Have More Fun

My gift to you is

.......have more fun!!

Oh my Gosh...how many strict rules and limitations have we put on ourselves in this lifetime so far??

 Here are a few of mine: I'm too old to do that, I am not pretty enough, I can't eat that, I made too many mistakes, I waited too long and now I can't start....trust me, I could go on. All the time that i'm thinking these thoughts, my body tightens up, my breathing is shallow, my energy and vitality are depleted. Gosh forbid, someone tries to make me laugh.

Sounds fun huh?? Not exactly.

 It's scientifically researched and proven that laughter can take away physical pain.

The point is, let's have fun...and Now!

I am enough right now and I'm about to havin' some fun ;-))

No more: hiding who you are, following the rules, taking everything too seriously, being too busy, avoiding things because you are in fear, caring about what others might think.

So, what do you think? Will you join me on this fun escapade?

Take a moment to clear the slate. Ask yourself, is there a message or messages lurking in the background that aren't working for me? Messages that are limiting me?

 Now, imagine them in front of you....all the messages that you'd like to move out the way. Now, start moving them out of the way!! Physically take your hands and move them out of the way. Brush them aside. Do this until they are no longer there.


Now the space is clear in front of you. What will you do for fun today?

 If you want, feel free to share some of your fun escapades with me

 Enjoy your gifts! By the way....nothing wrong with regifting any of my gifts to Your loved ones.....I don't mind ;-)

Love and Light, Lauren

 P.S. I'm on the way to the park with my dog, Jazz, to watch her run and it always makes me smile. After that, who knows....I may take a nap and I won't feel bad about it. I will have fun with everything I do today!

Will You Stop Beating Yourself Up?

 

Just to use yoga as one example, I've asked my yoga students from time to time....."Have you ever found yourself laying on the floor in the yoga room telling yourself, I can't do this"! Or maybe you feel angry because you feel your body is failing you in some way, or you tell yourself over and over in the class, I'll NEVER be able to do this, or maybe you just tell yourself not to go to class in the first place because you don't even want to experience the feeling of self defeat and go through the agony of what may happen in your practice today. As Dr Phil would say "How's that working for ya"?

My Solution:

 First, and foremost, I'm going to ask you a question: "Can you stop beating yourself up?" My request is that you do just that starting.....YES, today. There is nothing in this request that you aren't supposed to work hard to accomplish what it is that you want, however the goal for you is that the hard work is yielding feelings of accomplishment, self worth, satisfaction and presence so that when you complete it, you can take those amazing feelings and allow them to overflow into the rest of your life.

Get in touch with your internal critic and then don't pay attention to it. The first part of this process is "getting in touch" with your critic. What does that mean? This means that you must distinguish what your internal critic sounds like and what it says to you. You may not even know you have one. But, start to think about when you are being hard on yourself, what's the message in the background? What are the messages or things that you may be telling yourself. Start listening to what you discussing with your friends in moments when you aren't feeling good about something in yourl life and you may hear them pop up.

One big one for me was that whenever I went to any sort of workshop or event where there were lots of successful people. I didn't feel like I belonged. If there were people that got up that share about something they accomplished, I would sit there and be thinking that's great for that person, but that will never be me. I couldn't do what they did. I wasn't even conscious of this for a very long time. To me, it was just what was so.

Utilizing this technique, I got clear on the voice saying "You can't do what she did". "She has more experience than you.". "He has an advanced degree in that area and you don't". You get the picture! Once I got this distinguished, I was now aware when my inner critic was trying to take center stage. I could then hear it but not allow it to be in charge of my actions or lack of action to follow.

Nike has the best tag line: "Just Do It" because at the end of the day, it's always much easier to do something than it is to sit and think about doing it. The more we think about things, the more we tend to struggle. The minute you think of doing something to reach your goal which has elements of fear or struggle attached to it, it may take something to disregard the conversation that may show up in the background. All the reasons and excuses show up for why we can't do it, don't want to do it, don't need to do it. This is because the mind and the internal critic just works to make us lose confidence, motivation and perspective based on F.E.A.R (false evidence appearing real). This inner critic or "voice" may never go away completely but you don't have to allow it to be in control. It could be more like eavesdropping on another person's conversation at another table, because at the end of the day, it doesn't affect you.

What does your inner critic sound like? Now, don't let it use you and don't use it to beat yourself anymore.

You are amazing and powerful beyond measure!

 Have something to share with me after reading this? Please post below...I would love to hear from you.

Watch Your Thoughts, They Become Your Reality

Day 3 of "10 Days of Namaste Giving"

 Watch Your Thoughts, They Become Your Created Reality

 At one time or another, we have all probably said or thought to ourselves "I'm having such a bad day". You could probably even say that it's a normal every day occurrence to hear it at least once a day somewhere along the way. I probably never noticed it years ago, before I was on the path that I am on now, but it seems to stand out to me now when I

 come across it.

 So what, who cares....you may be thinking. This isn't very profound. I beg to differ though. Here's the thing, the thoughts create the words and then the reality. A client walked into the studio recently and said "this was a really bad day, I really need my yoga today". I said, wow, the ENTIRE day. Yes, I spilled coffee on myself in the car on the way to work and then it was just one thing after another all day".

 So, here is what i'm wondering.....after the coffee spilled and the thought was that this was the beginning of a bad day, could that thought and then those words have created the reality of the rest of the day? I didn't get into a deeper discussion about it, but it prompted me to start thinking about this phenomenon. Could it be that walking around behaving in a way like you are having a bad day just increases the likelihood of you having a bad day. My response to my own question, (without sounding abrupt), is obviously, yes!

 I was reading this cool study recently which proves this exact thing. This study was specifically about how acting like you are in love can lead to the real thing.

 The 100 volunteers, taking part in the study in Edinburgh, were encouraged to hold hands, gaze into each other's eyes, and whisper secrets to each other.

When questioned at the end on their feelings, 45 per cent of those who had 'acted in love' wanted to see each other again.

 'Couples' were asked to make eye contact, smile a lot, and whisper secrets, which led to real fledgeling relationships

A Professor helping to conduct the research said "Just as people feel happier when they force their face into a smile, so pairs of people behaving as if they find one another attractive became emotionally close"

 So, it's the action that causes the emotion as much as the emotion causes the action. So, flip it over. Instead of feeling like your day stinks and walking around with that emotion, which is sure to cause that result, take the action that causes you to feel happy. After you spill coffee, you can still walk into work with a huge smile on your face and walk up to the first person you see and greet them in a way that can make an imprint on their entire day!

 I was feeling uninspired recently, and kind of lonely too. Within one hour, I had spoken to someone at Habitat for Humanity and created a community event for people to build a house together. Within 3 days 15 people signed   up ;-)     If I wallowed in loneliness, I was sure to feel that way the rest of the day.

 Can you relate to this or did it prompt something you would like to share? then, email and Share with Lauren here

 NAMASTE

Day 2 of of Namaste Giving:

Change Your Mind

 

 My gift to you is to change your mind ;-))

 What do you mean change my mind? In other words, I changed my mind and I'm having a peach instead of a banana. Not exactly. I'm talking about changing the way you think. The way your mind wraps itself around a specific area in your life and holds on for dear life and doesn't let go. Especially when it's not even an area that is working very well for you. What I am referring to is even as radical as changing your personality.

 After a long while, it's common for people to think they don't even have a choice in specific areas of their life, because they have given up or become complacent deciding, “it’s just the way it is”. A simple example is that a friend called me the other day and I asked how his day was and he said "I'm stressed". I asked him what he was stressed about and let him go on for a about a minute. I then said "You don't have to be stressed. You can change your mind". He responded, "Oh yeah, if it was only that easy". Funny thing is that it is that easy, but only if he wanted to make that decision. This point will really annoy some people because if they don't want to see that they have that much responsibility in the way their life has gone and will continue to go, they won't want to read this.

 Bikram Choudry who designed the Bikram's yoga series which is done all over the world says "having doesn't mean anything if you don't know how to use it. In all the years of our life, we don't use even 3% of our bodies capabilities". He goes on to say "it doesn't matter how healthy you are if your mind is not under control. Your mind can make you Buddha, Hitler, Mother Theresa, Osama Bin Laden. Your mind is supposed to be your best friend, but in most cases it is your number one enemy."

However, In order to do this, it takes letting go of the old and bringing "nada" and "zip" to a common situation. You must be willing to completely start from scratch. It's so ordinary to be stressed in a "stressful situation", but what if you brought nothing. So, for instance, if I asked my friend that was stressed to bring "nada" to his situation at work, what could he create from that place? Could he be more helpful to those around him by having a calm energy? Could he be more available for everything that needed to get done in a calm state rather than having adrenaline pumping through his veins? Could he possibly start enjoying his job? What if he just changed his mind and decided not to be stressed?

 It's possible if you say it's possible. It has to start there.

My gift for you today, is to let go and change your mind. Choose an area where you could admit that it just hasn't been working and change your mind. You are in charge.

 

Create Inspiration and You Will Be Inspired

My gift to you :

Create inspiration and you will always be inspired

 

 It's actually automatic and creates a domino affect for you and the people you inspire.  I'm pretty sure it's impossible to be an inspiration and then find yourself a second later thinking to yourself, "I'm not having a good day....or "life sucks".  It's almost funny to even think of that.

 

Think about it for a second.... When were you an inspiration to someone recently?  Did you help your child with his or her homework or tell your child you love them.  Did you call and friend to say how much they mean to you.  Did you tell someone "yes, you can" when they were telling you "I don't think I can do this".  Did you tell your boss "thanks", or an employee "You are doing an excellent job and I appreciate you".  How did that make you feel?  If you are sitting there, and you cannot think of anything, don't worry.  That's exactly why I'm giving  you this gift.

 It's so easy too.  In a millisecond, you can create inspiration.

 Try this exercise and you will create inspiration today:

 

1.  Choose your medium of communication.

 

It could be in person, by phone, or social media (a posting on Facebook or blog).  In other words, you want to get the communication out there so that it's making a difference.

 

2. The inspiration is what inspires YOU

 

you don't have to sit and think, "what inspires people?"  All you have to know is what inspires you and that's what comes forth that you share.  It's funny, the things that people respond to the most when I share, whether it's something in person with friends or a post on my blog, is when I share from a deep place.  Usually even something that I feel very vulnerable to share. I remember after I shared my story about my eating disorder for the first time in an article that I sent out.  I had so many people get in touch with me and share how much it meant to them, and more than that, they shared their stories with me. Some even shared things with me things they told me they had never even told anyone.  WOW!  Give people permission to share their secrets and you have freed them!!!  So, I'll throw this in.....take a risk!

By the way, it's inspiring to tell someone you love them.  Don't think too hard, because if it inspires you...that's it!  You've got it!

You can inspire ONE person and that's enough.  That's where the domino effect comes in because after you've warmed their heart, they are charged up to pay it forward....automatically.

 

3.  Recognize the power or ONE person (You) and

see what you've created and sent out into the world

 

I know personally, I've come across specific times and topics in my life that bring forth that part of my mind that says "I can't make a difference in this area" or "This is hopeless", or the biggest pitfall (in my opinion), "Someone else will do it". However, you can always make a difference.  I couldn't prevent recent tragedies from occurring in the world, but I can reach out to people I love and see how they are.  I can be a reliable source of listening so that people can feel heard. It's YOU!  It's always YOU that can do something.  After you have been an inspiration, wallow in it.  Most likely, if not always, you will already be thinking of something else to do to ignite inspiration once again.

 

If you try this exercise and would like to share your experience with me.... Share with Lauren Here