Feelings and Gratitude...

SO it's Thanksgiving 2014. 

WOW.  As I sit here and organize my home (which I never have time for!), I'm torn about how I feel about that. 

On the one hand, I am SO thankful for everything that is in my Life and has come into it this year.  I've had:  this year be a big rebuilding after the complete devastation of 2013; a big jump in my growth of living from trust and confidence in myself, the universe and my path; an amazing best girl friend who supports me and believes in me beyond ALL reason and literally more than anyone has in my life; a strong, supportive man who has helped me step into all that I am and into me getting very clear about my message in so many ways, as well as helped me grow my business; 2 wonderful visits home to be with my family whom I adore; the support of a community of very powerful and loving people; finding and joining a new organization that will help me grow personally and my business exponentially; so many people on my team helping me with the things I don't have time for or that my brain just doesn't function to do; my boy dog and I have formed a new bond after my girl dog died; so many awesome people I'm working with in Joint Ventures to create inspiring programming; getting many old mistakes and unneeded and energy sucking drama cleared out of my life; knowing, seeing that it is all coming together and glimpsing how, even if it's not completely in focus and here yet...

On the other hand, I miss my family and have had tremendous heart-break, loss and lessons in my life this year:  I just lost a very dear person in my life and my heart is so tender from this; I have had a manipulative, controlling man trying to control me with everything he has, creating lots of drama in my life just by his energetic presence in it and really hitting me where it hurts the deepest in order to try to damage control the ruining of his "reputation" because I see him for who he truly is and I won't tolerate it; this year has been hard in so many ways and I have learned to be humble so many times; I've had to learn time and time again to live by the Four Agreements; I have had to make difficult decisions financially; finances have been beyond challenging; I've had to put on my big girl panties over and over and just move forward in every way. 

Life moves as you move.   

My message here?  It's ALL valid, my friends. 
REFLECTIONS
The saddest thing of all is sadness, when it is unfelt, neglected, unmet, rejected. Sorrow, without a home, is truly sorrowful to behold.
We get angry at ourselves for feeling anger. We fear fear, its intensity, its immediacy, its imagined power to overwhelm.

It’s confusing to attempt to not feel confusion when confusion is burning in us. The most frustrating thing of all is trying to make frustration disappear immediately, desiring the absence of desire.
Our greatest pain is our resistance to pain, the refusal of the living fact of pain; our unwillingness to stare life in the face, unblinking.
Only a thought would say, “this thought shouldn’t be here”. Only an imagined mind would want to be “free from mind”. Only the ego would want to go beyond ego.
Taste raw life directly, without judgement, or judgement of judgement of judgement. Or, allow all judgement, even judgement of all judgement.
Our experience is always reflective. But the Heart is forever open.
– Jeff Foster

Feel it all.  Be grateful for it all.  Be it all...it is all a part of us, we cannot seperate ourselves from our feelings, any more than we can separate our hearts from our bodies...and why would we want to?

Where in your life so you hold yourself back from growth and change, from getting what you really want, from being all that you can be, from fully stepping into Your BEST you in every way you can be?  I encourage to not.  Live full-out my friends.  I strive to every single day.  Every single minute.  I challenge myself in every second and I am super grateful that I have embraced this.  Live full out.  Why not? 

"I want it to say, 'All used up" on my gravestone."  Larry Winget.

Don't you!? 

Surrender-The Ultimate Feminine

First, I wanted to share the most powerful tool that we have in our lives to bringing in and creating the biggest and best lives possible as well as to really create not only what we desire, but what our soul is longing to create in our lives, for us:

Surrender: to yield power; to return, restore or resign. Yield to a higher power, a higher knowing within yourself.

Give up resistance and get out of your own way.

Relinquish control of your logical mind. Are you limiting yourself to what appears to be logical? Don't let your ego interfere with being open to your intuitive self. Take time to release old belief systems and self-inflicted limitations and welcome new possibilities.

Free yourself by turning loose any worries or fears that may be holding you back. Release them to the Universe.

Give up control. Move away from Judgements or expectations, and limitations will be removed. Don't push too hard. Let go and place faith in Spirit.

Can you accept the fear that comes at the edge of the unknown? Are you prepared to take the risk? New directions are often revealed just when you're most scared and most in need of them.

It is through surrender that you will be provided with a rendering of the splendid adventure ahead.

Second, I just want to draw the parallel of true Surrender in our lives with stepping into The Yin, the Feminine Energetic aspect of us all: the sacred, the Feminine (self and connection with others) loving and appreciating all of you and receiving; holding space for, allowing, softening, setting/honoring boundaries from the space of Love and being Centered and Embodied from this true place of Power. The Feminine is simply the

Energetic of going within, the turning inward while sensing, knowing and being guided from within...the turning inward...

The Sacred Feminine is not only vulnerable, tender, nourishing, cherishing, patient and sweet-hearted, but also ferocious, prophetic and brave. She is not afraid to stand firmly, even fight for, what she wants and believes in, but she also inherently listens to and knows the path of least resistance, that of the “all that is” and can instinctively go with the flow for the greater good. holding space, waiting, soft, centered, grounded, open. Being the fullness and majesty that you truly are, healing the wounds and kinks in your heart so that you can heal others, owning your full space in the world and showing your sisters the way.

Step into All of you. Allow. Create. Listen. Know. Find wonder and fascination. Believe and Live in magic...it’s much more fun...

Ordinary or extraordinary? Your choice.

Life will never ask you to do everything it takes.  Life will always ask u to do everything u r willing to do.-Larry  Winget

The greatest thing u can ever achieve in your life is excellence.  It's easy to be ordinary.  There's lots of ordinary put there; ordinary settles for the comfortable and safe.  It takes willingness, hunger and openness to achieve Extraordinary.  To get to extraordinary and excellence, you have to REALLY want it and you have to have the COMMITMENT to get there, period.

Mastery is about repetition, it's about banging on your craft.  It's about having a goal, a vision, a burning desire and crafting a path and a plan to get there.  Period.  Creativity and innovation are required in creating all of these and Whether its creating a new business, changing your body, changing your life, changing your business or interpersonal relationships...getting ANYTHING you want In your life...it requires commitment, determination, a plan and focus to bring them into reality in this dimension.

Ready, Willing and Able:   The only thing that stands between u and what u want is what u r willing to do.  Dreams do not come true.  Plans come true. -Larry Winget

Everyone says they are ready.  Everyone is absolutely able.  Not everyone is willing.  Do you have the willingness to stay with it and get it done?  Do you have the willingness to do whatever it takes to get where you want to go?  Are you WILLING to do whatever it takes?

Willingness is vulnerability.  Vulnerability is knowing and admitting that you don't know everything.  Vulnerability with willingness, now that can change the world!  Catch there is...all we have direct control of is ourselves.  We change the world changing us...one person at a time...

Just think, if we all commit, If we are all willing, If we all come from the space of total vulnerability and openness...wow.  Think how amazing and AMAZING we would all be.  Think how amazing...beyond amazing the world would be.

It all starts with us...ourselves.  So, I know you are ready.  I know you are able.  Are...you...willing?  Join me in committing all if it for yourself!

Feminine Power in Movement

Feminine Power in Movement

The Feminine, at it's very very simplest essence, is inward energy. The Yin Energy is the piece of us that knows, feels, flows, takes care of us and those closest to us. It is holding space, waiting, soft, centered, grounded, open and being the fullness and majesty that you truly are.

It is healing the wounds and kinks in your heart so that you can heal others, owning your full space in the world and showing your sisters the way.

Feminine power in movement is: moving your body from it's intrinsic core, from your knowing what your body needs, from and for what works for your body and not, from what is honoring you and challenging you and the balance of pushing that edge while respecting yourself (your body, your fears and yourSelf).  It is NOT letting yourself off the hook, not doing, giving or getting your best...in fact, it is the opposite. 

The Sacred Feminine is not only tender, nourishing, cherishing, patient and sweet-hearted, but also ferocious, prophetic, brave and will shout and bang on the table like a wild lioness towards anyone or anything that threatens the emotional, physical and psychological health of people and the world.

Do you move from this true place of honoring yourself and your body when doing your exercise and movement program? Do you come from the place of force and expecting yourself to just be able to do something that you and/or your body just can't yet? Moving from the place of force and unrealistic won't truly change anything...moving from the place of honor and working with and connection just might change EVERYTHING.

Reflection of Your Inner Self

Everything we are experiencing showing up in our physical world is a reflection of what is going on within ourselves. 

I have had 2 profound examples of this in my world over this last week.  The extent that this is true is mind-blowing and how it has shown up in my world, both examples I'm using are very different and both were directly connected to what I had going on in my mental and emotional bodies.

First, I had a situation with a man where I was very much cutting myself off from him and trying to just separate (which was, in actuality, very much my own self-sabotage) and I was completely spinning in my own stuff.  His reaction to me reflected it, I was so caught up in my stuff that I was being hidden.  When I (what felt like physically and) consciously went into myself and shifted what I was feeling and what I was putting out and AT him, his entire demeanor, energetic and actions towards me changed...it was PROFOUND how fast it happened and just how quickly the entire situation changed.  "Oh, there she is, cool."  PROFOUND concrete confirmation for me of just how energy creates and effects energy and how we really and truly create and effect the world around us.

Second, I found myself SEVERELY tucking my pelvis under and what felt like clenching my lower abdominals and transverse abdominus and I could not stop it, no matter how much I told my body to stop it-which I am very adept at doing!  While talking with my gf about it, I started talking to her about this situation with a man that I had been in where I felt very betrayed, attacked and let down, not to mention disappointed in his actions and complete lack of awareness about what he was actually doing.  After talking with her about it, I noticed I had more movement in my pelvis!  Woohoo!  After finally deciding how to handle and what I would do about the situation then informing him of my decision, my hips released even more and the pain that had come up in my sacrum lessened considerably.  Whew!  What a direct confirmation of the mind-emotion-body connection!

Do you have any examples of how you have seen things connect for you?  What have you seen manifest for you that you were focusing on?  How have you noticed the what your think and feel connection in the physical world?  Please share, I'm really curious how this shows up for you!

The Goddess Attracts, Never Pursues

What does this mean to you? 

You know the "Theory of Attraction", yes?  You attract into your life what you want by your intention and your giving space and allowance for it to show up.  It is the opposite of the energy of force and action.  In essence, these are the dynamic interplay of the Feminine and Masculine Energies of life. 

Feminine Power is coming from a space of Love:  receiving, holding space for, allowing, softening,  loving and appreciating all of you, receiving, holding space for, allowing, softening, setting/honoring boundaries from the space of Love and being Centered and Embodied from this true place of Power. 

Masculine Power is coming from a place of Being on a Train Track: complete focus, action, force, not taking no for an answer, setting boundaries from a place of "don't mess with me, I am doing what I want and nothing is going to stop me, so don't even try."

How good is your balance with these two energies in your life?  Do you do everything from force and action?  Do you allow yourSelf to create and to let Life happen and bring the amazingness that you desire/deserve with patience, trust and knowing that God/the Universe/Life (whatever your word for the Divine is) has your back and that the greatest and highest good (notice the similarity to GOD) will always show up, no matter what it looks like at the time, or even when it shows up?  Do you do BOTH, whatever is actually called for from you in each situation? 

There is no right or wrong answer.  You can't screw this up.  Everything happens as it is supposed to happen, no matter what...

SO...staying in your Inner Goddess Self is simply staying with yourSelf.  With your Intuition.  With your Innate Knowing.  One lets it come to her instead of feeling like she has to go out and make it happen.  One stays in...grounded, centered, soft and feminine.  Moving Your Inner Goddess is simply moving with this energetic and connecting it within yourself and your body.  The Goddess attracts, not pursues...

part 3: transverse abdominis

This is the third and last installment of my 3 part series talking about the muscles I focus on teaching people to engage when they first begin working with me and what their physical, energetic and emotional connection is within the body.  Today we talk about the Tranverse Abdominis and it's role.
  
It is the deepest of the abdominal muscles.  That means it is the one closest to your internal organs. It is sometimes referred to as the "corset" muscle.  Its primary role is to provide support to the spine and increase pressure on the abdominal cavity (where the internal organs are) and thoracic cavity (where the lungs are).  The fibers run transversely across the body (hence the muscle's name).  When the transverse abdominis contracts, the linea alba (the center of the abdomen) moves in towards the center of the body as it is pulled towards all of the origins of the muscle.  So when I tell you to pull your belly button into the spine or pull your belly down, it is to encourage activation of the transverse abdominis.  The transverse abdominis is usually the weakest of the four abdominal muscles for many reasons, including back and hip pain, back and hip trauma, pregnancy, stress in one's life, etc.  It is shut down and not firing in MOST people.  However, Activation of your transverse abdominis is what flattens your belly, as well as supports the back and it is key in supporting your back and hips and working with any pain in those areas.

Being the deepest muscle in the center of the body and physically supporting the entire body, (particularly the lower back and hips) as well as being the connection between the lower part of the heart energetic center and the solar plexus (the center for personal power), it is very much a part of self-love, security/self-identity and belief in onesself.  The lower back holds a lot of security issues, stress and tension of all kinds.  The hips hold a lot of rigidity/flexibility issues as well as stress and tension.  The transverse supports both of these and when properly functioning, helps them both stabilize, thus balancing a lot of the: rigidity, flow, adaptability to life and movement, belief in onesself, security in who one is in this world and feeling secure within this world.  All stress comes from one trying to control the world around them instead of accepting what is, being with what is and moving with what is.  Stress comes from trying to make something, very often times everything, into something it is not.

Learning to engage the tranverse take a lot of practice and focus, and many people want to just gloss over it and let the psoas, arms and legs take over in movements instead of truly learning how to use it as it is designed to be.  There is true value in learning how to slow down and allow the body to be, allow yourself to be, and let something happen as it is supposed to happen instead of the forcing and making something work that we are all accustomed to and have come to believe is the only way to make changes...in fact, it very often stops true change from happening.  In order to bring the new, the fluidity and flexibility within one's body and life, one has to accept that learning how to do something different and allow that there might be another way to do something, anything, rather than what one has always done.  Learning how to truly use the transverse abdominis will translate into being more supportive and engaged in all of our movement, all of ourselves and all of our life.

I hope you have enjoyed the exploration of these different sections of the body!  As always, Please let me know all questions, comments and feedback.  Love to u...

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