You are enough, just as you are.💕
Mirror Exercise: Waking Up with Love
Tag: Zen
The Space Between No Longer and Not Yet
The time in between is a difficult time for all of us.
Myself included.
A super organized (type A) person like me becomes a little unhinged in the space in between.
But don’t we all?
Wondering if we still have what it takes.
Hoping we can still make a difference in the world when the pandemic ends.
Which is why I wrote this post today.
Highlighting the shared challenge we all face between the old and the new.
Change is a lifelong process.
Let yourself feel what you need to feel.
Take a breath. Enjoy some rest.
Give your monkey mind a break.
It’s ok to not be ok.
What comes also goes.
Honour the space in between.
Related Post: Divine Timing
Celebrate how far you’ve come.
Today let’s celebrate all the dreams that came true.
Merely an idea 5 years ago.
It’s so easy to get lost in our hopes and motivations for the future.
Without realizing how many of our aspirations we’ve already achieved.
Together let’s honour how far we’ve come.
Only then will we have the fuel + the faith to keep reaching for our North Stars.
Again and again and again.. 🙏💛 🚀💫
Don’t Give Up!
You are closer than you know. ✨
Video of Blog Post ⇒ Click Here
Mindful Moments in California
We’re on a trip to California for our December birthdays and wedding anniversary and I couldn’t imagine a more mindful place to be.
Nature everywhere we look.
Luminous moonlight.
Dancing campfire.
Fresh ocean air.
Water as far as the eye can see.
Sunshine in every nook.
100 year old fig trees.
Just outside our hotel room door.
Mountains in the distance.
Waiting to be climbed.
Above all, I am most grateful to wake up each day and share my life with John, my students, and everyone reading this post.
December birthday blessings of the highest kind.🎄💚
Video of Blog Post ⇒ Click Here
CPR: Sustainable Mental Health Habits
sus·tain·a·bil·i·ty/səˌstānəˈbilədē/The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
Catch Pause Repair (CPR) is a Framework for Sustainable Mental Health & Resilience Habits.
CPR includes three simple steps as outlined in the video below:
1. Catch
Catch yourself in the midst (or before) before a stress response escalates by becoming more aware of what triggers you.
2. Pause
Pause and take a 60 second time out when you feel the physical sensations of stress begin to escalate.
3. Repair
Repair the root source of the heightened stress response which is often physiological in nature. Possible unmet needs include: sleep, food, fresh air, exercise.
Supporting Student Health
Requested by
The CPR Presentation was developed for the St. Clair College Student Sustainability Group as part of their initiative for supporting the health and wellbeing of college staff, faculty, and students.
New Opportunity
This was the first time I’ve been approached to make a video for a third party. And it was so much fun!
Happiness and Healing in Present Time.
You have the ability to make positive changes in your life.
Right here. Right now.
Don’t wait for “the perfect time” to transform your life.
NOW IS YOUR POWER.
Your emotions have a message for you.
Create space for feelings to flow.
Emotions are neither good or bad.
Only labeling makes it so.
Don’t run from challenging emotions.
Instead, lean in and ask:
“What are you trying to tell me?”
Witness. Observe. Learn.
The best part is how small fear appears close up!
We must go in — to get through.
Helpful Article with Strategies
Click Here: Lean into loneliness
Laughter is an instant vacation.
What’s your favourite stress reliever?
Laughter is mine.
We live in a world weighed down by disaster, debt, and divorce. So it’s no surprise that we’ve been conditioned to believe that tragedies require tragic mindsets.
That serious issues demand serious attitudes. That hardships necessitate hardened spirits.
What consumes your mind consumes your life.
Change your view.
Thankfully we also live in a world overflowing with abundance, joy, and love. Same world. But we can’t see the good when we’re overwhelmed by the bad.
From overwhelmed to OVERFLOWING.
Making the shift from stress to strength can happen in a number of ways.
Laughter = instant stress relief. Taking a long deep breath runs a close second.
Be kind to your mind.
Laughter breaks the panic spell. The not enough mindset. The woe is me attitude. The negativity downturn.
Laughter connects people in present time. Friends and strangers! Think of the last time you laughed out loud with a cashier in the grocery line. (For me, it was last night ;.)
Laughter is an instant vacation to a better place – without the travel bills!
Today’s challenge / opportunity:
Today’s challenge is to lighten up. To breathe deeply into what stresses you.
To leave room for grace. To respond with a light heart and an open mind. To dance a little dance. To laugh with friends. To nourish your soul.
Ultimately to remember who you were – before life weighed you down.
For it’s in our joy that we find our voice. It’s in our abundance that we embrace our authenticity.
It’s in our laughter that we save the day.
Rest in Truth.
Truth is truth.
Let them gossip. Let them chatter. Let them say what they choose to say.
Because at the end of the day truth is truth.
And nothing can stand in it’s way.
Rest. Relax. Sit back. Breathe in deep.
Stop trying to convince anybody and everybody of anything and everything.
At the end of the day time will tell.
Rest. Relax. Sit back. Breathe in deep.
When the dust settles and the sun sets truth is truth.
And it shall set you free.💫
One Minute Meditation | Stress to Growth Reframing
“To make the growth choice instead of the fear choice a dozen times a day is to move a dozen times a day towards self-actualization.”
Re-imagine stressful moments as growth moments.
Opportunities moving you one step, one breath, one moment closer to your dreams.
One thought debilitates.
The other levitates. 🍃
I hope you enjoy my one minute meditation retreat.
Visit my YouTube Channel for more psychology videos.
Enhancing well-being during the holidays
Do you find Christmas holidays stressful?
If you’re anything like me (and Santa Claus), you answered yes.
Something I wrote about in the December issue of The DRIVE magazine.
Including the benefits of leaning into difficult emotions.
Because the more we try to fight discomfort, the longer it lasts.
“The root of all suffering is attachment.” Buddha
Stop fighting. Start flowing.
Let your stress drift gently through you.
Without judgment or condemnation.
Breathe and release.
Embrace what is.
Moment by moment.
Let go of what is outside your control.
Let go of expectations.
In doing so..
The pressure becomes lighter.
The joy becomes brighter.
Create your own traditions.
Fall in love with the night sky.
Savour a walk in the moonlight.
Moment by moment.
We can handle just about anything.
Happiness in present time.
Our left brain lives in the past and the future.
Our right brain lives in the here and now.
One scrambles for solutions to problem after problem.
The other sinks into the present moment, trusting all is well.
Which side of the brain will you live on today?
I choose my right brain.
Right here. Right now.
Fully present.
Breathing it all in.
All is well.
“The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.”
The inspiration for today’s post.
A walk around Blue Heron Lake.🍃
Related Post: Is Happiness a Choice?
What you seek is seeking you.
As we head into the weekend, may we all be reminded of the importance of rest in striving for success.
If only for a moment.
An hour or a day.
Be still and let your dreams find you.
“What you seek is seeking you”.
Breathe. Believe. Receive.
You hold the key. 🔑
Remember to breathe.
Sometimes it’s the smallest things that have the greatest impact on our happiness.
Something so close, so within reach, we often forget it was there in the first place. The good night’s sleep we’re yearning for; waiting patiently at the end of each day. The connection to nature we’re searching for; available 24/7 just beyond our front door. That extra deep breath; we frequently forget to take.
You possess a power so magnificent, so liberating, right under your nose.
Breathing is one of the few physiological functions that can be controlled both consciously and unconsciously.
When everything feels out of control, breathing is the one thing that will always be within our control. The times we’re under the most amount of stress is the exact time we need to expand our breathing – not restrict it.
We must become conscious of breath.
The next time you’re under any kind of pressure. Stuck in traffic. Rushing from class to class. Dealing with a difficult customer at work. Desperately trying to recall answers on a final exam. Wake up to the formidable power that exists within you. Right here. Right now. Right under your nose.
The deeper the breath. The deeper the peace.
Video of Post: https://youtu.be/zRSQw-LjU8k
Hope.
My husband John and I had dinner at this little restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake when I was away speaking at a conference this week. This single pink rose reminded me of the one thing that truly matters. HOPE. I have hope. In you. In me. In our future. I have hope. 💕
Wishing you a long weekend filled with flowers and sunshine.
Related Post: Always looking up.
Less fight. More serenity.
The next time you’re gearing up for another big fight with reality.
Morning Traffic
Office Politics
Loud Neighbours
Unpredictable Weather
Try rolling with it.
Giving up the fight.
Waving the white flag.
Surrendering to what is.
And always has been.
The upside.
You conserve energy for the joyful in your life.
The meaningful in your life.
The soulful in your life.
Including this very moment.
This is where your life SHINES.
Relax your mind.
The most important thing in your life is your peace of mind.
Nurture it daily. Everything good flows from there. 🍂
Related Post: Taming Your Monkey Mind.
One minute to zen.
Stop what you’re doing. Take a breath. Take a rest.
Savour 60 seconds of stress relief. As often as you can. ♥
Expanding time.
I was thinking about time tonight. It’s like a never ending circle that starts and stops at the same place. A perpetual loop heightened on a Sunday night.
And the only way to slow it down is to breathe in each moment. To notice each ephemeral hour. To rest gently in the arms of time.
Related Post: The Sweet Spot
The Art of Allowing.
Today vow to allow life to happen on its own terms, not your own. Sometimes your greatest power is in letting things go.
Related Post: Emotional Freedom.
Nature soothes my soul.
This photo was taken on one of my daily hikes up Blue Heron Hill.
One of my favourite places to go at the end of a long wintery day.
Each breath. Each step. Shifts me higher.
To a place of perfect peace. At one with the great big beautiful sky.
A divine connection. No words necessary. Heaven on earth indeed.
Related Post: Always looking up.
Where do you go to calm your mind and soothe your soul?
