Sure fire way to cheer up! - pass it on.

Feeling a little blue? Here are 10 things you can do!

1. Go exercise. Get that blood flowing! Even if it is just for 15 minutes at first.

What do you like to do for exercise?

2. Get outside. Get some fresh air. Breathe it in and just appreciate that you can do that. Appreciate nature and just know that you are a part of a whole and not alone.

Where is your favorite place to renew? Or your favorite thing to do outside?

3. Blog your Blessings. Make a list of all the things in your life that you are thankful for. Fostering appreciation really does help change your mindset away from complaining. Did you ever find yourself more happy after complaining?

What do you do to remind you of your blessings?

4. Act happy. You do it at work. You do it for your kids. Even if you just have to pretend. What kinds of things do you do when you are happy? Go and do them.

5. Stay focused on what you would like in your life and pretend they are on their way or already here, waiting for you to discover them. Make a vision board. Make a collage out pictures and words of what you would like to have in your life and post it where you can look at it and focus on it everyday. Name one of your goals.

` 6. Meditate. Let go. Quiet yourself and just be. Let the thoughts float by and let them keep blowing away like clouds in the sky. Eventually you can learn to be in the here and now... and you can find a peaceful place to rest and reset your thought patterns.How do you change your mindset when you are stuck in complaining mode?

7. Volunteer. That's right focus on someone else. Or plan a party for someone.... focus on cheering someone else up.Where would you like to volunteer? or who would you like to help?

8. Go socialize. Go to church, hang out with friends, visit some family... or just get out of the house. What is your favorite way to socialize?

9. De-clutter. Clear some space for you. In your house, in your life. Try Flylady.net

What spot in your house/life feels so much better when you de-clutter?

10. Go on a spiritual journey. Whatever that might be for you. And remember you are a spiritual being experiencing a human journey. I love HayHouseRadio.com or HayHouse.com for inspiration from Louise Hay and other inspirational people.How do you fulfill your spiritual needs?


Copy and paste to your blog and pass it along.... after you answer the questions LOL!

What do you like to do for exercise?

Where is your favorite place to renew? Or your favorite thing to do outside?

What do you do to remind you of your blessings?

What kinds of things do you do when you are happy?

Name one of your goals.

How do you change your mindset when you are stuck in complaining mode?

Where would you like to volunteer? or who would you like to help?

What is your favorite way to socialize?

What spot in your house/life feels so much better when you de-clutter?

How do you fulfill your spiritual needs?

Spiritual Inspirations

http://theknowledgelab.net/%28k%29now/Spirit/BuddhaDrankTequila.mp3

I love this!

Don't expect "perfection" from your teachers and rock stars. Allow
yourselves to relax enough so that you too can write, draw, play a musical
instrument and sing. Even Buddha and Jesus did things disapproved of by their
friends . "Imperfections" were part of their wisdom.
-Americ Azevedo
Lecturer: University of California, Berkeley.

Trippin and falling on my astral body

Ok, so half of you are going to think I am nuts and fell off the deep end and the other 2 of you are just not going to know what to think.

So, today I was going through deleting tons of email that is clogging my account we are talking in the thousands here. This is a job I absolutely hate.... I must be feverishly working on it to avoid the dishes and laundry and toys and mail and ...... whatever other monotony my days off are consumed with...

I found a site sent to me about 9mo ago about Kundalini and mysteries of the Goddess. Maybe this is news to you but I have been known to read up on Kundalini every so often. The author, El Collie wrote some very interesting things about how thoughts manifest themselves and how people going through or are open to spiritual enlightenment tend to be more open to visitations from spirits. She spoke about how they can manifest themselves in a number of ways, sounds, changes in temperature, feelings, and especially animals and how to communicate with them or ask them to leave.

Right at that moment I was reading, the dog sleeping besides me, started running in her sleep. When I looked down at her I noticed 5 huge black wild turkeys taking a stroll through my backyard. I started cracking up. Not the "I've lost my mind" type of crack up mind you! The Oh my gosh its funny type of crack up. Thank goodness I live too far out in the hills for the men in white coats to find me. Not that I am paranoid or anything. he he he.

What am I doing today?

Well, besides spending lots of playtime and cuddle time with Shraddha, I broke out the paints and started on a picture that has been developing for some time. Shraddha enjoyed watching and painting with me. She went on and on about "Mama paint, Baby paint...MORE PAINT!!!! sigh.... I am cleaning the kitchen, the bathrooms and I hope to get to vacuum and do some yoga oh and finish planting my strawberries and herbs in my strawberry pot... nice and safe from gofers HA! but not babies LOL! I had to turn the A/C on it is HOT in here at 6pm 82 degrees and the sun shinning right in! - usually if I can make it thru 8pm I just need to open the windows.

This week I plan on...

1. hitting the gym - I even have a list of yoga classes.

2. Returning those library books for the kids - would have been cheaper to buy them by this point LOL.

3. Finding some time to play with my yarn.

4. Last and certainly not least.... make sure I have some structured meditation time every day. I certainly am meditative and receive much intuitive info during those times but it isn't structured where I can go deeper into meditation.

Funny how relevant this is with some conversations I have been having lately.

Sai Baba thought of the day...

Evil qualities like desire, anger and hatred may arise in you at times but
they should not be allowed to take root in the mind. When someone comes to your doorstep with his baggage, if you receive him and start exchanging pleasantries, he will immediately enter and settle down in your house. On the other hand, if you ignore him completely, he will seek lodging elsewhere. Likewise, when evil thoughts arise, just ignore them. On the other hand, if you entertain them, they will rule over you. When you come across something evil, do not look at it, talk about it or listen to it; just ignore it. You should permit entry into your mind
only that which is sacred. Do not allow evil to enter. Only then can you attain peace. - Baba

Mindfulness Meditation and Mothering

I study and practice mindfulness meditation and have needed to develop and expand my abilities to keep up with my two little spiritual teachers. I just wanted to share some of what I have learned. If you are not ready to learn about meditation

... then this is NOT the post to read.

It is quite difficult for me when I see so many people suffering from stress and anxiety when they have the choice. I want to reach out and help by helping them to learn that they have a choice. However, it seems, what they feel they need is just an empathetic ear and not a lecture. I can understand that, and have needed to borrow someones ear for a while. However it is not the talking about the problem that is the problem. The problem is the anxiety and stress and unhappiness that is overflowing all over the place. I certainly am not saying that I am perfect. They call meditation a practice and that is what you do with it. Practice over and over until it becomes part of you. Then there will be the challenges and tests… helping you to learn more about yourself and realize that the limitations you put on your abilities are just an illusion. Some tests are much harder than others and I have certainly allowed the rug to be pulled out from under me a number of times. Then there are the processes that we just need to go through whether or not you believe it is a teaching that you chose before this lifetime or karma or just a unfortunate event. And then there is the realization that life goes on no matter how you choose to respond to it.

Mindfulness Meditation is when you decide to be watchful and attentive to where your mind is going and to realize that you are the master of your thoughts. Thoughts can become actions and feelings if we so choose to allow that. Or thoughts can be like clouds floating in the sky above you. For example, a dark cloud can blow over you and say, “what if I don’t make rent this month?” You can point at it and say, “Hmm. Look at that thought. That’s interesting, but it is just a passing thought.” ,then let it keep floating away. Or you can sit and analyze it and stress and wonder about the rent and money. I am not saying that you shouldn’t think about your finances. I am just saying that your clouding your mind with it for hours or throughout the day is not helpful.

Your first meditation will involve many distractions. Thoughts will cloud your mind, your mind will try to take over and tell you that it is too noisy or too hot/cold or you are too sleepy/hungry/thirsty. Your mind will lead you to believe that you don’t have time or you are just not cut out for this. THAT is an illusion. That is your mind liking status quo because that is what it knows. That is your mind acknowledging and knowing that something has to change. You have to decide that this is what you are going to do. Instead of making excuses and apologies you need to acknowledge that it is an illusion and decide to meld meditation into your day and your being.

Once you decide to sit down and start practice, it helps to acknowledge the senses. “Oh look…there was another sound/thought/feeling.”, then let it pass like a cloud overhead. When this happens, know that you are not doing it wrong. This is normal. Soon, with practice, it will become easier.

If your mind is really racing you can start with focusing on something peaceful… a picture, a memory, a statue. At times I would focus on a candle or the stream of smoke coming from the incense stick and my breathing. There are more specific instructions that I won’t go into now. Oh by the way…sitting in the spa drinking beer while listening to jazz is not meditating…. It’s chillin’ LOL! It is certainly necessary to relax the body. But just because the body is relaxed and the mind is numbed… doesn’t mean you have found peace.

Centering…
You can start to apply this even before you master it.
You take your peaceful thought, your happy memory and when you feel that you are loosing your peace you stop and refocus on that thought. You experience all of it. You utilize all of your senses to remember it. Then you go on with your day. At first you will do this all the time. But after some practice you will stay centered longer.

Some practices that helped me were yoga and throwing clay. It seems for me, it is far too difficult to stay balanced in yoga or to center my clay when I wasn’t centered or balanced, and I was letting stress or thoughts overrun my mind. Being healthy in all other areas of my life also helped tremendously. Exercise, sleep and eating healthy all help with your practice and give you the best opportunity to find your peace.

You can be physically busy, watching your children, cleaning your house or getting ready to walk out the door, but your mind doesn’t need to be moving as quickly as you. Your mind can be peaceful and you can allow your shoulders to relax and the tension to drain out of you. Life will happen. There will be traffic, there will be flat tires, there will be bumps in the road. That is just normal. That is just life and you need to allow yourself the realization that you can choose how you will respond to those bumps.

If you choose to routinely respond with stress, anxiety, worry, anger, frustration…. Then that is how you will feel. That is how your friends will view you and that is what your children will feel from you. It will spill out all over everyone you know. Even if you think you are keeping it to yourself. You can put on a happy face but you can’t fool your spiritual teachers. Children are intuitive in ways we can hardly comprehend.

Practice and be open to new ways to allow the clouds to fly by. Ohm Shanti.