Create a Life that Feels Good!

Getting to Know Ourself

2011-09-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

How well do you know yourself? When was the last time you paid attention to how you were feeling? The most important journey you will ever undertake is to get to know yourself, and the only real way to get to know yourself is to have curiosity. Full awareness of who you are necessitates examining what you are feeling, how it physically affects your body, why you feel it, and when have you felt it in the past. Take the time to look at your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and motivations. When we can observe how different things make us feel we can reflect on what might be behind our reactions and what it is we really want.

Creative Solution for Getting to Know Our Self

Pay Attention
Acknowledge the Re-action.
Breathe. Pause.
Investigate the whys.
What is it I long for?
Find the right direction

Have Less Stress: Learn to Pause

2011-02-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

Tara Brach, teacher in Buddhist meditation

discusses how meditation can help conquer stress.

“I find that when people are stressed, it’s

because they’re afraid of failing. We feel bad

about ourselves and then we get locked into

this mindset of judging ourselves.

Meditative strategies are ways of coming back to

a clear, centered state.

“The first step is to stop.

"The sacred art of pausing."

Just stop your action, then breathe—three or four full breaths. Soften your hands,and face.

“The second thing is to listen to yourself and ask, ‘What’s happening inside me right now?’ Then experience whatever is inside—maybe a feeling of anxiety or loneliness or restlessness or sorrow. It’s a way of getting intimate with your inner life.

“The third step is kindness. Befriend yourself."

This information was taken from an article in the December 2010 issue of The Washingtonian.

Flawed--An explanation

2010-09-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Flawed --imperfection--humanly perfect.

Most of the time 'flawed' is an inside job. Usually it's a result of how you feel about yourself? How much do you judge yourself, your feelings, or the reactions of other people towards you?

I was talking to one of my therapist friends about something that was bothering me the other day----and she said, "Oh, don't take it so personally." Such wise words!

The next day, one of my daughter-in-laws said something to me that was bothersome. In that instant, I caught myself falling into the pattern of feeling imperfect. She must be mad at me, what did I do wrong? Those feelings of rejection run deep inside us and float up to our awareness every now and then. The phrase--'don't take it personally' is certainly a good response to practice. It takes the pressure off yourself. What a relief! In fact, I began to feel as if she was loosing out on my warm and tender ways.

So, don't take it personally helps you to let go. To let go of your fears, the past hurts, the stories that have a hold on you. It helps you to quiet your mind and open your heart. Let's begin to take things personally in a positive way.

Why do I start or stop an exercise? Why do I change direction?

2010-08-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

When you feel pushed, frustrated and/or irritable it’s your internal signal to take a step back and pause for a moment. Clear your thinking critical mind. Give yourself some unfocused time in order to let yourself have space to simply "be" without having to "do" anything. And then you can navigate towards balance.

In the still quiet part of your mind...

2010-08-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

"If we fall, we don't need self-recrimination or blame or anger - we need a reawakening of our intention and a willingness to recommit, to be whole-hearted once again." Sharon Salzberg

2010-05-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
Albert Einstein

Paying Attention

2010-05-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Awareness requires only that we pay attention and see things as they are."
Jon Kabat-Zinn

Creative Solution for Mothering Distress

2010-05-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

1. Notice any discomfort.
2. Listen attentively; acknowledge and validate your feelings.
3. Pause. Breathe. Let Go.
4. Assess your situation.
5. Gather your self-assurance.
6. Adjust towards positive thinking, behavior, or words.

What matters....

2009-11-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

For the meaning of life differs from man to man,
from day to day and from hour to hour.
What matters, therefore, is not
the meaning of life in general
but rather the
specific meaning of a person's life
at a given moment.
~Viktor Frankl~

A Chinese Proverb

2009-10-08T03:34:00.000-07:00

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."

2009-09-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

"Why do you think you're a small star with the whole universe inside you?"

~Sidi al-Jamal~

"For Every Action There is an Equal Reaction"

2009-09-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

"According to the law of the universe, for every action there is an equal reaction." When we realize that we are accountable for every thought, word, action and deed, we have a choice to use our wisdom for awareness and act accordingly."

2009-05-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

"Can you keep yourself so still, that muddy water clears? And wait until right action spontaneously appears? --- Lao Tzu

Acceptance

2009-02-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Personal thought:

I can’t remember where I recently read this phrase--but it touched a very important reality, and that is, “Can we accept that we are human; flawed and complicated and yet also perfect---perfectly human?”

How refreshing is that! In our darkest moments if we just said to ourselves, "I accept myself as being perfectly human with my flaws, feelings and my complicated personality." We would be able to stabilize ourselves much faster. By saying this we wouldn’t have to fight and resist our moods.

When we resist our feelings they take us to unknown territory which could trigger us even further and then we can linger there for days. So next time when something triggers you in a downward spiral—I want you to say to yourself, “I accept that I am perfectly human with my flaws, feelings, and my complicated personality.” Who is here to judge! It’s really our old perhaps even out-dated negative perceptions of ourselves that make us flawed. It’s all about acceptance--accepting our good and our not-so-good—that’s what makes us perfectly human. So in the end---it's about honoring ourselves---all that we are.

We could even take it a step farther and look at other people’s silly statements or reactions and say that phrase to ourselves, “I accept that you are perfectly human, flawed and complicated.” You can then give them slack. Another word for that-- is compassion.

~ Apache Prayer ~

2008-12-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

May the sun bring you new energy by day. May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away your worries. May the breeze blow new strength into your being. May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

2008-03-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling,

but in rising every time we fall."

Ralph Waldo Emerson