Why Self-Care is the Opposite of Selfish.

Via Alexa Torontow

For the longest time I felt guilty about the amount of time I spent practicing yoga, sitting in meditation, or attending workshops and trainings.

I felt selfish for the abundance of alone time I needed in order to really feel centered and recharged.

I would sometimes feel greedy and undeserving for the amount of time, money and energy I put into my own self-development and self care.

But when that self-care would drop down on the priority list and I let my own practices fall away, I quickly experienced the negative ripple effect in the many layers of my life. Not to mention for all those around me.

The less I took care of my own space, the worse I felt.

The less I took care of my self, the quality in which I could show up for the people in my life worsened as well.

From my intimate friendships and relationships, to the brief encounters with strangers.

When there was less self care, my inner space would get very messy.

There was a lot of violence.

There were a lot of self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviours.

There was a huge lack of self-love.

When the self-care practices disappeared, I wouldn’t take ownership of my feeling and experiences. Instead, I would project them onto the world and everyone in it.

I was filled with anger and envy. I felt weighed down with sadness. I experienced an unbearable amount of anxiety.

I was be far from being even just okay.

Just to clarify, I know it’s completely normal and incredible to experience the full spectrum of human emotions. But to constantly be those states,  in a state of lack, in a state of suffering, in a state of denial… is not only detrimental to ourselves, but to everyone else around us.

As a yoga teacher, a university student specializing in health promotion (and as just a regular human), I’ve heard the messages about the importance of self-care time and time again. Communicated in many different ways and demonstrated in many different forms.

But as I sat in my psychopathology psychology class last week, something my professor said resonated deeper then anything I’ve read before in any yoga philosophy or university textbook:

“Anything and everything we experience in our own individual self reverberates. It expands outwards. It effects our environment, our workplace, our family and our friends.”

Every cell in my body immediately came to attention. With my eyes wide and my whole being engaged, it left me with one thought:

What we really share the most with the people around us, is in fact, our inner state.

It directed me towards questioning the ways in which we enhance our inner state.

For me it’s through yoga, through journaling, through self-inquiry, through meditation and mindfulness. And through many other forms of self care.

Although I now do these things daily and routinely without thought, it wasn’t always the case. I used to carry this heavy, selfish feeling around as I would take the time to these things. These things that we’re so clearly and profoundly enhancing my life in many ways. It was only when the practices would fall away I really understood how necessary and transformational they really are.

As my professor spoke, her words shed a bright light on the importance of why i’m doing these things.

It reminded me that taking the time to do these practices and take care of our selves, we are both directly and indirectly taking care of those around us.

When our inner state is cultivated through love, through compassion, through high-quality care. We are able to, without effort, transmit these qualities to our environment.

From our most treasured relationships, to the brief encounters with strangers.

When our inner state is abundant in these qualities, we do not need to give love or compassion.

We can simply exist as an extension of those qualities.

An extension of love. An extension of compassion.

We all know the cliche Gandhi (or not Gandhi) quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

It’s a cliche quote for a reason: collective change occurs on an individual level.

If we want to exist in a world with more love. We need to live, speak and move from a place of love. (Including the way in which we take care of our selves).

The importance of tending to our inner world cannot be underestimated, nor can it be put on the bottom of the priority list.

As we tend to our inner world, we are simultaneously tending to, contributing to, and co-creating this global, outer world.

Self-care is not selfish.

Self-care is necessary for self-love.

When we take care and love ourselves…

We can take better care and more deeply love those around us.

A Previous Love doesn’t detract from a Current One & other Wisdom for Second Soul Mates.

Via Carmelene Siani

I casually opened a small carved trunk I keep in the living room and scrabbled about inside.

Cards, notes, notebooks, letters.

I’d forgotten that the trunk was filled with memorabilia of my husband’s late wife.

“Happy Anniversary Darling on our 40th,” “To My Husband on His 50th Birthday.” “I love your sense of humor.”

Her words and phrases filled the chest and jumped out at me.

When had I put all that stuff in there? Where had it come from?

I had helped my husband clean out his house before we moved in and I must have set that trunk aside to keep “special” things in. I must have done it myself and just didn’t remember doing it.

But then, maybe I didn’t want to remember.

When my granddaughter was six years old and her baby brother had just been born she crawled into my lap on the sofa.

“Why can’t the baby be like Moses, Nana?” she cried to me in her little voice.

“Why can’t someone just put him in a basket and send the basket down the river to someone else?”

At the time I tried to talk her out of her feelings of being displaced.

But I suddenly knew how she felt. That trunk in my living room was my Moses.

Upcoming is the four year anniversary of the day I met my husband; the day shortly after I’d answered his Craig’s list ad, the day that I saw him unfold himself from the sofa just inside the doors to the lobby of the Arizona Inn where he’d chosen for us to meet, and the day I felt my heart do something it hadn’t done since I was in high school.

Then, I ran across that old trunk filled with my husband’s late wife’s writings and—even though it was my trunk and I was the one who put those things in it—when I glanced through them, I realized just how much of an intrusion I had been.

“Happy 40th Darling. May we have 40 more together,” she had written.

I realized just how much that old trunk held. How much life and living and loving and yearning and appreciating had happened and been lived before me. And how much of what she said—in all those writings of all those 48 years—I myself have said in a mere four.

“I love it when you make me laugh.” “I hope we’re together forever.”

I cried out to a friend.

“There are some trunks filled with memorabilia that are best left unopened,” I told her, feeling suddenly shaken.

But no, my friend argued. That wasn’t necessarily true.

And in the way that people have who are on the outside looking in, she reminded me of four things:

>> Two people can love more intensely in one night, one week, a few years than people who have lived their whole lives compatibly together;

>> There is a range of intensity that can’t be measured in decades or even in commitment;

>> Love is as varied as people are and when two come together the result is just as individual; and most importantly

>> The love in his life before you doesn’t take away from what you are experiencing together.

I took her words to heart.

I went back into the living room and looked through the cards and notes once again. Yes. It was true. They did represent a lifetime of loving and living. But this time, when I looked at them, I realized also the truth of what my friend had said. Especially her last point.

“The love in his life before me didn’t take away from what he and I were experiencing together.”

In fact, I thought, it probably added to it.

I folded everything up, carefully putting it all back down inside the trunk. On my way out of the house later that day, I decided to buy some flowers, put them in a vase, and place them on the trunk lid.

It seemed like the right thing to do.

Note: The author wishes to thank Moira Stanton for her wisdom and permission to quote her on these pages.

Author: Carmelene Siani

Joan of Arc’s Feast Day: A Time to Honour Bad*ss Female Warriors Everywhere.

Via Sarah Norrad

There are certain people in history who will always be talked about because, well, they kicked butt.

The teenager whose military strategy and leadership ended the Hundred Years’ War between France and Britain in the 15^th century, is one of them.

Of all the famous people I studied in school, this young woman was my first mentor-love and inspiration.

Joan of Arc represented the feminist voice at a time when I hadn’t yet realized that women’s rights were an issue, or that in becoming a woman I would soon face them.

When I was 10 and at elementary, we had to choose one person in history we wanted to study, dress up like and then present ourselves as. Of course, being a bit of a revolutionist, I chose Joan. She was a woman who didn’t ever let gender parameters limit her and, frankly, I liked that she was a bad*ss warrior.

I read about this French peasant who rose to sainthood in a picture book in the library, and she became stuck in that deep niche in my heart, the one that is nestled beside inspiration and right next to pride.

It didn’t bother me that much of her life was a battle, that she was persecuted for her beliefs and that at only 19 she burned at the stake—I never shied away from struggle.

What mattered to me was that she represented a woman who was on a clear mission. She knew purpose and fought for it in the face of opposition.

I can only imagine what kind of opposition she met—those were the years of the witch-hunt, where women, and certain men, were put to death for simply offering their wisdom to the world. This travesty spanned three centuries and saw between 40,000 to 60,000 “witches” executed.

Joan did not let fear of this persecution stop her. At 17, she was guided by visions of three saints. They instructed her she was to be savior of France in their emancipation from English rule.

After an 11-day trek through enemy lands, she confronted a soon-to-be French king and convinced him that she was the one woman to lead his troops to victory.

For this journey, and many to follow, she cropped her hair, dressed in war regalia and rode as comrade and leader to legions of male soldiers. This was my first encounter with a woman in history who challenged traditional roles—and the best part is, she accomplished what she said she would do, and won that king his throne and war.

This was more than enough to move Joan into idol-hood in my 10-year-old girl eyes.

As her feast day on May 30^th reminds me, we need to look back further than what many consider to be the “first feminists” of the 18^th century. We need to honour all women who trail-blazed for us, and the fact there have always been strong females leading the way.

I consider Joan of Arc my earliest feminist inspiration, as feminism in my eyes is about achieving equal status for all. It is not about belittling the masculine; it is about proving that as humans we are all of the same value. It is a belief that everyone should be able to claim power and wield it in their world for a greater good.

She did this, and she did it in “a man’s world,” one in which individuals had to do certain things because of their given genitalia.

While she is sometimes described as a martyr, I will never see this woman in that way. She was a revolutionist.

Unfortunately, seven centuries later, the truth is that we still live in a patriarchal-based society, especially outside of North America. As modern day feminists, we must recognize, with frequent celebration, female strength and power when we see it, so we can continue to rebalance the scales.

I am not pro woman, nor am I pro man. I am pro equality.

At 10, I didn’t totally get that as someone who identifies as female, sexism would face me in the work place, in my studies and in relationships. I did understand what an inspirational human looked like.

Joan was an emblem of faith in oneself and in our own mission—about trusting the guidance that comes to us, be it visions of saints or simply a whispering wind, because deep down we know our own truth and desire to live it.

She was a woman and a warrior who did not let the constraints of the society she lived in hold her back.

Joan represents the tenacity to endure and to fight battles we are called to face.

To all the bad*ss female warriors out there, let’s celebrate this day, Joan’s feast day, as our own. A day to remember we still have a ways to go in reaching equality, but that we always have had the strength inside of us to get there. Centuries of it.

As a human race, there is a need for us to keep standing up and inspiring one another with our courage no matter which sex we were born or with what gender we choose to identify.

This century could be the one where we achieve equal parts yin and yang.

Joan of Arc, you are a hero.

Author: Sarah Norrad

Traits of Bad*ss Eclectic Geniuses & Why the World Needs Us.

Via Raffaello Manacorda

“A man can do all things if he will.” ~ L.B. Alberti

“Specialization is for insects. The human being should be able to do everything.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein

I was about six years old, and it was a torrid August afternoon in my family’s country house.

I had just arrived with my parents from the city, and I was performing the required round of greetings with the enlarged family, followed by the customary commentaries on how much I had grown up, how well I was doing at school, and what sounded like a whole lot of grown-up nonsense to me.

I didn’t know it, but I was about to step into one of those rare moments in life that I would remember forever. Those moments when, like a lost traveler, we unexpectedly come upon a crossroad and we make a decision that will have consequences for the years to come.

That crossroads came under the familiar form of my auntie Laura. She was my favourite aunt, always sweet and calm. She caressed me softly on the hair and, instead of repeating the usual boring stuff, looked straight into my eyes and asked,

“You’re becoming a boy. What do you want to do when you grow up?”

When I re-live that moment in my imagination, it seems like everything had stopped around me, like a carousel coming to an abrupt halt. The room fell silent, and everything else besides my aunt slipped out of focus. I felt a bit like an actor on stage who needed to deliver the most important line in the play, but all I could say was a pretty unimpressive, “I don’t know.”

Which wasn’t entirely true. If I’d had the time to think about the question, I would have realized that I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Everything. I wanted to do everything. But I didn’t have the words to express that.

Now, 30 years later, I do. Unknowingly, as a child, I had already vowed to be a bad*ss, unstoppable eclectic genius.

(And I’m guessing that you might be one too.)

So what is an eclectic genius?

According to the Oxford dictionary, an eclectic person is: “A person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.”

Basically, someone who knows a bit about many things, rather than a lot about just one thing. Someone whose curiosity spans the whole of existence, like a massive wide-angle objective that embraces the whole horizon.

A nomad of the spirit.

There is another English word for this: polymath. But I find it a complete turn-off: it sounds like some kind of rare pathology.

Eclectic genius is much sexier.

Now, please don’t take the word “genius” as meaning “someone smarter than the rest.” Our “genius” is our inborn nature, our disposition, our spirit guide. Everyone is a genius, eclectic or not. Some of us specialize, while others stay eclectic for the rest of their life. A few of us switch.

We all know examples of human beings who do one thing, and one thing only, with enormous skill. These are what I call “specialized geniuses.”

Specialized geniuses are, with all my respect, like well-oiled parts of a mechanism. They perform their function, and perform it better and better with time. And we are glad they do. If you are a heart surgeon, we want you to do exactly that and nothing else than that, when you’re at work. Please leave your passion for tango and origami aside.

Because they do what they do so well, the world usually rewards specialized geniuses highly. Society as a whole loves specialized geniuses because they do what they do well, and they make things simple for everyone.

In fact, the general advice we receive from society is: find your niche, specialize, and become the best at what you do. That way, you’re going to thrive. Specialize and prosper.

So, thanks to the universe for the existence of specialized geniuses.

But what about eclectic geniuses? What about those millions of people who don’t want to specialize?

Actually, eclectic geniuses used to be popular just a few centuries ago. Take Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian artist, inventor, scientist and overall uber-bad*ss eclectic genius. That was a maverick genius who couldn’t care less about finding a “niche.” And yet, his fame continues unscathed till the present day.

In today’s hyper-specialized, profit-driven world, however, eclectic geniuses can have a harder time, both financially and psychologically.

From a certain standpoint, eclectic geniuses are a threat to the system. They might successfully pursue a corporate career, just to drop it when it reaches its climax. Then they may decide to become yoga teachers. Ten years later, who knows? Maybe they’re sailing a boat around the world. Or growing organic vegetables in a remote corner of Australia. Or writing articles for a blog.

In short, the Leonardos of today have an annoying habit of breaking through all labels and mixing everything up. Society can find this pretty confusing.

Take my own personal example: I used to be great at informatics. For that exact reason, computer science flew instantly to the last position in my list of choices for University courses. Instead, I decided to study philosophy, which means that I spent five years arguing everything and its exact opposite. From the standpoint of career and specialization, that choice didn’t make any sense. And yet, I don’t regret it a single bit.

The fact is that, if we look at things in perspective, non-specialized people are important and needed.

Eclectic geniuses have their own function in the bigger picture. And what may that function be?

The way I see it, eclectic geniuses are like bees who pollinate flowers, contaminating the places they visit and the people they meet with the richness of their diverse experience. They are the spiders who build bridges across distant trees. The synapses of the planetary neural system.

If it wasn’t for eclectic, non-specialized people, we would live in an insect-like world, where everyone does just what they’re best at. Things would rarely mix up. New paradigms would rarely emerge.

So yes, maybe as of today, having an insatiable curiosity and spanning the most diverse interests won’t necessarily make us millionaires. But the world needs people who do not specialize. And I’m proud to be one of them.

Are you one of those people? Are you constantly changing lifestyle, profession, country? Does it feel like you’ve lived a dozen different lives already?

Then, most likely, you’re an eclectic genius, and the world needs you.

Author: Raffaello Manacorda

Spirituality In The Workplace (OM)

Evolving Commitment

by Madisyn Taylor

A career can coexist with the development of the soul when we approach each with balance and determination.

We do not need to deny our spiritual selves while focusing on being at the office, even though working while walking the path of ascension can be extremely challenging. Commitment to a career can coexist peacefully with commitment to the development of the soul when we approach each with balance and determination.

Careers can tend to take up a great deal of time you might otherwise devote to your own awakening, so make the most of the free hours at your disposal by using your breaks to walk in nature or write in your journal. If you schedule healings, bodywork, and other therapeutic activities on Friday, you give yourself the gift of an unhurried and restful weekend of rejuvenation. You can create a spiritually aware workspace by adorning your desk or office with sacred objects such as a Buddha or a candle that have meaning to you. If decoration is not permitted in your workplace, your supervisor may allow you to display a small item associated with your life path if you explain its significance. Your workplace may not always meet your best expectations, but living with imperfection can also be a wonderful spiritual exercise. Remember that you can strive for excellence in your own existence without asking your coworkers to exemplify perfection. They, too, are human beings doing all they can to grow in spite of that humanity, and they can support you when your path becomes difficult.

In many companies, there is a spiritual reality tied in closely into the corporate culture. It is your choice whether you want to integrate the spirit of your workplace into your own divine practices or participate in this reality on a superficial level. However you proceed, realize that the spiritual values you hold dear need not be at odds with the energy of your place of employment. As an employee, your spiritual self is one of the diverse strengths you bring to the table. Simply by approaching projects, goals, and interpersonal relations in the workplace with intention, you can pursue individual fulfillment while also doing your part to gently promote a healthy and harmonious working environment.

For more information visit dailyom.com

On this day of your life

Neytiri & Jake, I believe God wants you to know... 

...that everything is falling together perfectly, even

though it looks as if some things are falling apart.

Trust in the process you are now experiencing. Life

is on your side. It is showing that to you now, though

you may not be able to see it clearly at this time.

You have made your wishes and dreams known to

God. Now comes the time for faith. Faith that all

is right, right now. Tomorrow will reveal itself exactly

as it should.

God

"Any God I ever felt in Church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did, too. They come to Church to share God, not find God." Alice Walker

I used to think God was separate, unknowable, and judgmental. I saw God more as a judge than a friend and myself more as a sinner than the son.With such low self-esteem, it was hard to associate God with my life! Then I began to search for the spiritual path to a deeper understanding of self. I found a loving, friendly God whose love is so pervasive I was able to discover the Divine in my life and the lives of others.The concept of meeting together to share God made sense.Discovering a God within made God knowable and comprehensible. Because God lives in me, I am alive.

Loving Creator, may I share Your life in my world.

How to Meditate While Driving.

Via Sarah Norrad

There are many more ways to meditate then we initially think. And yes, I am entirely serious when I say that driving is one of them.

Meditation has been around for centuries, but cars are a rather new invention.

Our vehicles are a mechanical tool that most of us use every day. Unfortunately, many of us have begun to resent them. We begrudge the time we spend inside of them, because unless we have our tunes pumping just right, the traffic is in a smooth flow and we are on time with our schedule, driving exhausts us—especially that regular commute to and from work.

Those slow, creeping, rush hour lines are challenging, often causing unconscious anxiety that leaches into the rest of our world.

Do we often get out of our car with our heart racing and our thoughts flying? I know I do. I regularly feel like I am so pressed to get to my next destination that I don’t remember the drive that got me there.

Kind of a scary realization, right?

Not only that, but by resenting the time I spend in my car, I also miss out on the opportunity it gives me to spend time with myself, feel aware of my world and, most importantly, enjoy my life—even my commuting one.

I have learned that mindfulness practices are designed to allow us to be with the reality of what is.

As we come into the present state of our experience, we realize there are things we can appreciate in it, always. What if getting from point A to point B were an opportunity to tune into our life, rather than zone out from it?

Driving could be our sacred time to get in touch with our environment and touch base with ourselves.

Maybe we’ve been meaning to learn how to meditate. Our yoga instructor tells us it will help us manage our stress, but we immediately dismiss their statement with assumptions that they must not be balancing children, work, partnerships, fitness and attempts at a social life too.

But, they probably are.

There are ways to practice meditation throughout our day that don’t involve sitting on a hard cushion and repeating “om” (although I personally love that way).

We’re busy people. There’s not usually a way around this fact, unless we move out to the woods and decide the homestead life is where it’s at. But, I bet even then our world would flash us by if we didn’t set an intention to notice, and really live in it.

Here is an easy way to raise our consciousness while we are moving forward—literally. Some of the best advice I received from my meditation teacher is that we must learn to take our practice from the cushion into the rest of our world. Meditating while driving has become one of my cherished ways to do this.

Mindfulness does not distract us from the task at hand; it actually increases our ability to perform it.

The Auto Meditation:

1. Become aware of the car.

We begin this meditation as we get into our car, noticing first how our key slides into the ignition. We listen for the noise the car makes as the engine starts up. What does it feel like to sit in it? Is the seat soft, hard or just right? What part of our back is touching the upholstery? What does it smell like? How do our feet feel on the floor and on the pedals as we touch them?

2. Notice the outside world.

Now we do an easeful scan of the world outside of our car. Is there someone parked in front of us? Is there a tree beside our vehicle? What color is the sky? Is there a lot of traffic on the road? What is the name of the street we are on? What driving regulations do we need to attend to right now?

3. Check in with ourselves.

Before we drive onwards, we can notice our breath. Is it shallow, or are we holding it or breathing quickly? What’s going through our head? The practice of meditation is to notice without judgment, so don’t try to change what is happening inside—just become aware of it.

4. Practice this in motion.

As we drive off to our destination, we can try to stay aware in each moment. We notice the traffic signs, the exact color of them. Their shape. Our breath. If our mind starts to plan or worry, we bring it back to the previous three steps: awareness of the car, noticing the outside world and checking in with ourselves.

As we become more embodied in our life, we naturally engage with a richer experience of it. We often arrive with stress and anxiety because we’re already ahead of ourselves in time.

We can bring ourselves back. Right here.

By making use of our senses, by noticing what we see, hear and feel, we can reach our destination in greater contact with our world and self. We also become better drivers.

Check that one off your, “meant to do but don’t have time,” list. Meditate while you drive.

10 Ways to Create Emotional Wellness through Daily Routine.

Via Thayne Ulschmid

I’m not sure about you, but I find that I really have to make an effort to create time to support good health.

Getting to the source of what obstructs certain aspects of our emotional health helps shed layers of identity (constructs of mind). When we provide ourselves with the space to let our deeper feelings and authentic nature see the light of day, we liberate their expression, which also frees us from the burden of possession.

Simple discipline will reinforce habits of ensuring we offer proper attention to ourselves as often as possible without interrupting our busy lives.

1. Sticking to a schedule.

When we carve out specific chunks of time in both our personal and professional lives, we can remain accountable to ourselves and others, allowing more opportunity for balance.

It’s important to have creative channels for stress management and plenty of time in our lives for ourselves, family, friends and career.

Sometimes routine helps us adhere to certain aspects of our lives that may otherwise require more motivation to adhere to.

2. Intuitively monitoring our diet and how our body reacts before, during and after consumption helps us determine what’s good for us and what’s not.

A relationship with my food reminds me of the connection we share with our planet. I think about the journey each ingredient has been on from the time it was born until the time it arrived to me.

Whole foods are much easier to imagine the life cycle of and how they’re passing their energy unto me—especially when it comes from the farmer’s market where there’s a genuine farm-to-table connection.

3. Get lots of sleep. 

Ensuring that we are relying on a regular sleep cycle with enough space for sufficient rest helps the body regenerate, heal and restore energy to our systems.

In between the time we finally unplug for the evening and go to bed is a great opportunity to read which has always proven very therapeutic for me right before I fall asleep.

I’ve learned to limit my distractions by minimizing hobbies and getting rid of the television.

4. Get outside!

I find that spending time outside helps me to enjoy the moment. I never need a specific reason to take a walk, a bike ride or a hike. Just doing it is key.

We marvel in the moments that make life so memorable because we’ve chosen to appreciate the isolation of presence. Through us our experience speaks—movement awakens our sense of awareness and sharpens our attention.

5. Listen and observe more, react and talk less.

This teaches us the value in distinguishing our thoughts from our emotions and maintaining the discipline to transmute the energy we’re confronted with from day to day with understanding, compassion and love.

For just one moment, listen to everything around you right now…how does that feel?

6. Remaining in a toxic environment will not likely improve one’s wellness.

This also holds true with regards to the safety of those who they love and support.

It requires stamina to overcome adversity. I’ve spent a lot of years drifting in the seas of change to arrive at calm waters and a sunny beach.

Gravitating to someplace where we can reorient ourselves and simply be will gradually restore our balance—it’s taken me several years to even begin experiencing a semblance of that fulfillment in my life, and I’m still in the woods.

Sometimes we’re simply meant to be someplace for a while as a catalyst for healthy change—healing, restoration and grounding. Then once we get more in tune with what we need, we also realize when the right time is to move on.

7. Spend time alone. 

Time alone grounds us to our reality where we can face our struggles and surrender to allowing more choices to arrive without us trying to control so much.

Committing to such a life we may see a lot of what was, crumble before us—no longer serving our needs.

8. Practice healthy self-talk.

This is learned over time through practice and affirmations, including writing.

Even when we slip up and retreat into ourselves or old habits, we simply create the space for healing expression to offer new insights into the source of why we mask our pain—why we choose not to face ourselves.

These periods will surely pass and we’ll find ourselves motivated once again by something that stirs our soul—it’s what we revert back to that counts and the more we practice affirmations, the more likely it will catch on when we’re feeling better.

9. Basic practices like meditation will help us gain clarity and peace.

A few moments can alter how we feel and so if we just express ourselves naturally for only a few breaths, we might find that relief and clarity to remember who we truly are.

10. Realization is a discipline in and of itself.

Learning to realize often helps us to wonder more and dream of a life we wish to live—the one we’ve only imagined until now.

We learn to find peace amidst the chaos—It’s the only way through, to love.

Author: Thayne Ulschmid