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Claim Your Power – Don’t Let a Life-Altering Crisis Ruin Your Life

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Nancy D. O’Reilly, Psy. D. -

She thought nothing worse could happen. In the past six months Susanna had broken her leg, lost her dog, and found that her boyfriend of four years was cheating on her. Then on Friday, her supervisor told her they had to cut her hours…AND her pay rate. Awful, yes, but it kept getting worse!

Her landlord told her that he could no longer afford to provide rent-controlled housing; and the hospital has turned over the emergency room charges for Suzanna’s broken leg to the collection agency. Now Suzanna is afraid to answer her phone. She can’t ask for support from her mother who has just been diagnosed with cancer and called her daughter in tears. What would you do?

If one or more of these crises is affecting your life, it’s time to turn crisis into opportunity. Sometimes circumstances force us to make changes that we would not have made otherwise. It’s not easy, but if you can develop a strategy and work toward purposeful goals, you can emerge stronger and more self-confident. Here are some ideas that might help Susanna.

1. We Need To Cut Your Hours and Your Pay. Although you’ll be tempted to quit, it’s best not to leave a job until you have another job. Search out other options instead. What opportunities exist for adding hours elsewhere within the company? Stall for time to look for a new job or add a service to help create income for the hours you lost. Perhaps you could use your skills to provide some sort of in-home service, sell personal care or home products, or do phone sales.

If the future with your company looks truly dim take this opportunity to search out a better job. Reach out in the world and tap into your network. Update your resume, take a close look at the job market, post resumes on sites like Monster.com and Craigslist. Inventory your many talents and publish them for potential employers to see.

Think creatively: One man thought of wearing a t-shirt with a company logo for a fee; he has many customers now. What have you always wanted to do? Free up your mind to think in new directions. Most of all do not panic and shut down. Get over the shock, make a plan, figure out who you really are and what your skills and talents are. Then go for it.

2. I Don’t Love You Anymore. When someone says this, the other person feels shock. But really, deep inside don’t we all know when things are not going well in a relationship? It is a two-way street. The problem is to identify when it’s really over and figure out what to do next.

A natural first reaction will be shock and denial, then bargaining and sometimes pleading. These are all normal, healthy reactions that usually lead to recovery and then gradually to moving on. Give yourself time to grieve as you would with any major loss. When you feel ready, have a good funeral and step up to a better relationship.

Take this time to get to know who you really are and what you want. Learn how to enjoy your own company? Get to know what makes you special. Rushing out to replace a lost love can lead to more of the same and feelings of desperation that nobody likes to be around. Falling in love with yourself is the surest way to draw love into your life.

3. Your Position Has Been Made Redundant. During company mergers, people often learn that someone else is already doing, or will soon be doing, their job. Downsizing is all too common and a painful rite in corporate life today. Just remember, in life, when one door closes, another one opens.

To find that new door, focus on your unique abilities and gifts. Think deeply about the challenges your company and your supervisor are facing and come up with novel solutions. Redefine your job description and expand it. Make yourself invaluable, strive for good feedback and look for ways to reach the eyes and ears of the decision makers. If there is something that you always wanted to do, that you thought was a natural fit and should be in your job description, now is the time to do it. Then think it through. In your work environment would it be better to propose it to your supervisor before starting? Or would it be better to start incorporating it into your job, then propose it at a decisive moment that will make your contribution stand out?

Stay cheerful and friendly. If you make yourself positively useful and visible, you may be able to redefine yourself as a leader and step into another job. Either way, the exercise will get you thinking about your full range of skills and abilities that can help you move forward beyond an apparent dead-end.

4. You Can’t Live Here Any More. If the landlord has decided to sell a house you are renting, ask if you can negotiate a deal to buy it. If it is beyond your means, could you share the purchase price with another? If the landlord already has a buyer in mind, accept the disappointment and begin to search for something else. Take this opportunity to improve your living arrangements and find what you have always wanted.

If you’re losing your house due to foreclosure, have you investigated every option, communicated early and often with your mortgage company, and checked out every possible aid program? If it’s unavoidable you must accept it and move on, taking a long look at your financial management style. Be honest with yourself about how you got into this situation, and develop a plan for rebuilding your future.

Let your dreams take flight. Would you like to live in the country? In a loft? In another part of the country? Share a house with another? Ask for new opportunities and they will appear. It is a time for positive change and if you see it as something good, it will be so.

5. Your Insurance Won’t Cover This Procedure. Assuming this is a necessary procedure, talk openly with your health care provider about your financial situation. You might be able to negotiate the price and establish a schedule for paying out the fees. Fees received over time are better than nothing and you may find a willing doctor. Call around among other providers. Look at out-of-network providers if your insurance won’t pay anyway. Sometimes independent practitioners who do not take insurance have lower billing rates. Your county health department can tell you if there is a federally subsidized clinic in your town.

Asking never hurt anyone. Many healthcare organizations are giving cash discounts these days. If you have some savings, ask for a discount for paying cash. The discount alone can save you more than the interest you would have earned on your savings. Be sure you get a receipt marked “paid in full.”

Communication works in all of these cases. Never count yourself out. Instead, keep looking for creative answers. Many pharmaceutical companies provide free medications to families without insurance. Surf the web. Ask around. Insurance companies, non-profit societies, foundations and support groups may have resources as well.

6. Your Close Relative Has Cancer. Sadly, all of us know people with cancer. When a close relative has cancer, it’s important to share your time with her and do things to help her and her family: prepare food, babysit, help with chores, run errands, go and visit if they want. Sometimes just being there is what they need most. It’s important to talk with family members also. When there is serious illness, the family members often are the ones who are really left out. They need your support and friendship too.

Do not be afraid of cancer. These days, chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and many cancers, can often be successfully managed. Learn more about cancer and how you can help. There are many websites such as the American Cancer Society and the Susan B. Komen Society. Learn by talking to others.

Many of us get started in one direction and keep going on autopilot until something gets in our way. It could be our health or the health of a family member or something catastrophic to our finances or living situation. The important thing to remember is that you are your own best resource. As long as you don’t allow the stress of the situation to overcome your faith in yourself, you have all you need to survive and succeed. Be alert to open doors along the way and you’ll be able to turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.

Nancy D. O’Reilly, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and founder of WomenSpeak.com, has worked with women in a strategic, problem-solving fashion for more than 25 years. She is the author of the self-help book, Timeless Women Speak.

She is passionate about educating and offering women a place to share the experience of growing older in a positive and rewarding atmosphere. During more than 10 years of research she has asked more than 1,200 women of all ages the hard questions about growing older in a youth-driven society. Women find comfort knowing that they are not the only ones who worry about getting older and who wonder if their value as a person will be compromised. Dr. Nancy interviews an interesting woman author each week for a podcast on her website. She was nominated for Missouri’s First Lady Award in 2008 and recognized as one of Springfield, Missouri’s Most Influential Women of 2007. She speaks frequently on women and aging, biofeedback, depression, migraine, mental health, constructive confrontation, workplace violence, and stress management. She gives radio and TV interviews, has published professional articles, and has presented her research at a national conference of the American Psychological Association.

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How to Radically Empower Yourself Now

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Jafree Ozwald -

“You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.” ~Rumi

Always respond to life from a place of trust, gentleness and never out of fear. No matter what happens in this world, remember one thing. You are always sculpting your experience with the thoughts you are choosing to focus on. Just like an artist sculpts a masterpiece out of a chunk of stone, you are forming the world around you with how you define what you see, feel and experience. The thoughts you are choosing to entertain and focus on are molding your reality each moment of your life. You already have the manifesting power, you are already always forming your own experience of reality. You simply need to be aware of what you are spending your time focusing on. Are you thinking about what you want, or what you don’t want? When you become acutely aware of where you are directing your attention, you can instantly shape shift your entire life in an empowered new direction.

You were born with the innate ability to focus your mind in any direction you choose. You can decide to focus your thoughts onto thoughts that give you strength, trust and courage just by pure choice alone. This simple choice will empower, improve and expand your experience of life. You need to use your mind, instead of be used by it. This means that you are in charge of how you’re feeling right now! It may seem impossible to feel strong when all you see is lack, challenge and struggle around you, yet to hold your mind in the most positive direction you can imagine. If you cannot see anything, then simply imagine the gold warm sunshine is touching your heart and caressing your face. Empowerment all comes down to how peaceful you are within.

I invite you to do some inner work on yourself right now, and ask yourself these questions below.

Don’t go onto the next one until you find an answer that feels good and right for you…

1. What thoughts do I need to let go of to trust that Life is unfolding perfectly as it is?

2. What do I most need to say NO to so that I can say YES to feeling empowered now?

3. When I’m truly empowered, what does that sensation feel like in my body?

4. How will my life look different after I am empowered…what will I see shift in my world?

I suggest that you write out the answers to these questions and email them to yourself so that you can hold yourself accountable. This will help give you strength inside and also give you direction in your life. If you want to transform your life you must first be responsible for where you feel weak and powerless. You must know what you need to let go of in order to make room for feeling powerful again. Spend as much time on this exercise, as if your entire life depended on it! When you’re clear about what you want, life gets a whole lot easier. This may be the most life changing exercise of your life.

Yes, you are being called to step up your vibration and become a more empowered human being. You can create anything, as long as you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get there. If you’re half committed, you’ll simply get half hearted results. You must make it urgent that you are not going to live in fear another moment and stuck in some fabricated reality in your mind that is not even true! Think of the sailboat to empowerment paradise is about to leave the harbor in the next 30 minutes, and if you’re not ready to get on it, organized, packed, prepared to JUMP on that ship, you will simply be left on the dock struggling with your same life circumstances. You cannot be a procrastinator if you want to become empowered. The time is now to strengthen and ignite your true Self. Below are 3 steps you can take to become more empowered in your life.

“Do what you have to do resolutely, with all your heart. The traveler who hesitates only raises dust on the road.” ~Buddha

1. Let Go of Judging, Criticizing and Blaming Yourself and Others – This is perhaps the greatest energy leaks that human beings have. By judging others, and finding fault with them (or yourself) you are trashing your vibration and wasting your energy. Everyone is on their own enlightened path and are taken care of by God. We are all having the necessary life experience we need to reach our soul’s highest spiritual power. It’s vital that you own and use all the energy you have for love, gratitude, connection and joy. Do not waste it on separating yourself or others as not being 100% divine. Don’t be hard on yourself, just notice where you are critical of yourself and others, and choose instead to forgive. We all need deep love and support at this time, more than you know. Compassion is one of the highest responses you can have. It will ALWAYS bring out your most empowered self. The more acceptance, patience and love you can send out into the world the higher your level of consciousness can reach. Each time you radiate acceptance instead of judgment, you bring out the best in yourself and the world. You literally shift the vibration of this planet when you hold more love, compassion, and peace in your heart. You truly change the planet’s energetic field when you change the field within yourself.

2. Take Inspired Actions Everyday – Every time you take actions from an inspired spontaneous space, your heart expands and you send out a super positive energy into the world. This is what magnetizes more of what you desire into your life. Adversely, every inspired action which you don’t take makes it difficult to feel more alive and empowered. If an artist hesitates to paint something he or she is inspired to paint, there is a feeling of being lost, lacking creativity, and feeling less confident. To create your life as a masterpiece you must never ever hold back when you are deeply inspired to do something. Never! Make this your golden rule. By consistently taking inspired actions you’ll create a tremendous energy, inspiration and joy all around you. You always have the choice whether you do what your body and mind are here to do, or not. You can actively create the world you want to live in or just be a dreamer of it. The choice is yours to wake up to a world tomorrow morning that makes you smile, laugh and open your heart with joy to the divine being you truly are.

3. Embrace What You Cannot Face – The reason anyone feels disempowered is because they are avoiding looking at or FEELING something in their life. They are caught in judgment that there is no good within the bad, no yin within the yang. Each life experience ALWAYS contains both if you are open to seeing both sides of the coin. What are you still avoiding? Whatever it is, be it a certain person, a conversation or financial burden, the gift is in divine through it. You are missing a great opportunity to grow by not embracing the totality of your being. Everything inside of you is there for a reason. All memories are there to awaken you to something deeper you’re not seeing about you. When you can observe that which you don’t want to look at with eyes of acceptance, that thing literally transforms within you instantly. When you shed light into the darkness you see that there was never anything to fear. The moment that you can be with that which you cannot be with, you step into a much bigger YOU and instantly feel empowered and unstoppable in your life again.

“Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.” ~Nicolas de Chamfort

About The Author:

Jafree Ozwald has been a personal life coach since 1997 and has created success for tens of thousands of people from all over the world. http://www.supermanifestor.com

To truly empower yourself you must take massive action in a new direction. To step into feeling that you are the creator of your reality, support yourself with the most effective online Super Manifesting Program on the planet today. Do our manifesting routine for even one week and I guarantee you’ll find yourself feeling more inspired, alive and excited about your future than ever before! This online experience is yours to download instantly now, and it will take you through the exact steps you need to become a super empowered and successful person in any area of your life!! Enjoy!!

http://www.supermanifestor.com

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Are You Happy to Be You?

July 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Susan Russo -

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain

Why are people so hard on themselves? Why do we beat the living crap out of ourselves about every little thing and then wonder why we’re not happy? Isn’t it sad when you hear about a person who has been abused by someone they love?

No one deserves to be treated poorly, disrespected, talked down to and beaten down, not even you. So why on earth do people do it to themselves? Learning to love yourself may sound cliche, but it’s the single most important factor in building your confidence and self-esteem.

If you stop for a second and listen to the self-deprecating way you talk to yourself or how you continually criticize yourself, is it any wonder you feel bad about who you are? There isn’t anyone on the planet that’s perfect. We all have our flaws, but we also all have our strengths, our blessings and our inner beauty.

Focusing on everything you hate or dislike about yourself is like a nagging old bitty constantly beating a dead horse. Give it up! Lay off!

If you were witnessing someone being mistreated you would want to come to their rescue and tell the bully to go crawl back under the rock they came from. Well then, there are times when you are that bully inflicting mean, hurtful words upon yourself, your own self-torture.

Instead, make a list of the things that you have to be thankful for and begin to see that there are many blessing you’ve been given that you may have chosen to ignore.

You have qualities that are unique from others and that is where you need to focus your thoughts. There are things about you that make you special.

Every time you start to find fault, i.e. I’m too fat, too old, too short, too tall. I’m too shy, I can’t make friends, No one ever likes me, I’m dumb, I can’t talk in front of people, I’ll never succeed etc., ask this question, why am I being so mean to myself?

What good does it do to talk to myself in such a cruel way? Would you ever talk to someone you loved that way? Then why not start to love yourself a little bit more each day?

Treat yourself, as you would someone you love. Don’t allow that bully in you to keep putting you down. If you do, you are approaching your life with the wrong attitude. You are being abusive and unkind to YOU!

Instead, say, “I’m not that bad. There may be things I don’t like about myself but in all in all, I’m a good person.” Then start to acknowledge those qualities that you do possess, i.e. I’m funny, I’m giving, I love to laugh, I excel in this or that, I help people, I’m committed, honest, warm, I’m nice to people (other than myself, just kidding) I’m a great cook, I’m organized, etc. Begin to acknowledge the qualities that make you special.

Find the goodness in you and start to appreciate you for who you are. Relish your uniqueness. We are all on a journey to find our true authenticity. Yours will be different from others. There will be things you can change and things you will learn to accept and embrace about yourself.

However, the key is to learn to accept the whole package. You are a shining star in many ways. Become aware of what you have to offer and celebrate your gifts. There isn’t another person on this planet with your qualities and uniqueness.

You can’t expect others to love and respect you if you can’t. By treating yourself lovingly and respectfully, you will find others who will treat you the same. It all begins from within. When you learn to accept yourself just the way you are, you will say, “I’m happy to be me!”

If you want to find out how to discover your hidden power, go to: http://www.susanrusso.com
Susan Russo is an author, speaker and coach who provides inspiration, self-empowerment and the tools and strategies to help move you toward personal success and fulfillment. She is author of “There Is Life After What’s-His-Name and The 7 Keys To Unlock The Power Within You. Susan is also Co-Author of: Success and Happiness-16 Experts Reveal Their Secrets.

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Empower Yourself to Try New Things

July 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Debra J. Slover -

Are you stuck in a rut, want the courage to try new things, and don’t know how?

Contrary to what it may feel like when you are in a rut, the power lies within to make a change. Even if, you’ve been doing the same thing for your entire life and now want to go in a different direction, it’s your choice. You have the power to do what you want to do, if you are willing to take responsibility for your power or lack thereof. It’s important to try new things to have a quality of life; even if it’s just a new haircut.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with routine, but there is a difference between contented routine and feeling stuck in a rut. It’s all about your perception, and since the only reality is your perception, that’s what matters most. Sure, it’s okay to consider how your choices affect others, but that doesn’t mean you should not make a change. Just give any change some serious thought by weighing the options and determining how it impacts you and them before you choose. Once you choose stick to it. Too often people let others dissuade them from making change they know is right for them.

One thing that can help you know it’s okay to try new things is to realize that the happier you are in your life, the happier others will be around you. If you’re feeling stuck, and out of sorts, and even miserable, the misery will rub off on others. It’s best to figure out how to add newness to your life, restore your passion, and live your true purpose and aim.

Fear of change can be traced to fear of death, harm, or some sort of pain that is “death like.” If you can rationalize that you’re not likely to die from one of the changes you want to make, and you’re not likely to be harmed or experience pain that you cannot handle, you may be able to get to a place of empowerment. No one said it would be easy, but change begins by learning how think about something newly.

Remember, that most change will bring joy into your life — eventually. How many times have you tried something new that wasn’t that great, but it led to something else wonderful and awesome in your life? How many people have taken a leap of faith toward something new and now cannot imagine their life back the old way? Most successful people, if you ask them right now if they’d change anything they’ve ever done in their life, they’ll say no. Even if the things they’ve gone through are horrific. They know there is a lesson in everything to help you learn and grow.

So, take the leap, start small, and before you know it, change will be your friend.

Award winning author, Debra J. Slover’s leadership expertise stems from 18 years directing a state youth services program, experience organizing 20 state and national conferences, and running her own consulting firm for over six years. Her website is http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com

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Authenticity: The Key to an Empowered Life

July 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Stacey Shaw -

When we find our authentic voice, our lives shift dramatically. What do I mean by authentic voice? I mean that we learn how to increase the awareness of our truest desires, dreams, and talents. We learn to bring these out into the world with less fear and worry about what others may think of us.

Being authentic sounds like an easy task, but by the time we reach adulthood, many of us have learned to stifle our personal truth and deepest feelings. We have learned, through the influence of family, society, media, and school, to change or withhold our authentic emotions and thoughts in order to gain the approval of others and avoid ridicule. This slowly erodes our personal integrity and we can feel it. We don’t feel quite right. We may even feel a form of shame, without being able to point to a specific cause. We feel somehow inauthentic, maybe even losing touch with our own Truth.

So, how do we practice being more authentic; more in alignment with our own honest expression? First, we must be willing to look inside and examine our own behavior. This means paying attention. Have you told any big lies lately? How about “little white” lies? Were any of the lies necessary? Why? How could you have been more honest with yourself and others?

Now, after noticing these aspects, we need to begin telling the whole truth about things. Even when it is difficult, we need to strive toward a higher degree of honesty. This definitely includes being honest with ourselves. Through this process of noticing our comfort with speaking the Truth, suspend any self-judgment that arises. Just notice, pay attention, and change behavior. Do not judge.

Increase your tolerance for feeling vulnerable. This self-examination process may feel vulnerable. We often lie or dodge the truth because it is frightening to be vulnerable, but when we learn to be vulnerable and open with our Truth, this is where the sweetest feelings can come from. This means that we practice exploring and sharing our thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears and doubts with others without self-judgement and without worrying about being judged by others. This is where the power comes in. As we learn to practice, we feel more joyful, more liberated, more powerful. We feel authentic!

Being authentic in this way consistently and over time will improve your relationships, work life, and sense of well-being. You will be in alignment with yourself and your sense of integrity will soar!

Stacey Shaw, M.Ed is a dynamic trainer and coach. She is highly intuitive and able to go to the heart of her clients needs. Stacey has created the Women’s Worth, Women’s Wealth system as a break-through tool for women to achieve their personal and financial dreams. When not coaching, Stacey teaches and performs Hoop Dance. For coaching, visit: http://www.staceyshaw.com

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Pursuing Happiness

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Tony Fahkry -

Defining Happiness

Are you happy with your life? You only need to look peer around your community to realise how unhappy and ungrateful many people can be. They are stuck in jobs they hate, relationships which they loathe and some may have too much or too little money to ever be content. That’s ok though since we’re all here to do the best we can, in the best way we know how.

I finished reading a modern day Buddhist novel, with a page devoted each day to a life lesson. The idea is to read the passage – which is one page in length and contemplate the message; being inspired to live it as well. Suffering occurs when we don’t get what we want or when we get what we want and don’t like what has shown up.

Believe it or not, having too much money can cause suffering, since it belies the need for more. It may bring other anxieties to the surface, such as having enough and being able to hold onto it. It begs the question which I asked at the beginning of the blog; Are you happy with your current life? What makes you happy? Why are you unhappy if so? What would it take for you to be happy NOW?

Many people conduct their life as though it has no special meaning and are comfortable chipping away until they reach their destination or achieve their purpose. Where do you sit along this continuum? Are you constantly complaining that life owes you something? Or do you feel you owe life something?

I find it interesting given all the billions of people on this planet, there is so many varying views of reality. Who is right? How can one person get up in the morning and see the beauty and magic in everything he/she encounters? It’s not enough to suggest they’re suffering Pollyanna syndrome either. You can’t be happy all the time – trust me, I’ve met those types of people and if I may say so, they’re incredibly annoying!

Ask the Right Questions

Happiness comes from what you have NOW. Read that again and again until it holds meaning in your life. You can’t be happy when you have ‘x’ or when you become ‘y’ since that is the root cause of all human suffering. I like the following passage from a well known author: “The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.” The last part of the quote is the essential element for living in the NOW and being happy NOW. The future will never come EXACTLY as you plan or hope for.

Who would have ever thought I’d be talking about personal development and health ten years ago? I certainly didn’t. Am I happy and fulfilled? Absolutely. I am happy since asked the right questions along my journey; “What do you want me to do or become?” “What is my purpose?” “How may I serve and contribute to this world?” I’m not suggesting I hold the key to unlocking your happiness.

I may prompt you along your search for the right questions, hopefully revealing the answers along the way. You must find your truth. I can tell you this much; the only place it dwells, is within. It lies within all your so called tragedies of believing you’re too fat or too skinny, not good enough or whatever you’ve told yourself you are or are not. Your truth, as the song suggests, will set you free. Yet in order to be free from suffering, you must find it first.

So my message is simply the following. Don’t try and become happy. Your natural state is happiness. Don’t look for happiness in others, for you’ll be disappointed. Don’t accumulate things believing they will make you happy. That is false thinking which will dishearten you. Don’t search for meaning in your life. Give meaning to your life.

Begin by asking questions which bring your closer to your pot of gold. Keep asking them every day whether they’re expressed as thoughts or emotions – ask! Act on the answers life delivers you. If you’re not satisfied with the answers, keep asking the RIGHT question until you arrive at a place where you’re satisfied and happy – for this is your truth and the reason you were meant to be here on earth.

Tony Fahkry is an expert in integrating the mind-body connection with health & healing, personal development and self awareness to achieve greater human potential. I do this by drawing awareness to self, removing limitations and obstacles which restrict personal growth and development.

My program Awaken Your Authentic Self trains people how to reclaim their mental and physical well being. Based on three fundamental principles I have found essential for achieving radiant health to healing from disease and illness. Following these principles in their daily lives people see a powerful shift from fatigue, unhappiness, stress, depressed mood to feelings of vitality, a renewed sense of life purpose and the energy to make it happen. Visit my blog at http://tonyfahkry.tumblr.com for additional resources.

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Coming From Ground and Center

September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Val Wilcox -

“Grounding and Centering” is a visualization and meditation exercise you can use to focus yourself on the present. You learn to feel more whole, more aware while being able to balance yourself. This exercise can be used whenever you are stressed, worried or nervous. When you can step into this state of being, it helps you to Live in the Moment. Being Grounded and Centered are essential parts of Living in the Moment.

“Coming From Ground and Center”

To practice this exercise, give yourself a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed. It takes practice to accomplish this exercise so be gentle and patient with yourself. Never push yourself, let the feelings flow. Quiet your mind and allow the feelings from your Center come through.

  • Begin by standing or sitting comfortably: Place your hand just below your belly button and start deep breathing. Deep breathing involves relaxing your stomach and letting your breath down into your belly. Imagine it flowing down into your toes as your belly expands. Do you start to feel different? Some people find this sort of deep breathing unnatural. To learn it, breathe so that your belly pushes your hand out. Practice regularly, so that it becomes easy and natural.
  • Close your eyes: Imagine your breath pushing down through the base of your spine, through your feet, like a tree pushing down its roots. Imagine those roots pushing down through the floor and into the soil below. Imagine they can feel something of the quality of the earth, what grows there, and how healthy it is. Push down through the waters under the soil, down through the bedrock, and down into the center. If there’s still any tension or fear, let that go through your “roots”. For some people, imagining that there is a fire at the center of the Earth and throwing negative feelings into the fire helps to make those feelings dissipate.
  • Imagine you can draw some of that fire up: Feel it as the earth’s living creative energy, and bring it up through the rock and the water and the soil. Bring it into your legs and feet, like a tree’s roots would draw up water and nutrients. Bring it up your spine and imagine your spine growing like a tree trunk, reaching up to the sky. Bring some fire into your heart, into any place inside you that needs healing or extra energy. As you imagine the growth and energy flowing into you, raise and open your posture and re-focus on your breath.
  • Direct the energy up through your arms and out of your hands, up through your neck and throat and out the top of your head: Visualize branches of energy that reach up to the sky, and let them spread around you and reach back down to touch the earth, creating a protective filter around you. Take a moment, look at that energy web, and notice if there are any places that need to be repaired or strengthened. Send energy in that direction.
  • Imagine the energy of the sun, shining down on your leaves and branches: Breathe deep; draw that energy in. Breathe it down through your leaves and branches, down through your heart and your belly and your hands. Take it in, feed on it like a tree feeds on sunlight.
  • Imagine your feet have sticky roots: Let them sink into the earth and then release when you start to move. Walk around a little. Feel connected with the ground. Feel the imaginary roots grip and release.
  • Stretch your arms out to your sides as you move, as far as they’ll go, until you can’t see your hands if you look straight ahead: Now wiggle your thumbs, and slowly bring your arms in until your thumbs are just visible on the edge of your peripheral vision. Notice how wide your field of vision can be. As you walk, breathing deep, grounded, activate that peripheral vision. Know that you can be aware of what’s going on around you.
  • Come back to stillness: As you breathe, feel where it is in your body this grounded place seems to live, and touch that place. Can you find an image for this grounded state? A word or phrase you can say? When you use these three together-touch, image, and phrase- you create an anchor to help you ground quickly in any situation.

Do you notice a difference? Coming from this place of balance may change your perceptions and thoughts when interacting with others. Think of instances in your life where this would be beneficial.

  • Remember, the more you practice grounding, the more automatic it becomes. If you take even a few minutes a day to practice, you’ll not only have better energy in your daily life, you’ll be able to ground quickly and instantly when you’re in a tense situation.
  • If Ground and Center exercises seem to take too long, you may be trying too hard, or you may be achieving Ground and Center without recognizing it. If this happens, do something else for a while and try again later. To Ground and Center is a skill, like any other, which only gets easier with practice, so practice often.
  • Notice whether you are making eye contact with the people you pass. Keep breathing, stay grounded, keep your awareness wide, but now also make eye contact with each person you pass. How does it feel to be this present in a situation?

Are you ready to add this practice to your daily life? Energizing and balancing your thoughts and clearing stress and tension could bring clarity of purpose to your life.

“Everything in life,… has to have balance.”

Donna Karan

To access more posts by Val Wilcox, please visit http://www.valwilcox.com
Stop on over to pick up a FREE copy of my newest book – Change Your Mindset…Change Your Mind

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Have an awesome day!

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Empowered Parenting: A three part series on how to empower parenting by strengthening the family unit

March 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

ComfortingBy Eric Putnam -

Empowered parenting takes advantage of the power of habits, routines and rituals, strengthens family relationships and the family as a whole.

Part 1: Take advantage of the power of habits, routines and rituals

What are habits, routines and rituals and how can they help me parent my child?

Habits are involuntary behaviors that occur because of prior repetition.

At first glance, habits may seem small but can strengthen over time and have profound effects on people’s lives.  Habits can help and habits can hurt.  They can maximize memory, decrease stress, and allow us to multi-task.  They can also lead to uncontrolled tantrums, backtalking and defiance, and aggression toward others.

Let’s face it we are all creatures of habit.  Habit comes easy to us.  Since we naturally form habits, we might as well take advantage of it.

The Power of Repetition

Our brain learns through repetition and then becomes comfortable with its predictability.

If you were to roll a ball down a hill, it would fall down a particular path.  As you increase the number of times that you roll the ball down the hill, it would start to fall into one of a few paths.  Over time, the ball would follow the more used paths over the lesser used ones.  The brain follows the most used paths of action.

It takes about 27 days of repetition for a habit to take hold in the brain; the more daily repetitions the better.

Empower Yourself with Routine and Ritual

Routine is when you repeat a sequence of behaviors together.  Routine is a habitualized activity.  Routine is the sequence of events that helps you get through your day.  It helps our children get ready for school in the morning and to sleep at night.

Rituals are more powerful than routines.  Rituals are routines that have some sort of symbolic meaning attached to them.  Rituals are the family dinner and the hug goodbye.  The symbol is family and love.

Families create lots of rituals including:

-       Baby showers

-       Birthdays

-       Graduations

-       Weddings

-       Funerals

Rituals draw on the power of the symbol within the routine to strengthen and support the behavior.

Choosing Positive Routines and Rituals

Our lives are filled with knee-jerk reactions and poor choices.  Parents have the opportunity to choose new positive paths for family growth.  Parents can choose to create new positive parenting routines and rituals that support the family as a whole as well as address specific child misbehaviors.

Parents can choose:

-       Family fun time

-       Family dinner time

Parents can also choose for their children:

-       One-on-one time

-       Skill building time

Think of a new routine or ritual that you want to introduce to your family or specific child and get ready to:

-       Commit

-       Engage

-       And have fun

Commit

Commitment is the driving force getting your new routine or ritual going.  Don’t commit to something you can’t do.  If able, commit to a specific day and time.  Post it on a calendar and talk about it the rest of the family or any other significant people in your day-to-day lives.  If something comes up that prevents you from doing your new routine or ritual, immediately reschedule and follow through.

Engage

Activate all of your senses.  Try to incorporate as many of your five sense as you can.  Encourage discussion, storytelling, song, physical activity and contact, etc.

Have fun.

Habits are much easier to learn when you are having fun.  Ask for feedback from the rest of the family and be true to yourself as to what would make it more fun for you as the parent.

Remember that repetition is the key, you may get some resistance at first but don’t fight it.  Ride it out until the habit takes hold and the empowerment begins.  Next month we will look at specific routines and rituals that parents can use to strengthen family relationships.

Filed Under: Self Esteem, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , ,

Cultivating Deeper Spiritual Understanding

July 14, 2008 By 1 Comment

By Hieu Doan -

This world that we live in is accelerating at the level of intellectual information. We seek to understand and many of us believe that intellectual understanding is the highest level of understanding. The truth is that intellectual understanding is a very shallow level of understanding. It only requires the understanding of some concepts and ideas and then it is finished. No further action is required. On the other hand physical understanding is very deep. It requires action at the physical and cellular level of the body.

The reason that spiritual development has received such bad publicity over the years in mainstream circles is because it has a reputation for existing only at the intellectual level of understanding. In short, without seeing any tangible benefits people have been quick to dismiss it as lacking practicality in the ‘real world.’ This is simply a result of only receiving a small piece of the picture.

Spirit is part of the consciousness, just as the physical and the mind is part of the consciousness. If any of these elements is left out of the practice, then the practice is incomplete and therefore on any of the respective planes of existence it will lack “practicality.”

What this means is that spirit must have a real practical connection to the physical world, the mind must have a real and logical understanding and connection to the spirit and the mind must have a real and practical connection to the body. This is how we can use our complete consciousness.

Scientists have speculated for some time that human beings only use 10% or less of their brains and the reason for this is the separation of these mind, body and spirit connections. When they are in place then access to the remaining 90% becomes readily available. This expansion opens up the dormant faculties of human mind, but it is in truth only the beginning of a vast journey of consciousness evolution.

Hieu Doan

Hieu Doan is a Metaphysical Healer, Senior Guild Leader of Life Mastery Guilds and creator of ‘Meditation Mastery Activations’, ‘Psychic Mastery’ and the ’9 Laws of Empowerment.’ http://www.lifemasteryonline.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hieu_Doan
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