What's your Life's Mission?

As a fan of Oprah, I began to see and hear the words of Maya Angelou. A true legend of her own, I found her words very wise and inspiring!

Here is one of my favourite quotes. Are you a person who lives to just survive? Or do you thrive in what you do, see, learn and live your life? What do you think would make you happier?

Why not THRIVE in your life? After all, you are your own unique Being! So nothing should be stopping you from living the life you so desire...

When you thrive, you probably do so with passion - what are you passionate about in your life? Do you find wherever you show passion, you're probably your most happiest too? And life couldn't be better with being compassionate - I feel it is what makes us human, what makes us relate and understand to each other even more. 

Every now and again I like to reflect on my life, sometimes I may reassess and let go of what's not working for me (you'll know what that is for you - just ask how happy are you?!). It's good then to fill that void of what you've let go of that's not working for you with something you want to make happen, or what you would prefer to have your life look like. 

Try It! Let me know if you just became happier :) Like a little weight lifted off your shoulders the moment you bring your unconsciousness into your conscious mind, your reality. 

Happy Dayz!

Healthy Body and Mind

It's a bit of an Oprah inspiration week!

I, for one, know what it's like and what happens to my well-being when I'm not feeding or fueling my body with healthy food. It's what keeps the balance and adds to your moods. 

A couple of years ago, I started on this exercise path and got myself a personal trainer. I wasn't overweight or anything (I'm just pregnant at the moment! haha..), but I certainly needed the motivation to exercise and keep it up. A walk here or a yoga class there wasn't really cutting it. Especially as I got older, it just seems harder to maintain that once-youthful-body! What I didn't expect was learning the benefits and VALUE of 'clean eating' and about all the amazing raw organic foods that surround us and the difference it made for me.

As I mindfully cut out more 'refined' sugar from my regular diet (I'm not perfect, so yes, I indulge now and again!), I certainly noticed the difference when I have been eating crap. In fact, I can probably say, when I eat the 'cheap'-not-so-good-for-you-chocolate, I become this sugar addict! When I've had too much sugar, I feel sluggish, I want to exercise less and you can probably see this downward spiral.... feeling sorry for yourself yet?

How our MOODS can change. Have you ever noticed that about yourself?  It's all about CHOICES.

It's a balance. And I believe it's equally important to nourish not only the mind but the body as well. The two really just go hand in hand together!  It's amazing when you get the two into flow :)

Having a healthy body, puts us into a much better state of BEING.

Being MINDFUL about what you're eating and fuelling your body with yummy wholesome food will allow you to be more in tune with your body. How your body responds will tell you a thing or two that may need some attention!

Perhaps the reason why you might love that milk chocolate or ice cream so much and just want to have more and more might just be that you've got a sugar addiction too! Or perhaps just notice if you're a fast or slow eater...it's the little things that you become aware of that will allow you to make the changes you need to improve your overall well-being. 

HEALTHY BODY = HAPPY MIND! 

Happy Mind = Happy Life!

What are you eating right now?

(found on Make Your Life Amazing)

Personal Responsibility

I absolutely LOVE this!

Oprah is definitely one of my many inspirations :)  and she couldn't have said it better.  

How often might you be putting the blame on someone else?  (saying it's not your fault?). Perhaps you're not being responsible for your own feelings?  Do you complain or make excuses for something unpleasant happening?  or have excuses why something hasn't  happened yet?  Perhaps you play the victim... ALOT!? "bad things always happen to me....".  If ANY of these things sound familiar - then you're definitely not taking any personal responsibility!

I'm not perfect.  I will admit to the fact that I too am not always BEING PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for my actions, reactions and outcomes - but when I don't, where do you think does that leave me? Downright unhappy! I feel out of control and powerless.

Just the other day, my husband pointed out to me how I wasn't being personally responsible for my response (I was blaming someone here...) - I just loved that he did that, because it made me step up in that moment, reassess what I had just said and gave me another opportunity to change - for the better :)  Take action and make the decision to BE personally responsible.

It sure does take practice - but a little bit of mindfulness will help along the way ;) Go on! Take some responsibility! Be personally responsible for YOUR actions, what you do in your life, your intentions, the way you react in a situation, respond in a conversation, the outcomes and what you attract.  

By practising being responsible for ourselves, we also have to remember, we are not responsible for others. How someone reacts or acts, is their decision, if someone gets upset by something you said (so long as you said it with good intentions), you are not responsible for their feelings.  They CHOOSE to feel that way. If you try to be responsible for someone else, you actually allowing them not to be personally responsible for themselves!  Think about that.... you allow them to play the victim again and again and you begin to burden yourselves with other people's problems - and where would that leave you?

When you learn to take some personal responsibility, you'll soon realise you have so many more choices - after all YOU are responsible for your own HAPPINESS!  

We become more accepting and we begin to forgive ourselves and others, thus creating more love around us. We learn to let go of things we can't control and everything becomes EEEEASY!!! :)

Would love to hear your personal stories on how you're taking some personal responsibility, so please feel free to comment below!

Be Kind to Yourself

I picked this beautiful inspiration from a past Deepak Chopra & Oprah meditation challenge.

Currently holidaying in Mexico, we've found the local people to be so friendly and welcoming. Do you find when people give and you receive, you can't help but want to give back?

We know the experience of feeling and receiving unconditional love, such as a parent to a child or a husband to his wife. But are we aware of when or how we give unconditional love? And what about unconditional love to ourselves?

There certainly have been moments in the past where my self-talk (you know, the voice inside your head or the conversations you have with yourself?), hasn't always been the most positive or loving or kind. 

I make a promise to myself to practice meditation daily, but what if I've skipped a day or even a few days in between practices for whatever reason? What would you do? Do you beat yourself up? Be hard on yourself or tell yourself you suck or are hopeless? Or can you be kind to yourself and just let the situation go and whatever is, just BE?

I firstly had to learn to create some self-awareness of when I might beat myself up or put myself down for not achieving or doing or living up to my own intentions or expectations. Creating that awareness then made me become aware that it's equally important to be kind to ourselves and allow ourself to make a mistake now and again. We are all humans BEINGS after all and imprefect in every beautiful way - we too need to give oursleves a little UNCONDITONAL self-LOVE. 

At the moment, my body is rapidly changing with my pregnancy. Now if I look at myself in a mirror and might say, OMG, I'm looking a bit fat/big/huge... if I do, I can quickly CHOOSE to stop myself from thinking that way, CHANGE my MINDSET and express some unconditional love towards myself - choose to love being pregnant and admire at how my baby is growing instead. Amazing what shift that makes. Might even put a smile on your face :)

The more we give ourselves a little self-love, the more we are also able to create more unconditional love to give AND feel/receive unconditional love back. If you're not feeling the love, why not start with you first? :) 

Imagine how much happier you could be feeling!

Healthy Habits - Meditation Tips

What are you doing right now?  Right this second - ok, silly question... you're reading my blog.

Here's the thing - there are many ways to meditate. We just sometimes get stuck on a particular idea of how to do it, get overwhelmed and then never start.  The key is just to get started!  ACT NOW :)  It may just change your life.....

I'm no meditation guru, but I've certainly tried out a few techniques. I'll share them with you and hope it gives you some ideas to get started. It's not hard and anyone can do it.  

Best tip is to choose a time of day that you can do it each day such as first thing in the morning or perhaps at night before bed.  Whenever it is, choose to commit.  It's like brushing your teeth - make it a "won't forget to do it" habit or a "non-negotiable". Oh, and find a quiet comfy space you call yours. 

As I mentioned in my last post, meditating for an hour didn't fit my lifestyle, so I had to find something that did. Meditation need only take 10-15mins. Surely you can find that amount of time and if not, here's an idea - when you go to the toilet, just stay there a bit longer!  :)

1. ok, for those who don't think you can sit down and actually do the act of meditating, look at meditation this way - it's just a way to create mindfulness and keeping in the present moment.
   
   Pick something you do purely from habit each day, like brush your teeth or your must-have coffee.  Do nothing else but notice yourself brushing your teeth.  Don't think of what you have to do that day or what you're going to wear. Just stay present and notice what you're doing - which side do you start brushing your teeth? Is it the same everyday? How long do you brush each tooth for? Do you start with the front? the back? Brush back and forth or up and down? What does your tongue do? How long can you hold toothpaste in your mouth until the taste starts to disappear?
   
2. Another way is that you can choose a mantra.  My first yoga teacher taught us one to use - "so hum".  You breathe in (quietly say) "so", breathe out "hum" - easy right?
   
   This allows you to not think of anything else BUT those words. Alternatively you can focus on your breathe, maybe count each breath when you breathe in and if thoughts get in the way, you just start again. Time yourself for 15mins.
   
3. Want a guided meditation? Oprah & Deepak teamed up earlier this year and have had two releases of a 21 day "meditation challenge".
   
   Guess what?  You're in luck!  They are doing another one!!!!  Who's excited?  It starts in 11 days on 11th November - enough time for you to procrastinate ;)  Here's the link to the next one:  https://chopracentermeditation.com/
   (you can purchase the other two which I also loved doing!).
   
   These too only go for 15mins.

Have fun with it! ENJOY!!  If you think it's easy, then it will be! And RELAX! :)