Set Your Mind Free

    If the theme this week is all about play, today's yoga class was just right.  We played around with different ways to mobilize the joints, looking for freedom rather than rigid stability.  One key to looser muscles, however, lies right between your ears.  When the mind is free, so is the body.  This is the meditation with affirmations that I used to both begin and finish the class.

The Power of Play

    I love, love, love the Olympics.  How inspiring, how invigorating!  I take this weeks quote from the commentary on the men's volleyball match, USA vs. Serbia.

They just keep playing.

    At the time, they were talking about how to escape defeat.  The persistence that makes someone an Olympian.   If you keep playing with the quote, however, it yields so much more.  The past week I have been realizing (once again) that I take things way too seriously.  Out trot the colorful markers, the striped paperclips, the endless ways to add fun to what you are going to do anyway.  I need to just keep playing.

Dowsing for Dipsticks: or 5 Affirmations for Using Your Pendulum

      Dowsing can be so difficult.  You get the pendulum (or sticks or other implements of destruction).  You buy the book (or check out a million books from interlibrary loan).  Let's just say I was a very slow learner. Should you want to embrace my pain, here is a bit about my journey in a January blog post.  Rereading it, I don't think I expressed how absolutely abysmal I was.
     We had a great reiki share today, and dowsing was one of our focuses.   When we talked for a while about problems and hiccups in learning to dowse, it turns out that most of us had similar problems.  First of all, when we feel uncomfortable with something, we usually find a way to make it go away.  Almost everyone kept losing their pendulum.  Most people also expressed difficulty in setting aside the ego (or desire to have the answer expected be correct).  
     This being said, remember the first questions to ask when you dowse:

•  "Can I?" (is this dowse-able?)
•  "May I?" (do I have permission?)
•  "Should I?" (is this in my and my subject's highest and best good?).  It's 

  So, in true Law of Attraction and Louise Hay fashion, we turned them into affirmations.  Here are 5 affirmations to help you become more confident in your dowsing.

• I can always find my pendulum
• I clearly get the correct answer, easily and quickly.
• I dowse myself truly.
• My ego steps aside when I dowse.
• I am connected to my Higher Power.

   Write them on the bag you keep your pendulum or crystals in.  Put them somewhere you notice daily.  Make dowsing a part of your life.  These affirmations can ease your passage.  I wish I had known everyone else struggled at the beginning.

A Little Time Off

    I woke up this morning, had a great run, then turned into a crazy woman.

The dirty kitchen was unbearable, etc. etc. etc. Sorry, boys, I really took it out on you.  Eventually we worked it out through funny music, the icanhasacheezburger website and a bit of cleaning.  Later I wondered why I turned into such a beast, especially just after a run when I usually feel great.

      All this changing is hard work.  I know a belief is only an idea or thought that I accept to be true.  That last bit is the hard part.  It is hard to change what we accept.  I felt like this picture (really the cheezburger website is great!)

   It is a little strange in this metaphor that I am both the cat and the master, but there is energy work for you. When I am alone (without my teenage sons who always have the next funny website), I'll play happy music or use guided meditation.
    Here is my one of my favorite relaxing guided meditations, from Louise Hay's Love Yourself, Heal Your Life Workbook (Insight Guide)

Here’s an exercise you can do to help you let go and relax:

As you read this exercise, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, allow the tension to leave your body. Let your scalp, forehead, and face relax. Your head need not be tense in order for you to read. Let your tongue, throat, and shoulders relax, Let your back, abdomen, and pelvis relax. Let your breathing be at peace as you relax your legs and feet.

Can you feel a noticeable change in your body since you started reading the previous paragraph? In this relaxed, comfortable position, say to yourself:

“I am willing to let go. I release. I let go. I release all tension. I release all fear. I release all anger. I release all guilt. I release all sadness. I let go of old limitations. I let go, and I am at peace. I am at peace with myself. I am at peace with the process of life. I am safe.”

Go over this exercise two or three times. Repeat it whenever thoughts of difficulty come up. It takes a little practice for the routine to become a part of you. Once you’re familiar with this exercise, you can do it anywhere at any time. You will be able to relax complete in any situation.

This meditation relaxes and makes me feel powerful.  One last powerful cat picture.  I really do look amazing in the mirror.

Time to Take Another Step

(Author's note: Sorry about the gaps, I wrote this yesterday, but the power went out for hours.  Between power outages and router problems, God seems to be giving me a blogging break...)


        Yesterday I introduced the 7 steps to changing a belief.  The steps are on my website and downloadable from Google docs.  After admitting what is getting in the way of change, it is time to focus, step 2.  
       So often when we want to change, if someone asks what we want to change, the answer is "Everything!"  Though it sounds great, I think it is a bit hard on the system.  It is a bit like going from sitting on the couch one day to running a marathon the next.  To make the process effective, we need to focus.

2. Focus- What behavior/belief are really you trying to change?  Write every aspect down, then narrow the focus to the root behavior. Then go back and find your positive words. They are highlighted below.

• I want to use Facebook easily for my business. I have loved receiving the invitations to both business and family get-togethers. I like the connection to everyone.
• I enjoy looking at other's business pages.
• I tend to run in, post something and run out, usually missing both messages and alerts.
• Many days I forget to post to Facebook.
• Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out how to do things.
• I don't understand how to use many of the features.

       When I review the list, I see that most are not really technical problems.  If I can figure out how to blog, Facebook should be no problem.  It really seems to focus on squeamishness and the mind "forgetting" so I don't have to do something. Positive words I associate with this are: enjoy, easy, daily, love, connection.
        Now to put the positive into my life...

Synergy at its best

   Earlier today I talked to a friend who recommended this video to me.  I have always loved the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) because first you honor where you are today.  After watching the video tonight, I realized where my first step in changing a belief came from....
    I hope you enjoy.

7 Steps to Change a Belief

So often when we want to begin something new, or have persistent problems with something that should be easy, there is a belief standing in the way.  For example, to go to the Naval Academy, I had to overcome the societal belief that “girls don’t do that.”  To play the edge in yoga, we have to overcome the twin fears of falling and looking foolish in class when we do fall.

When I am ready to make a change, usually in exasperation, throwing my inner hands up at myself, I have a system.  I look at myself as a client and do the 7 steps to changing a belief.  I began the process last week on a persistent issue.  In this blog, I’ll take you through the steps with myself as an example and I will post my worksheet on nkyreiki.com.  I’m taking a deep breath, crossing my fingers and diving in…

    People who know me well may be a bit surprised, but though I love a good party (and, Lord knows, am always the last one to leave) being social has always been challenging to me.  I have a hard time recognizing faces and tend to worry about saying the wrong thing.  One would think that social media would be my thing.  That one would be wrong.

    I'll never forget signing into Facebook.  I loaded up a bunch of pictures, sent out a few friend requests, then commenced to wait.  After about two weeks, things began to trickle in. One week after that they began to flood!  Turns out there is a lot of data in social media. Like a mouse from a cat I turned tail and ran for the hills.  

     In January I made my first New Year's resolution ever.  2012 is the year I learn how to communicate.  I began a blog, put together a new website (after several abortive attempts), got my web literate friends to help me with Linkedin and Facebook.  

    The only place where I still flounder is social media.  I need a plan.  If many other people can do this, I can learn as well.  When I spent some time turning it over in my mind, I realized I don't believe that I can to this. Time for step one.

1. Embrace beginner's mind- If this is something that is important enough to change you probably have some negative emotions around it.  It is time to let these go.  This could even be the first item on your checklist. List all your negatives, but don’t take them personally. Be gentle!( Most of us begin with “I’ve done this before and failed!”)
• I am afraid to fail, again.
• I am afraid of soooooo much data, what if I miss something important
• I feel the need to “answer the phone,” responding to everything- so end up responding to nothing.
• Negative posts, even about politics, bother me.
• I am afraid of exposure and openness, maybe someone will be mean
• I don’t know how to do lots of this stuff…
• I am afraid of judgement.

     When I reread what I wrote, no wonder I was having such a difficult time with all of this.  What a mess of fear.  Definitely something I want to change, even if I never use social media again.

   Naming my fears makes them smaller (even a bit ridiculous- none of these are a matter of life or death) and lets us enter beginners mind…On to step 2…