February - Focus on Love and the Heart

Okay - so my focus for this month is going to be love and the heart.  I'll share some heart healthy nutrition, focus on self-love, and loving your life and everything in it.

The first and most important type of love I want to focus on is self-love.  Not in the egotistical way people often think of self-love.  In fact, when we are vein and talk about ourselves constantly, it usually means we are actually lacking in self-esteem, self-love, and self-confidence.  Because of that we often "brag" in order to get recognition.  Who doesn't want recognition?  We all do but when we don't give it to ourselves along with love, we focus on getting it from the outside and anyone who will give it to us.

So, for the month of February, I challenge myself and each one of you to make a daily commit of self-love and recognition through a mirror exercise.  I want you to look yourself in the eyes every time you pass a mirror and say, "I love you, ________, I really, really love you.  I appreciate all you do and I accept you exactly as you are right now!" (Insert your name where the blank is.)

If you are in a private location, say it aloud. If you are in a public restroom, you can absolutely say it to yourself since I may get a lot of funny looks.  :)  If you want to still say it out loud you can use that as a conversation starter and teach others the importance of loving themselves.  When we all are completely full of love, there will be no aggression toward ourselves or others.  When we recognize that we are all connected and all more similar than we are different, we will find peace and compassion.  We all have feelings and emotions, we all crave love and recognition, we all have positive and negative experiences that affect us - we are all here living life on this planet and experiencing many of the same types of things although the specifics may be different.

The second part of the challenge is before bed go to the mirror and tell yourself aloud how much you appreciate all the things you did well during that day. It could be anything.  If you are having a particularly bad day, it may simply be that you got yourself out of bed and went to work.  Nothing is too small to acknowledge.  If you made a healthy selection of food or drink, if you acknowledged someone else and made them feel good.  If you got your kids to school on time.  It doesn't matter what it is - only focus on the good.  And finish up by saying, "I love you, ___________, and I really appreciate you.  I forgive you for all the things you feel need forgiving.  I forgive you for not giving yourself enough credit.  I forgive everyone who doesn't recognize what you do.  I love you!!  You are amazing.  I really, really love you!!"

Try this for the month - please tell me how you feel.  Do you notice any differences?  You may even want to journal about this so you see the difference.  Can you look yourself in the eyes when you say these loving words to yourself? Do you want to cry?  Do you notice a shift?  Please do share.  This can be transformational if you commit to it.

This month know that you are loved.  And focus on feeling the love from others put most importantly from yourself.  I love you!!  Namaste!!

Beliefs

"When we expand our thinking and beliefs, our love flows freely.  When we contract, we shut ourselves off." ~ Louise Hay

One thing that I have found on my journey of self-improvement is that sometimes I have limiting beliefs that I'm not even aware of.  In fact, they are so well buried that if you asked me if I believed that I would give an emphatic, "NO!!"  It's really interesting when we allow ourselves to delve deep into our inner workings.  The things that come up as astounding.  I saw this quote in Louise's book, The Power is Within You, and it reminded me how important it is to be open.  Open to the possibility that that we are holding ourselves back through undiscovered, buried beliefs.  Open to the possibility that we can really have everything we want.  Open to the possibility that what we want may come to us in a way that is different that what we are expecting.  For example, if I want a certain type of _________ (fill in the blank), I may get something different that actually has all the qualities of that certain something or someone but isn't what I thought it would be.  We have to be open to doing more inner work and loving ourselves no matter what comes up.  We have to be open to allowing all the good and abundance we desire into our lives.  It is all ours for the asking if we are open to it and willing to change our limiting beliefs and behaviors when prompted.

Also in the book, Louise gives some affirmations that she uses.  I'm going to list them here and start using them myself starting today.  Remember to be patient - when you plant a seed, it take time to grow.  If you nurture it, it will grow but won't be full grown in 5 minutes.  The same is generally true of affirmations - they may not completely manifest in the next 5 minutes but with love and nurturing - they will manifest.  And so it is!!

Affirmations from  The Power is Within You by Louise Hay.

• Everything I need to know is revealed to me.
• Everything I need comes to me in the perfect time-space sequence.
• Life is a joy and filled with love.
• I am loving and lovable and loved.
• I am healthy and filled with energy.
• I prosper wherever I turn.
• I am willing to change and to grow.
• All is well in my world.

May we all remember, that our thoughts create our reality. May we believe in ourselves every day. And may we love one another and ourselves and always strive to serve while we allow all good things to come to us.

Please feel free to share your reactions in your successes. Namaste.

2014 Will Be Amazing

I hope the first day of 2014 has been spectacular!!  I have printed my goals and my January challenge to make sure I keep at them and I'll report here to be accountable and hope you will, too.  

Even though the temperature was in the low 20s and the wind was blowing, I made sure I went out for my walk/run in nature.  You can't really tell but the pond was frozen solid but it was absolutely gorgeous out.

We weren't walking long before my 7 year old was ready to go home because it was so cold.  My headband and gloves made him a little happier but left me a little more chilly : )

I have also decided that for the next three months I will be going dairy-, gluten-, and sugar-free!!  I did well with that today and easily ate more than 5 servings of fruits and veggies.  I completed my 30 sit-ups which I'm hoping to increase by the end of the month and 20 push-ups.  I've reviewed my goals, done my meditation and inspirational reading, all that's left is the mirror exercise which I'll do before bed.

 All in all, the new year is off to a great start!!  I am hoping to hear from some of you, too, confirming that you've started your year off right, too.  Even if you haven't, tomorrow is a new beginning!!  We can do this and we can help each other!!

January Challenge

Happy New Year!!

As the new year begins many people make resolutions for change.  The problem is that resolutions are notorious for not being kept.  I believe that is because we think of them the wrong way.

I gave up making resolutions but I do make goals both short and long term every year!  One of the important aspects of goals is to known and articulate why you are making them.  To say you want to lose weight is great but to say how much weight, by when, and why give it much more power.  Why do you want to lose weight?  Do you really want to or is it something you think you should do?  Have you given any thought to why you want to?  How will you feel if you do and how will you feel if you don't?  Is there a difference?  The deeper you can go into the reasons you want to do something, the better.  If the reasons are really important to you and you keep those in mind you are more likely to actually follow through on what is need to achieve your goal.

I have created a challenge for myself.  I believe in planning to make a change for 30 days.  We can do anything for 30 days.  If it feels good, we can continue it and if not - release it.  It's done.

I invite you to join me in this challenge at whatever level feels good to you. I will report back at the end of the month to let you know how I did and I'd love to hear how you did, too!

Every day in January I'm planning to do the following:

1. Meditate
2. Run or Walk (3 miles minimum each day)
3. Nature - get out in nature and enjoy the world around me
4. Mirror Exercise - before going to bed every night I will look at myself in the mirror and compliment myself on my achievements for the day (big or small) and tell myself "I Love You!" ***
5. Goals - review them morning and night
6. Inspiration - read inspiring books at least 5 minutes
7.Sit-Ups - Do at least 30
8. Push-Ups - Do at least 15
9. Fruits/Veggies - each at least 5 servings

*** The mirror exercise sounds "weird" to people at first but people who have done it have had wonderful results.  Often people may not even know that they have low self-esteem or harbor some inner anger or guilt that is actually holding them back.  In doing the mirror exercise, we allow ourselves to have unconditional love from ourselves which is the most empowering gift we can give ourselves. We deserve it.

Please share your thoughts, comments, and results with me.