Personal Power. Life always offers us so much to learn. Everyday. One thing that was perhaps the most pivotal in my learning was getting how commitment to “seemingly” small daily practices every single day could impact the whole quality of my life in the most extraordinary ways. How the act of let’s say creating daily affirmations, setting daily and weekly goals, and even juicing fresh vegetables, with the grander context of my long-term goals, has markedly shifted the whole course of my life.

Several years back I began with small overtures like committing to creating gratefulness for 3 things when I first wake up and juicing at least 3 days a week. Now I spend at least 1 hour, and often longer every single morning, with a whole host of Spiritual, success and healthy lifestyle practices to “create” my day. When I first began, spending an hour or more would have seemed an utter impossibility, but by beginning with one new daily practice and staying with that one small commitment every single day, I’ve evolved my daily practice over time.

Why? Why would I, why would anyone spend an hour or more meditating, and/or studying new success theories every single morning?

For me, I recognized how my thoughts and actions were predicated by what you thought about what I was doing. I cared about what you thought I was doing more than I cared about what I wanted to be doing. This was NOT good. Ha! When I recognized this, I got that “you” were driving my “one wild and precious” life! I thought, good grief, I give my power away everyday!  I was NOT the “master of my fate,” I was not “the captain of my ship,” “you” were, and as long as you were, I would NEVER access my personal power. So I began with one small commitment and grew upon it by adding new commitments to my routine, as I recognized a consistency growing with the daily practice I had already begun.

I have exponentially altered the quality of my life by beginning with 1 small commitment, and adding to each one over time. Now, as I said above, I have a morning ritual that sets me up for success everyday. Before this, I lived the reactive life. I cared about what “you” thought in ways that limited me. Now, I live the created life. Now I care what I think. My vision and my purpose drive me. My commitment to healthy lifestyle practices frames me. My mission to contribute and be of service inspires me in the face of “seemingly” insurmountable obstacles. And this all began for me in one moment that I chose to own my personal power with one small overture, practiced every single day.

Join me in my 7-Days to Change to reclaim your personal power, with small, seemingly benign overtures. It is the small, seemingly benign overtures made every single day that make all the difference.  As one of my mentors Darren Hardy of Success Magazine says:

“Small, smart choices + consistency + time = radical difference”

Non Negotiable #12: Confidence. With confidence, what is not possible?  If the fires of “reality” rise up around us, but we believe in ourselves and our Higher mission, from a deep rooted place of confidence in who we are and what we are up to, what we have to offer others, in heart, soul, talent and Spirit, what could we not create? Lately, the “message” I continuously here in all that I read is, ‘if I don’t rise up and step into my unlimited potential,’ I not only deny myself, I actually deny you, I actually deny the world from experiencing me and the special gifts I have to offer. I was like, whooooaaahhh, really? This message “turned the dial” for me, it caused yet another shift for me to step out on the “skinny branch” without fear, without reasons… even more than I already do, to live my life FULLY!! Don’t deny yourself. Don’t deny me. Don’t deny the world, of your unique gifts!

PS—just over 10 years ago, my first career coach said to me, “love your family, love your friends, but be mindful, they may try to hold you back, even if unwittingly, because you remind them of what they are not doing.” Felt harsh when I first heard it, but if you think about it, there may be some fruit from this counsel to consider! Let go of other’s opinions of what they think you “should” or “should not” do, and just go for it! As poet Mary Oliver asks, “what will you do with your one wild and precious life?

Cleanse Your Body Tea

Cleanse Your Body Tea is a delicious “tea” that you can drink both hot or cold to literally cleanse your body! Sip it hot at night to relax you. Drink it chilled during the day to refresh you. Either way, this elixir will purify your blood, jump start your kidneys, support your liver and quell inflammation … and it tastes so darn delicious, to boot!

For every 16 – 24 ounces of water, add to your high-speed blender:

2 inch ginger chunk, peeled and minced
1 lemon, peeled and chunked
Stevia to taste
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (or to taste) (optional)

In your high speed blender, add 12 ounces of boiling water, ginger and lemon. Blend until all ingredients are pureed. Use caution to allow the heat of the water to release from the cap (so it doesn’t explode from heat condensation. When done, strain and serve with stevia, or pour over ice.

Cheers!

 

Until we take on 100% of every detail of our lives, we can never step fully into our power. The back door of it’s their fault holds the space for victimhood, and as victim, we’ll never know all that is possible when we fully step up.

 

Meditation and loving kindness? Bah! You say, “I’m not doing it!” ” I can’t do it.” You’ve tried, even if reluctantly, because you’ve heard of all the benefits, but it just doesn’t seem to work for you. You’re brain jumps to 10 million-thousand thoughts! Good grief, things you haven’t thought about for years and years come out of the woodwork! So you give up and simply declare meditation is just not for you. That experience is what meditation experts call the  ‘monkey mind” and what you might not know is it happens to everyone. Everyone. Even those who have been meditating for years.

But you remain intrigued. You keep hearing others talk about the benefits they’ve experienced from even just 5 minutes of meditation everyday. You’ve even heard how meditation can improve memory and concentration abilities, so despite your resistance, you remain intrigued.

I offer you three great starting places to experiment with that were game changers for me. Authors and spiritual guides Sharon Salzberg,  Janice Lynne Lundy and Byron Katie introduced me to all three.

In “Real Happiness,” Sharon Salzberg offers up several approaches to meditation and includes a CD with audio guidance. The ‘Breath’ meditation is the one that changed my experience with meditation because Salzberg very lovingly guides her readers/listeners with pointed instruction on how to deal with the seemingly endless thoughts that rise up, which do leave many of us feeling very defeated and inept. The magic happened for me when she suggested that rather than make myself wrong when confronted with a stream of thoughts, that I actually greet each thought as I would a friend who came to visit me, with great kindness and curiosity. To notice why these thoughts keep rising, what lessons they might have to offer and then just let them gently go, with no wrong-making. If you are interested in giving meditation another try, I assure you, Salzberg’s guidance is a game changer.

Janice Lynne Lundy, author of “Your Truest Self,” among many other transformative works, introduced me to metta, the practice of loving-kindness. A Buddhist tradition, metta is considered by many a very supportive consciousness practice akin to traditional meditation, with the intention to cultivate compassion and unconditional love for all beings. With a few short seemingly benign verses, metta offers a transformative and very powerful heart-opening, heart-softening effect.

One breath. One verse. Practiced slowly and consciously. And the magic begins to unfold. Practiced for thousands of years by many, the meditator begins by cultivating loving-kindness for self, and then moves on to teachers, loved ones, friends, strangers, and then even their enemies and then to all living beings. As Lundy personally guided me, the direction for the verses is to stay with self until we feel the softening in our heart. Then we move outward to others. Even if it takes a year or more for you to feel compassion for yourself and your journey, stay with the verses as directed.

To begin, recite for 5 minutes:

• May I be safe.
• May I be happy.
• May I be healthy.
• May I live with ease.

During my Sacred time of personal spiritual direction with Lundy and the many lessons she imparted, she offered up this gorgeous quote from Buddha to impress the power of metta, “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”

Byron Katie, author of “Loving What Is” made a profound impact on my meditation experience with one sentence, though everything she has written is a very worthy read. Katie, said “let yourself experience being breathed.” These 5 words stopped me and caused me to pause and really reflect on what she meant. It initially sounded funny, “let myself be breathed.” And under thoughtful reflection, I thought, WOW, right… I am breathing with no effort of my own. I just breathe. That the life-force that sources my breath actually causes my breath to happen. The thought that something beyond me was sourcing my breath in a very real and literal sense caused a profound connection that I had not experienced before with my breath and meditation practice. Katie’s suggestion is a worthy consideration, as you experiment with ways in finding what works best for you. You never know, one of the suggestions I offer may very well move you forward in creating a meditation practice that reaps all the benefits research suggests as possible, such as less anxiety and stress, greater inner calm and creativity, improved memory and focus and a more compassionate heart. Any one of these benefits makes meditation worth trying!