Day 24 of the Challenge

Thank you to all for another beautiful day.  I am grateful to be here and to share it with you!

I am on Day 24 of my yoga challenge, and  I have learned a few things:

1. Yoga is amazing.

I continue to experience the benefits.  My body continues to strengthen and become more flexible.  I am more grounded and connected to my body.  Even my cycle has changed a bit for the better.

2. It is still hard.

Though I’ve gotten MUCH farther in this yoga challenge than in the previous attempts, it hasn’t been easy.  I’ve almost missed days, I’ve cut out a few minutes from a few sessions.  However, the determination to stay faithful to the challenge and to my body has kept me going.  Matching my days to the calendar days has been extremely helpful as well — I don’t want to get behind!

3. Adaptations are OK.

I can’t always do the moves.  I can’t always do the whole session.  That’s ok.  I’ve really internalized this.  The most important thing is that I’m consistently putting this loving attention on myself — and on my body in particular.  If a body part is feeling strained, I leave the pose.  If I’m running short on time, I skim through the video and cut a little out (while still maintaining the balance within the practice).

4. The current challenge usurps all other habit-building attempts.

I’ve attempted to build a few other habits while focusing on this one.  As anticipated, my consistency has been sporadic.   No matter what, this habit comes first.  This is my foundational habit.  I build from this habit because it is the most important to me at this time.

5. It’s time to start thinking about my next challenge.

I’ve discovered that I can be very successful with these  multi-day challenges, completing at least 3 others in the past.  There are a few challenges that I’ve been contemplating, but I intend to use the Law of Proper Perspective to pick the one that will be the most enjoyable and motivating, as well as personally beneficial.

Have you picked a challenge?  How are you doing?  If not, might you give it a try?  Please share in the comments below! Much love and many blessings.

“The Eyes to See”

I once asked in an intuitive report about connecting with the angels.  The response was that these energies were already available to me. I just needed the “eyes to see”.  This puzzled me a bit, and I came away from my first listen thinking that I was just not trained enough, maybe just not metaphysical enough yet.

But today the message popped up for me again (as messages often do), and I realized that wasn’t it at all.  It means that the angels already were communicating with me all of the time.  I just couldn’t see it.

They were whispering in my ear to pick up guitar again and play for the patients at the nursing home.  They were the voice of the volunteer coordinator who told me it was a great idea.  They were the kick in the butt that finally got me out the door and to the home for that beautiful experience with a patient and his family as he was getting nearer to transitioning.

They were the nudge to pick up The Vortex from the used book store, the voice of my coach telling me to read it, and in the voices of the patients who inspired me to leave the book in the waiting room after it had been sitting in my back untouched.  They were also in the voice of the waiting patient who days later read a passage from the book that I needed to hear as much as she did.

They are in the coincidences, the messages I receive from songs, words from friends and strangers, angel numbers, and feelings of inspiration and joy.

In another text I listened to or read recently, it said angels are always there.  It doesn’t matter whether you believe in them or not, they will continue to be there for you, loving you and helping you.

What a beautiful thing. ❤  Much love and many blessings. ❤

I Would Walk 15,000 steps. . .

Dear Source, Mother Gaia (Earth) . . .  and any and all Entities of Light — those for the good of all concerned — thank you for another day and for being a part of it.

It was between 50 and 60 degrees even very early this morning, so I made sure to strap up my hiking boots and get out the door.  I walked for 2 hours and probably about 5 miles or 11,000 steps (will be 15,000 total after walking the dogs another mile this afternoon and walking around the house and work tonight).  My legs are a little sore. (“What the heck are we doing here, Teri?”)  But otherwise I’m feeling great.  I have my pace, my route, and my time frame, and I’m ready to get back to walking.

It was about this time last year that I got the inspiration to walk the Camino in 2017.  Just about this time I started training, taking the steps I’m taking now.  I’ve started getting flashbacks to the walk.  I’ve started missing it.  I’d really like to walk another one.  Not this year, but 2019.  I’d really like to “take a hike” in the summer of 2019.  The Kumano Kodo would be great, but I would settle for something local or Canada, too.

What brings you joy?  Much love and many blessings. ❤

THIS is What Morning Looks Like

Dear Source, Mother Gaia (Earth) . . .  and any and all Entities of Light — those for the good of all concerned — thank you for another day and for being a part of it.

Thanks to my work schedule opening up a bit — AND SOME SUN (Spring IS here, whether it looks like it or not) — I think I’m actually experiencing how a perfect morning can look!

This morning I woke up with Brian at 6am, took the dogs out (who pooped immediately — yay!), and made a breakfast smoothie.  The following 2-2.5 hours were spent on the following: pet care and feed, sitting on the floor and petting the fur babies, drinking straight hot water (Does anyone else do this, or am I crazy?), watching random inspirational videos on Facebook and youtube and crying my eyes out — in a very cleansing way, starting a load and accidentally Chrome-casting Abraham Hick’s “Everything is Always Working Out for Me” on the TV — and THEN getting super inspired to blast “Aum/Om chanting on the TV” and open all of the shutters to let in the GLORIOUS SUN! (Let’s raise this house’s vibration, y’all!).

Next I’ll probably add in some of the my other favorite activities/self-care choices/to dos for the day: multiple walks (with and without pets), a bath, meditation with candles, hanging out in the library (9 books on hold for me — yeep!), trying out some Akashic record/intuitive questioning, experimenting with ideas for my business card, reminding myself how to play “If I Had a Hammer” and “Seek Ye First” on the guitar for the nursing home this Friday, some correspondence, saging the house (It still feels sad!), Zumba Fitness Rush on the Xbox 360, reading my vision, random dancing around the house, making an on-line video, yoga, journaling, and planting some seeds indoors (weather is still unpredictable here in Chicagoland!).  In the past I’ve been asked questions like: “What do you do for play?” or “How do you fill your bucket?”  — And I couldn’t answer!  I’ve re-connected with my inner child and my inner joy! (WOOHOO!)

*Now that I’ve finished typing this out I see that is QUITE a bit to play with in one day. BUT — I now have a great “play”list to come back to! :-D*

And speaking of play. . .  the one area that I have been neglecting for some time is art play.  I may dabble in that today . . .  or this week.  Yes, I consider some of the things I already do a form or art — like journaling, blogging, and creating videos  — BUT, I think there’s something special to me about playing with color, could involve coloring, maybe designing, maybe collaging.  Whatever.  IT’S TIME TO PLAY!

Are you having a great morning?  What are some ways that you play?

Much love and many blessings. ❤

Release Time

What are you currently focusing on?

I feel like I’ve been hitting some big walls lately.  The biggest is my frustration with not moving “fast enough.”  The message I keep receiving (from intuition, from my environment, etc) is to let go of the concept of time.  It doesn’t even really exist.  It’s a manmade construct.  As I was walking back to the house today, I really noticed the trees in front of me in a new way.  I realized that though they seem static to me, they are also growing, moving and thriving.  Do the trees complain about not growing “fast enough”?  Not likely.  They understand the universal flow.

Perhaps this is what my intuitive report meant by growing close to God through nature.  Nature innately understands what I sometimes miss.  It was good to soak up some of that good sun today.  I barely even noticed the cold.

Much love and many blessings. ❤

Guest Post from Jorge Candelaria: The Power of Conscious Emotion

The Power of Conscious Emotion

by Jorge Candelaria

Some people want to improve their lives, but they don’t want to do anything differently. They are addicted to their way of being.  To improve one’s life and make the difference on the planet requires trying different ways of being.  Sometimes it requires challenge and sacrifice, but sometimes it’s just about enjoying the journey.

It has been six years since I started my journey to know myself.  I had no idea at that time where I was going to end up, and that allowed me the freedom to have new experiences and to be different, From my heart I knew that there had to be something more out there because nothing that I was doing was fulfilling me.

Some parts of the journey have felt like a struggle, and in other parts I am reaping the fruit of my efforts.  The first step in my journey was exploring discipline, and I experienced how powerful it was. I learned the influence of discipline on my feelings and emotions, and I started to understand my environment at a deeper level. I also became aware of other people’s behavior around me and the influence of our thoughts and our choices on each other and each other’s behavior.  

I fell in love with discipline, meditation, and spiritual exercises, that allows me to be in the present moment and get me closer and closer to have a quiet mind. I started practicing self-observation and objectivity with my thought; this process allowed me to discover all the baggage that I needed to change or get rid of.  At some points I was face-to-face with anger, self-pity, and sorrow.  Sometimes I reacted, blamed, and complained, blending all of those emotions. In those moments I realized the effect of discipline and commitment in the process of spiritual development, in being able to see how I was actually creating my reality. I also observed past patterns of thinking, including coping mechanisms I used to hide myself in, using unproductive habits like overworking or excessive internet use when things got tough.  Then instead I started developing ways that I could be in those challenging emotions, experiencing them. I observed myself in the present moment, observed how I was creating the experience.  I could then see if the feeling was habitual, an addictive behavior that was that an unconscious reaction to the experience. In that process, I learned that I had so many wounds that I needed to heal, like blaming other for triggering a negative emotion.  I realized it was something that I learned at home when I was little. Through this process I began to discover and trace how I developed my personality, and how I became who I am.

I also started to observe the usefulness of discipline to consciously create in my life. This is  something that I have always enjoyed.  I see the benefits of discipline in creating a business and focusing on one direction without the hassle of the standard ways of marketing, just maintaining the positive and direct thoughts of serving and loving what I do.  

The objectivity and mindfulness I have developed has helped me stay conscious in my work.  The unconscious habit that I catch myself in is thinking that just working harder is going to help me to solve a problem in the business, in my life or in being ‘productive.’ I think I am going to fill some emptiness. In those moments I now stop and look for what I am avoiding, what problem or what emotion I need to face.

In the journey of breaking my addictive behavior, I have found that the most important thing is to experience a deeper understanding of love. I am looking to receive all new people in my life into my heart, to experience divine friendship. Also, just as importantly, I look to experience and practice self love.

A Joyedian’s Tale: The Return of Sra. Crankypants

Dear angels, God, Ascended Masters, Entities of Light, saints, Mother Gaia (Earth) . . .  and any and all beings for the good of all concerned, thank you for another day and for being a part of it.

Today Sra. Cranky Pants is back (my alter-ego).  It occurred to me a few minutes ago — after riding out another of my many emotional rollercoasters — that I could actually be grateful for these experiences.  With this much emotional impact, I’m bound to grow.  It’s even inevitable for me . . . even when I try not to.

Yesterday I got triggered multiple times, this after being slammed a few days earlier on Monday and Tuesday with some high emotions and tough karmic learning.  I just wanted to quit caring.  I visualized closing doors over my heart.  It just felt like too much.

However, thanks to a husband who can’t accept “I’m fine.  I really don’t want to talk about it” — both honest “Thanks” and sarcastic “Thanks” there because I actually really didn’t want to talk about it, and yes, there is still a little bitterness there — a lot of it spilled out.  I didn’t feel great afterwards, but I would also like to quit judging myself, particularly on how I think I’m supposed to be for other people.

So, I’m still a little edgy today.  The ten degree weather really isn’t helping because I’m a sun and heat girl, and I’ve decided I’ll be riding out Chicago winters until our dream of living mobile happens — which is related to yesterday’s triggers, so I won’t be touching on that anymore today, thank you!

And in other news — though I am thinking this may actually be connected to what I was just writing about —  I am on Day 2 of Self-Healing with Reiki.  I decided it’s time to advance to the next level(s) of healing, and circumstances are pointing toward Reiki at the moment (though I enjoy the Healing Touch Chakra Connection sequence and will probably end up creating some combo of the two).  I’ve reconnected with my Reiki I teacher, I read through the entire Reiki I binder yesterday morning, and I am completing 21 days of the self-healing practice before I touch base with her again.

Sometimes you’ve gotta clear out the gunk so the light can stretch further.

Much love and many blessings. ❤