Transformation Coaching Magazine September 2018 by Transformation Coaching Magazine

COACHING & BUSINESS TOOLS How Homelessness Prepares You For Entrepreneurship

INSPIRATION & GROWTH

Introducing...

Everything Begins with a Thought

Celebrate the Beauty Within Every Woman

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Insignificant Others

Finding Perfect Alignment

When the Road to Daylight is Through the Gloom

You Are What You Think

HEALTHY LIVING Stepping Away from the (Stress) Cliff

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PUBLISHERS Natalie Rivera Joeel A. Rivera, M.Ed.

Our mission with this podcast is to inspire a million people to join the Entrepreneurship Revolution! We believe that self-employment is the ultimate form of empowerment.

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Listen to Your Body

The Freedom or BUST Podcast Network is for INDIEpreneurs, aka self-employed freedom junkies who create their own employment in pursuit of freedom, independence, and purpose.

If you would like to get to know us and hear our personal stories why we escaped the rate race and became entrepreneurs... including how Joeel failing his first year of college and then losing his brother ignited a dream within him to return to college and one day open a youth center, how Natalie’s body, which was sffering from chronic fatigue syndrom finally pushed her to stop living everyone else’s dream, and how our business came to a screeching hault when we returned from overseas and Joeel came down with a debilitating illness—and how online courses helped us rebuild our lives and our businesses better than ever—including creating passive inome... then listen in at:

EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Natalie Rivera, Jimmy Murray, Ashar Mohammed, Arielle Giordano, Noelle Sterne, Dreama Vance, Jo Mooy, Gregg Sanderson, Mary Boutieller, Kate Pennell, Marla Sanderson

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Stepping Away from the (Stress) Cliff

Stepping away

from the

(STRESS)

liff 5

Imagine you are walking down the sidewalk and you trip. There would be a mild anxiety reaction and you’d recover quickly. Now, imagine you were walking two feet from the edge of a cliff and you tripped. You would be terrified, and your body would go into complete panic. Now, imagine a time when you were feeling pretty good—things were going well—and someone you love left dishes on the table or you were stuck in traffic. These situations were mild irritants. Now, imagine you had a horrible day at work, you’ve been feeling sick, your back is hurting, you are behind on your bills, and you walk into the bathroom in your socks and step right into the soggy puddle your kid (or spouse) left on the floor—again—after his or her shower. Steam comes out of your ears and you restrain yourself (or don’t) from screaming like a banshee. The difference in your reaction to each imaginary situation was not because the stressor changed in intensity, it was because you were closer to your cliff, and so the stressor impacted you more. You see, stress is cumulative, both in your emotions and in your body. Stress from your work, and family, and traffic, and environmental pollutants each add a layer of stress. Feeling uncertain or insecure creates an undercurrent of stress, and then as you face additional stressors throughout your day, you begin to feel weighed down, overwhelmed, frustrated. You become more and more sensitive to each additional stressor. It’s like the piece of straw that was finally too much, and it broke the camel’s back. You’re on edge, stressed out, anxious. Your body is bombarded by an assault of stress hormones and increased hypertension, putting your body in a lessthan-optimal state. This physiological stress response impacts your health, heart, digestion, energy levels and more, depleting your reserves. This physical strain adds to your overall stress.

All of these stress sources accumulate a “stress-effect” in the body, eventually leading to dis-ease. 6

So, what can you do about it?

Back off the cliff! Actively practice techniques for reducing your stress. Some suggestions are below.

VENTING TO REDUCE STRESS

One of the best ways to reduce stress is to express your emotions or “vent”. Stress building up happens in the same way a balloon inflates as you continue to blow into it. Each new stressor is like blowing another breath into your stress balloon. If you just keep adding to it, eventually it will pop. In order to reduce the pressure in your balloon, or step away from the cliff, you need to use the release valve. You need to let it out— vent—express what you’re feeling. Venting is different than talking about it. When you’re feeling stressed or anxious, it can be tempting to talk about it. A majority of people spend most of their social time complaining about what stresses them out. But, the problem with this is that: 1. Most people don’t really express what they’re feeling; they complain at a surface level, masking what’s really going on. 2. Talking about it makes it worse because it gives the stressors more time and attention. For example, if you had a stressful day at work, complaining about it over cocktails for 2 hours just added 2 hours to your crappy workday. 3. Most of the time the people they talk to either feed the fear or take it as an opportunity to vent about their stressors too, often competing to see whose is worse. In contrast, venting it solely for the purpose of “getting it out.” Rather than holding your stress, anxiety, or fear inside (increasing your pressure or pushing you toward the cliff), venting or expressing how you feel helps reduce your stress. There are 2 ways to vent:

1. Express how you feel to yourself. Vent to yourself by stating how you feel, either into the mirror or out loud to yourself. You can also do it silently, if necessary, or even write it down. Then, acknowledge how you feel, just like you would if someone else were venting to you. “I understand. I’m glad you expressed how you feel. Thank you for sharing.” 2. Express how you feel to a trusted support person. Before you vent, make sure you tell the person that you are venting for the purpose of getting it out and not because you are asking for advice or trying to solve a problem. Make sure they are okay with that. Pick someone who will be supportive, not critical. Pick someone who won’t be dramatic or try to compete with their own stories. Pick someone who is good at listening more than talking. You can even give them the “acknowledgement” phrase above as an example of what you are looking for in return. If you don’t have a friend or family member who can play this role for you, consider seeking support from a counselor, life coach or even a support group. (Be warned though, most support groups focus more on complaining than venting.)

ADDITIONAL STRESS-REDUCTION TECHNIQUES Gratitude: Develop a gratitude prac•

•

tice, such as journaling. Focusing on what you appreciate and what is going right in your world helps put you in a better mental/emotional state and makes you less susceptible to stress. Enjoyment: Spend time doing what you love, relaxing, or doing activities that get you into a state of flow. Distance: Distance or remove yourself from stressors whenever possible. Are there people, places, or situations in your life causing you stress that you can step away from or minimize? Do It: Make the changes you’ve been

putting off that are nagging at you and hanging over your head. Then there is one less thing to worry about. • Level Up: Explore stress reduction programs, such as yoga, massage, and acupuncture. • Relax: Learn a “skilled relaxation” process, such as meditation, and practice it for 20 minutes (or more) per day. So, the next time you catch yourself getting into an argument over dishes or screaming like a banshee for no good reason: 1. Stop yourself. 2. Notice that the reaction you’re having is disproportionate to the actual situation. 3. See this as a signal that you are approaching the edge of your stress cliff. 4. Reflect on what stressors you have going on in your life right now. 5. Remind yourself that it is natural to have a knee-jerk-I’m-tooclose-to-my-stress-cliff response. 6. Identify what you can do in that moment to STEP AWAY FROM THE CLIFF. 7. Identify what else you can do that day to step even further away from your cliff. 8. And, lastly, consider what changes you can make in your life to prevent yourself from creeping up to the edge.

LETTING IT GO

Do you find that any of your stressors are nagging thoughts?

After the 3rd telling of the story, the entire tribe remains silent and turns their backs away from the individual at the center.

Do you catch yourself ruminating about or complaining about the same thing over and over again? Whether it is something that went wrong, someone who wronged you, a mistake you made, or an unfortunate situation, you need to let it go. You’re stressing yourself out. Plus, obsessing over it, and annoying your This turning away signifies their friends about it, is not going to change acknowledgement that the individual has anything. Either do something to remedy spoken his or her truth, that they have all afthe situation, or shush. firmed this truth, and that now they are acknowledging that it is only a story. The story Tell yourself, has already been told, and now it is time to move on. The individual in the center of the ring is forbidden to speak of it again. Ever. For the individual who expressed I heard once of a tribal ceremony their story, they feel supported and gratithat illustrates the importance of releas- fied and relieved. They have vented and exing the stories we tell about what stresses pressed their emotion, and they have made us out. In this tribe, when a community a public commitment to let them go. They’ve member is experiencing stress about an reduced their internal pressure. They’ve undesirable situation, the entire tribe backed away from their cliff. comes together to support this person. Some people may believe this pracThe tribe gathers in a circle and tice to be extreme, but it perfectly illustrates the person with the complaint stands in the point that in order to reduce our stress the center. He or she is asked to express we need to express it, release it, and move how they feel and to tell their story, 3 on. You can visualize yourself going through times. The first two times, the tribe encir- this ceremony as a tool for releasing nagging cling the individual responds with words thoughts you stress yourself out about. And, and gestures of affirmation and support. for those more extreme life events that it is They show that they understand how the finally time to GET OVER, you can invite your person feels and that they are justified for own tribe to support you and cut you off feeling that way. from ever talking about it again. Regardless of what way you do it, step back from the edge.

“It’s only a story!”

Ignite Life with Natalie Rivera

Natalie Rivera is a firestarter, speaker and entrepreneur. She is passionate about empowering others to GET REAL and live authentically. After a decade of living a life that wasn’t hers and developing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Natalie let go of everything and completely transformed. Through her journey to healing she rediscovered her true self and greater purpose—to inspire others to transform their lives. Natalie “retired” from the rat race at 24, put herself through school as a freelance designer, created a non-profit teen center, and later created Transformation Services, Inc., which offers motivational speaking, curriculum development, life coaching, event management, and publishing. She is also the Publisher of Transformation Magazine. Visit http://www.transformation-academy.com.

How Homelessness Prepares You For Entrepreneurship

By Jimmy Murray

Every life challenge is an opportunity to grow and succeed in life and business. The cop was friendly enough. Just a wellness check. I had been snoring for 48 straight hours at the library. My beard was long enough to suggest that something was wrong, but short enough to suggest that I was taking care of myself, even at inconsistent checkpoints. My body odor was that of an engineering major. No. Big. Deal. I was now on week three of transient housing and summer was rearing its ugly head. Philosophically, I began to debate whether it was better to be homeless in the cold or the warmth. My brain swiftly reminded me it was better not to be homeless at all. “Turn to friends! Turn to family!” I internally shouted. I had to quietly remind myself that I had ensured those bridges burned so that I was forced to take care of myself. Man, what the mind does and decides in the darkest of times, in the darkest of places. I began to ruminate on my next move.

It’s weird not knowing what’s coming next, having absolutely no direction.

How do normal homeless people do this? I needed to do something to get back on my feet and rebuild those smoldering bridges. I cashed out my last $50 and headed to the bus station. I would return to my mother, and we could collectively mooch off the government together. For eight hours, I wondered when I would be human again. But how did I even get here?

THELivingCAUSE rent-free is a worthy goal. I highly recommend it. With 30-60 percent of paychecks going for housing that goes unoccupied about 50 percent of the time, it is nice to avoid that cost if at all possible. Just make sure rent-free does not mean roof-free. The year was 2007, and all of my opportunities seemed to coalesce. I was doing a fantastic job at becoming a local celebrity on campus thanks to my experiences with stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy, and, very soon, I would begin experimenting with the newly updated YouTube and maybe give podcasting a try. My

newly minted video game business would surely be bringing in money at any time. On top of everything, I had a wonderfully supportive girlfriend. Then nearly all of my opportunities seemed to wither. I think most in America had a similar experience, and I certainly do not want to make my story seem as bad or worse than those of people who, you know, lost houses and decades of savings. All I lost was a few years of growth and earning potential. My business failed. Surprise. My business partner and I were unable to capitalize on our market. Luckily, I had bet everything not on savings, but on credit cards. Fantastic. My wonderfully supportive girlfriend left me. Instead of capitalizing on that pain, I wrestled with it on my own. Things got low; things got dark. The morning after I purposefully swallowed too many pills, everything was numb. It also tasted like pills. My friends found me, fed me, and took me to school to meet with the college community manager. It was funny. At the time I needed the most help, my university needed to expel me.

Awesome. Every moment that I thought my the odor of a normal human being. It is money you get disappears quickly. life could not possibly get any lower, it did. debilitating and awful. A setback can happen at any You really need to bring your moment. “A” game everyday. You get hurt? That’s a hospital bill With no one left This is hard to do without a that you can’t pay, which then goes to collecto support me, I shower nearby or the ability to cook. You tions and wrecks your credit. You missed the are often beholden to what little scraps bus? Guess you didn’t need that job after all. became homeless. you can find. Oh, you’re late getting to the shelter? No cot for you. You are fighting every You have to be resourceful. expense. Every advantage you can get is going to matter. Making friends with the bus The thing to understand about It’s one of life’s driver might get you a free ride one day. The homelessness is that it can (and does) hapare moving out? Sweet! Maybe I pen to anybody. It is usually due to an instibiggest ironies that students can get a free backpack for some semblance tutional failure of about a hundred different support systems that a person has, much it’s really expensive of storage. Still have an ID? Cool! You can go to the library and learn a skill that can be like my own. Recurring homelessness is a to be poor. useful to getting a job. chicken and egg problem where one is unable to reassimilate into society, due to not I was lucky. I looked young Every moment matters. having an address, thus no ability to secure When you’re homeless, most of your enough and my student ID was valid long employment, to secure an address, etc. time is spent looking for opportunity from enough that I could shower on campus. It takes a lot of hard work to find A lot of people in that situation aren’t as a business that pities you or a government a job and emerge victorious. lucky. I was beholden to the modicum agency. In either case, you have no leverage, so You have no idea what the busi- of food I could find. Most of my caloric it’s long lines for you. The only way to mitigate ness owner really thinks of you. You have intake was in sodas. A lack of habitat these long lines is to be prepared for every posno real way of adding value to a business. makes it hard to save. You can’t buy in sibility. Every bus ride. Every walk. Every free If you did, you have no ability to maintain bulk. You can’t buy things to cook. Any moment has to be spent mentally preparing for the worst of these situations.

THE DURATION

You have to reach out to people. This was hard for me, as I had burned my bridges. Really, the only thing that kept me sane was the thought that at the end of it, I would have gained strength through perseverance. You have to sell yourself. This was...the hardest pill to swallow. At the end of the day, you have to be your own advocate. That means finding anything that can be of value to people. For me, that came in brute strength and agility. I’ll wash dishes and clean the lobby and do it faster and cheaper than anybody else. From that starting point, a proverbial steady game of chess began, and strategic moves followed. By the way, in addition to those things, I can lead people. I moved from hawking bagels to customer service this way.

THESickESCAPE of the second-class citizenry

that comes with homelessness, I made a plan. I moved back in with my mom. I had a rent-free roof and an address. From there, I made myself available at all hours. Day by day, move by move, I found myself in areas with better opportunity. I capitalized on every one of them. When I lived in Pittsburgh, I had a wonderful interview and landed a

customer service job. That led to a cusThe end goal is to be in a much bettomer service position in Raleigh. From ter life situation. I’ve had nothing and I’ve had there, I studied the market and took up more money than I knew what to do with. coding. That doubled my income. Within two years, my bank account swelled and my skill set grew. By the end, I was helping smalland medium-sized businesses optimize their workflow and increase employee morale. Now I live in Tampa and, after studying AI, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. That means voice acting—but I’ll always love pushing businesses forward.

It felt much

better and more rewarding to

THEThereLESSONS are a ton of parallels between homelessness and entrepreneurship. • It takes a lot of hard work to emerge victorious. • Be resilient. • You are fighting every expense. • Prevent what you can and look forward for anything else. • A setback can happen at any moment. • Be prepared. • You have to be resourceful. • Every moment matters. • You have to reach out to people. • You have to sell yourself.

pull myself out

of homelessness than it did to

rest on the

laurels of my

bank account. Every life challenge is an opportunity to grow and succeed in life and business. Make a plan, put your head down, and execute. Stay strong, entrepreneurs.

Jimmy Murray studied marketing and film and minored in singing before the economic “Big Fall” of 2007. Since then, he’s taught himself coding and artificial intelligence and has gone from bagel jockey to voiceover artist in four swift moves. His eye for efficiency constantly adds value to any and all businesses. He’s a beast at content creation on all platforms and enjoys teaching people creativity. Above all else, he enjoys motivating people because nothing is impossible. Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @TheJimmyMurray. Enjoy his “Kid Friendly Joke of the Day” at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kid-friendly-joke-ofthe-day/id1376295005.

Everything Begins with a Thought

When we are creatively imagining something, we are actually causing it to come into our life. 12

By Ashar Mohammed In the holistic world, we talk often about how thoughts come first, followed by our words, which eventually determines our actions— how we live our life. So my advice has always been to watch our thoughts. Even if we can’t stop our thoughts, if we just start noticing them, we create a small space in which we can choose—do I want to keep thinking this thought or not? It’s the difference between obsessing and noticing we are obsessing. If I am obsessing, I can’t stop it. But if I notice that I am obsessing, I have a choice to stop doing it. In the trickle-down theory, this can help us command our life in an immeasurable way. I truly believe our thoughts rule our world. After all, beliefs are just thoughts we keep thinking over and over. That’s why I need to be diligent about what I think. It tends to become what I believe. My grandfather said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” He knew a thing or two about imagination; he was a philosopher. I also like to think that he never even noticed his hair and people’s opinions about it. His gift was to think beyond convention and to question authority and the conclusions of what

previous people thought. He taught or emotion. In order to get what you me to follow my thoughts. want, you have to stop those negative thoughts and allow yourself to dream and, not only that, you need to do it on a recurring, steady basis. This will require that you suspend those old beliefs—otherwise known as suspension of disbelief—to allow your mind to go to new and improved places, thinking about what you want to happen in your own reality, even if it initially seems outrageous. If you think about those wanted changes with enough feeling and belief, you begin to manifest them in your own life. So starting with your next negative body-related thought, notice it and pick a new, improved thought to replace it. If “I’ll never lose weight, this is just the way I This is where you have to use what I call creative imagination. am“ crosses your mind, try thinking This that takes us a step further than this: “I am a good person and dejust forming mental images. Creative serve to have the body I want,“ or imagination, or thinking “out of the “I trust that my body can achieve box,” creates action. It causes things and maintain my ideal weight, and I know I can do it. It’s happening right to change, to come into existence. When we are creatively now!” Then think it again and again imagining something, we are actually and again. Soon your thoughts will causing it to come into our life. It’s form a mental path, your words will the old “Power of Positive Thinking“ flow down this path and then your or “The Magic of Thinking Big.” actions will be a river flowing forth Our thoughts are like mag- towards what you never, before nets, literally drawing to us that now, let yourself believe. which we think about with passion

The most dynamic aspect of imagination is the ability to form mental images of what does not yet exist.

Pursue Your Freedom with Ashar Mohammed Ashar Mohammed is Nutritionist, Networking Business Coach, NLP Practitioner, Life Coach, and the author of Home Work Out Bible and Healthy Eating. After earning a MBA, Ashar worked in business for his family and on his own for 13 years, until becoming a coach in 2015. Now pursuing his true passion, Ashar has helped thousands of people around the world to achieve their freedom—freedom from disease, freedom of time, and travel and financial freedom. For more information, visit his blog at ashardxn.blogspot.se.

Celebrate the Woman

Celebrate the Beauty Within Every

Every Woman 14

Beholding the bond of love within oneself creates an opportunity to share that love with the world. By Arielle Giordano Today, women live a new and different lifestyle than in decades past. Women are CEOs, successful top executives, business entrepreneurs, writers, dancers, painters and artists. However, while the surface level of their world has changed, the true essence of women remains the same. A woman’s core is filled with love, softness, openness, creativity and nurturing energy from the heart space. She nourishes the world around her in many ways in partnership, relationships, career, motherhood, and her life responsibilities. A woman gives love and nurturing naturally when she is expressing her true feminine nature. A woman in her natural state of beautiful offers her heart as she gives to others. She takes care of her loved ones, just as the lioness takes care of, protects, and nurtures her cubs. Sometimes, in the process of nurturing others, she forgets about herself. As a young girl, I realized this watching my mother grieve my father’s death and put her four young children first. She eventually passed away at a young age from cancer. For women, difficulties can arise and perhaps be projected onto relationships, people, cohorts, work, career, and more when they lack self-love, nurture, expression and care. I personally have experienced this, too, when the world around me seemed to be caving in from external pres-

sures. At these times, I have found that the creative arts are a path back to my true essence and heart center. Women can move and have fun with creativity through dancing, painting and coloring, molding clay, magazine collages, creative writing and journaling, just to name a few avenues. Creativity not only inspires more creativity and ideas, but it can also nurture the need for self– love, fulfillment, expression, emotional release, freedom, conscious awareness, aliveness and being in the moment. As a woman, intimacy of being means going deep within, being quiet. Be in your heart and just let yourself be with you. This allows you to be fully present in your body, mind and heart. Thoughts, feelings, ideas, and physical sensations may arise; just let yourself be with all of them in the moment. Intimate time with yourself can include listening to music, taking a walk or a bath, doing what you enjoy, or engaging in your favorite things with and by yourself. Allow time for you to be with you in whatever form has significance and meaning to you!

Discovering and uncovering the natural beauty within is the first step to acknowledgement, and with acknowledgement comes acceptance. A woman needs to accept herself exactly the way she is in body, mind, soul, and spirit. Admire all the wonderful qualities you possess. Celebrate the beauty and love on your face. Rejoice in your body with all its curves or thinness. Enjoy having natural, beautiful qualities and ways of being. Dance in your natural beauty of loveliness and grace—and charm the world as you share and inspire others. Behold the loveliness and beauty of being a woman. Write down all of the ways that you will create, be intimate and quiet, and love and nurture you in the coming days, weeks, and months. Discover new ways to share and give love to family and friends.

Be unique and love you!

Love your natural beauty on the inside and the outside. Nurture the natural beauty that is unique to you.

Dancing from the Inside Out with Arielle Giordano Arielle Giordano’s new book, Dancing with Your Story from the Inside Out, was released in March 2017. With a Masters of Arts and Masters of Education, Arielle is an author, professional dancer, inspirational speaker, certified Essentrics/Aging Backwards instructor, and workshop facilitator. She enjoys sharing her gifts and talents with an authentic style rich in the grace of dance, psychology, philosophy and the expressive arts. Her career includes: provisional psychologist, guidance counselor and substance-abuse therapist. As a Lead Faculty Area Chairperson and Faculty Member for College of Humanities at the University of Phoenix, she inspired students with her creative gifts. She also writes for Tampa Bay Wellness, We Woman and Transformation Magazine.

Listen to Your Body

By Noelle Sterne, Ph.D.

Your body is monumentally equipped to give you the messages you need the moment you ask—if you can tune into your Inner Voice. What does your body know? Plenty. Although some societies and spiritual traditions minimize or “mortify” the body, it is a gift and a gateway. Rather than subjugate, subdue, repress, or ignore the body, we need to learn to listen to it. This is an art and discipline not taught in our traditional education. How often do we eat when we’re hungry and not because it’s clock-time for lunch, rest when we should and not push ourselves to one more to-do, or yield to an inexplicable lust for broccoli? As our body tells us what’s physically good for us, it also tells us when to listen to our Inner Voice (or any other term you prefer). Each of us is an integration of the individualized holy trinity of body-mindspirit. When we accept our bodies as part of this trinity, we can use them to access our feelings and hear our Voice. The collective cultural wisdom is often wiser than we are; our language reflects our body’s messages. Like you, I’ve had “a lump in my throat,” “cold feet,” “butterflies in my stomach,” and “a sinking feeling.” In fact, our stomach and related organs give us amazing messages, and I don’t mean those annoying coffee-fudgechocochip-walnut ice cream cravings. An article on the connection of the brain and stomach tells us: “The brain-gut connection has led to a relatively new field of science, neurogastroenterology, whose experts reverentially refer to the gut (comprised of the esophagus, intestines and stomach) as the “second brain.” Un-glamorous as it may sound, the gut is a physical and emotional powerhouse. It’s estimated to contain more than 200 million neurons, more than the spinal cord has.” (Maura Lynch, “Emotional Eating: The Brain-Stomach-Connection,” Elle, May 18, 2010, http://www.elle.com/ beauty/health-fitness/emotional-eatingthe-brain-stomach-connection-445031)

Our “gut feelings” are rooted in anatomy!

YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU WHAT’S WRONG Our body tells us more, if we

pay attention. Deepak Chopra in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success observes that “the universe” has given us a mechanism to guide us that “has to do with sensations in your body . . . One is a sensation of comfort, the other is a sensation of discomfort.” When someone asks you to do something and you really don’t want to, does an involuntary moan escape? A soft curse? Do you physically cringe, furrow your brows, clench your fists, or roll your eyes, and hope the other person doesn’t notice? Now you know where headaches and indigestion come from. With practice, I’ve learned to identify the emotions my body is signaling. When I’m pretending to agree, disagree, do, not do, or any other response I think is expected, I’m aware of a tightness in my chest or hollowness in my stomach. These sensations color every action and decision, and I can’t concentrate on anything else until I confront them. When I’m asked out to dinner with people I’d rather spend five minutes with, I feel a sudden fatigue. My lip biting and forced smile tell me to make a (polite) excuse to decline. With other invitations from people I find fascinating, my underlying excitement and broad smile tell me yes yes yes, and what time and where? Attunement to such “small” things sensitizes us to the larger, more important ones—like whether to take this job, move

to that state, or marry him or her. Notice how you feel after you tell a friend he looks good when he looks more tired than you’ve ever seen him, or after you cheerily agree to bake 12 dozen cookies for the fundraiser, or after you accept a weekend invitation at a lodge full of carousers and limited bathrooms when you really want to stay home and cuddle with the mysterymovie marathon. The body is our built-in, infallible “lie detector,” as life coach Martha Beck calls it (“4 Games to Play Before Saying Okay,” Redbook, November 2000). She also explains, “The body is an organic polygraph machine. When you lie, even unwittingly, it responds by producing reactions that range from dryness of mouth to increased blood pressure to red, blotchy skin” (“Keeping Your Center,” RealSimple, October 2000).

WHY WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO OUR BODIES’ SIGNALS Maybe such symptoms are relatively minor. But denial of our real feelings and desires isn’t at all good for us, not only in actions we force ourselves into, but in our bodies themselves. Journalist and essayist Barbara Graham says in “Tune Into Yourself” (O, The Oprah Magazine, October 2000),

“Each time we ignore our inner voice, we shrink a little inside ourselves.” Even the conservative medical community has (grudgingly and finally) come to recognize that stress, anxiety, resentment, and repressed anger all contribute not only

to bodily tension but also to a host of physical diseases. Increasing research shows the connections between our emotions and physiological changes in our immune systems, enzymes, and hormones. On the more purely spiritual plane, I’ve found invaluable the list of relationships of body, mind, and soul by spiritual guru Louise Hay. Her extensive chart of correspondences between negative emotions and physical maladies (and metaphysical prescriptions) has been reprinted and updated continuously since 1976 and translated into many languages throughout the world. Derived from years of listening to clients and her own Inner Voice, Hay’s equations have been supported by mainstream medical and scientific research (see, among many, books by Doctors Herbert Benson, Larry Dossey, Bernie Seigel, and O. Carl Simonton). For example, in Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life, stomach problems indicate “Dread. Fear of the new. Inability to assimilate the new.” Such emotions produce excess stomach acids and precipitate heartburn, ulcers, and other digestive problems. The remedy? Not chugging a bottle of antacid or grabbing a little purple pill but affirming, in Hay’s words, “Life agrees with me. I assimilate the new every moment of every day. All is well.”

PRACTICE Your body

• Sit quietly in a comfortable place and position, close your eyes, and place your attention on your body. • Scan your body mentally, from toes to head. • Where do you feel tense—jaw, hands, stomach? Is there a little throb over your eyes? • Are your shoulders high? Is your chest tight? Does your stomach feel a little achy? • Focus on the tense area. Ask it to talk to you. Ask what’s bothering it. • Allow images, feelings, words to float in. What comes to you? • Chances are you’ve been hiding from something—information, feelings, realizations, action, inaction— and your body is responding. • Act on what you hear or see mentally. This action may mean taking a step, not taking one, accepting or rejecting something, apologizing, praising. You’ll know. • Thank your body for talking to you. • Take a few deep breaths, stretch, open your eyes, and go do what your Inner Voice-body has told you.

YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU WHAT’S RIGHT I had a rather dramatic example

is monumentally equipped to give you the messages you of listening to my body and following its need the moment you ask. Here’s an exer- signals for required guidance. In my academic editing work, at the beginning of a cise to help you “tune into” it: recent project anxiety overtook me (don’t

tell the client). My mind darted everywhere trying to figure out the least confusing place to begin. My chest tightened, migraine threatened, and stomach churned. Unable to work, I followed the steps recommended here to you. As I breathed and asked, my chest opened and shoulders relaxed. The headache waves vanished and stomach quieted. Along with the bodily symptoms, all mental torments disappeared. My mind no longer whirled with frantic possibilities, weak attempts, frustrated trial-anderror shots, and self-denunciations about having taken on something I shouldn’t have. Then I felt a lightness in my chest, a sense of everything dropping into place, like a toddler at play finally getting the round block into the round hole. My body, like the child, breathed “AH!” And my strong Inner Voice told me exactly where to begin.

YOUR When BODY,we think YOUR FRIEND and act in ways that support and harmonize with our true feelings, our bodies relax. We feel a well-being, or better—we’re not even aware of our bodies. If you feel discomfort in your body, and keep tuning into it, you’re led to your Voice. You get into the habit of pausing, asking, hearing, and listening. So, whenever you feel a bodily symptom or sense of uneasiness, stop, quiet down, and listen. You’ll continue to gain confidence in the connection between your body and your Inner Voice. You’ll recognize that your body knows, and you’ll turn to it more often for its unerring messages and all the answers you need.

Trust Your Life Now with Noelle Sterne, Ph.D. Noelle Sterne, Ph.D. (Columbia University), author, mainstream and academic editor, writing coach, workshop leader, and spiritual counselor, has published over 400 writing craft and spiritual pieces, personal and academic essays, poems, and fiction in print and online periodicals and blog sites. Publications include Author Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children’s Book Insider, Funds for Writers, InnerSelf, Inside Higher Ed, New Age Journal, Ruminate, Thesis Whisperer, Transformation Magazine, Textbook and Academic Authors Association Blog, Two Drops of Ink, Unity Magazine, The Writer, and Writer’s Digest. In Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), Noelle helps readers release regrets and reach lifelong yearnings. In Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015) she helps doctoral candidates complete their degrees. Noelle is finally rounding the completion corner of her first novel. For more, see Noelle’s website: http://www.trustyourlifenow.com. Noelle’s webinar on writing appears in the Writing Gym of Textbook and Academic Authors Association: ”Get Started, Continue Your Draft, and Finish!” (Click Here)

Promote Life with Live Foods

The cleaner you eat, the more aware and conscious you become. By Dreama Vance A couple of years ago when we first moved to our new place, we popped into the brand new big chain grocery store that had just been built in our tiny little town, which is basically out in the boonies. We stopped to get some organic apples since we were getting ready for a car trip. I stood in the checkout line and observed the woman in front of me. Her shopping cart was full of boxed and bottled items. The bottles were full of neoncolored liquid. I have no idea what was actually in those bottles, but she did have two boys with her that looked to be about 15 and 12, as well as a little girl in the cart.

I can only assume those bottles of something that could not possibly have been grown in nature were for the kids. The two boys were busy raiding the candy trays on display at the counter and holding bottles of soda pop. I don’t really know what was in the boxes in her cart, either, but they, too, had bright colors and “grab your attention” packaging. There was not one item of LIVE food in her cart. Not one piece of fruit, nor one vegetable was to be found. As I stood and watched the tableau of this family, my heart actually hurt for them. This picture has stayed with me and still weighs heavy in my heart. Believe it or not, our food choices

are closely tied to consciousness. Dead “food” promotes a “culture of death” as Dr. Gabriel Cousens calls it. Live food promotes life and feeds our spiritual awareness. Dr. Cousens is a well-known advocate of a raw vegan diet and the spiritual enhancement that comes from this diet and lifestyle. He has several books out about the topic, including “Spiritual Nutrition,” where he specifically talks about how our food choices affect the subtle energy bodies, kundalini, and ultimately our spiritual path. Processed food is, quite frankly, killing us. No matter how much good stuff you put into the body, if you are still polluting your system, you will simply be treading water, not making headway.

Think of your body as a pristine pool of water. When we start adding a drop of black ink to the pool, at first it is hardly noticeable. The more we add, however, the murkier the water becomes. If we decide to clean up and restore our pool to its pristine state, we can eventually do that by adding clean water, but only if we stop adding the black ink. Improving our own well being and therefore increasing our spiritual awareness must involve the two steps of 1) eliminating the bad stuff and 2) increasing the good stuff that we eat.

the other. One thing that happens for sure is the cleaner you eat, the more aware and conscious you become, the more emotions will arise to the surface for you to become aware of and that you will have to handle.

I’ve often wondered which comes first, a change in diet, or a change in consciousness.

In fact, it is one of the main ways we are socialized into our culture. The sooner we see this food and emotion connection and begin to understand it, the easier it will be to make our own changes in diet and the more tolerance we will have in understanding others. I’ve been involved in the raw food movement since about 2002. How that happened is a story for another time. I have watched many come and go in the movement. I’ve watched many leaders change their tune. Although I am not 100 percent raw, I am always moving in that direction. It stands as a guiding light in front of me, beckoning me on to better wellness and higher consciousness. Recently I was talking a friend

I think perhaps they dance together with one taking the lead first and then

Food and emotions are intricately linked in all of us.

through prepping a raw dish and she looked at me and said, “You like doing this.” I stopped and realized it brings me joy. Eating this way brings me joy. Somewhere in my journey during these last 15 years, the decision to eat more raw and living foods went from an intellectual decision to make good choices to one of wanting to make choices because they make me happy! Before this realization, I often said I am in the “want to want to stage.” Many of us live in this stage for a long time, whatever the subject matter, be it doing daily exercise, starting a yoga practice, learning a new skill, or eating healthier. We live in that “want to want to stage” thinking about it, maybe even doing it, but if we are actually doing it, it is our willpower and discipline that carries us. When we finally reach the “want to stage” it is like finding freedom! Now we are doing whatever it is because we want to do it. Just like if you want a glass of water, you get up and go get one. Now you are motivated by the experience itself, and the joy and happiness you feel with the practice. We all make choices everyday. We all do the best we can with what we know at the time and with the circumstances we encounter. So always love yourself. Always love the real food you eat and be most grateful for it.

New Reality Wellness with Dreama Vance

Dreama Vance is a New Reality wellness expert and cofounder of the Spiritual Dynamics Academy. While her insights into spiritual truths are legendary, her specialty is research into effective methods of healing and attaining wellness of mind, body and spirit. After years of exploring healing modalities, she has become expert in three that are highly powerful and effective. Her current research involves tuning into Gaia, the Mother Earth, to discover more about the inner secrets of Gaia’s ancient wisdom teachings. Find out more at www.spiritualdynamics.net.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

When we consciously maneuver thoughts and emotions, focus on the desire, then let go of the attachment to the outcome, we set the principles of Quantum Physics in action and make seemingly impossible outcomes appear quite normal. By Jo Mooy When events out of time or place, with no direct relationship, conspire to align or connect in a way that seems remarkable or extraordinary, people use different terms to define what happened. They call it coincidence. Or synchronicity. Or luck. Or a prayer answered. Or simply, being in the right place at the right time. Those terms worked for a while. But in the 21st century, there’s a greater understanding of what’s really occurring behind the curtain. This understanding comes with a knowing acceptance that things needing a resolution will align perfectly and flawlessly with no seeming direct intervention on anyone’s part. A new phrase came about that summarizes these preposterously unrelated events that come together to resolve an issue: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up (YCMTSUp). This shorthand phrase is often used to make an impossible outcome appear quite normal. YCMTSUp also puts the complex principles of Quantum Physics into an easyto-assimilate understanding. Here’s how.

The belief system that “we create the reality we experience” allows us to see how the strands of unrelated things happen cohesively in a connected way. Quantum Physics explains the nature of matter and energy at the subatomic level, and demonstrates that the act of observing something will influence that which is being observed. These subatomic particles are related to each other, even when separated by large distances.

ily with frequency and seamlessness, in such a way that the uninitiated will view the results with awe. Those with a basic knowledge about Quantum Physics will instead say, “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” These three examples will better illustrate what I mean. A Jar of Four-Bean Salad—I checked two pantries where extra jars were stored but there were none. I put it on the grocery list. The grocery stores were sold out. I kept going to the pantry, positive there must be another jar hiding somewhere. I moved the olives, the artichokes, the spaghetti sauce, the hearts of palm, looking for the hidden jar. It wasn’t there. Back to the grocery store— none in stock. A day later I opened the same pantry to get spaghetti sauce. Right there, in front of the spaghetti sauce was a new jar of Four-Bean Salad. How did it get there? No one had bought it and the stores were out of it. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up. The Deaths of Musicians in 2016— It also explains why seemingly Eight well-known musicians died in 2016, the “unrelated happenings” will resolve eas- last one Prince. CNN listed their deaths, recall-

That’s the science behind coincidence, synchronicity, luck, or answers to prayers.

ing others like Michael Jackson, Mama Cass and Janice Joplin, who also died too young. Watching the news I noticed Niagara Falls had been lit up in royal purple lights to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. At the exact same time the radio was playing “Purple Rain.” Getting in my car to run an errand, I plugged in a jump drive with 1,000 songs on it.

The first song that began to play? Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” The next song? “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. I flipped to FM on the radio and Janice Joplin’s “Me and Bobbie McGee” was playing. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.

The Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral—King John’s original Magna Carta is under glass, in a special room. Tourists line up 10 deep to see it. There was an announcement the Magna Carta room would close in five minutes. It was too late to get through the line to see it. We sat forlornly in the vestibule saying to each other that we had traveled 4,500 miles and missed the only chance to see it. The octogenarian docent peeped out the door, saw us, and gestured for us to come inside the room. She had been “The Magna Carta Guardian” for decades. She said, “Anyone with that much fervor needs to see it.” Realizing its significance, we stood staring at it with tears in our eyes. She explained its secrets and why it was the greatest historical and legal document ever scripted. In a sweet British accent she told us, “This document is the foundation of equality for all people.” Are these coincidences? Yes, in the old belief system. But it’s so much more. This is Quantum Physics in action. The process is to consciously maneuver thoughts and

emotions, focus on the desire, then let go of the attachment to the outcome.

Done purposefully, the quantum particles will align in such a way that the results of the thoughts or desires will occur. Others will call it luck or coincidence. It is neither. This great field of energy is consciousness. In this field, the quantum particles sit in waves of endless energy simply waiting to deliver the results. We live in this field. We connect with it and manipulate it (most of the time unconsciously) influencing the outcomes we think about or that we desire. In that greater consciousness there’s no need to make this stuff up. It simply happens.

Conscious Living with Jo Mooy

Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.

Insignificant Others

by Gregg Sanderson

“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that.” - Ashley Montagu What a surprise to discover this quote from Ashley Montagu! Years ago, when I thought it was important to be right, I invited him to speak before a group I led. I had never read anything of his I could agree with, so of course I was anxious to prove him wrong. Fortunately for us both, his speaker fee ($1,000) was higher than our offer ($0.00). We didn’t get together. Yet now, his quote above identifies a major connection often overlooked. So much of the BS we get from society requires other people to sanctify our self-worth. In the June 2018 issue, I wrote about the “Three ‘J’s” (Justassoonas, Justification and Judgment), which point out speed bumps on our highway to happiness. Other BS leads us over a rocky detour. I call them the “V”s. What do you think they are?

steps in it, and the more you struggle the deeper you sink until you drown in BS. I once had a very unhappy friend (well, an acquaintance). He always sought out people who had been through the same emotional disasters as he had. He claimed they’d understand him better, and they could support each other’s misery. I quickly lost track of him. Think of all the ways you can suffer when you’re a victim. Remember the list of Justifications in the June issue? They just say, “I’m a victim (of birth, circumstances or somebody else”). When you believe that something outside of you affects the way you feel, you’re a victim. You want to protect yourself from hurt and become…

VICTIMHOOD

When you’re vulnerable, your feelings are at the mercy of anybody who happens by. A slight, real or imagined, makes you a victim, and can ruin your day or maybe even your life. You rely on another (or others) for your sense of self-worth and you always search for…

I’m not talking about the physical events and abuse that happen in the lives of us all. My point is that no matter what happens, you don’t have to carry an emotional burden forever because of it. The victimhood syndrome is emotional quicksand. It catches everybody who

VULNERABLE

VALIDATION

The unkindest BS of all is the idea that there’s something wrong with you, and you must get validated. Here’s a little gift. You’re OK. There, I validated you. Feel better? Maybe not. With a need for validation, satisfaction is always temporary and never enough. Surely you don’t want to mess up your life trying to get more and more people to tell you what I just told you. It’s all BS. It’s impossible to be invalid. To think of yourself as invalid in any way, you have to buy the belief that something about you is missing. You were born complete. Leave validation to the parking garage.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Each of us has two or more major identities. Your individual identity is who you are. It’s everything unique about you. You live in the world as yourself. Your self-esteem comes from your BS about who you are and what you do.

We also have collective identities. We identify ourselves and others by traits that describe us. We view ourselves and others as part of one or more groups who may look, think, or act alike. For example, we have young, old, white, black, male, and female. There’s rich, poor, immigrant, citizen, gay, straight, spiritual belief or political party. I’ll bet you can think of even more. It’s fine to join or adopt ideas from any group. It enriches your life. But when the collective identity eclipses your personal self, you sign up for the “V”s. I was once with a friend who apologized to a group of women on behalf of the entire male gender. He regretted generations of mistreatment.

Translation: “I’m sorry somebody who looks like me but wasn’t me once mistreated somebody who looks like you but wasn’t you.” He showed me the flaws in collective identity. You view yourself as a part of the group, but you also see others through the lens of your collective. You assign to them a personality, history, and BS that may have nothing to do with who they are. The more you identify with your group, party, or tribe, the more you’re involved in the “V”s. When self-esteem depends upon your collective, you can be a victim of your color or gender. Your heritage can make you vulnerable, and being too old or too young can appear to invalidate you. Think of the groups that tell you are less or more than you believe you are. They all take aim at your self-esteem. Some to raise it, some to destroy. When you let a collective tell you who you are, you set yourself up to suffer. Please understand it’s not wrong to identify with a collective. It just won’t make you happy, and we’re talking about happiness.

The Happiness Paradigm of Stimulus>BS>Response can only apply to you as an individual. Only you have the unconscious BS that ignites your emotions.

Only you can choose how you identify yourself and relate to the world. Only you have the power to make yourself happy. We’ve defined unconditional love as emotional acceptance of what is. Stuff happens. You’d rather it didn’t. You have two choices. 1) Feel OK and work to change it. 2) Feel lousy and cast blame. #1 is better. Con artists will tell you otherwise.

Happiness is BS with Gregg Sanderson

Gregg Sanderson is author of Spirit With A Smile, The World According To BOB. He is a licensed practitioner in the Centers for Spiritual Living, and a Certified Trainer for Infinite Possibilities. His earlier books were, What Ever Happened To Happily Ever After? and Split Happens—Easing The Pain Of Divorce. His latest project is the New Thought Global Network, where subscribers can enjoy the best in New Thought presentations from anywhere at any time. You can see it at http://www.newthoughtglobal.org.

Finding Perfect Alignment

By Mary Boutieller

WHETHER IN RELATION TO BODY, MIND OR SPIRIT, PROPER ALIGNMENT SHOULD FEEL GOOD IN THAT DEEP DOWN KNOWING SORT OF WAY. In recent weeks, the idea of alignment keeps coming to the forefront of my mind—what it is, what it means, and how it can guide us, both in our yoga practice and in our lives. In yoga, of course, we regularly hear about alignment—i.e.: “place your front knee directly over the ankle and aligned with the middle of the foot.” In most cases, these cues serve to inform the body about optimal positioning when

doing a pose. Just as we wouldn’t want our car to be out of alignment because it would cause undue wear and tear on our tires; similarly, when our poses are not properly lined up, it can also cause unnecessary wear and tear on our precious bodies! Although “alignment” continues to be an important part of my teaching, what I’ve noticed is that my definition of alignment has shifted along with new

understanding. What does it really mean to be aligned? What does “proper” alignment do to the body or for the pose? And do the standard alignment cues work for everyone? The more I learn, the more I know that one pose performed a certain way does not fit all bodies, nor should it. We are unique, fascinatingly different human beings with bodies that are not all the same. The variations seem endless! Yoga teacher Leslie Kaminoff said this: “Every pose is entirely

dependent on the body in which that pose is performed as well as the context in which the pose is performed.” And B.K.S. Iyengar, the yoga master whose teachings changed the yoga world, said:

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.” So now I feel like we are getting somewhere. Proper alignment should feel good in that deep down knowing sort of way. When your pose or your life is aligned with your truth, you can breathe, you move from the center of your being, you know your purpose and can feel the energy moving—even when it is hard. There is continuity in your body, in your mind, in your soul that knows it is on the right track. Conversely, when you aren’t in alignment with your highest and best good or with what you know to be your authentic self, you know it; you feel it. Sometimes it is the still soft voice sending you a nudge to change directions; sometimes it’s the cosmic 2x4 hit making sure you are paying attention. So how do we bring our lives into more alignment? How do we know what is right for us and what isn’t? Well, first we pay attention to our own heart, and then we decide if we are ready to listen. It’s not easy being a human being in this world (although I imagine it’s a lot easier for most of us than it would have

been at any other time in history). There are wants and desires, temptations and lots of empty holes to fill. So often, we seek out an expert’s advice (which is also important), but then disregard our own knowing. What if we learned to trust ourselves more? Maybe we listen to a teacher’s cues to move the knee this way, then check in to see if that adjustment moves us toward healing or toward hurting. Maybe we notice the strain and stress of our lives and do one or two things differently to lessen the heavy load. Maybe we let go of the unnecessary to make room for the things, people, and ideas that feed our souls. Maybe we pause to consider all of the amazing things that had to align just to bring us where we are today, and then find gratitude for the journey. For me, I wish it were easier, yet I know that just thinking this way makes it that much harder. It is what it is. We all have the ability to change what we can, the ability to accept what we cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Our happiness is not derived from the wish for things to be different. We just have to feel where the discord is and then decide to move from there. Iyengar said this: “We practice asana in order to create an environment of quiet and ease in the body, so that the mind can also dwell in quiet and ease.” Can we find harmony, balance, alignment, and joy in our poses instead of seeking someone else’s idea of the perfect pose? Can we move toward these same

ideals in our lives without the need to be or do or have it look like anyone else’s life? I think we can. When we tap in to the flow of our lives—the sublime alignment that flows both from within and all around us, we move one step closer to being who we were meant to be. I leave you with this beautiful poem by Nick Askew:

Perpetual Summertime A man lived perpetually in the summertime of his own life. He lit up the world that surrounded him. Unannounced. And unintentional. Some who met him would wonder where the light came from. And of those who wondered, some would realize that it had nothing to do with the outward circumstances of his life. And of those who realized, some would know that the very same light waited for the chance to shine from deep inside themselves. And for those who knew, and would reach for the courage to let it shine, it would.

The Yoga of Life with Mary Boutieller Mary Boutieller is a Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance. She has been teaching yoga since 2005. Her work experience includes 22 years as a firefighter/paramedic and 10 years as a Licensed Massage Therapist. Mary’s knowledge and experience give her a well-rounded understanding of anatomy, alignment, health and movement in the body. She is passionate about the benefits of yoga and the ability to heal at all levels through awareness, compassion, and a willingness to explore. She can be reached at: SimplyogaOm@gmail.com.

When the Road to Daylight is Through the Gloom

You don’t have to be of noble birth to change your path and those of others. Just have a tenacious heart and the ability to put one foot down in front of another.

By Kate Pennell I know where I am. I look ahead to where I want to be. Each step must take me closer. It’s hard. Sometimes, like today, I feel that I will just die with things left undone, unsaid, and unfinished. That my fear will come true and my memorial will be, “Well, at least she tried.” After a bout of flu, colds, and sinusitis, I am worn out. But more than that I am tired of feeling like I make some progress only to be held back again by ill health or ill circumstance. My body is showing signs of post-viral fatigue, my brain has come back online, but I feel exhausted after doing not very much. And I have so much to do. I’m concerned that another spell of cyclothymia is due to stir within the next month. I can begin to imagine my life away from where I currently am but it feels like a fairy tale. Steven Pressfield was right about resistance being at war with us. I feel at war. My enemy is exerting force against

me to keep me shrouded. To keep me in the shire or on some backwater planet away from the rebellion where my glory and gifts are needed. Hobbits showed us that you don’t have to be of noble birth to change your path and those of others. Just have a tenacious heart and the ability to put one hairy little foot down in front of another until you walk out of Moria.

inherited limiting beliefs that seek to fence me in. I am nobody and nothing. Cackling goblins shoot their arrows, those fears for the future that scrape my skin, as I scramble for higher ground, for daylight. The mythical calls to us. It reminds us, if we listen, that we are at war. That we are more than we appear, that our part to be played is desperately needed. That our enemy is real and relentless. Stuck in the middle That the weight of our lives and our hidden glory makes turning between the urge to back impossible. scream in defiance Bilbo was right. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You and frustration or to step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you weep in defeat, here might be swept off to.” is my Middle Earth, When it feels a dark day, when behind the daily tasks there is blood and where the Balrog sweat, I will choose to lift my eyes to the is made of my own hills and place one hairy foot after another on the path that I have chosen. shadows. I will keep faith and determinaThe wraiths are those curses that tion as my companions to walk through the cling from my past, who others said I would mires and the gloom. I will see goodness in or wouldn’t be, the accusing failures, the the land of the living.

Permission to Launch with Kate Pennell

Kate Pennell, English and slightly geekish, is a coach and dream catalyst who lives in Spain with three kids, various furry creatures and a patient husband. She loves nature, creativity and seeing people discover what truly makes them come alive. Kate provides the people she works with permission to launch and helps them begin to fly as they were made to. She teaches, encourages and connects with fellow travellers across our global village. Find out more at https://permissiontolaunch.website/.

You Are What You Think

By Marla Sanderson

Healthy habits of mind create healthy bodies. Consciousness creates. Everything else—all the conditions, relationships, and circumstances we find ourselves in—is the result of our personal Consciousness. Outer conditions or circumstances will always shift and change and motivate us to yield to a higher level of Consciousness. If everything in our world were as peaceful and wonderful as we’d like it to be, we’d have no call to grow. Any challenges or situations we may have are simply signals to step up in Consciousness to a higher place— one that embodies ideals like Love, Life, Intelligence, Harmony and Abundance. The health of the body is just one of the conditions or circumstances created from personal Consciousness. Healthy habits of mind create healthy bodies. These include thoughts, opinions, beliefs and more. BELIEFS are our creative autopilot. Most of the time we don’t question them. Long-held beliefs become our personal “truth,” and the world of circumstances complies by creating our life to correspond to them. They are also imposed on us by others, and belief systems abound when it comes to what’s healthy and what isn’t. Belief systems are not Truth, but when we accept them as true, the Universal Creative Mind goes about its business of making it so in our lives.

OPINIONS are just beliefs or ideas we have a stake in. Opinions keep us from considering options. They stop us from thinking. If I have an opinion that sugar is bad, it can stimulate fear, anger or even resentment when I see someone enjoying a candy bar. The opinion I hold about sugar might be more damaging to me than the actual candy bar is to the one who’s enjoying it. The same goes for every belief that involves food, exercise, vitamin supplements, etc. Sure, we all need food. We all need clean, safe water to be healthy.

span to putting sugar on his hamburger. He was all smiles. THOUGHTS are easy to change. If you change your thinking habits, you can change your beliefs. Remind yourself every day, every hour to think positively about your body. Cancel any negative, limiting or self-defeating ideas and don’t give energy to them. This is conscious thought, and it is powerful. Don’t be a victim of habitual negative thinking or conversation, even if it gets you attention. Minds focused on disease or fears of disease will create disease. It’s counter-productive to have “disease awareness” day (or month or Exercise year). Maybe health awareness would serve us better. We have far too many is great. reminders of the terrible things that can But most happen, and too little emphasis on the creative power of conscious thought. of what’s Don’t be a victim of popular opinion. You can’t watch TV without a healthy for barrage of messages warning of all the us individually ailments that are out to get you. And, of course, someone is happy to sell you is a matter the perfect cure. Don’t be a victim of marketing either. of personal Get this: There is no power out belief. to get you, other than your own fear. You get to decide what to believe. You get to I saw a news report years ago decide what to think. about a man who’d just had his 105th Do those limiting beliefs and birthday. He attributed his long life opinions really serve you?

Practical Spirituality with Rev. Marla Sanderson Rev. Marla Sanderson is a skilled spiritual counselor, speaker, teacher, and workshop leader. She has studied and practiced the Science of Happiness and Science of Mind for over 40 years. Her website, The New Thought Global Network, showcases ideas from many New Thought disciplines. She is ordained in the Centers for Spiritual Living. (Religious Science). Contact her at 727-475-8991, or revmarla@newthoughtglobal.org or visit www. newthoughtglobal.org.