Regardless about how we all might be feeling about this particular Spring that’s shown up for us all; are you like me, having to listen to one too many wearying comments about how wretched the weather is?

Last week I really felt that despite all my better intentions I couldn’t seem to avoid being dragged into these endless conversations?

Watching the sun rise this morning (Sunday) and being greeted by clear, sunny and brilliant blue skies, I felt instantly uplifted and energized by the anticipation of a beautiful bright day.

So I put my mind to wondering how to do better this week. Id like to invite and encourage all of you this week to join me in simply embracing each day and discovering the beauty and pleasure of each one!

I have been finding it as challenging as the next person to navigate the current ups and down of the weather lately, until this mornings sunny greeting made me realise I need to stop worrying about something I absolutely no control over. (I forget as easily as anyone else)

So, Id like to invite and encourage all of you this week to join me in simply embracing each day and discovering the beauty and pleasure of each one.

So I’ve decided to have a Complaint Free week. I know warm days are on their way, so in the meantime I’m going with living happy anyway; and Happiness reduces stress and anxiety and helps us problem solves much more easily, a win-win situation!

Are you with me?

OK then! Let’s have a week of improving the quality of our lives and our moods by taking a pro-active approach to being and feeling happier regardless of how the outer world behaves!

Give yourself permission to find your own rhythm and enjoyment and practice some flexibility during disappointing weather days. Make simple preparations, even if it’s a list on-hand of favoured activities or ideas for comfort food so that you’re not caught short and start wasting time and energy wishing things were different.

Last week my daughter and I had visions of lovely crisp salads for supper time (it’s spring right? … I was hopeful!). But then, every night -how dismal it was opening the fridge door to cold lettuce when all I wanted was hot soup or a casserole.

This week I have more flexible plans – our ability to flow and change is a powerful healing ability- so remember that and use it to your advantage.

Give yourself permission to anticipate patches of warmth and sunshine and get outside and enjoy those moments- take yourself out for a “miracle walk.” Clear your heart and breathe in deeply, let your senses come alive and really be present to the pleasure of the moment.

As you walk, let go of your day and it’s complications and just be present with your surroundings. It’s amazing the insights we get, the resolutions to problems when we let go and just allow ourselves to BE wherever we are.

Even better, if the day is still a little chilly, really feel the pleasure of coming home to the warmth of indoors and notice how wonderful that feels and be grateful for that!

Be gentle and patient with yourself

We make ourselves unintentionally miserable wishing things were different.

And we talk long and frequently about what should or would be better, and waste energy that could be spent appreciating whats’ great and what could be even better!

Imagine how much better you’ll feel this week, if you notice what is good in your life, and think and talk a lot about what is good in your life?

The weather is as good an example to use as anything, to practice the art of shifting our attention away from what “seems” to be all doom and gloom and focus on what’s new and good and to be grateful for.

You can use the same practices for anything that you blow out of proportion.

Like overhearing some remark made about us by a colleague and then worry youself sick about getting fired

Or we have a pain and lie awake at night wondering what serious illness we’ve probably got.

Or someone doesn’t call us, or pay us the “correct” attention and we immediately decide we’re totally unloveable and will never have another relationship in our lives

We are masters at making situations so much worse then they are. Thoughts are just like the seeds we plant in our gardens, they thrive with gentle attention and care.

Try a practice of giving yourself brand new permissions when life isn’t heading quite in the direction you’d hoped for.  Practice them or make up your own – and remember you don’t have to get them perfectly in the first 10 mins!!!! Here are a few to get you started:

1. Give yourself permission to be open to new things and ways, to ask for help, to receive help, and to let go of the need to be right (or wrong).

2. Give yourself permission to follow what feels good, to explore, to dare and please yourself and say “just watch me!”

3. Give yourself permission to look within and know that it’s safe to expand your vision

4. Give yourself permission to lovingly support yourself with praise and approval as you learn to choose better thoughts and actions for yourself.

5. Give yourself permission to stop comparing – define your own rules for what you deserve. You are alive and so you are good enough just the way you are.

6. Give yourself permission to not know often, to be curious, to explore, to freak out, to say sorry, to practice again and let all criticism go!

7. Give yourself permission to be happy or sad, elated or disappointed. Use all of that as fuel for what’s next in your unfolding. Feelings are just thoughts in motion in your body.

8. Give yourself permission to abandon obligation for more play, laughter, dreaming and more self care. In fact, design your life around that.

9. Give yourself permission to adore yourself and to nurture the little girl inside who just wants to know she’s full of fabulousness.

10. Give yourself permission to approve of yourself as you are right now. To thrive, to exceed your wildest dreams and to be willing to improve the quality of your life one day at a time..

Live in happiness!

Be open and receptive to all that is good in your lives!

Namaste

Are you ready to make this year, one where you intentionally make better and more empowered choices for your future self. To risk more, to be wiser and more committed to your personal transformation, so you start accomplishing more of what you really want to experience.

If you know you want something more and are looking for more support and accountability to help you put new habits and practices in place Contact me and we can arrange a day and time for your complimentary “Get Acquainted call” Together we can clarify your challenges, and talk about how best I can help YOU make your dreams and intentions a reality!

Wasn’t that some fabulous heat and sunshine at the weekend?

Although we still have some little way to go, before we can really enjoy the warmth and light that spring usually brings, what better time than now is there to re-group and re-prioritize, and even re-invent ourselves, and the lives we find ourselves living!

What better time than now to be proactive about what we can do to renew ourselves and to better balance our lives.

Could you give yourself permission to be open to new ways, to ask for help, to expand your vision, to grow in compassion towards yourself and just let go of having to be right or wrong?

Suffering through the long cold winter weeks, have you found reasons to justify putting off your “To Do” list for another day? Telling yourself that you’ll wait until you are more excited about doing it, or more mentally, physically or financially prepared?

How’s that been working for you?

Not so well huh…

Do you know Why?

Because we all as human beings have made procrastination into an art form! We have this incredible knack of finding the perfect excuse to never quite start things and then wonder why we aren’t accomplishing all that we could BE in this life.

So with the promise of warmer days ahead, regardless of the cold starts we have each morning how about ‘unleashing your brilliance’ on the world anyway!

Take a moment and think about how you would feel to just get started on what you’d like to accomplish next.

What one thing could you do for yourself that would shift any feeling “bad” about what you’re not doing to “maybe, I could do ….. ”

Now, hold that thought or image in your mind so that you can remind yourself. Could you find a symbolic picture of something inspiring and put it up where you can see it daily!

Please Don’t scare yourself with a giant step, just think of something manageable, and if you’re willing to practice something consistently it’s amazing the changes you can make in your life.

Place your focus on what’s best about you as a human being and your life, gently shift your focus from what’s wrong to what’s good – and feel a smile tug at the corners of your lips and heart… see! can you feel just a little better and more enthused?

Then ask yourself “what do I need next?” Just stay with what’s next, not how can I change my whole life today…

Free Your Spirit and Invite in Joy

1.) De-clutter your living space.

Clutter in your outer world is a sure sign of clutter in your mind. We too easily get stuck thinking everything is a priority and never being able to decide what’s to be done first.

So if things are out of place or piled up waiting for a home to go to, here’s my favourite clean up trick. It doesn’t matter what room you start in, or what time of day you try this, just start anywhere, anytime.

Put a timer on for 5 mins and use your focused attention to pick up and clear away – you will be amazed at what you can do in such a short time. This is a great action that immediately can inspire a wonderful sense of visual peace.

I often find, especially over the weekend when I’ve been working on several projects, my home by Sunday evening can look like a bomb went off. Things scattered everywhere feels a bit overwhelming until I remember my “5 min ritual” It works for me every time!

If you have a habit of leaving things out thinking you’ll find them a home “sometime,” or just procrastinating on everything, this is a great habit to consistently practice.

When your environment feels serene, you will feel so much calmer and at ease, and it’s another “to do” you don’t have to juggle in your mind, along with everything else there!

Give yourself permission to take a baby step or a huge wide open leap, a hop, skip or cartwheel!

2.) Simplify your life.  

Slow down, make time and space for you, so you can “upshift” the overall quality of your life.  Surrounded as we are by a constant stream of stimulation, we need to consciously choose to find ways to quiet our minds and make specific time for ourselves.

How much quality time do you spend with the people and the things you care about the most? What do you value most in your life?  What really are your priorities? Are all your commitments really, equally important? What could you let go of in the interests of your mental and emotional sanity? What is the best use of your time so you can create the life you want to have?

Use this season of renewal as a reminder to get rid of things that are weighing you down and sapping your energy?

• Gently give yourself permission to let go of what isn’t working for you
• Give yourself the gift of space and time for new things to come into your life.
• Commit to making decisions you’ve been putting off.
• Challenge limiting beliefs about yourself and about how things should be.

Recent research has shown that we can actually change the circuitry of our brains by the way we think. When something negative comes up, what positive statement could you exchange it for?

Give yourself permission to shrug off what no longer makes you happy and find a super comfy chair to lol about in while you find the things that really speak to your soul!

3.) Start one new Practice this week

There are many practices that when done consistently, even for just a few minutes at a time, can make an amazing difference in how you feel. New activities like a Morning Ritual and an Evening Ritual invite in mindfulness and creativity, enthusiasm and new experiences!

Daily practices help us to move through resistances and give us a “time-out” from every-day routines and habits. Real freedom happens when we create even the simplest consistent actions that eliminate the eternal “shall I?” “shan’t I?” that happens before our actions become habits. Give yourself the gift of inspired action, and a willingness to begin.

Walking, especially now the weather is improving is a wonderful way to help your body while clearing your mind.  When we change the scenery, we change our perspective! Walk instead of drive. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Drive a different route to work, we all are so programmed to do the same routine every day.

Give yourself permission to not know everything, to forgive yourself, to give yourself new permissions and trust the whispers of your heart.

4.) Begin something brand new.

Spring is a lovely time to add in new pleasures to your life. Take a simple an inventory of your health and wellness practices and resolve to do something you’ve never tried before, perhaps something you have been thinking about for some time.

Begin slowly, one change at a time and add to it along the way. Julia Cameron offers the idea of “artist dates” as a weekly ritual. Think of it as a time of renewal for your spirit and emotional wellbeing. A block of time 1 or 2 hours a week you choose an excursion or a play date with yourself that you preplan and defend against all interlopers.

Just you and your creative self are invited. A solitary excursion to the beach or some place in nature early morning or late evening, a rendezvous to a specialty store to just browse and enjoy, an art show, a theatre show or maybe your inner spirit just fancies a trip to a new coffee house and uninterrupted time to read a book.

Give yourself permission to abandon obligation in favour of some pleasure every now and then. More play, laughter and dreaming.

5.) Be kind to your mind.

We can have some pretty cruel and nasty thoughts going on in our heads when those “should have” scenarios start nattering at us. Self hatred in any form is really only hating thoughts about yourself. That’s about all it really is. And you don’t want to hate yourself for having thoughts do you?

You gently want to change those thoughts and your thinking. We are all worth loving and despite some of the ways we were raised as children we really don’t have to earn love. We are all completely loveable as we are. I think that we just have a few outdated beliefs that get in the way of that knowing, but it’s time to clear them out and just start being kinder to ourselves and everyone else.

Look at it this way, you don’t have to earn the right to breathe, you have the right to breathe fully and freely because you exist and so of course, you have the right to be loved because you exist. I think it’s really important to know this and make it true for ourselves.

Every thought and every word we speak is an affirmation, and far too often they are negative, and all too often we’re not aware that these words and thoughts are shaping our future and our experiences. Positive affirmations are simply statements to create something new and wonderful in our lives.

Think of positive statements as building you up instead of  using negative statements to beat you down. And so many of us, and I know I can still do this, beat ourselves up with our own thoughts. Thinking well of yourself is an act of kindness that pays enormous dividends.

Give yourself permission to consider that you truly are a powerful being and your power lies in the choice of your thoughts that you think and the words that you use.

Wishing you a week of graceful pauses and gentle movements forwards.

Namaste

Are you ready to take that step towards creating positive change in your life?

You may not know exactly what it is you actually want, but you do know you’re looking for the next steps and some support and guidance to help direct you towards improving your life and accomplishing more of what you truly desire.

Contact me and we can arrange a day and time for your complimentary “Get Acquainted call” Together we can clarify your challenges,  and talk about how best I can help YOU make your dreams and intentions a reality!

ME too!

“In your ability to change your life lays your greatest power to change it!” Marianne Williamson

Good morning fellow travellers!

I have found being thrown back into the dark mornings and all those dark heavy overcast days really disorientating the last little while. Yes, of course the longer evenings are welcome, but its been little compensation for the deep cold extended winter days.

I took a walk on the beach at the weekend, hoping to blow off the cobwebs of winter indoor living and find some renewed enthusiasm for this present season. Under bright skies, weak sunlight and the promise of sunshine breaking through the clouds any moment, I could almost imagine the warmth of Spring. Just being there in the quiet of the deserted beach, with the sounds of the waves lapping the shore was a real pick-me-up. I highly recommend it.

Caution: Take a hat! the wicked cold wind nearly bit off my ears!!!

I think this is one of the big struggles we all have at this time of year. We want it to be different. Better. Anything but this! We want warmth and flip flops, coffee and meals outside. To work in our gardens, and feel the sun on our skins again.

But, then we go and spend so much energy and brain power just wishing live away, when really we could be enjoying our lives as they are in this moment anyway.

These transitional weeks between one season and another can take a heavy toll on our psyches and on our physical and emotional selves when we don’t lavish a bit of extra care on ourselves.

We are leaning into the hope of Spring while firmly held under the grip of chilly weather, impatient to throw off the sluggishness of winter and the “habits” we wished we’d not picked up

We can feel the possibilities ahead, our dreams and desires for warmer weather activities stir deeply within us. I try not to, but I do find myself daily hoping the weather has turned; so I can go comfortably walking and biking again.

Meanwhile, I go for walks anyway.

While Spring is a great time to break old patterns and reacquaint our selves with healthier ones, it’s also a time for patience.

Yeah, I can hear you all sigh deeply!!!

So instead of complaining and dreaming of better times, while nature takes it’s own sweet time why not try out some of my…

“Surviving the Season and Being Happy anyway” solutions!

There is definitely a happiness to be found in these times. My theory is that when we cling to the idea that nothings the way we want it to be we miss the adventure we could be having NOW. We miss the opportunities of today in favour of trying to change what we have no control over.

We have this inborn creativity that’s always available to us. It’s just like our breathing. It’s  part of what we do.

Creativity is the ability to see and think and do things in different ways.

1. Prepare Your Tastebuds

You may not be completely ready to change your eating habits right now, but why not seek out new recipes and flavours to experiment with? Try them out now while you have the time on those not so lovely days. Instead of wasting your energy just aching to be outside put that energy into creative use!

I started with bread. I make it every weekend. It is SO delicious. So easy. And best of all this homemade one doesn’t make you sleepy after eating. I thought gluten wasn’t liking me, but perhaps its just the additives and sugar that’s added to the store bought bread?

2.Fill your own cup

Take our own self care seriously by letting your loved ones know that taking time for yourself is really important to you. Help them understand that while things may change you’re not abandoning them.
That for example, you need space to unwind, meditate, journal and clear you head so you have more energy to be a better parent, wife, friend.

3. Create a collage or scrap book of ideas and images about:

• Spring and summer recipes you’re going to try
• Does your image match the clothes you wear? Collect pictures of the kinds and colours of clothes you’d like to add to your wardrobe this year!
• What are you going to plant in your garden?
• Are there any new hobbies you’d like to try?

4. Walk anyway.

Just wrap up really warm and head in a direction that passes Tim Hortons or your favourite coffee house. When you are toasty warm a walk in the cold is truly invigorating. Get your circulation moving and by the time the warm weather really settles in, you’ll be on the way to fit and healthy.

5. Things you love list

If most of your days you feel like you are dealing with one problem after another or you’re blah from morning to night, turn it around by listing all the things you love. Or what about a What makes you happy list?

Do things from the list and give yourself permission to do them! This is one of the keys in creating our own Authenticity, doing what brings you delight; and it serves others by giving them the chance to bask in your “glowing.”

6. Start noticing the “SMALL” normal things in your life:

Because one day you’ll look back and realise they are the “BIG” things!

How will you do your life differently this week?

Here’s to a week of inspired thinking and effortless action steps

I am wishing you all Happiness!

with love,