Be Real: Common Sense + Faith

"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right."

I kept hearing this in my head on Saturday. We have so many opportunities open to us, there's so much to choose from - what if we make a wrong decision, what if we miss an opportunity? How many of us have heard that monkey chatter in our heads? Self doubt, self criticism - we should have done or should not have done something - Regret.

This is just another way our ego distracts us into thinking this reality is real. That things are so important we have to think over the past and worry about the future when all that matters is right now. There is only abundance, there is always more and more than enough. Anytime we say we want something, we define ourselves in a state of lack. Here's where the faith comes in - we surrender and know what we have is exactly enough and more than what we could have ever dreamed. We give it over and know the Universe will deliver what we need and desire when it's appropriate - all we have to do is have patience.

Here's the common sense part - do what feels right and makes sense. Stop talking yourself into or out of situations and opportunities. It's called intuition, the voice of God. If you're "trying", then you're doing it wrong. I used to ask my son - "easy way or hard way?" when he'd have to take medicine. He always chose the hard way! How many of us do that?! If it feels appropriate, take the opportunity or the chance. If it feels heavy, inappropriate or otherwise - honor your feelings! You don't have to know why, all you need to do is honor how you feel. There is never a missed opportunity. There are always more chances. God, the Universe is abundant like that. Stand in your power and move on.

Break it down even further - eat junk, feel like junk. Eat whole, real food - feel good. It is that simple. Feeling good doesn't have to be hard. Eating good doesn't have to be difficult. Life is as simple or complicated as you want it to be. I read this recently as I discern another degree: "Faith in the Designer and His design. Proof of His love in every natural remedy. There is a predictable and reassuring order in Nature that embraces all of us if we only open our hearts and minds to it." Philip Fritchey

All of this brings me the equation... Common sense + Faith = Intuition. When you trust your intuition, you stand in your power. When you stand in your power, you stand in the power of God, for you and God are one in the same.

Common sense steps to feeling good:
1. Trust God/Universe/Source and trust yourself.
2. Eat real food.
3. Drink lots of water.
4. Move your body and sweat.
5. Sleep.
6. Go Outside.
7. Move your body.

Are you going to follow the feel good feeling or the distracted, icky feeling? It's all vibration. Feeling good means vibrational harmony, feeling bad or 'off' means vibrations are out of sync.
Easy way or Hard way - each way gets you where you're going. All you have to decide is how you want to get there. I choose the easy way (most of the time :).

Eat Real: Feeling Food

Everything is energy. What we think, say, do, and eat. Our bodies are a very dense, low vibration. Our soul is the vibration of God/Source/the Universe. It is a vibration of love, which is the highest vibration in the Universe. It takes quite a bit of energy to remain in these bodies. Isn't it worth the effort to take care of them as best we can? They are holy vessels that carry a holy host.

Eating food of the earth, being honest with our emotions, slowing down and taking care of ourselves and our needs is essential to living a life in balance.

You can look at the pieces of your existence or start by looking at the whole of it. Do you feel good? Are you in pain? Stop, feel, breathe. You know how to heal yourself. Your body has innate, intuitive intelligence. No one gave you instructions on how to breathe, or how to make your heart beat. It just does!

What you eat is reflected by what you feel. How you feel is reflected in what you eat. When you feel good about yourself, you eat good. When you feel bad, you eat bad. Food is an integral way you can take care of yourself. Food changes you at the cellular level. It's in your blood, tissues, brain matter. You are what you eat is truer than anyone realizes. Do you want to be a chicken nugget or a leaf of lettuce?

What we feel is a by product of the experiences we've had. We've been programmed to believe, process and respond to life in a certain way. Our energetic field is a reflection of our beliefs and emotions. Everything is energy. Intention is energy, prayer is intention, worry is intention, fear, love... all of it is intention. If we can address the lower vibrations of fear and worry and come to see the illusion of it all, we can release it and allow love to fill us. As if on cue, the pain leaves, and we feel better.

This is the crux of body, mind & soul medicine. Addressing ALL of the individual aspects of the person as a complete whole.

Think about that the next time you take a bite of cake!

Be Real: Let Go and Do It Again

Things didn't go as I had expected this morning... and it was a good thing. In the past, I would have let it get to me. Not so today.

I was able to experience Creator's hand working and putting me where I would be of most use - and that was with my family. Originally, I had a client appointment, but she was a no-show. Hopefully, she is ok. What I got to do instead, was go rock climbing with the kids and see my husband get his belay certification. This means the kids can use the ropes now and not be limited to just free climbing. This is something they've been wanting to do for some time. It all happened because I went with them and was able to watch the youngest while my husband received instruction.

In the past, this no-show would have bugged me. It did a little, it showed me some client boundaries that require firming up. So, I received twice - the chance to be with my family and the chance to respect myself even more by setting firm expectations with clients.

This is a big deal! So, I can trust God to do what is in the highest good and in the meantime, use any 'setbacks' as an opportunity to grow. This past 5 weeks has been about seeing the good in everything. Everything, even set backs are good. They might not feel good to the ego, but they are part of a lesson for the soul. My husband always looks at the bright side of everything. "Isn't it great", he says. Well, I've made a conscious choice to do the same. I'm amazed at how much fun life can be when you look at it through the "Isn't it great" lens.

As I was watching the kids climb this morning and the cheesy grin on my husband's face, it hit me... All they know is they want to go up, so they climb. When they can't hang on anymore, they let go and someone is always there to catch them. Then they look at the course again, plan it out a little better and try to go up again. This time they make it a little higher. The message - let go and do it again.

Everyday, look forward to how the day will unfold. Have expectations for the best and you'll receive the best. Release what you think the best looks like. We don't know what lies ahead for us, all we can do is focus on the now and clear up any confusion on our parts. It's not about beating yourself up, but taking the "opportunity" to see the good, the light and to grow from it.

A friend recently sent this link to me: How to live before you die. Steve Jobs speaks to Stanford University graduates. It's perfect. By allowing Creator to work in our lives and remaining flexible enough to follow the path, this really can be an incredible life!

If you don't bend, you break.

Be Real: Screw it

You don't know how you affect the world. You don't know how what you say can cause someone else to grow, or facilitate your own growth for that matter.

So what if someone thinks you're crazy? Trust me, there isn't anything someone can think of me that I haven't already thought of myself. They wouldn't be telling me something new. I guarantee the same is true for you.

God made us different for a reason. We help each other remember who we truly are. Yes, it might be by helping us feel good, but it might also be in helping us feel bad. Every, and I mean every situation is a chance for growth and self improvement no matter how dire the circumstance. What growth and improvement you ask? Ultimately, it's our growth in faith and a closer relationship to Source, the Universe, the Creator, God. All these words mean the same. How much do we actually Trust God? Are we able to rise above the other person or situation that we perceive as being unsavory and see the light in them? Are we able to just see the light without thinking we've risen above them or that the situation is unsavory? Do you see the difference? One builds on the other. There is always more to give over and trust.

Just say and be who you are. Screw your light into the socket and connect to source. If you don't, you rob me of the opportunity to discover another piece of myself and you a piece of yourself. When you are who you are with no apologies, you allow God to flow fully through you in all His Glory and it feels good. This is the first step - Acceptance.

You make a critical difference in this world. Your piece of the puzzle is unlike anyone else's piece. Bring yourself to the party, warts and all. We are waiting...

Join with me and say 'screw it' - it's a good thing. It means we've surrendered to God one more time and let the light in.

Eat Real: Lettuce

It's spring! Woo hoo! The trees are blooming, the kids are sniffling and I'm prepping the garden. Oh, if feels sooooo good to play in the dirt again! My three year old agrees. I don't have the turn the soil over too much as he helps quite a bit with his construction equipment.

One of the growing season's first yields is lettuce. I can't wait! Our CSA will start delivering by next month. They have a few spots still open if you are interested. Check out Maple Spring Gardens. By the way, if you are planting a garden, now's a great time to start those lettuce seeds!

I eat lettuce all year long. If I make a ziti, it goes on top of my pile of lettuce. The same is true for soups and stews. It's difficult for me to eat 100% raw all year, but the pile of lettuce in my dish keeps me honest. Lettuce is considered the respiration of the planet. Look at all the wonderful veins running through those wide leaves. The beautiful green color of chlorophyll and the crunchy goodness of all that water in the meaty parts. Man, I get hungry just thinking about it!

Historically, I've been a quantity kind of girl when it comes to food consumption. Both of my parents grew up on farms after the depression in rural Maine and Canada. Food was NEVER thrown out. So, needless to say, that mentality was carried over to my brother and I.

When I first learned that my portions were way out of control, the only way I could even think about cutting calories was to fake my way into thinking my plate was full. Enter lettuce. Romaine to be exact. Just cut up a few big leaves and the plate is already full. Now add 1/2 cup of brown rice and 3 oz. of protein plus a handful of broccoli and the plate is already 3" tall! That was all my eyes needed to see to feel satisfied.

Benefits of Lettuce:
-low in calories
-high in water content
-high in vitamin A, K, C, folate, manganese, chromium
-a good source of dietary fiber
-a diuretic
-inexpensive

Here's a tip if you want to detoxify with food - eat lettuce twice a day. Snack on it in between meals. The more you fill up on the good stuff, the less room there is for the bad stuff.

Be Real: Light & Limits

Lots of introspection going on... Something remarkable happened recently - a paradigm shift. For so long I had been researching my 'negative' feelings and trying to understand their meanings. In doing that, I came upon limits. What are my limits? As I started this journey, my mantra was to release "all limiting ego illusions". It's an oxymoron. Ego is limited and an illusion. So, in essence, I was asking to be light again, which means not to have the human experience.

Stay with me here. Our essence is light. We are all light, in my mind, that is soul. We are all a piece of creation and therefore a part of the Creator - God. We all instinctively know that there is so much more to this life than what we see. We know that ANYTHING is possible because we have experienced it without these human bodies. But, here's the kicker - we chose to be incarnated here in the human form. We came here to have the human experience so that the Creator could experience all that He is through us. And, so that our individual soul could learn. When you're all light all the time, how are you to experience anything unless you go a place that has some dark. Then you can recognize the light again.

Because we came here, this existence has limits. But we define the limits to shape our experience. Beliefs are limitations. Every belief we've ever had or ever will have is a limit designed to craft our experience here. These limits allow us the freedom to create situations to learn from or to define ourselves through. Our error lies in us forgetting who we really are and thinking that these beliefs and limitations are true when they are just illusion. That is why, in my mind, Jesus is incredible. He was able to transcend the belief of death. He was able to show us, in no uncertain terms, that death is an illusion, that this existence is an illusion. These bodies, this existence is pretend. It is all for the pleasure of the Creator and the salvation of souls.

Now, here is where it gets interesting... we are just to trust that what we experience is for our best and highest good, no matter what. But, what if we can change our beliefs. It's been proven that the subconscious mind is a program of beliefs we've developed from all our lives and from the current one we are living. So, all we have to do is make the conscious decision to believe the belief that will get us closer to enlightenment. This isn't about manifesting, this is about being in the flow of Creation. Being Creation. We can choose to believe in the trust of the Creator or we can choose to believe differently. "But, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

As we were watching Kung Fu Panda tonight, Master Ugway said "the past is history, tomorrow is a mystery and the now is a gift that is why we call it the present". To live in the present is to trust in the Creator. To trust in the Creator is peace.

The greatest gift anyone can have is inner peace. I have three boys and a lot of poop talk - I've tasted inner peace a few times. Enough to know it's there, attainable and to want more. The KNOWING or trust that all is provided for us via the Creator is a lifelong process.

So, in order to experience true inner peace, I choose to set the belief/limit: I trust God. This has been my experiment this Lenten season. To test my trusting, not testing God, but my ability to trust Him. I've given over larger and larger parts of my life to Him to transform. It's a layered process. In every blessed challenge I've had, I've been reminded that this is yet another opportunity to deepen my faith, which is trust, in Him. It's incredible to watch everyday unfold according to God's will, watching my prayers and requests be met according to His will - KNOWING it's all in my best and highest good and better than I could have ever imagined.

Eat Real: Detoxing your Thoughts

I spoke with a woman last week who had been berating herself for being in a negative space when she woke up first thing in the morning. She'd wake up and just be thinking negative and talking negative - all of it. And she hated it. What occurred to me was this - sleep is a time for the body to restore and detox itself. The liver works to remove toxins from the body. So what's the first thing you do when you wake up? You go to the bathroom. Toxins leave the body. So, why wouldn't that be the case with negative feelings or thoughts? Of course it would be exactly the same! It's all energy. It's lower vibrational energy that may not serve a purpose in the body, mind or soul - so, it's got to leave.

It makes sense that this person would be feeling it first thing in the morning because her body has been processing her day all night. This is what I told her - let it out, don't stifle it. Have you tried holding back using the toilet? Doesn't feel so good, does it? It's the same with the negative thinking and feeling - let it out. If we spend too much time bottling it up and hiding it; it just ends up backing up and we get energetically consitpated.

I recommended that she give herself a time limit of 5 to 10 minutes of just basking in the glory of negativity. Then stop and balance it by reaffirming good or practicing gratitude. Detoxification is about releasing that which does not serve us, to make room for what does. We are all reaching out, trying to go beyond the label of who our ego thinks we are. It's so important to honor this process by allowing the lower thoughts to leave and blessing them as they do.

Imagine how powerful a detoxification program would be if you could combine the physical practices of eating real, clean, fresh food along with energy practices that allow your emotions to move higher and higher! Think about this, if you're going to replace something you know isn't good for you with something that is good for you - don't you have to acknowledge what isn't good first?

This woman is blessed because she acknowledged that this kind of thinking and talking is not good for her. She's already half way there. We can all learn from this. What is truly beautiful is that God wants us to move closer to Him and He will help us. By learning what does not serve our bodies and minds, we can release it and allow Him to fill us and lead us to what does serve us. Because in the end it will serve Him. It's called allowing or living in Grace.

Practical steps to allowing:
1. keep a journal
2. surround yourself with supportive people
3. pray
4. meditate
5. cut back on TV
6. eat real food - nothing processed
7. practice gratitude for everything
8. release expectations - only have strong preferences
9. release attachments
10. love yourself for who and what you are right now