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Giving Thanks

11/24/2015

Celebrating Thanksgiving is a time where most of us pause to give thanks for our blessings, the people and things that we feel truly grateful for in our lives. I have witnessed a few of my Facebook friends declare November a month of gratitude. They have daily posted what they are grateful for in their lives.

I would like you all to know how very grateful I am for you. Thank you for receiving my posts, for taking the time to ponder their message, for taking a moment to leave me a comment, for sharing with me your insight and wisdom, and thank you for sharing it with others. I appreciate you inspiring me, for keeping your hearts open to light and love and infinite possibilities. Thank you for being curious, for making magic, for being vulnerable, for practicing with me, and for helping to create so many ripples that we've caused a tsunami! I am grateful for each of you.

Being grateful is something that I have incorporated into a daily practice. At a minimum, in the morning and before bed each day, recounting and expressing gratitude for the many blessings throughout my day. This practice has truly changed and enhanced my life. Gratitude changes the lens upon which we see everything in the world. Have you tried it yet? Do you have a gratitude practice?

I have spent lots of time studying and researching positive psychology and happiness, one thing that consistently comes up over and over again is the power of gratitude in leading a positive, happy life. It's truly a game changer!!!

This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, I invite you to go deeper with your gratitude practice. Each day journal at least 3 new things that you are grateful for, be as specific as you can. Next take a few minutes each day to write a thank you note to someone, thanking or praising them for something they have done to make your life lighter and brighter.

Make gratitude a routine, independent of how you feel and not just on Thanksgiving, but all year long. This Thanksgiving, don’t express gratitude only when you feel it. Give thanks especially when you don’t feel it. Rise up above the emotional “authenticity” that holds you back from your bliss. Go ahead and fake it until you make it :)

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Friendship is a spiritual practice

11/17/2015

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I'm feeling compelled to write about friendships and relationships this week. I don't know about you, but it seems like I've been faced with a number of friendship and relationship issues, struggles and challenges and so have others lately. I mean holy buckets what is happening in November? What got put into the water supply? Is it the time change? The darkness? Are you feeling it too? One example after another, from one person after another, all different age groups having challenges, whew!

Relationships with others can be tricky, heck relationships with ourselves can be tricky! I know that sometimes no matter how hard I try to be a loving, kind and thoughtful friend, sister, mother, wife, daughter, etc. that there are times when I mess up. I'm human it happens. There's nothing more disappointing to me then when I mess up. When I hurt somebody else, whether it be intentional or unintentional. When I become thoughtless or inconsiderate. It can cause me to lose sleep, beating myself up wishing that I had made different choices, different decisions. Gosh I hate that!

What I've come to realize, is that friendships, relationships, are a spiritual practice. We regularly need to practice and pull upon our spirituality in our relationships. Whether it be offering forgiveness, or empathy, or compassion, or gratitude, or love, or grace, or faith. Whether we need to remember not to judge each other, to be empathetic, or to allow ourselves and others to be vulnerable. All of these virtues, all of these spiritual practices, are necessary in order to maintain healthy, lasting, lifelong relationships and friendships.

Personally, I am working on bringing to life these spiritual practices into all of my relationships and I'm working to coach my children to do the same. That seems easier to do with some relationships than with others. I'm also working hard to recognize when I've messed up. And to acknowledge and attempt to resolve and heal those situations, even if it's uncomfortable or hard to do. Challenging myself to own up to the moments in time where I didn't make the best choice and resolve to do better in the future.

Owning up to things requires a lot of courage. The courage to be vulnerable and admit imperfection, instead of defending and trying to protect ourselves. The courage to dig deep within ourselves and recognize our own flaws, maybe our own insecurities, maybe our own bias. The courage to walk in someone else's shoes and to consider another's perspective.

There are several things that are key to building strong relationships. I believe that trust and faith are critical. I feel like if you have trust within the relationship and faith in each other then that makes imperfections within the relationship easier to gracefully move beyond. If I mess up, I hope the other person trusts me and has faith in me to know that it was unintentional, to know that I will fix it to the best of my ability. For me the challenge comes when you don't have the foundation of trust and faith, it makes practicing the other virtues more difficult, if not impossible.

Intimacy is something that is lacking in a lot of friendships. Intimacy isn't possible without being vulnerable and intimacy isn't possible without small acts of trust. As John Gottman explains “Trust is built on small moments.” And trust is destroyed in small moments, too.

Intimacy is a practice not a privilege. And it must be reciprocated. You don’t get friends and relationships for life because you want them, you get friends for life because you’ve practiced. You've practiced engaging with them and you've practiced your spirituality with them and they with you.

Relationships take courage. The courage to be vulnerable, to hold our hearts open to loving others and to loving ourselves. The courage to forgive others and ourselves. The courage to be openly grateful for the other person. The courage to trust and have faith in others and ourselves.

Some will say we are put on this earth to love, some will say it's to find our purpose, some will say it's to learn and grow and have experiences. All of those may be true, but doesn't it all boil down to relationships? Our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with others, and our relationship with God. We were made for relationships, for friends. Learning how to relate to God, learning how to relate to one another, and learning how to relate and make friends with ourselves. To get closer to our own divinity, to get closer to ourselves.

Communicate with your friends, your loved ones and honor them. Be nonjudgmental. Remember to have the courage to practice your spirituality in all of your relationships and to be vulnerable. One of my favorite sayings is to do onto others as you would have them do unto you. I desire forgiveness, I desire love, I desire compassion, so I need to remember and have the courage to be vulnerable enough to do onto others as I desire them to do unto me...and I hope that you will as well.

What do you think, is friendship a spiritual practice? I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Please leave me a comment or send me an email!

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!!!

11/10/2015

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Do you remember the commercials, usually around Christmas time, for the Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia? Oh my gosh, I can still hear it in my head! Who would have thought that the silly fuzzy animal plant things that I wanted as a kid would be considered a superfood?!

Do you incorporate chia seeds into your diet? I put them into our daily smoothies to give them an added nutritional boost. In case you aren't familiar with these little seeds and their benefits, I want to share with you some information on why you may want to pick up a bag and start including them as part of your nutrition routine!

Chia seeds come from a flowering plant in the mint family that's native to Mexico and Guatemala. Chia seeds were once a diet staple of the Aztecs and Mayans because of its nutritional value and ability to provide sustainable energy. It's remained in regular use in its native countries, but was largely unknown in North America until researcher Dr. Wayne Coates began studying chia as an alternative crop for farmers in northern Argentina.

Dr. Coates started his work on chia in 1991, and since then has become an advocate of the tiny seed's health benefits. This powerful little seed is known as a 'superfood' because of its high calcium and dietary fiber content. It's also a good source of iron, omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Chia seeds are a rich source of the B vitamins thiamine and niacin and a good source of the B vitamins riboflavin and folate. They are also rich in the dietary minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc.

Chia seeds boost energy, stabilize blood sugar, aid in digestion, help to lower cholesterol, and assist with weight loss. They are super easy to use and can be eaten whole or ground. While flax seeds have to be ground before consumption in order to access their health benefits, chia seeds can just be eaten. Chia seeds also have a better conversion than flax seeds of omega 3s into the plasma or into the food. They also don't go rancid like flax seeds.

The mild, nutty flavor of chia seeds makes them easy to add to foods and beverages. As I mentioned, we add them to our smoothies, once we blend it up you don't even notice that they are in it. You can also add them to your oatmeal or granola, or sprinkle some on top of your salad.

When added to liquid chia seeds turn it into a gel-like substance which can serve as a natural thickener, so they work great when added to homemade salad dressings to thicken them up. They make great puddings and can also be used as an egg substitute. Chia seeds can be used to make an awesome sport recovery drink too that is a lot healthier than the store bought brands.

Chia seeds are an easy, versatile and nutritionally packed superfood! I would love to hear how you already use chia seeds in your diet or how you plan to incorporate them in the future. Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!!!

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With My Whole Heart

11/3/2015

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You know how sometimes you come across a word, or a concept, that you had never paid much attention to before and for whatever reason you learn it, you take the time to read about it, or to understand the definition and then the the darn word seems to appear everywhere all of a sudden? Drives me nuts! I'm thinking to myself...was that word always there and I just passed it over? Why yes Tracy, it was always there and you were passing it over :)

This happened to me a while ago with the word wholehearted. How was I missing the word wholehearted? I love the word wholehearted! The dictionary defines it as...completely and sincerely devoted, determined, or enthusiastic and marked by complete earnest commitment, free from all reserve or hesitation. Yep, I love the word wholehearted, going in with the commitment of your whole, entire heart. Love it!!!

What would it mean then to live wholeheartedly? Can you imagine if you lived with the enthusiastic commitment of your WHOLE heart? Free from all reserve or hesitation? Whoa, stop the train! Does that mean letting go of fear and doubt and worry? Does that mean being vulnerable? Can I live from my whole heart and not forgive?

Why would anyone suggest to live life wholeheartedly? It seems as though sometimes it would be okay and sometimes it would be too risky. Don't I need to protect myself? Won't I get hurt or disappointed if I put my whole heart out there?

The bible refers to how we should love the Lord your God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength. Wholehearted living involves loving yourself, God and others with all your heart. Wholehearted living means giving it all that you've got all of the time. It's not half-hearted living, or three-quarter hearted living, it's opening up and exposing it all, not some of the time, but all of the time.

What gets in the way of living wholeheartedly? Are we truly experiencing all that life has to offer if we are holding back, not giving our whole heart to life, to ourselves and to others? I think we start out life wholehearted. Think about the babies and toddlers that you know, I would propose that they live wholeheartedly. They are all in always, they lay it all out there passionately for the world to see.

Over time, society and our life experiences teach us that we need to protect ourselves, that we need to reserve part of our heart, that we can't completely and enthusiastically devote our whole heart or we may get hurt. We avoid being vulnerable and play it safe...we are no fool. Where does this get us? Will I be satisfied at the end of my life having played it safe? Having lived half-hearted? I can just hear myself talking...Whoa, sure am glad that I protected myself so I didn't feel pain while I was here, so I didn't get hurt, so I didn't look like a fool and wasn't too vulnerable. Is that what it's supposed to be about, living half-hearted?

Wholehearted living is about getting comfortable in your own shoes, it's about freedom, it's about have nothing to hide, nothing to fear, nothing to prove and nothing to lose.

I have been actively working on opening my heart more, holding it wide-open. Even in those moments where my instinct says to throw up walls and shut it down, I stop myself and surround it in love and open my heart up. What's funny is that the more I hold it open, the less I seem to be getting hurt. It seems as I am opening my heart more and holding the space for love, that others seem to respond in kind...interesting. I'm also finding ways to toss in more compassion, more gratitude and more forgiveness as I hold my heart open. I'm working to gain additional perspective from others, not just viewing things from my perspective and my perception. Practicing all of these things helps me to live wholeheartedly.

Do you live wholeheartedly? If you do, is it a conscious decision? What inspires you to live with your whole heart? If you don't, what is holding you back? What steps can you take to begin living wholeheartedly? Do you see value in living wholeheartedly? I would love to hear feedback from you on this topic.

Brene Brown says to live wholeheartedly we need to:

1. Let go of what people think.
2. Let go of perfectionism.
3. Let go of numbing and powerlessness.
4. Let go of scarcity and fear of the dark.
5. Let go of the need for certainty.
6. Let go of comparison.
7. Let go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth.
8. Let go of anxiety as a lifestyle.
9. Let go of self-doubt and “supposed to.”
10. Let go of being cool and “always in control.”

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Giving Thanks

Friendship is a spiritual practice

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!!!

With My Whole Heart

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