Month: March 2017

3-21-18 Chipping Away

Quick thought this morning about how slowly and quickly time passes. It often seems slow, so after we come home from the work day with an already tired mindset, we’ve given up for the day. It’s easy to fall into the slump of thinking that the day is over. To plop down and watch television (especially when there is so much to binge watch!), until it’s time to go to sleep. Then once in bed, when sleep should be priority, many people begin the cycle of being on their cell phone, “wrapping up” their social media for the day-completely disregarding how light from their phone has been proven to disrupt sleep patterns and circadian rhythms.

There comes a point when you realize how much time has passed with this exact pattern. Years go by, and those personal goals we have on the back burner, seem to never get done. This is why it’s important to chip away at them, now-monthly, weekly, daily. We are always waiting to set aside these large chunks of time that we find we never have. I know I’ve been guilty of this. Looking for some grandiose weekend to really start getting things done. This empty, long weekend never comes. 

So what projects, goals, passions, ambitions have you been putting off? Start chipping away at them today! I know I have finally started, bit by bit, and I can feel the changes being put into place. Just gotta keep chipping away. 

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3-19-17 Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday. In the not so far off past, I would dread The work week so badly that I wouldn’t even enjoy my Sundays. All of Sunday from the minute in wake up to the minutes I’d toss and turn trying to get in a decent night’s sleep before the alarm rang, I would be dreading what was the inevitable. Why? Honestly, ritual. Bad habits. Obsessive, negative thinking. Guess what? The weekend seems longer when you actually don’t dread or think about the day job. Monday will still be Monday whether you spend the day before actually savoring the Sunday, or wasting away the hours of thinking about Monday. Hope you all aren’t this bad, but for those of you who are, it’s definitely something I urge you to consider. 

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3-18-17 Stop

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is just stop and rest. To try to force anything during that time causes more breaks in the defenses. Not my best day but feeling better now. Tomorrow will be better. Time to relax, reset, and pray clearly with my heart while my mind sorts itself out. Be thankful for those who love you enough to allow you to do this and support you during this time. 

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3-16-17 Embrace the Negative Space

What the heck does that mean, “embrace the negative space?” It’s not what it sounds like. I’m talking in art terms for this post. There are times in life where you feel like you’re stuck in limbo. In the midst of something that’s about to happen, but not yet; in that weird timeframe of waiting. I’m calling that “negative space.” In art terms, if you draw on a piece of white paper, the space you didn’t draw on is called “negative space.” If you didn’t have that negative space, your drawing would not have a distinct shape. The entire page would be the same, without any kind of contrast or transition. Same goes for these “limbo” or “in between” moments in life. We can’t force or hurry certain things. So why not embrace the negative space while it’s here? 

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3-15-17 Underlying Fears

With the political climate being what it is, there is a lot of uncertainty. All I can think about it right now is, how much fear is effecting it all and has effected it all from the start. A longer post will be written soon about this, but please keep this in mind today. Do not allow fear to rule your thought process or your emotions. If you allow fear to be the front runner, you will be easily manipulated, even when you don’t realize it. Underlying fears are the most dangerous, because you won’t even realize you have them, and you won’t be looking to prevent them. Be blessed everyone, be strong in your mind and heart, and keep looking up.

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3-14-17 Coffee and Nature

Like many Americans, I start my day with a cup of coffee. Depending on how sleepy I am, I’ll either make my usual cup, or I’ll go to the local Starbucks and get something with a little (or a lot) more kick in it. But here’s something I’ve found about coffee or caffeine (green tea works wonders as well); once it takes effect, it is best to connect to something outside of just sitting in one place and working. Best thing to be able to explore after a cup of coffee is nature, the outdoors, even if that means just a quick walk on your street or a couple of stretches in your backyard. Just to breathe some fresh air, and if possible, refresh your vision with some greenery, even if it is just a potted plant outside your windowsill. It is instant mind, body, and spirit reset. Afterward, you can go about your day, and work as usual. I highly recommend making that connection with nature while you are experiencing the effects of caffeine as opposed to just coffee and straight to work, without heightening your senses and reconnecting to the roots of being human.

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3-13-17 Topic: Ego

When you are called to do something by a higher power, you cannot allow ego to divert your path. Once your own ego trickles in, instead of becoming purely a vessel for the mission you’ve been given, the message and the purpose becomes distorted. Getting where you need to go will become more difficult. Truth becomes cloudy. Your vision will not be as clear. If ego takes over completely, the mission will fail. Let go of your ego, and instead have true confidence and faith, and commit to your mission, whatever it may be right now.

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Being Present

In a fast paced, information overloaded world, it can be difficult to “be in the present” sometimes. We are constantly worrying about the future, as well as the past. One of the most important steps of being “in the present” is being able to differentiate the present from thoughts of the future and past. As simple as that sounds, we often do not categorize these three things, so it becomes one big, jumbled, chaotic mess with no real grasp on time, which means no real grasp on reality.

If you’re just starting to realize that separating these three things (Present, Future, Past) is something you have not been doing, it’s time to do that now, right now, at this very moment, before you move forward with the rest of your life. If you’ve never done that before, you may be scratching your head trying to figure out what that means, and how to go about it. Keep in mind that it is a process, and you may not master it right away. We’re talking about breaking bad habits and rituals that you might have been practicing for years, without even realizing it. Here are some ways to start being in the present:

  1. Breathe.
    It starts off this simple. Sometimes we don’t pay attention to our own breathing. When we are filled with anxiety or worry, we often take short breaths that are only making the negative feelings feel worse because we aren’t at the very least giving our bodies adequate oxygen to process whatever we are thinking about. So instead of mindless, short breaths, take in deep breaths, concentrating only on feeling the air fill your lungs, and think about the oxygen that is coming into your body, allowing you to live, and to think. Continue to take deep and cleansing breaths, with only the awareness of how you feel.
  2. Fix your posture.
    Try visualizing aligning the chakras, by creating a straight line from each chakra from the base to the top of the crown. This will help clear out any negative energy that may be settling in bad posture.
  3. Put instant value in what you are grateful for right now, in this moment.
    Instead of focusing on the future or the past, which is often negative memories or thoughts, stop and instead think about everything you are truly grateful for in this moment of your life. You will instantly start to feel more positive and less anxious.
  4. Take a walk or a moment to stretch, or if you can, go for a jog or bike ride! Engaging your physical body in the present moment, and concentrating only on that, will help you enjoy the present and take you out of the anxiety filled frame of mind of the future and past.

These are some quick tips if you’re just starting to realize how much time you spend in the future or past, and how little time you actually spend in real time-the present, which is absolutely crucial to truly living life.

I will be writing much more on this topic, as it is one of my biggest struggles. I’m a natural born worry wort, and I realized how much of my life I wasn’t spending in the present moment, and these present moments quickly became my past moments, in which I would exist in and ask, why didn’t I enjoy this moment when it was actually happening? Yoga helped me practice “being in the moment” and started the mental shift of the practice of being present. I will be writing more about that in a future post. 🙂

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