Choice

I have been experimenting with changing my negative thoughts and beliefs into positive ones. For 21 day, I have made an effort to observe my thoughts and detect how negative thoughts arise. The results of this short experiment are amazing. My life completely changed. I can here my guidance system or intuition more clearly. 

I'm still working on understanding my beliefs and questioning them, but I'm amazed at how easy it is to turn around our life. My world responded immediately to the changes in my thought patterns.

Many new interests and people entered into my life. The most important results is that I am more true to myself and, as a result, I'm a happier person.

In short, in these three weeks I could open up to what I've been wanting to do for a long time just by being aware of my thoughts.

1) I have found a yoga studio, whose spiritual values are very close to mine.

2) I have reconnected with my old friends, and decided to continue this rediscovered friendship because we have much more in common than we thought.

3) Following my interest in the physical body, nutrition and health, I have enrolled in Health and Nutrition Coach program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. My long-term goal is to develop a holistic approach to wellness in a global sense that would include balancing all aspects of the human body: physical, mental, and spiritual. I would like to start the transformation process with myself and my family and friends, and then teach other people how to live a happy and full life in harmony with themselves and the rest of the world. This is my passion. I haven't decided yet which format I'm going to use to deliver this message. Maybe using online courses, workshops, blogging, newsletters, and books. I am open to creativity right now and ready to go wherever this journey will take me.

4) I am on my way to becoming a certified reiki practitioner. Energy healing was always one of my interests.

5) Other interests of mine, like crystal healing, meditation, shamanism, conscious birth, and everything that can be broadly connected to spiritual growth has also expanded and blossomed;

6) I found an amazing group of women who read books on spiritual growth and meet to discuss them in a book club. The two books we have picked together are exactly what I wanted to read for a long time: "A 1000 Names for Joy" by Byron Katie and "Tao Te Ching".

I'm going to continue my experiment and want to encourage everyone to please pay attention to your thoughts. You have control over them, or they will start to control you and run your life. There are only two options. Let's choose to live and create our life consciously!

I started to write this post, because I wanted to say a few words about choices that we make and how we decide what's best for us. Right now, I see an immediate connection between the opportunities that arise in my life and my thoughts and intentions. One problem that I couldn't solve yet is which option to choose if more than one opportunity for growth arise in my life. Let's say, I have two workshops that I can register for this week-end. Both of them sound very interesting and I'm sure I'm going to benefit greatly from attending either of them. How do I decide which one to attend? It seems to be simple, but it's not for me. I know that I have attracted both workshops with my intention. The next step would be to honor this opportunity and enroll in a workshop that will answers my questions, but I can't decide which one will answer most questions. It might be that they will open two different paths for me, and I don't want to make a mistake. At the same time, I know that there is no mistakes in life, there are only experiences. Then why I can't choose between the two workshops?

Beliefs and Thoughts

Here is a great reminder to be mindful of our thoughts.

Your Beliefs become your Thoughts,
Your Thoughts become your Words,
Your Words become your Actions,
Your Actions become your Habits,
Your Habits become your Values,
Your Values become your Destiny.

~Mahatma Gandhi

I can completely subscribe to this eloquent statement. The question that seems to be very important to me right now is where our beliefs come from and how to change them.

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

Grow Your Own Garden

This is what I'm going to buy probably for my deck in a condo I live in. It seems to be very easy to set up and to take care of. That's exactly what I was looking for!

Be Yourself

I've been working on changing my negative thoughts into positive, which eventually will have an effect on my life. I would like to explore the connection between my thought patterns and physical life. It has been just 3 days into the experiment and I already started to see positive changes in my life.

1. I have found a group of like-minded people, who can support me on my path. We are reading books together and discussing them. This Thursday, I will join Insigh Meditation group for the first time. Very excited!

2. I have also found a yoga teacher that resonates with me. I'm going to attend the first class tomorrow.

Establishing a regular meditation and yoga practice is going to have a huge supportive effect on my transformation, because changing thoughts doesn't happen overnight. Some deep-rooted beliefs are stored deep in our bodies. Yoga can help me to purify my body, as mantra or insight meditation does.

I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell. Here are a few quotes that resonates with my intentions today.

“To find your own way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is - not the quick little excitement, but the real deep, life-filling bliss.”

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

“Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”

“It is by going dow “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

"If I want to be loved as I am, then I need to be willing to love others as they are." - Louise L. Hay

Someone falls to pieces
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
She finally drifts away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
And catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave
Yeah...

And to be yourself is all that you can do
Hey...
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
Another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love
Until the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united
Healthy or insane

And to be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Yeah..
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)

To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Hey...
Be yourself is all that you can do

even when you've paid enough
been put upon or been held up
with every single memory of
the good or bad, faces of luck
don't lose any sleep tonight
i'm sure everything will end up alright
you may win or lose

But to be yourself is all that you can do
Yeah...
To be yourself is all that you can do

Ohhh...
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Ohhh...
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can--
Be yourself is all that you can--
Be yourself is all that you can dooooooohoooo

Mindfullness

In this video, Tenzin Palmo, an amazing woman who became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, spent 12 years living in a cave, and the last 3 years in strict retreat, profoundly explains the nature of mindfulness and gives practical advice on how to be mindful. You can read her entire story here.

Her advice is "simple" - ignore your thoughts because they are not you, and know what you are doing in each moment.

Amazing Animal Friendship

Recently, I have come across a few absolutely amazing stories of friendship among animals. I think we have a lot to learn from them.
1. The first story involves a joyful and caring friendship between an orangutan and a hound dog. Enjoy!



2. I love elephants! They are so smart and kind animals and apparently also very loyal friends. In this CBS News story, an elephant Tara became best friends with a dog Bella. I liked how Tara gently scratches Bella's belly trying to do something pleasant for her friend.





3. Another elephant story is about two elephants reuniting after about 25 years of separation. Very touching!

5 Gifts that Can Change Your Life in 30 days

Knowledge is only power if you use it consistently. Everybody to can make a choice and change their life for the better. Barry Gottlieb says that he observed that if you give these 5 little gifts to yourself for 30 days, your life will change profoundly. Let’s give it a try!

1.      Start your day with something uplifting, inspirational, motivational, and spiritual instead of reading newspapers or watching news on TV. It is very important what you fill the first hours of your day with.

2.      Before going to bed at night do something positive and go to bed in a good mood.

3.      Spend 30 minutes to an hour for yourself each day.

4.      Spend a few minutes to celebrate your accomplishments of the day.

5.      Before falling asleep feel gratitude for things in your life.