feeling stuck, out of control, unbalanced, or just not yourself. 

It’s normal to feel stressed and out of control sometimes, however, this can lead to problems if you don’t have some tools in place to support yourself during stressful events.  I have discovered by creating positive images that you can return to over and over as kind of touchstones of  peace, the stressful events, one, don’t last as long and two, are not as intense as in the past…Happy listening… 

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

Discover how to make this year – YOUR year. The year of transforming your life to be more abundant, more peaceful…Create a life of financial and spiritual balance that empowers you to expand your horizons and build lasting wealth.  Today is a new day…

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.