As I sit here on the eve of a new year I think about all the people making resolutions…lose weight, quit smoking, no caffeine, be nicer, get a good job, work less, work harder, the list goes on.  And then I think about all the people in Feb (or sooner) giving up on those resolutions.  We’ve all done it, right?  We all do it, which is why I don’t make new years resolutions.

I totally respect those that come into the new year with resolutions, and I’m blown away by those that actually follow through…although come to think of it, I can’t recall ever meeting anyone who has.

As I’ve grown over the years I’ve learned the value of the present moment and how every moment is a brand new one and it’s okay to start over at any moment, so January 1 doesn’t really mean much to me other than it’s another moment!

So with that in mind, here’s my very simplistic intention for this moment, the next, the next and the next moment:  TO FEEL GOOD AND TO HAVE THOUGHTS THAT FEEL GOOD!  I truly believe that if in every moment I can feel good, then all will be well.  I will have anything and everything that I want and I will be living my dream life.  Period.  It’s that simple.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how I will feel good when something bad is happening and how feeling good will bring me anything and everything I want.  Let me explain — if something bad is happening it’s really just my perception of whether it’s good or bad, so if I can perceive it to be good, or at least see a bright side, then I’ll feel better.  Does that make sense??  AND, as you know I’m a HUGE believer in the Law of Attraction so the better I feel, the more things I’ll attract into my experience to feel good about, and I won’t be having “bad” things come into my life!

So there you have it.  My intention now, on Jan. 1, or any other day, any other moment is to feel good.  Wanna join me?

Happy New Year, Everyone!

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Both my boys have asthma, and over the past couple of days they’ve both been having some pretty serious issues with it.  If you’ve never experienced asthma, or don’t have kids with it – it can be scary!  I don’t have asthma, but I can tell you that with kids you know they’re experiencing difficulties breathing because they start coughing, and coughing, and coughing, and more coughing.  They are truly amazing because as adults if we were coughing as much as my kids have been coughing…we would have taken ourselves to the emergency room!  Kids are just so awesome.  They don’t know to panic or to be scared, which allows them to be so resilient.

In listening to my children cough and wheeze it makes me think how much we take our breath for granted.  We breathe automatically.  It just happens.  And when we take a deep breath, the heart rate increases.  When we exhale, the heart rate drops.  It just happens.  We don’t have to think about it.  There’s no effort involved.  It’s such an amazing God made machine.

So why do we take it for granted?  Because it just happens?  Because we don’t have to think about it?

Our breath is the most valuable thing we have.  Let’s give it the attention it deserves.  Inhale.  Exhale.  In that one conscious breath, don’t you feel better?  In that one conscious breath, our mind is focused and not running rampid.  In that one conscious breath, we are completely in the moment.  We’re not stressed, not worried, not negative…OMG, we actually feel good!

So what if we paid more attention to the breath?  What if we took 5 conscious breaths in a row?  Or even 1 conscious breath every hour?  It doesn’t take much.  All we have to do is pay attention to something that is already happening.  All we have to do is connect to something that is so amazing and effortless, and in doing so maybe we learn that our lives can be this way too…amazing and effortless.

Inhale – Exhale

The more we pay attention to the breath, the more natural it becomes.  It won’t be something that we have to remind ourselves to do.  We’ll just be doing the dishes and connect to the breath.  We’ll be at our desk working and feel the inhale and exhale.  It’s a beautiful thing.  We’ll be stressing over something and then remember that our breath will help get us through it.

Thank you breath!  I promise to pay more attention to you…you literally mean the world to me!

If you want some help remembering to breath, CLICK HERE!

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My assignment today is to “take the time to focus on yourself. Appreciate and give thanks for your unique personality, skills and talents.”

Here we go:

I’m thankful that I know who I am and am true to myself.  I’m thankful for the confidence in who I am and that I don’t feel like I need to be anyone else.

I appreciate the mom that I am, the wife that I am, the friend that I am, but above all that I appreciate who I am.  I know that being a mom, wife, and friend are just labels that we put upon ourselves, and above that, above the ego is me, and I love me.

I’m grateful that I’m laid back and easy going.  I’m thankful that I’m productive and efficient.  I can multitask like nobody’s business (you should see what all I’ve got going on right this moment ) or I can focus on one thing and be completely present for it.

I’m so thankful that I’m healthy and strong.

I’m thankful that I live life in the present moment as best I can, and that I have developed a great sense of awareness.  I appreciate that I’m aware of my thoughts and of my feelings and can change them if I’m not liking the way I feel.

I’m so, so grateful that I have a positive perspective.  I love that I see life through rose colored glasses, and that it’s always sunny and 70 in Katland.

I appreciate my sense of humor (even if I am the only one laughing…those who know me well know that I crack myself up all the time), my wit, my creativity, my passions (that I know what my passions are!), and my ability to let go.

Thank you, Me.  Love, Me

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Today I’m grateful that my youngest son turned 2 years old.  I’m grateful that we had an “intimate” party for him that was SO much fun.  I’m grateful that we were able to buy him lots of gifts, had a fabulous dinner (I made chicken with spinach, pears & feta – yum!), that my mom-in-law joined us, and that we were all together.  I’m grateful that we’re all healthy, happy & enjoying each other.

I’m so grateful to have my children in my life.  They have brought me so much joy.  They mean the world to me, and I’m so grateful that I’m responsible for them.  They have taught me patience, compassion, how to let go and how to be more present.  They show me what’s truly important.  And, they have taught me that love is infinite!!

I can’t thank you enough!  I love you, Max & Miles

*********************************************************************************************************************

So I didn’t skip out on day 6 of this 21 day gratitude challenge.  The assignment was to call someone and tell them how much you appreciate them.  I did.  I called my mom.  Made me feel good and I know I made her day!  Thanks again, Mom.  I truly appreciate you.

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Do you worry about things all the time?  Do you fret over everything?  Do you think of the worse possible scenarios?  If so, do you realize that worrying is just your imagination creating something that you don’t want?

I catch myself worrying about the craziest, most ridiculous stuff!  Actually, it’s not really worrying that I do so much, but I’ll just have crazy ideas pop in my head.  For instance, almost every time I drive over a train track I think, for just a brief moment, what if a train comes barreling down and slams into me.  Or if I’m driving behind a truck that has a ladder or something sticking off the back I might think what if that ladder slides off the truck and goes right into my windshield and nails me in the face.  Basically, I just think of freak accidents happening to me &/or my family.  It’s so weird.  I hate it.

Like I said, worrying is just the imagination creating scenarios that you don’t want!  So, when I have these wild thoughts I immediately catch myself doing it and I snap out of it.  “Only good things come to me” is one of my mantras!

Being a firm believer in the Law of Attraction, I understand that thinking about things I don’t want only brings those unwanted things to me.  So I stop in my tracks (not on the train tracks – haha) and I think about what I want.  I only want good things to come to me.  And honestly…only good things do come to me.

If you worry a lot all you’re doing is imagining things happening that you don’t want to happen.  With all that energy focused on those unwanted things, you’re likely to manifest what you don’t want.  Then you get this scenario that you don’t want and it causes more worry.  More worry, creates more worry.  It’s a vicious circle!

The good news is that this works in the opposite way as well.  The less you worry, the less stuff you have to worry about.

The worrying has to stop.  Seriously.  If you think about it, most of the things you worry about don’t ever happen anyway so what’s the point?  It’s wasted energy.  It’s puts you in a funk, and it causes stress.  And I won’t even get on the topic of what stress does to you!!  Worry cannot change your circumstance, it only enhances it.

So here’s the deal.  Next time you start to worry, notice what you’re doing, and immediately stop.  Give yourself a mantra or affirmation.  They’re extremely powerful.

Only good things come to me.

I choose to let go and allow goodness.

I am safe.

I choose to let go of things I have no control over.

I trust that everything will work out.

At first you may be saying these things as you’re rolling your eyes, but eventually you start to believe it.  When you start to believe it, you start to have faith that everything will work out.  That faith is what allows you to stop worrying.

**Side note: I sell charms that help you to remember your affirmation.  They work beautifully.  Click here.**

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I get a daily email from Ester & Jerry Hicks.  They send out excerpts from workshops they’ve done in the past.  Here’s one that I received last week.  I wanted to post it because I think it’s really important, and it’s something that I haven’t really thought about in this way.  Check it out:

What true patience is, is knowing that you want it and knowing that it’s coming and actually enjoying the unfolding along the way. Understand that you never get it done. So you might as well be patient. You never get it done, because every time you want and receive, you also receive a new perspective from which to want. Life is a constant unfolding of new desires and then a constant alignment to those desires.

Excerpted from a workshop in Larkspur, CA on Saturday, August 30th, 1997

So to be truly patient is to enjoy what you’re experiencing in the moment.  I’m sure you’ve experienced this…you really want something and then you get it.  You love it, enjoy it, and then a little while later you decide you want something else, probably something that you consider to be better.  But as you’re focused on your new desire, you forget about how great you have it now.  This applies to relationships, money, success, everything!  I believe there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting more or wanting something else  AS LONG AS you truly appreciate what you do have now, and  AS LONG AS you truly enjoy it in the moment.

Having true patience is really to have faith, because when we have faith we aren’t worried about how we’re going to get what we want.  When we have faith, we can sit back and enjoy the moment and all the things we have in the moment.  When we live in this state of joy, that’s how energetically we align with our new desires; which is how we’re able to have faith and patience.   We know that the things we desire are on their way.

To be patient is to appreciate and enjoy what you currently have, and to keep enjoying while you are waiting for your new desire.  The more faith you have that your new desire will arrive, the easier it is to be patient!

Keep wanting, keep learning, keep enjoying, keep in the present moment, keep the faith –

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My little Miles Everett (19 months) and big boy Maximus Henry (3 1/2 years) are the loves of my life.  I’m so fortunate to have great kids, and an amazing husband.  Here’s my top 10 reasons why I absolutely love being their mom (in no particular order)!

10.  That feeling when my children only want their Mommy.

9.  That relief when my children only want their Daddy!

8.  When I see their smiling faces the first thing in the morning, I know it’s going to be a great day!

7.  I’m completely, hysterically funny.

6.  I get to explain things like who I’m talking to on the phone and what they said…because Max just needs to know!

5.  Being around the pure, joyful, light energy that small children radiate.

4.  Because it’s the most important job I’ll ever have.

3.  Because they help to keep me grounded, and I know that nothing else matters besides the well-being of my family.

2.  Kids are so genuine, honest, and true to themselves; and I have the opportunity to teach them to stay that way.

1.  It’s a love like no other, and to have that kind of love in my heart is just priceless.

Thank you, Boys!  I love you~

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Through the greatness that is the Internet, I recently came in contact with a woman named Meaghan.  She is a cancer survivor.  Here’s what she said on her website.  “My battle was a difficult one and with only a 20% chance of surviving my spirits were low. However, the bright moments I had during those dark times were when I returned to either my hospital room or home I was met with a little special something”.

Meaghan began a project called Spirit Jump.  What she does is connect people that would like to help lift a spirit with cancer patients that are needing a little lift!  You can send any kind of gift, whether it be a handmade card, flowers, something you hand make, or even a blanket.  I think this is such a great idea and I wanted to be a part of it.  So…I’m now a proud “Spirit Jumper”!

Here’s how it worked – Stacy Billlow (Meaghan’s partner in the project and a cancer patient herself) sent out an email to all the Spirit Jumpers listing cancer patients that need a lift.  In this particular email there were 5 people listed.  She had a little info about each person.  I picked who I wanted to “jump” and let Stacy know.  She responded with the girl’s address and I sent a gift directly to her.  It was that easy!

I didn’t get much information about the “young woman” I picked.   Her name is Sara and she’s from New York.  I don’t even know what kind of cancer she’s dealing with, but I don’t care.  I just want to brighten her day!  I sent her a special BE Charmed.  I hope she likes it, and will really use it!  She can hang the charm on her handbag and whenever she sees it I gave her this affirmation to say: “I lovingly forgive and release all of the past.  I choose to fill my life with joy.  I love and approve of myself.”  She’s welcome to not say the affirmation and just get present in the moment and find her stillnes, her peace, her spirit!  Either way, I hope her spirit is lifted.

I’m so happy to be a part of this project.  It gives me much appreciation for my health, and it feels so great to give.  In fact, I get a little spirit jump too!

If you’d like to participate and be a proud Spirit Jumper, please visit their website: http://spiritjump.blogspot.com/

Spirit Jump is currently working on getting their non-profit status.  Good luck with that, Girls!  And thank you so much for all you do!  You’re both amazing women, and my thoughts and prayer are with you!

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I’d love one.  Thanks for asking!

Okay, so here’s the deal.  My post today is about IBC (not to be confused with IBS or the root beer).  I’m talking about IndyBizChicks.com.  This cool company is ran by this “chick” named Crissy Herron.  She’s having a contest to give away a power publicity makeover.  (Think this is one of her publicity stunts??)

Here’s what I’m going to win:

It’s a six week session that will include:

• Define your target market – and learn how to reach them!
• Give your website an evaluation and make sure it is as profitable as it can be
• Learn how to write an awesome press release
• Build a media list, press kit, and press room
• Learn about social networking, article marketing, JV partnerships, and MORE!
• Build a marketing plan to help you rock it out in 2009!

I’m at a place in my life where I’m ready to take what I do to the next level.  My yoga journey is where it all started.  That’s how I got into all this cool spiritual stuff.  My yoga practice taught me to be present and to connect to my true self.  Once I found this place within, my life started to shift.  I became more grateful and more aware (among other things!).  I went for years not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life, but now I know and wow…it’s such a cool feeling.  It’s a relief, to say the least.  So coming from this place within me that is light, is positive, is love….I’m ready!  I believe the combination of yoga teaching, jewelry making, and spiritual blogging mom all come together beautifully through my website. Everything I do on my site (and in my life for that matter) is done with the intention of teaching and learning how to live life easy.  How to go with the flow and enjoy the ride.  And this, Crissy, is why I’m ready to rock it out in 2009!

You can enter the contest too, or just pay her

Go here – http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/power-publicity-makeover/

Thanks Crissy!  I can’t wait to work with you~

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Image by Hamed Saber via Flickr

I love being aware of the Law of Attraction (LOA) at work. If you’re familiar with the LOA you know that it’s working whether we know it or not. Well, it gets even cooler when you see it happening!!

Here’s the LOA at it’s finest. I received an email from a friend of mine this morning. I didn’t have time to read it so I just left it in my inbox. When I sat down to do this blog post, or at least attempt it, I was thinking about what I should write about and more so do I have enough time to devote to writing a post today (I have 2 small kids and I can’t have them watching Dora ALL day long!). Everything that I thought to write about I knew would take a while, so I decided to just let it go. Now, since I have all this “spare” extra time I decided to open my friends email and read it.

The email was a Powerpoint presentation on Great Advice. Thank you, Gail! Now I have a blog topic!! (Let’s hope I can type fast… Dora’s almost over!!)  And, thank you to whoever put this Powerpoint presentation together.  Good stuff!

1. Walk 10 – 30 minutes everyday, while smiling.
2. Sit quietly for at least 10 minutes everyday, in isolation if necessary.
3. Upon arising every morning, one must immediately say “My goal today is…”.
4. Listen to quality music everyday. This is nourishment for the soul.
5. Live with the three “e’s”: energy, enthusiasm, and empathy.
6. Play more games than last year.
7. Read more books than last year.
8. Look at the sky at least once a day, appreciating the majesty of the world that surrounds us.
9. Dream more while awake.
10. Eat more foods that come from trees and plants. Eat less manufactured foods.
11. Eat berries and nuts. Drink green tea, plenty of water, and a glass of wine each day; toast something beautiful in life, and if possible in the company of a loved one.
12. Try to make at least 3 people laugh everyday.
13. Eliminate clutter in the home, the car, and the office. Let a new energy enter your life.
14. Don’t spend your precious time immersed in rumors, things from the past, negative thoughts, or things beyond your control. It is better to invest your energy in the positive present.
15. Life is a school and we are here to learn. Problems are lessons that come and go; what we learn from them will serve us our entire lives.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.
17. Smile and laugh more often.
18. Do not let an opportunity pass to hug a friend.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating someone.
20. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Nobody else does.
21. It is not necessary to win every argument. One must accept that the other person is not in agreement, and learn from his position.
22. Make peace with your past, so as not to ruin your present.
23. Don’t compare your life with others. You have no idea of the highways they have traveled during their lives.
24. Nobody is responsible for your happiness, except yourself.
25. Remember well that we have no control over what happens to us, but only what we do.
26. Learn something new everday.
27. What others think of us is not completely under our control.
28. Appreciate your body and it’s marvels.
29. Whether the situation is good or bad, it will change.
30. Work will not take care of us when we are sick. Our friends will. Stay in contact with them.
31. Reject everything that is not useful, amusing, or beautiful.
32. Don’t lose time. We already have all the things we need.
33. The best is yet to come.
34. Nothing is as important as sitting, standing, getting dressed, and helping others.
35. Have fantastic sex, always in harmony with the other person.
36. Phone your family regularly, and tell them “Hi, I was thinking of you”.
37. Each day before going to sleep say: I am thankful for_________. Today, I succeeded in _________.
38. Remember that we have too much that is good to be stressed.
39. Enjoy the voyage. There is only one chance to be successful.

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