One of the things I’ve learned, and still practice, in yoga is to be nonreactive.  As I practice breathing, relaxing, and letting go while my shoulders are burning and my thigh is yelling at me, I become aware that my mind is more calm and I get a sense of ease, strength, and peace.  It can be so easy to have a negative reaction when the teacher calls out a pose I don’t like, or when a sub walks in that I wasn’t expecting, but all that does is make the situation worse.  If I change my reaction to these things and make them more positive, or don’t react at all then my outcome is way better.

You choose how you want to respond.

As I take what I’ve learned on my yoga mat and apply it to real life, I realize that everything we experience (good or bad) is because of our reaction or response to it.  This same nonreactive principal that I’ve learned in yoga can also be applied to our life.  Jack Canfield has a formula that he teaches:

E + R = O  (Events + Responses = Outcome)

The idea is that everything you experience is because of how you responded to an earlier event in your life.  If you aren’t enjoying the outcomes that you are experiencing right now, there are basically two choices you can make.

1.  You can blame the event for the outcome.

There’s a ton of external factors that we can blame.  We can blame the economy for not having a job.  We can blame our boss or our clients for having a bad day.  We can blame the rain for not working out.  We can blame our lack of money for not starting our dream business.  We can blame a lack of time for eating fast food.  Excuses.  Excuses.  Excuses.

We’ve all done this right?  I know I have.  Going back to yoga…I was in a workshop last week and I noticed I was making excuses for why I wasn’t getting into a pose.

There’s no doubt that these blame factors exist, but it’s up to us to overcome them.  There are tons of people who are still employed and very successful.  I see people out walking in the rain all the time.  For every impossible thought we have, there are many out there that think it is possible.

OR

2.  You can change your responses to the events until you get the outcomes you want.

Can we respond differently to the events that happen?  If we get fired, maybe we take the time to educate ourselves and learn a new skill.  If the boss is being a hard ass, maybe we have some compassion for him rather than gossiping with other coworkers about how awful he is.  He may be having a lot of personal issues at home, or had a father that was hard on him.

We can change our thinking, the way we communicate, and our behavior because really that’s all that we have control over anyway.  We don’t necessarily have control over any extremal event.  All we have control over is our responses to them!

We tend to get stuck in our habits and the way we respond  to our children, our spouses, the traffic, and our bosses.  So we must gain control of our thoughts, our behavior, the images we hold in our head, and our dreams.

We need to know what we want, and then everything we think, say, and do needs to align with our goals, our intentions, and our values.

In the words of Jack Canfield: If we all experience the same EVENT, the OUTCOME you get will be totally dependent upon your RESPONSE to the situation.

If you don’t like your outcomes, you must change your responses.  It’s that simple!

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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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So I want to follow up to a blog post I did a little over a month ago.  I, along with some other lovely internet people that I don’t really know, committed to a 30 day giving challenge.  Basically the idea was to give for 30 days…give a smile, kind words, a helping hand, just whatever you can give at any moment.  Here’s the actual post if you’d like to read it: CLICK HERE FOR 30 DAY CHALLENGE POST

I’m a pretty nice person in general (anyone that knows me can attest to that, but don’t ask the following 76 people…  j/k) so giving a smile or kind words wasn’t much of a stretch for me.  But I wanted to do the challenge because I wanted to see what it would be like to be aware of the giving rather than just going about my day.  And, I wanted to see if I could give more than I usually do.  Here’s what happened:

The first day was really good.  I smiled more at people and was kinder on the roads.  The second day was more interesting.  There was a guy in his car that was pulled way out from where he was suppose to be.  As I drove by him I gave him a dirty look and threw a hand up in the air meaning WTF!  As soon as I drove past him I realized what I had done.  I felt awful.  Did he really deserve a nasty look & a WTF sign (I didn’t flip him off if that’s what you’re thinking…just you know, a WTF)?  I mean, we all make mistakes, right?  I’m sure there’s been a handful of times that I’ve done that exact thing.  I wanted to turn around and give him a big smile and a “I’m so sorry” wave but I didn’t.  I thought that might be a little weird…he might have even given me a WTF sign then!  HA  I did, however, apologize to him and wish him well in my mind.

A few days later I was taking my little Max to school.  We were driving down the alley and there was a huge trash can in the way.  I decided to drive around it…after all we were running a bit late.  But, as I’m driving around it I’m thinking to myself “I know what I need to do.  I need to move it out of the way.”  I didn’t!  Again, I felt awful.  Luckily, it was still in the middle of the road on my way home from taking him to school so I was able to redeem myself!  (It’s an even better feeling when you give without someone looking.)

I loved doing this.  It’s such a good feeling to make someone’s day and to just be more polite in general.  I gave several spirit jumps (sending a small gift to a cancer patient to lift their spirits), and I always did my best to make the cashier, at Target, Walmart, or wherever I was, to feel better about their jobs (especially if I could tell they were just totally beaten down).  Being aware of what I was giving made me feel a sense of lightness, like everything is good and I’m not weighed down by negativity.  I just felt happier!

On the other side of the giving coin is receiving!  Here’s what I received out of this challenge:

–People were so nice to me on the roads.  I was going first at stop signs, people were waving me in to get in front of them, & I was even given a parking space when we both got to it at the same time!

–My husband took me on a surprise date because he wanted to let me know how much he appreciates me!

–On our date we went to an awesome sushi restaurant (Kenichi) and our entire bill was comped!

But…most importantly,

–I felt good.  I felt happier.  Period.

If you have stories on giving & receiving I’d love to hear them.  If you took the challenge with me, what did you experience?  Make a comment.

Now, let’s go out and keep giving…what have you to lose?

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This morning when I woke up I thought about my brother and how I should call him to see how he’s doing.  It had been a while since I have spoken to him, so I just wanted to call and say hi.  The thought entered my head as I was getting dressed, but then like that, it was gone.  I just let the thought go and didn’t think of it again.  Then at about 11:00 this morning my phone rings and guess who it is?  My brother, Kody!

I’m not a big phone person, and he’s WAY not a phone person.  Typically, if he calls me it’s for a certain reason.  But not today…he was just calling to see how I was.  I’m sure you’ve had this type of thing happen to you as well.  We all have.  When I told him I had thouht about him this morning he said “great minds think alike”.  I said “Yes they do, but this isn’t a coincidence.  This is the Law of Attraction“.  Then he said “What?”, and I said “Never mind!” haha (Can someone forward my blog to him?)

The Law of Attraction (LOA) is at work ALL the time, whether we know it or not.  It’s working through the vibration that our energy puts out.  Our thoughts are energy.  If we think positive thoughts, that raises the frequency of our energy.  (Negative thoughts have a low frequency.)  However, just having positive thoughts is one thing.  If you couple your positive thoughts with feeling good and having good feeling emotions, then you’ve really raised the frequency.  When you live with a high frequency, then things like thinking of someone and then suddenly they call, will happen all the time and without any effort.  This morning I briefly thought of my brother and then let it go.  There was absolutely no effort on my part.  He just called and I got to speak to him like I wanted.

So it occurred to me that if something small like a call from someone or getting a great parking space can happen with little effort, then why couldn’t something REALLY fabulous happen, something that you really want and desire also happen with little effort?

If I can elevate the frequency of my energy even higher, then the possibilities are limitless because as the LOA states “like attracts like”.  The more I stay and live with a high frequency, the more I can manifest what I want.  In other words, the greater my frequency, the greater the gift.  If I can elevate the frequency of my energy even higher, then I can manifest more and more and more of the things that I truly desire.  I can manifest bigger and better things (no offense, Kody!).  If I can live my life in a constant state of high positive thoughts, energy, and feelings then I can have everything that I want with little effort.  Life is easy and smooth sailing!

Don’t get it twisted!  I’m not saying that I have positive thoughts and poof I have a new car (although this did happen to me!).  Okay, maybe I am saying that, but what I’m really saying is that I’m going to have positive thoughts and feelings and raise my vibration to a level that awesomeness can occur WITH effortless effort!!

So, what in the hell is effortless effort, you may be asking.  Great question.  I’ll blog about that next but basically it’s a doing that doesn’t feel like doing.  It’s like trees growing.  They “do”, but without “doing”.

I’m on a path to higher and higher vibrations.  I know this LOA stuff works.  If I can easily get someone to call me out of the blue, then how exciting is it to manifest something even greater.  Want to join me?  Let’s see how high we can go!

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We all have dreams and desires (at least I hope we all do), but do we expect those dreams and desires to come true?  I mean without expecting them to come true then we’re basically just wishing for something to happen.  I’ve wished many (many) times to win the lottery, but I didn’t necessarily expect that I would.  I’ve even wished to win the lottery, but didn’t buy a ticket!  How crazy is that?  Expectation is a big thing when it comes to your desires, and it’s a big thing when it comes to the Law of Attraction (LOA).

Expectation is the force that pulls your desires to you.  It’s easy to see this on the negative side.  For instance, if you’re taking a class, and say it’s not something that you’re particularly interested in, and you haven’t been going to class or listening while in class, you will probably expect to fail or make a below average grade.  When you are expecting something that you don’t want, you will likely get what you expect to get.  It’s real easy for us to expect when it’s something we don’t want.  Now, can we expect things that we do want?

Expecting our dreams and desires to become a reality takes some work.  It takes confidence.  It takes a true belief that you’re worth having it.  It takes a real yearning for whatever it is you desire.  And, it takes action.  You can’t just lay around daydreaming about wanting a yacht and then expect it to be sitting in your driveway when you get home (I know.  I know…bad example!).  It’s not that easy!  You have to put the work in.

There’s a saying that God feeds the birds and supplies them with an abundance of food, but he doesn’t put the worms into the bird’s mouth.  The bird must go out and search of the food.  So, like the birds, we must do something more than just wish or even pray.

When you expect to achieve your dreams and desires, you are essentially believing in the probability of it.  You have a belief that you will succeed in getting what you want.  When your expectation is there, your energy is then drawn to the interest of your desire even more.  Your eagerness, enthusiasm, and keen interest of whatever it is you desire is then intensified.  It’s through this intense desire that the LOA works its’ magic.  It’s through this intense desire that your interest and attention are drawn to the desire; therefore, giving you inspiration to take right action to achieve it.

The LOA says that like attracts like, and the more powerful your magnet (which you get with intense desire), the easier it is for this Universal law to give you what it is you’re attracting (your intense desire).

In the words of Raymond Holliwell: To desire is to expect, and to expect is to achieve.

Now start expecting your dreams to come true — I know I do!

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Image by FriskoDude via Flickr

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings…

As the shadow follows the body,
As we think, so we become.

From the Dhammapada (sayings of the Buddha)

That’s all I’ve got for today, but I believe it says it all!

Love, Kat

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I have a lot of favorite yoga poses, but if I just had to pick one it would be Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II).  It appears fairly simple, but so much can be achieved in this pose (so much can be felt in this pose if you hold it long enough!!).

At first, it’s all about just trying to stay in the pose while your thigh and shoulders are screaming at you, but once you find proper alignment and connect with your breath, Warrior II is so peaceful.  It’s like a peaceful warrior; strong, focused, and courageous!

With practice, you begin to feel how strong the thigh is and come to appreciate it, and the shoulders are there, but you’re relaxed.  This feels good.  You keep holding.  Then maybe it’s not so good, but wait I’m thinking about my thigh.  Breathe!  Okay, feels better.

As thoughts like this go on in your head, you must remember to breathe.  It’s with the breath that this pose becomes meditative.  And, it’s the breath that allows you to relax when you’re in an uncomfortable position.  It’s the breath that allows you to just be in the pose, rather than doing the pose.

Here’s some alignment points (based on the picture above):

• The left leg is bent to a 90 degree angle.
• Weight is on the center of the left heel, and the toes relaxed (knee is stacked over the heel).
• Open the hip by taking the left knee towards the left “baby” toe.
• Lift the left hip crease off the left thigh (this will help get the spine vertical).
• Outside edge of the right foot is grounded down.
• The spine is extended upward in a vertical line.
• Arms are open out extending in both directions, feeling the arms strong and long (so to gain space in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints).
• Shoulders are relaxed down, away from the ears.
• Gaze is out over your left hand.
• Hold & BREATHE.
• Then hit the other side!

Physically, Warrior II will increase your stamina, and strengthen your legs, ankles, and arms.  It’s great for stretching and opening your chest, shoulders, hips, and groin.  It relieves backaches, great for flat feet, and get this…infertility!  It even helps with carpal tunnel and sciatica.

Practice Warrior II often…it’s a great spiritual teacher!

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As I’ve gone through my spiritual journey (and still on it!) I’ve learned so much.  Early on, though, there’s one thing I learned from a book by Don Miguel Ruiz called The Four Agreements that really changed my life.  Actually, his entire book changed my life, but one the the agreements, in particular, made my life easier!

DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY

“Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

This is a HUGE statement!

Have you ever tried to do something only to have someone tell you what a terrible idea it is?  Have you ever been cussed at and wondered what the *%$? you did?  When you begin to understand that it’s not personal, you begin to have less stress in your life, and like the book says, you begin to suffer less.

I remember when my husband and I were just dating and he told me he “needed some space”.  What?  Really?  That freaked me out.  I took it so personally.  I would sit and stress about what I did wrong, and I truly suffered over it.  I felt awful.  Now, looking back on it, it had absolutely nothing to do with me.  He was going through whatever he was going through and it wasn’t about me at all.

It’s so refreshing to know that whatever someone says or does is not about you.  That person may be having a bad day and take it out on you, but if you know that it’s not you, it’s them, then it makes your life so much easier.  What that person most likely needs is compassion, rather than you yelling back, getting defensive, or copping an attitude.

I know this is easier said than done, so here’s a few tips to help you let it go and show compassion.

1.  You are inherently a good person, so have confidence.  What others say to you or about you does NOT define who you are!

2.  Take a few deep breaths before responding or reacting.  This will give you a few moments to relax and get grounded.  And, in that time the other person may cool down a bit too.

3.  Ignore the situation.  If you stay positive and don’t give attention to what the other person is saying or doing, this may actually help that person, and it’ll no doubt help you.

4.  Realize that the person may be exhausted, pressured, or just immature so what they really need is your help, advice, or a shoulder.

So the next time you’re feeling sensivite, just remember what Eleanor Roosevelt said “No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.” When you take things personally, you’re allowing someone else’s opinion of you be more important than the opinion of yourself.  What you think and believe about yourself is so important.  You are worthy.  You are love.  You deserve the best.  So don’t take anything personally!!

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If you were to walk into my bathroom right now and look at yourself in the mirror, not only would you see your beautiful self but you’d also see this:

Gratitude

$$$

What is your relationship with the present  moment?

Abundance

Ease

All you have to do is feel good now!

Only good things come to me!

What do I want?

I wrote all this on the mirror with red lipstick so that while I’m brushing my teeth, my hair, or washing my face I can be reminded of these things.  I love starting & ending my day with the awareness of the present moment, the awareness of all I have to be grateful for, and the awareness of the things I want to manifest in my life.

It’s so easy to go throughout the day and never once be conscious of your breath.  For that matter, it’s so easy to let weeks, months, and years go by without ever getting out of your head.  We tend to live in our thoughts, and when we do that we’re either thinking about the past (I can’t believe he said that to me!) or worrying about the future (if I don’t get this job, how am I going to pay my bills?).  There’s such a peace when we get past all that head stuff!

Being a yoga teacher and a student to spirituality, I know to pay attention to my breath and get present, to notice how I react to things, and to be aware of how I am thinking and how I feel, but it takes more than just knowing these things.  It takes practice…and lots of it!  I’m not going for perfection, just that place where I’m in touch with my Being.  That place where my Being (true Self, Higher Self, Spirit) is leading me in all I do so that life is easy and I’m just going with the flow.  I want to be in a place where opportunities comes my way and I’m awake enough to see them.  I want my actions to be inspired by my Being, not a reaction out of fear or stress.  I want to always be learning.  And, I want to live in peace!

I say all that to say this:  I have created another way (besides my bathroom mirror) for me to remember to connect to my Being.  I started making charms that I call BE Charmed.  These charms can hang from just about anything.  I have one on my yoga bag, one on my diaper bag, and one on my handbag (they make great keychains too).  The idea is that when you see your charm you connect to your breath and find your stillness.  You’re not thinking, not judging, not doing, you just BE Charmed!

If you’d like to be reminded of the present moment, or even have a personal affirmation you’d like to repeat, then these are for you!  You can either order one, that I’ve already made, from my website or send me an email and I’ll custom one for you.

Until next time, Be well and BE Charmed!

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Today, I sit outside on the patio taking in the slight breeze, sun, and perfect weather.  I love March.  It’s a time to reawaken, and a time for growth.  It’s a time to clear out the cob webs, not only in our closets, but in our minds.  Just like the tulips bloom, so can our minds!

I want to share with you a story I really enjoy and get a lot out of.  I hope you do too~

This story is about a farmer who worked really hard every single day to earn a meager wage for him and his family.  One day he saw a couple of men walk across his land and they stopped when they came to a stream of water.  One man scooped up some of it and drank it, and the other man put some of the water into a canteen.  The farmer was puzzled as to why anyone would be interested in the water .  The cows weren’t even interested because of the scum and filth that was in it.

A few weeks later a man called the farmer and offered him a great price for his farm.  The farmer thought this guy must be crazy.  How could he ever get his investment back by farming the land that the farmer had for years.  The farmer gladly sold the property and moved.

Well, it wasn’t long before word spread that oil had been found on that land, and millions of dollars was made because of it.  The farmer, however, remained poor and worked so hard because that’s all he knew.  He could only see that farm as stones and dirt.  He only knew how to scratch the surface and till the soil.  Nature had given this man an abundance, but he could only realize a small portion.  Man will always remain poor if he only demands a meager living, and sees life as a struggle.

Throughout my life, I’ve ran across many people like this.  They believe that life is hard, and it’s a daily struggle to make ends meet.  They work so hard living check to check.  And…(this is what really gets me), they teach their children this!  That yes, life is hard and you can’t have everything you want.

Since I have an economics degree I have to add a little supply and demand talk in here!  Demand determines supply.  We demand a more fuel efficient “green” car…automakers supply us with those now.  We demand a faster internet connection, we are given that.  We must open our minds and let it expand.  We would never have a “green” car or speedy internet connection if someone hadn’t educated their mind to open and to realize there’s something greater out there.

Supply is not the issue here – demand is!  Whatever it is we demand, it will be supplied.  If you ask any scientist, he will tell you there is plenty of food.  If you ask any farmer, he will tell you there is actually an oversupply of crops.  If you ask any miner, he will tell you there is way more silver, gold, and diamonds than is being demanded.  The supply is here.  Can we just open our minds a little, or a lot, and see that we may actually be sitting on abundance, sitting on all this undiscovered supply?  We just have to get out of our own way.  It’s right there waiting for us.

If the family struggling on a daily basis believes this is just how life is, then they don’t demand much and thus are not given much.  So, just like the farmer, we can choose to just scratch the surface OR we can be willing to break away from what we believe (life is tough), open our mind, and demand a great life, demand abundance.  It’s here waiting for us, we just have to step up to the plate!  Are you ready?

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