BE AWARE OF UNCONSCIOUS AGREEMENTS

ASSUMPTIONS ARE MADE SO QUICKLY AND UNCONSCIOUSLY MOST OF THE TIME BECAUSE WE HAVE AGREEMENTS TO COMMUNICATE THIS WAY.

WE HAVE AGREED THAT IT IS NOT SAFE TO ASK QUESTIONS.

WE HAVE AGREED THAT IF PEOPLE LOVE US, THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE WANT OR HOW WE FEEL.

Forgiveness Meditation

May I have forgiveness in my heart for anything I think I've done wrong.
May I forgive myself for what I think were all my past omissions and commissions. They are long gone. I understand that I was a different person then and this one is forgiving the one that I was.
May I feel the forgiveness filling me and enveloping me with a sense of warmth and ease.
May I forgive my parents for anything I have ever blamed them for. May I understand that they, too, are different now. May this forgiveness fill them and surround them, and may I know in my heart that this is my most wonderful way of togetherness.
May I forgive my nearest and dearest people for anything that I think they have done wrong or are doing wrong at this time. May they feel that I accept them. May that forgiveness fill them, realizing that this is my expression of love.
May I forgive my friends for anything I have disliked about them. May my forgiveness reach out to them so that they can be filled with it and embraced by it.
May I forgive the people I know, whoever they might be, for whatever it is that I have blamed them for, for what I have judged them for, or for what I have disliked. May my forgiveness fill their hearts, and surround and envelope them with it, and let it be my expression of love for them.
May I forgive fully any special person towards whom I still have resentment, rejection, or dislike. May I remember that everyone is suffering. May this forgiveness come from my heart and reach out to that person completely and totally.
May I forgive any one person, or any situation, or any group of people, whom I am condemning, blaming, or disliking. May my forgiveness be my expression of unconditional love. They may not do what I think are the right things.
May I remember that all human beings are suffering and that my heart needs forgiveness in order to have purity of love. May I look again and see whether there's still anyone or anything anywhere in the world that I blame or condemn. May I forgive them so that there is no separation in my heart.
May I put my attention back on myself and recognize the goodness in me and the effort I am making. May I feel the warmth and ease that comes from my forgiveness.
May all beings have forgiveness in their hearts.

Begin It NOW

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Begin it now."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Mindful Eating

Don’t forget to come up for air when eating! Chowing down quickly and eating until you’re full triples your risk of being overweight.

Is your food gone before your dinner date has a chance to taste his or her entree? Many of us inhale our food so quickly, we barely have a chance to register what it is we’re eating. While that might be okay if you’re a competitive eater, for the rest of us, it’s not a winning strategy. Research shows that this kind of turbo approach to eating, along with not stopping until we’re full, triples our chances of being overweight.

When we chow down hurriedly, our body doesn’t have enough time to process how much food we’ve consumed. By the time the message that our belly is full reaches our brain, we’ve already eaten too much. According to Elizabeth Somer, RD, every bite we take has about 25 calories. So if you take 10 more bites past the point of fullness, that’s an extra 250 calories every time you sit down to eat. Since all it takes is 3,500 extra calories to gain a pound of weight, you can see how quickly the pounds can add up.

Slow, mindful eating, on the other hand, is associated with weight loss. To slow down your meal, chew each bite 30 times. Resist the urge to shovel more food into your mouth by putting your fork down. Try to make your meal last at least 20 minutes.

INVESTMENT

IF WE INVEST OUR FAITH IN A LIE, THAT LIE WILL BECOME TRUTH FOR US.

IF WE BELIEVE THAT WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH, THEN THY WILL BE DONE--WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

IF WE BELIEVE WE WILL FAIL, WE WILL CERTAINLY FAIL, BECAUSE THAT IS THE POWER AND MAGIC OF OUR FAITH.

FAITH IS THE POWER OF CREATION THAT WE ALL POSSESS.

Venturing Out

“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture.
It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”

Seneca


Taking the path of least resistance actually requires a lot of resistance. It’s human nature to want to soar! To venture out, explore the world, expand ourselves and our minds and live with passion, enthusiasm and abandon.

You might be doing that already, whatever that means to you. Or you may be containing yourself into a safe, predictable box, assuming everything outside it is far beyond your reach.
It’s not–it’s not nearly as far away as you think.

We’d be kidding ourselves if we pretended the world is without obstacles; but we’d be cheating ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge a lot of them are in our heads.

Rethinking Failure

"A man can fail many times,

but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."

John Burroughs

Don't Spread It!

Feel a cough or sneeze coming on? To prevent germ spread, good hygiene now dictates that you should cough and sneeze into your elbow.

You may have been taught that the polite way to cover your cough or sneeze is with your hands, but that method is no longer encouraged. The more sanitary way is to cough or sneeze into your elbow so that you don’t spread germs that would otherwise end up on your hands. Germs that cause colds and the flu can linger on surfaces that you touch long enough to infect someone else. Sneezing into a tissue or handkerchief is also still acceptable. Remember to always practice good hand hygiene after sneezing.

SEEING DIFFERENTLY

THE BIGGEST ASSUMPTION WE HUMANS MAKE IS THAT EVERYONE SEES LIFE THE WAY WE DO.

WE ASSUME THAT OTHERS THINK THE WAY WE THINK, FEEL THE WAY WE FEEL, JUDGE THE WAY WE JUDGE, AND ABUSE THE WAY WE ABUSE.

WE ARE FEARFUL TO BE OURSELVES AROUND OTHERS BECAUSE WE THINK OTHERS WILL JUDGE US, VICTIMIZE US, ABUSE US, AND BLAME US THE WAY WE DO OURSELVES.

Be Yourself

"The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.

Neither need you do anything but be yourself."

Lao Tzu

An Inner Source

''We have been accustomed to thinking that we have to get something from outside us in order to be happy, but in truth it works the other way.
We must learn to contact our inner source of happiness and satisfaction and flow it outward to share with others--not because it is virtuous to do so, but because it really feels good.''







Shakti Gawain

Rethinking Portions

Rethink your dinner plate to whittle down your waist size. Aim for half a plate of veggies and fruits.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department for Health and Human Services released their 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans this week. Topping the list of tools to help people stay healthy, combat disease and obesity is adjusting portion size in order to eat less. While this is easier said than done, the trick is to eat more fiber, which comes from whole foods and fills you up faster. Build your meal with 100% whole grains and half a plate of colorful fruits and vegetables.

LOVE IS REAL

WHAT IS TRUTH IS REAL.

WHAT IS NOT TRUTH IS NOT REAL.

IT'S AN ILLUSION, BUT IT'S NOT REAL.

LOVE IS REAL.

IT IS THE SUPREME EXPRESSION OF LIFE.

Making The Choice To Continue To Grow

“Growth begins when we begin to accept our weaknesses.”

Jean Vanier

Weakness isn’t a sign of inferiority; it’s a sign of humanity. No one is without weaknesses, and everyone makes mistakes as they learn where they excel and where they have room to grow.
The important thing to remember is that we will keep growing as long as we keep making that choice; and the best part is there’s no limit to how many strengths we can cultivate.

Happiness

Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.

"Mini Breaks" and Your Waistline

Do you spend most of your day sitting down? Stand up for heart health. Taking mini activity breaks can help boost your health.

From sitting at a desk all day to plopping down in front of the TV at night, most of us lead a very sedentary lifestyle. Even if we work out regularly, all this downtime takes a toll on our health. Turns out, people who sit on their duff all day without taking breaks are at greater risk of a slew of health issues than those who get up and walk around regularly.

Sitting for prolonged periods of time is linked to larger waistlines, higher blood pressure, lower levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, increased levels of triglycerides, and higher levels of inflammation. And that even goes for "gym rats."

According to the study’s researchers, 30 to 60 minutes of activity a day can’t undo the effects of sitting for eight to 12 hours at a time. But standing up and walking around periodically throughout the day can help. They recommend standing during phone calls and meetings, walking over to a person’s desk instead of e-mailing them, and making frequent visits to the watercooler and washroom.

SEARCHING FOR PERFECTION

THE FIRST LIE WE BELIEVE IS "I AM NOT THE WAY I SHOULD BE; I AM NOT PERFECT".

IT'S JUST A STORY, BUT WE BELIEVE IT, AND WE STOP BEING OURSELVES AND BEGIN SEARCHING FOR AN IMAGE OF PERFECTION.

ALL OF THE DRAMA HUMANS SUFFER IS THE RESULT OF BELIEVING IN LIES, MAINLY ABOUT OURSELVES.

Removing Resentment and Blame

Removing resentment and blame from your life means never assigning responsibility to anyone for what you’re experiencing. It means that you’re willing to say, “I may not understand why I feel this way, why I have this illness, why I’ve been victimized, or why I had this accident, but I’m willing to say without any guilt or resentment that I own it. I live with, and I am responsible for, having it in my life.”
Why do this? If you take responsibility for having it, then at least you have a chance to also take responsibility for removing it or learning from it.

Strength Training Tips

Strength training does not mean joining the muscle guys at Venice Beach. Simple strength exercises with your body weight can be beneficial. The general recommendation is to do eight to 10 strength-training exercises with 10 to 15 repetitions of each exercise, two to three times per week. If you don't have weights, you can use your body weight. Simply do squats against the wall, or do a push-up against the edge of a table. Remember, the key is to start off small and work your way up.

Research is actually showing that high-repetition exercises with lower-weight loads can be as good, if not better, than heavy lifting. A recent study from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, revealed that an exercise program using a low weight load, but high volume of exercise, produced better results than lifting heavier weights.

Taking Care Of The Moments

"If we take care of the moments,
the years will take care of themselves."




Maria Edgeworth

OPENLY AND HONESTLY

WHEN YOU SPEAK OPENLY AND HONESTLY, YOU WON'T HAVE TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS. THE DAY YOU STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS, YOU WILL COMMUNICATE CLEANLY AND CLEARLY.
YOU WILL ACHIEVE IMPECCABILITY WITH YOUR WORD.

Greater Blessing

"Even those experiences that we deem calamitous can carry the seeds of a greater blessing.
It is often in retrospect, however, that the benefit reveals itself. And whether or not it reveals itself and how quickly it does so, is dependent upon only one thing: our own individual perspective."


Kate Nowak

"I Was Wrong"

One of the biggest impediments to our happiness is identification with our own opinions, and refusing to accept that they might be wrong.
We shut ourselves off from new information, avoid making any observations that conflict with our views, and ignore what others want to tell us, simply because we fear that our beliefs will be challenged.
So what if we’re wrong?

As human beings we’re bound to make mistakes in understanding the world. That’s part of our learning journey and it’s nothing to feel ashamed about.
Being able to admit when we are wrong will help diffuse a great deal of tension in dealing with others, as we’ll no longer feel the need to take a defensive stance to protect our opinions.

Elderly and Life Expectancy: Get Them Walking

How to increase Grandma’s and Grandpa’s life expectancy: Get them walking. How fast they move predicts how many years they have left.

In older adults, the faster a person can walk, the longer they’re expected to live. A meta-analysis that pulled data from nine different studies found that a person’s life expectancy could be predicted by their walking speed. While that might sound scary for sedentary senior citizens, past research has shown that getting active can lead to greater longevity.

Along with regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking can add years and general wellness to your life. Though you might think exercise increases the risk of falling, research from the Journal of the American Medical Association found just the opposite to be true. Elderly people who exercise most regularly have the lowest risk of falls and fractures, because it helps improve balance, coordination and strength.

So Far

Today I stop,

I breathe deep,

and rest.

With grateful tears I weep,

as I have come so far.

LIES AND TRUTH

BELIEVING IN LIES CREATES INJUSTICE, FEAR, AND SUFFERING--NOT ONLY IN THE INDIVIDUAL, BUT ALSO IN SOCIETY.

BELIEVING IN THE TRUTH LEADS TO GOODNESS, LOVE, AND HAPPINESS.

Two "No-Brainer" Fat Loss Tips

No-Brainer Fat Loss Trick #1: Eat vegetables with each meal.
The fiber in vegetables will help reduce the insulin spike from the other items in the meal. Plus, the veggies will help you feel full faster. Not to mention all the vitamins and minerals you'll get from vegetables.


No-Brainer Fat Loss Trick #2: Take two fish oil capsules with each meal.
Fish oil provides some important fats, and also help reduce carb craving and promote fat burning.

SAYING GOODBYE TO SADNESS AND DRAMA

ALL OF THE SADNESS AND DRAMA YOU HAVE LIVED THROUGH IN YOUR LIFE WAS ROOTED IN MAKING ASSUMPTIONS AND TAKING THINGS PERSONALLY.

THE WHOLE WORLD OF CONTROL BETWEEN HUMANS IS BASED ON THIS.

TAKE A MOMENT AND CONSIDER THIS FACT.

YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE TO SADNESS AND DRAMA.

FERTILE GROUND

IF WE BELIEVE A LIE, THAT TAKES ROOT IN OUR MIND AND CAN GROW BIG AND STRONG, LIKE A TREE.

ONE LITTLE LIE CAN BE VERY CONTAGIOUS, SPREADING ITS SEEDS FROM PERSON TO PERSON WHEN WE SHARE IT WITH OTHERS.

THE MIND IS FERTILE GROUND FOR CONCEPTS, IDEAS, AND OPINIONS.

Directed Inward

"When your consciousness is directed outward, mind and world arise.

When it is directed inward, it realizes its own Source and returns home into the Unmanifested."

Eckhart Tolle

Loving Kindness

The practice of loving kindness must find its root deep within us. The story is told that Mohandas Gandhi once settled in a village and at once began serving the needs of the villagers who lived there. A friend inquired if Gandhi's objectives in serving the poor were purely humanitarian. Gandhi replied, "Not at all. I am here to serve no one else but myself, to find my own self-realization through the service of these village folk."

As Gandhi wisely points out, even as we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts as well. It is not a question of who is healed first. When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy, more healing is made available for others. And when we serve others with an open and generous heart, great healing comes to us.

Mind and Body Relationship While Healing

How quickly will you recover from surgery? Your personal motivation can play a significant role. Improve faster by staying focused.

Ever wonder why some people bounce back from surgery more quickly than others? A lot of it has to do with a patient’s drive, says a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. If you have a reason to get back on your feet — say, an upcoming vacation, a child’s wedding or a job you love — in many cases, it will spur your recovery.

That said, people heal at different rates, and youdo NOT NEED to get down on yourself if your rehabilitation feels like it’s crawling. Still, if going back to work is at the bottom of your list of priorities, setting goals or giving yourself other incentives to get better may help put you on the road to recovery. Just be sure to work with your doctor to establish a realistic timeline.

Rising

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling

but in rising every time we fall"

Confucius

TRANSFORMED

WHEN YOU STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS, YOUR WORD BECOMES IMPECCABLE, AND YOUR LIFE IS TRANSFORMED.

MAGIC JUST HAPPENS IN YOUR LIFE.

WHAT YOU NEED COMES TO YOU EASILY AS SPIRIT MOVES FREELY THROUGH YOU.

LET YOUR LIFE BE TRANSFORMED.

Small Things Done With Love

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love."

Mother Teresa

Living Authentically

The most courageous thing a person can do is to live an authentic life.

What is an authentic life? It is a life lived from your heart, speaking your truth, standing in your truth, living in your truth. The problem with getting to this point of authentic freedom is that for most of us, we have no idea of who we really are.

To get to know who you really are you must go deep within. You must be willing to look at all of your limiting beliefs; beliefs that tell you that you are bad, you are not worthy, you are not capable, and you are not enough, just to name a few. We take limiting beliefs on our whole lives.

From early childhood we learn from our parents, grandparents and siblings. Their opinions begin to shape and define us. Then as we grow, our peers and teachers affect us most. Society also plays a tremendous role in telling us who we are. It's up to us to know the truth.

Limiting beliefs are like a cage locked tight with no opening in sight. But when you realize that you are the one who holds the key in releasing these beliefs, only then can you find freedom. Freedom comes from within. It comes from getting to know who you really are, releasing all limiting beliefs. And as you release your limiting beliefs and stand in your truth, your example shines a light for the whole world to see.

Freedom will be yours when you give yourself permission to live authentically.

Using Visualization To Reduce Food Cravings

Want to keep yourself from devouring everything in sight? Reduce the amount you eat by picturing yourself chowing down on it first.

Though it sounds counter-intuitive, you can reduce the amount of food you consume by imagining yourself eating it first. According to a new study published in the journal Science, visualization techniques in which we see ourselves eating a particular food can diminish our desire for it.

Fantasizing about a food — how it tastes, smells or looks — does whet our appetite, say the study’s researchers. However, going one step further by actually envisioning ourselves eating it may reduce our cravings and cause us to consume less.

If you’re still eating more junk food than you’d like, try going for a brisk walk. Past research has shown that short stints of exercise can temporarily curb cravings.

HEAVEN IS HERE

WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL EYES ARE OPEN, WE SEE HEAVEN ALL AROUND US.
WE EXPERIENCE TRUTH, LOVE, AND JOY. WHEN LIES HOOK OUR ATTENTION THEN ALL WE SEE ARE LIES. OUR SPIRITUAL EYES CLOSE, AND WE FALL FROM THE DREAM OF HEAVEN.
HEAVEN IS HERE, BUT WE NEED TO PERCEIVE IT.

Just For Today

Just for today, I will be unafraid.

Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful,

and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

I Wish You Patience

I wish you patience. I hope that you are able to wait for things and people around you, and not try to hurry life or hurry people to do things according to your wishes and not theirs. Many things in life take time to develop if they're going to be as valuable as they can be, and it's up to us to wait for them.
How many times have we all lost out on great opportunities because we jumped too soon, thinking that we would lose out if we waited for something to happen? I wish you the patience that comes of peace of mind, the ability to recognize when it's better to wait than to leap, better to bide your time than to hurry.
I wish you patience with other people and their mistakes and problems, and I wish you the realization that we all learn different lessons at different paces, and we cannot expect everyone to advance at the same speeds as each other. Be patient with the people who show immaturity, ignorance, intolerance, even prejudice, for these behaviors merely show where the people are at this moment.
I wish these same things for myself and intend to practice patience until I am an expert.

Getting Cardio Into Your day

If your goal is to establish some form of motion and activity, the minimum recommendations are 30 minutes a day. This 30 minutes does not have to be done at once. You can break it up into three 10-minute sessions.

Heading to work or the mall? Park a few minutes away and walk the rest of the way. Going for lunch at work? Take the stairs after you finish. Or simply walk over to a fellow worker's office instead of phoning them. If you are home most of the time, walk while you talk on the phone. You'd be surprised how much activity you can get doing this. In short, there are literally thousands of ways to move throughout even the busiest day.

FOOLISH ASSUMPTIONS

IN ANY KIND OF RELATIONSHIP, WE CAN MAKE THE ASSUMPTION THAT WE KNOW WHAT OTHERS THINK, AND WE DON'T HAVE TO SAY WHAT WE WANT.

WE ASSUME THEY ARE GOING TO DO WHAT WE WANT BECAUSE THEY KNOW US SO WELL. IF THEY DON'T DO WHAT WE WANT, WE FEEL HURT AND THINK, 'HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? YOU SHOULD KNOW'.

Shaping Our Character

“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”

Socrates

Most of us live the majority of our lives for other people–trying to do what they want us to do, aiming to meet their expectations, and hoping to be seen as we’d like them to see us.
Trying to sway perception is exhausting and oftentimes fruitless because we can never dictate what other people think.

We don’t get to control our reputation; we only get to shape our character.

Our Best

"Do what you can,

with what you have,

where you are."

Theodore Roosevelt

Health Recommendations

According to a recent study, up to 100,000 deaths could be prevented each year if Americans followed all public health recommendations.

Do you know your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers? Are you up to date on all of your cancer screenings and immunizations? If you smoke, have you talked to your doctor about smoking cessation programs?

If you’re at risk for heart disease, are you working on lowering your risk factors through exercise, diet and your physician’s recommended treatment plan?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the most important things you can do to stay healthy are: get all of your recommended health screenings, don’t smoke, engage in physical activity, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight and take your medication, as prescribed by your physician.

A study in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine backs this up. According to the report, as many as 50,000 to 100,000 deaths in people under age 80 could be prevented each year if all of these preventive services were offered to and, most importantly, used by patients.

THE VOICE IN OUR HEAD

THE VOICE IN OUR HEAD DOES NOT BELONG TO US.

WE AREN'T BORN WITH THAT VOICE. THINKING COMES AFTER WE LEARN--FIRST, AS A LANGUAGE, THEN ALL OF THE JUDGMENTS AND LIES. THE VOICE OF KNOWLEDGE COMES AS WE ACCUMULATE KNOWLEDGE.

HEAVEN BELONGS TO US BECAUSE WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN.

Love

You don't choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away. Give it back to the person who brought it to you. Give it to others who seem poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in any way you can.
Love has its own time, its own season, and its own reasons for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it or reason it into staying. If it chooses to leave, from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and nothing you should do. Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life. If you keep your heart open, it will surely come again.

Twin Blooms

"The greatest lovers are like twin blooms,

each reflecting the passion and the glory of the other".

Jonathan Huie

Healthy Comfort Food

Craving comfort food? Treat yourself to baked sweet potato fries with olive oil. They’re packed with fiber, beta-carotene and vitamin C.

Not all comfort food is bad for you. Sweet potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse — so much so that the nutrition scientists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) rank the orange tuber number-one in good-for-you vegetables.

The reason? For starters, they’re loaded with carotenoids, antioxidants that have been associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Sweet potatoes are also chock-full of fiber, which helps keep their glycemic index lower than all other root vegetables. Indulge guilt-free by making baked sweet potato fries. Slice potatoes length-wise into half-inch-wide blocks.

Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper (you can also add other spices, like cayenne pepper or basil), and lay in a single layer on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.

That Which Cannot Be Named

When you fully surrender to what is and become fully present, the past ceases to possess any power. The realm of Being, which has been obscured by the mind, then opens up. Suddenly, a great stillness arises within you, and unfathomable sense of peace. And, within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love. And at the innermost core, there is the sacred, the immeasurable, THAT WHICH CANNOT BE NAMED.

Eckhart Tolle