10 Steps to building a Stronger Immune System
March 3, 2010 by Craig
Filed under Beauty, Body, • Headline
1. Lemon Juice Intake.
Lemon juice is an electrolyte that restores the acid-alkali balance of the body. Adding a squeeze of lemon, into your drinking water, tea, salad dressings, dips and sauces, is a good way to fight bacteria and viruses and keeps the skin healthy. Lemons are rich in Vitamin A, C and P (bioflavonoid). It has a powerful antibacterial property that helps treat cholera, malaria, influenza, common colds and typhoid fever. Lemon is also considered as a diuretic, which means it is good for people with urinary tract infection and high levels of uric acid, which are the main causes of rheumatism and arthritis.
2. Herbal Healing Habits.
There is a particular herb for a particular illness. Nature offers plenty of medicinal plants that can help your body cope with allergies or even sickness. Garlic and ginger for example, can be chewed or boiled into a concoction, to prevent colds and normalize your blood pressure level. To relieve stress, one may take a hot bath with chamomile, calendula, rosemary and lavender. Plants make wonders too!
3. Sleeping Sufficiently.
Our body takes more time repairing its cells and tissues when we are sound asleep. Sleep boosts endocrinal health and balances the hormones that regulate our bodily functions. Because sleep calms our adrenal glands, it regulates the cortisol levels in our body making our heart rate normal, making our mind and muscles relaxed and stress-free. Sleep contributes a lot in keeping weight down, in having clear thinking and reasoning, in improving mood and emotional conditions, and in having a vibrant, healthy skin.
4. Protein Policy.
Protein is the building block of our tissues. A high-protein and low-carb diet is more recommendable, which promotes bone and muscle growth rather than fat and lipid deposits in our body. Protein also makes the body more active and strong, which is advisable for people who goes to the gym or loves outdoor activities.
5. Water Is Life.
Headaches and stress are common signs of dehydration. Our body is 60-80% made out of water, thus lacking it could lead to cellular malfunction. The best way to enjoy water is before and after an activity. Eight glasses or more is the advisable quantity to cleanse you. Without water, the body is not able to fully absorb nutrients and correct balance of your acid-alkali level. The healthiest type of water is alkaline water, which helps the body combat free radicals, toxins and anti-bodies.
6. Avoiding Coffee and Chocolate.
Caffeine is the worst thing in chocolate and coffee that gradually dehydrates the body as opposed to water. Coffee and chocolate may corrupt your body of essential nutrients and minerals, as it becomes acidic when processed in the body. Since, coffee and chocolate are usually coupled with sugar; the body is disabled from sending out natural hormonal signals that make us sleepy when we are tired. Summarily, coffee and chocolate is the biggest adversary of water and sleep, which is not healthy.
7. Don’t Be Too Sweet.
For someone with a sweet tooth, sugary foods are plainly irresistible. However, sugar counts for a lot of sickness and deadly diseases, one of which is diabetes. When we consume food with carbohydrates, sugar readily becomes a bi-product after digestion. The body needs sugar to form energy but too much of it is really dangerous.
8. Get Addicted To Fruits and Vegetables.
If there is something in this world that you should get addicted too, that is eating fruits and vegetables. Aside from vitamins and minerals that are present in fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, fiber, enzymes and rare forms of protein are found in them. Having this diet also supplies your body with potent Vitamin C, which is best in protecting the cells from viruses.
9. Get Physical, Go Outdoors.
If you’re the type who doesn’t like the four corners of the gym and loves nature, the most enjoyable way to sweat it out is doing outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, jogging, rock climbing and many more. The body needs to excrete salt deposits and lipids through sweating and the constant cycle of dehydration and rehydration. Viewing the scenic beauty of nature is also proven to relieve stress and psychological imbalance. If you can’t get outdoors and need something gentle but very affective, think about investing in a vibration exercise machine. Or maybe your life is hectic and don’t have time? This investment can give you the benefit of a 1 hour workout in 10 minutes.
10. Enjoy Quality Time.
Modern science has pointed out that stress is a major culprit in contracting diseases. Emotional and mental problems are equated to ‘system failure’ like in your computer. The body needs time to breathe, which is lacking when we are full of activities or pre-occupied and anxious. Breathing deeply helps the body get the right amount of oxygen it needs. Take yoga sessions to improve breathing or learn a self-taught meditation exercise. Talk to friends. Talking your worries out frees you from anxiety and mental or emotional stress. Be happy and laugh more regularly, as they say it is the best medicine!
VividLife.me Contributor
Whether you are trying to live a healthier lifestyle or overcome an illness, Craig Jacobs & Healthier Living 4 You, offers you educational health information and wonderful health products. After Craig’s mother (Beverly Jacobs) was healed from their 3 in 1 FIT – Detox Foot Bath in 2003 from an overloaded body full of heavy metals which caused her chronic fatigue, depression and very painful joints, Healthier Living 4 You was born. There are 4 simple things you can do to live a healthy life very easily. First, start eating a healthy alkaline diet, drink good clean alkaline water, detox your body on a regular basis and exercise daily. Learn more on their products by going to www.healthierliving4you.com these are products every household needs! For some great health tips visit their blog at www.hl4y.com. Or for a great report on Your Toxic Truth visit: www.yourtoxictruth.com. Call us toll free – 1-866-745-5743
Peace is Within
Nothing on the outside can affect your peace. This is a statement that had a profound affect on my life and it could have that same affect with you. It is something that you need to experience for yourself though. I know that I did.
Personally, I read a very simple book that shared this sentiment with me. It stated that no matter what someone said to me, no matter what someone did, no matter what happened on the outside – it did not have to affect my peace. This was a big statement for me to hear since at the time I was experiencing the opposite. I thought that everything was happening to me. I felt that I had no control over my own experience. And worst of all, I had lost the hope that there was more in life.
I read the entire book in one night. As I read this book, something clicked in me. Some major perspective shifted and for the next two months I experienced this principle fully. All of the situations at work that used to stress me out disappeared. In each moment I was simply aware that they could not affect my peace. I was able to deal with any of the “problems” that occurred by simply doing whatever felt right to do or was necessary at the time. There were meetings that I was a part of in which people were upset and sometimes even yelling. I remember simply observing this behaviour and observing any reaction within myself. Some part of me knew that everything was okay and none of it disturbed my peace. I was blissed out!
This was a beautiful experience that I had, especially since it followed over 10 years of depression. Interestingly enough, this perspective did not last and I lost the experience. I re-read the book over and over but I couldn’t quite experience it again. And that was the beginning of my spiritual journey. At that point, I knew that it was possible to experience eternal peace. If it happened to me, I knew that it was possible for anyone, including you! Reading books never brought me back to this experience although they did help. What most of the spiritual books did teach me is that meditation is a tool to experience peace within.
The beautiful thing with meditation is that it is not about reading about other people’s experiences. It is not about trying to figure something out. It is simply about experiencing life fully right now, experiencing the peace and silence within. All of the peace, joy and happiness that you’ve ever been searching for are already within you. None of it is found on the outside. Meditation can be a simple, effortless way to experience the saying “nothing on the outside can affect my peace.”
Love,
Agni
VividLife.me Contributor
After a profound spiritual experience in 2002, Agni committed his life to Enlightenment. During the years that followed, meditation became the main tool to experience the simplicity and ease of the present moment.
Agni is co-founder of Happy Monks. A company dedicated to helping people experience their full potential and enjoy a life of Peace, Joy and Well-Being. Agni teaches a simple, effortless and powerful meditation practice called Ascension that includes a series of techniques that can be used with the eyes closed (to clear the nervous system of stress and relax the body/mind) and with the eyes open (to be fully present and live life fully).
To receive a free report titled “The Keys to Living Your Life Fully” (which includes a meditation that you can start right away) visit:
Animals – The Masters of Living in the Moment
Animals are such a gift to humans. They are our teachers, healers and companions. If we observe their behaviors and habits we can learn so much about living in the moment. The beauty is, they don’t try to be present. They don’t take meditation classes or do yoga or read lots of books on ‘being in the now’. They just are.
Watch a dog as they play, go for a walk or wag their tail. They are fully present and so full of joy. And it is contagious! Have you ever noticed when people are walking their dogs how other people will automatically stop to pet the dog? There is a connection that is created by the presence of the dog.
Each animal has their own unique personality, and they don’t try to change or be something different. Ask any cat. They will tell you; they are purrrrrfect just the way they are. And cats, well, they are the masters of relaxation and being present. Our buddy Moe the cat meditated with us everyday. In fact, he did it for hours and hours on end, and he made it look so effortless.
Do you think your cat or dog worries about what happened yesterday; what is coming up tomorrow or the next day; about looking better; or how to find the perfect relationship? Chances are, the answer is ‘no’. How could they? They don’t have time for that; they are living in the now. And when we are with them, they ‘tune us into’ the perfection of the moment; our mind quiets down; and we feel more relaxed, more at ease and more content.
Animals teach us about unconditional love. They have a way of opening up people’s hearts. The ‘armour’ comes down with animals. Some people have a much easier time opening their hearts to animals than to other humans. It happens naturally, without thinking about it or trying.
Are you an animal lover? Check out Eckhart Tolle’s new book “Guardians of Being” with art by Patrick McDonnell. “Guardians of Being” is a heart-warming book that honours pets and shows us how they bring us the gift of Presence. It includes spiritual quotes from Eckhart Tolle and sweet illustrations by the creator of the “MUTTS” comic strip.
In Memory of our buddy Moe; He went to cat heaven this month. Moe was ‘one of a kind’. He was a very special friend and teacher. Thanks for the memories and good times Moe. We are so grateful for the connection.
Love Agni & Datri
VividLife.me Contributor
After a profound spiritual experience in 2002, Agni committed his life to Enlightenment. During the years that followed, meditation became the main tool to experience the simplicity and ease of the present moment.
Agni is co-founder of Happy Monks. A company dedicated to helping people experience their full potential and enjoy a life of Peace, Joy and Well-Being. Agni teaches a simple, effortless and powerful meditation practice called Ascension that includes a series of techniques that can be used with the eyes closed (to clear the nervous system of stress and relax the body/mind) and with the eyes open (to be fully present and live life fully).
Happy Monks teach these techniques to individuals and also in the workplace. For more information visit:
www.thehappymonks.com
www.meditationfortheworkplace.ca
Follow Your Heart in 2010
January 6, 2010 by Agni
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
What do you want to experience in life more then anything? What is your true hearts desire? I would like to share with you why the answer to this question has great importance in your life.
We have asked this question to thousands of people and there is always a common theme. The answer is almost always to experience peace, happiness or joy. Sometimes the answer may be to have more money; and usually people realize that the reason they want to have more money is because they think that this will make them happy. Deep down every human being would simply like to experience peace and happiness.
A lot of people have not been taught to find their true desire. Many of us have forgotten about it. Other people may have had this desire a long time ago but after going through some tough situations they no longer believe it is possible to live life fully. Within all of us is a driving force and no matter what we do it will always be there. We can attempt to drown it out with food, drugs or alcohol. We can try to ignore it by working obsessively or be overwhelmed by our drama or agony to notice it. In the end, there will come a time when we must pursue it.
For myself I went through most of my life without even knowing that I had a true hearts desire. I was going through life as I thought I was supposed to. And there was always something missing. Luckily for me I suffered depression during this time and ended up wanting something more. Soon after this; someone asked me the question “What is your true hearts desire?” I answered peace. At that point I knew that the most important thing to do in my life was to experience that. After becoming clear on my heart’s desire; things in my life changed rapidly. As I focused on peace, I started to experience peace and things came into my life to support me in this desire.
Are you satisfied with the life that you are living? Be completely honest with yourself. Are you completely satisfied? If the answer to this question is no, then you owe it to yourself to find your true hearts desire. When you do find your true hearts desire, start living it right now. This does not mean that you have to make drastic changes in your life or give things up. It simply means to start taking time every day and focusing on what you truly desire. Put energy into this one simple thing and all aspects of your life will improve. It is everyone’s birthright to experience peace and joy in their life; including you. What is your hearts desire?
VividLife.me Contributor
After a profound spiritual experience in 2002, Agni committed his life to Enlightenment. During the years that followed, meditation became the main tool to experience the simplicity and ease of the present moment.
Agni is co-founder of Happy Monks. A company dedicated to helping people experience their full potential and enjoy a life of Peace, Joy and Well-Being. Agni teaches a simple, effortless and powerful meditation practice called Ascension that includes a series of techniques that can be used with the eyes closed (to clear the nervous system of stress and relax the body/mind) and with the eyes open (to be fully present and live life fully).
Happy Monks teach these techniques to individuals and also in the workplace. For more information visit:
www.thehappymonks.com
www.meditationfortheworkplace.ca
Heart Yoga
January 6, 2010 by vividlife
Filed under Body, Spirit, • Headline
Heart Yoga, which is formally called Yoga of the Heart, works the mind, heart, and emotions, corollary stimulating the physical, mental, and spiritual levels. This results to a strong body, sound mind, and a healthy heart.
Aside from these benefits, Heart Yoga also builds up relationships, keeps connections, nurtures mindfulness, and fulfills emotional needs. One of the gentlest Styles of Yoga, Heart Yoga is comprised basically of activeMeditation, Yoga Postures, and breathing practices.
Heart Yoga focuses on the inner workings of the body, particularly the heart, and the application of essential Buddhism principles. Heart Yoga is based on Tibetan Buddhist texts written thousands of years ago by yogis to serve as a guide for a progressive practice.
Heart Yoga started when yogis in India used Hatha Yoga to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Eventually, the yogis shifted to gentler Yoga practices. Yamas and Niyamas became the rules of conduct. Later on, Yoga practices were kept, but many of these geared towards Meditation.
Yoga branched into two approaches led by Tibetan Buddhists and yogis, but both still followed Patanjali’s 8 limbs. Heart Yoga brings back the two approaches together among modern-day Yoga practitioners. Regardless of age, physical condition, or ability level, anyone can do Heart Yoga.
Heart Yoga puts emphasis on energy forces called vayus or inner winds, which fashion the thoughts of a person, and are affected by the breath. The inner winds flow all throughout the body, especially through the two channels called ida and pangala, which represent the female and male side, respectively.
Aside from the inner winds, ethics are also given prime emphasis by Heart yogis. Six times a day, many Heart yogis pause to reflect. They check whether they follow the ten vows that are comparable to the yamas and nayamas. In this sense, Heart yogis look over their sense of morality.
Heart Yoga also upholds the practice of giving. The elements of karma and emptiness are employed in this Yoga practice. Among Heart Yogis, their Yoga practice is offered to others rather than to themselves. So when Heart Yogis are looking for love or compassion, they have to direct it first to someone else.
Source: http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/info/heart-yoga.asp
Top 10 Reasons to Meditate
December 17, 2009 by Marina
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
Why do people meditate?
Answers to that question are as varied as meditation styles are. In almost 20 years of teaching meditation to beginners, ranging from Manhattan professionals to prisoners at a correctional facility, I’ve collected a few reasons. They are:
10. You better remember why you walked into a room—OK, maybe this more applies to Baby Boomers than anyone else. But meditation does increase focus and concentration for anyone.
9. The light changed at the crosswalk and aren’t left behind, lost in thought—Now this happens to anyone, regardless of age. Getting caught up in worry reminds me a dog gnawing on a bone, only they seem to have more fun.
8. You stop the nervous foot tapping thing—Instead of nervously tapping your foot, you breathe instead. It’s more subtle, and not annoying (unless you’re breathing really, really loudly).
7. You smile more and grind your teeth less—One of the meditation techniques I teach involves a BIG GRIN at the end of the technique. People hate and love it.
6. You have the feeling you do after an hour of yoga, but without the exercise—Don’t get me wrong, I’m a yogini too and nothing takes the place of a yoga class. But there’s no reason to think the yoga studio is the only place to have that cleared out feeling.
5. Your obnoxious uncle/aunt/cousin doesn’t bother you as much—Though remember, if you think you’re enlightened, spend time with your family and you’ll know for sure.
4. You’re so chilled, people ask if you’ve stopped drinking coffee—Definitely, calmness comes with watching your mind through meditation and its twin, mindfulness.
3. Your intuition becomes your secret advisor—Amazing, we have this brilliant compass instead of us that can guide us at every turn. Who knew? The more you meditate the more intuitive you become because the doubting thoughts are turned down.
2. You have moments of not thinking, and feeling brilliantly alive—Westerners aren’t raised to do, not be, so meditation is counter-intuitive. But we need the clearing swish of meditation to re-set. The most creative ideas, for me, come after a meditation session.
1. Your heart heals, and holds more love—How many times have you been heart broken? If you are alive to be reading this, it’s probably more than you care to remember. Meditation, especially on the heart center, can heal the heart, allowing you to accept and receive love more fully. There are also forgiveness techniques, focusing on forgiving ourselves first, to aid in our healing process.
A final thought: meditation is like a shower for the mind. You wouldn’t go days and days without showering would you? Of course not!
Meditation. Don’t leave the house without having done it.
For more details how to begin a meditation practice in 2010, please see www.itseasytomeditate.com
VividLife.me Contributor
Marina Spence founded The Pink Edge (www.pinkedge.com) in 2007 to help women change their work or their attitude toward work.
Her book, Make Every Day a Friday! The Joy of Connecting Who You Are With What You Do (Morgan-James, February, 2009) will help you to successfully navigate the world of career and purpose, and leave you with solutions, practical actions, and spiritual insights. Road tested during Marina’s years in the aggressive, fast-paced atmosphere of Wall Street, the book reveals the Stress-Free Career Change System. The system helps women learn what it is they love, while loving what it is they do.
So, What IS Feng Shui For Your Spirit?
I knew when I started my practise a few years back that most people had only a vague idea of what Feng Shui is all about, but it wasn’t until my teenage nephew totally cracked me up by asking his mom if she was using “Aunt Mary’s Hippie Magic again!” that I realized just how shrouded in superstition Feng Shui really is.
Well, there’s truly nothing magical about it! In very simple terms: Feng Shui is an ancient science based on the movement of energy. It has roots in China dating back about 5,000 years, as well as in other cultures worldwide that have also been studying the art of balancing and harmonizing energy flow. Additionally, modern science has proved that everything from rocks to animals, to our human bodies and Spirits is made up of energy and that all things vibrate in sync with the universal energy that surrounds them. (Check out the film or book What the Bleep do we Know?)
The purpose of contemporary Feng Shui is to find the best environmental arrangement for people to live and work up to their fullest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally and Spiritually, so positive intention ~ an energetic thought form ~ is also part of the energy or life force Feng Shui works with, because everything in our universe is energetically connected.
Too many people still think the chaos they experience is created by external energetic forces, so they come to me looking for quick Feng Shui fix hoping a well placed mirror and a new colour on the front door will make all the difference to their troubled existence. Although adjustments to our surrounding help make us feel better in the short term, I have proven to myself time and again that our thoughts are the energies that create our reality, so in order to apply effective and long lasting Feng Shui enhancements to our environment, clear, heartfelt thinking is imperative first.
When confusing, hectic or disordered thoughts haunt us, achieving this clarity is much easier when using what I refer to Feng Shui For Your Spirit©, which assists in moving energy from our heads to our hearts so we can stop thinking chaotic stuff and start acknowledging how we feel about things instead!
Feng Shui For Your Spirit© incorporates the Bagua Map traditionally used for mapping our homes, in a unique way. I use it as a Soul-searching guide to discover where we’re losing our positively charged life force. The Bagua Map is divided into eight areas (surrounding a grounding centre section), which relate to all aspects of our physical, mental, emotional and Spiritual existence:
WEALTH ~ ABUNDANCE ~ PROSPERITY
FAME ~ REPUTATION
RELATIONSHIPS ~ LOVE ~ MARRIAGE
CREATIVITY ~ CHILDREN
SPIRIT ~ HELPFUL PEOPLE ~ TRAVEL
CAREER EDUCATION ~ KNOWLEDGE ~ SELF CULTIVATION
HEALTH ~ FAMILY
ALL sides of life deserve equal attention and respect, which in turn create balance and harmony, so by creating a personal Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Bagua Map and exploring the positive and negative feelings we hold about each area, we can easily recognize our blessings as well as issues that require the attention of loving energy.
To support Feng Shui For Your Spirit© growth I’ve also developed a card system to be used in conjunction with the Bagua Map or on it’s own. Addressing our inner work allows us a more complete understanding of what we feel in every situation. Meditating on these or other heartfelt concepts found in the Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Card Deck for a few minutes everyday will allow divinely guided energies to create flow in your life.
Accept that this moment is all you ever have.
A peaceful, loving world starts with you.
Generosity is good for your soul.
Trust your inner wisdom.
Stay present.
Loving energy heals all.
Disengage from heartache.
Live free from negative thought.
Gratitude is the only prayer you really need.
Your own ego is the only thing that leads you astray.
Combining these two simple Feng Shui For Your Spirit© techniques makes it much easier to recognize and implement the enhancements we need in our internal and external environments, which help maintain inner peace and create a stress free life!
~ Go with the flow!
Featured Contributor
An award winning Television Producer/Director/Writer for over 30 years, Mary Giuffre sidestepped mainstream media and created SoulWater EnergyWorks to focus on the greater good. An Emotional Empath, Mary has been a student of metaphysics, energy and spirituality since her early teen years. Studies under a Native American Shaman, Energy Healers and many Spiritual Teachers have enhanced her natural ability to tap into the energetic flow of our inner and outer environments and she has been identified as a Master Energy Mover. Now a Motivational Speaker, Workshop Leader, Certified Practitioner and Mentor practicing and promoting Feng Shui For Your Spirit©, Mary’s finely tuned abilities adjust energetic balance to enhance harmony, prosperity and overall well-being, Creating Flow in Your Life!
Mary Giuffre ~ Specializing in Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Mentoring
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An Evening with Lisa Nichols
November 4, 2009 by Chris Oldcorn
Filed under Growth, • Feature
This past Friday night, I had the privilege of attending the Lisa Nichols event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (Toronto, Canada). The VividLife crew was there in full effect as we were a national sponsor. The evening started with a VIP reception with an incredible spread of food. We met Lisa at the VIP reception and we have some photos with this article. She is an amazing woman in person and is as real on stage as she is one-on-one. Her bubbly laugh and humourous story about going to Winnipeg in the middle of winter with sandals on was quite adorable.
Lisa speaks without a prepared speech that she reads from or a teleprompter. She was supposed to have a half hour intermission in her talk but she wanted to keep going and everybody wanted her to continue. I have never sat through a 2 hour plus presentation and have it feel like 15 minutes. Lisa gave a behind the scenes look at “The Secret.” When she was selected to take part in “The Secret” movie, she had no idea what “The Secret” was. She knew about the law of attraction and had practised it for years. She spoke for four times in the original movie and seventeen times in the mass market version of “The Secret” that most people are aware of.
Lisa told a story about her appearance on Oprah. She had always wanted to sit on Oprah’s cream couch. When she was on Oprah talking about “The Secret,” she was disappointed that Oprah’s couch was gone. The five guests sat on stools because they all could not fit on the cream couch. Lisa has her own show coming up on the WE network (Women’s Entertainment). The designers put a cream couch on the set. This was Lisa’s example of the law of attraction. Instead of sitting on Oprah’s cream couch, she had her own cream couch. She used this example to show how the law of attraction doesn’t always work the way we think it will but it does work. That is the message I took away from the event. We never know exactly how we will attract certain things or situations into our life but we will attract them. We just need to be open to accepting them.
Featured Contributor
Chris Oldcorn
VividLife Featured Contributor
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“Whatever you do, you are creating your own future.”
Keeping Life Simple – “I AM NOT MY THOUGHTS!”
November 4, 2009 by Lorraine
Filed under Editor's Pick, Growth, • Headline
My experience in life has been that when we live in the moment and remain conscious of our thoughts, feelings and actions, there is a natural flow to our life.
We have been conditioned to believe in everything our thoughts tell us – our mind is a very useful tool for helping us to live the practical parts of our life each day. The thoughts that fill our mind throughout any given day about who we are, or who we will become or cannot become, are just not true. Did you know the human brain produces approximately 70,000 thoughts on average per day? (ref: www.wiki.answers.com) Imagine if we attached ourselves and believed in every thought we had, we’d be exhausted.
More about our thoughts!
Thoughts are just thoughts, they come and go and there is no need for us to get on the thought train and actually become the thought, but it does take a certain vigilance to be conscious of not becoming the thought.
Wake up each day and make a commitment not to jump on the ‘train of thought’. Instead, make a choice to begin watching the stories your mind tells you and become the observer of your thoughts. When you begin to let these stories be present without action, they will come and go just like the moment they arrived.
As you become the observer of your life you’ll begin to discover and honour what rings true for you. Start making a conscious effort to let go of the judgements and the expectations not only of yourself, but also of others. It takes so much energy when we resist what is present in our lives. Have you ever heard of the saying ‘ what we resist persists, and what we embrace we erase’ ? When we welcome everything into our heart and let it be, there is no struggle. John Lennon said it beautifully, ‘when I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be’. Everyone can have their own interpretation of what these words mean, but it’s the ‘let it be’ that brings about the peace. Try this next time your faced with a challenging situation in your life, and see what happens. It may be uncomfortable to begin with because we are used to taking control towards an outcome, but it is very interesting to watch what happens when you just let go, and let be, before reacting.
Discovering freedom
We can also discover more freedom in our lives when we start taking responsibility for who we are and stop holding others accountable for our behaviour, including our words and our actions. If anyone makes a comment or judgement about our lives and it triggers a reaction in us, it is our responsibility to go within and investigate what is wanting our attention. We all have the ability to choose how we will engage in any given situation and we have the ability to choose compassion over conflict.
Words of Wisdom
The Dalai Lama says “we all share an identical need for love, and that it is possible to feel that anybody we meet in whatever circumstances is a brother or sister. It is foolish to dwell on external differences, because our basic natures are the same. The key to a happy and more successful world is the growth of compassion”.
How do I begin to keep my life simple?
Our hearts are filled with enormous potential, there is no end to the love that is available to all. Where there is love, there is freedom. Make a conscious decision today to Keep Life Simple ~
Always in love,
Lorraine
Contributor
Lorraine Wilson
(C) 604-351-9205
www.callmediaworks.com
Seva
September 30, 2009 by Chris Oldcorn
Filed under Growth, • Feature
“Bless the things that hurt us”
Seva? What does that mean? Why have I heard that word more frequently in the last year? Could it be from the rising economic catastrophe? The lack of ethics in multi-national corporations who only care about making more money in this quarter then five years from now? Just to boost their exorbitant bonuses! The minimum wage is less than the living wage yet white collar criminals get bailouts from governments to keep their Manhattan penthouses while their clients get foreclosed and booted out of their modest homes.
If I sound a little ticked off this column. It is because I am. It seems that some corporations are too big to fail yet their clients can fail and no one thinks twice. The few greedy people who put us in this mess are motivated by money. The Bible talks about “Money being the root of all evil.” Most people will probably agree with that statement. I believe we either put positive or negative energy into this world. A few’s negative energy caused a lot of pain.
Time to go positive! Regular readers of my column know that I believe we receive what we give. That is the definition of Seva. Seva means selfless service. We are seeing this from charitable organizations and humans who care about others. To be altruistic is to give without the slightest expectation of getting something in return. God is seen in being there for each other.
Action Exercise:
Tap into your inner spirit and help others. Deep down we are all perfect. Some decide to ignore their true nature and do harm to others. Pray that others can become aware of their true divinity. We are all in this world together. This planet rises and falls on what energy we put out into the world.
Featured Contributor
Chris Oldcorn
“Whatever you do, you are creating your own future.”
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