Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Stories pass wisdom. Many religions base longevity and education on storytelling, as storytelling explains the unexplainable. We all have our own stories about our own journeys, and they are ongoing in nature. No finite end or distinctive start. Life goes on and so the story within us deepens, is added to and takes twists and turns. The style changes as romance, humor and thrill are added or removed. What is your story? What is the story of your friends, lover, family and peers?

Here is a novel idea – What if we measured our weight by laughter and contentment instead of pounds and kilos? If we stopped obsessing about how much we weigh and lived more by our worth as a person. If the saying – you are worth your weight in gold became a marker of our potential to live to. Wouldn’t our world be a better place and wouldn’t we each live a brighter existence? In a morning conversation about how we did not value our bodies when we were younger, I was thinking how can we instill value to our youth, where they grow up loving and appreciating their bodies for what they do and feel, over how they look. How can we gift this to our sons and daughters, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren?

Surround yourself you people who top you up. Fill your friendship bag with the people who are there in an instant when you need them. The people who you laugh the loudest with and those that you laugh along, with even when they are laughing at you! The friends who make you realise and feel just how special you are.

ife begins and ends with you. It is all too easy to use time to rattle off numerous reasons why life is harder, tougher, sadder or more challenging for you. Why waste the time though! We each have the same 24 hours in our days to make use of. You and you alone get to choose how you will spend them.

Listening. It sounds so simple and yet is my hardest challenge in life. I interrupt myself, my thoughts, my actions, my progress and so yes, I interrupt others. By doing so it says to them, I don’t care or value your way. I believe my way is superior and better suited to you and your situation. This most certainly is not my intention, quite the opposite in fact. My eagerness to speak, is a direct reflection on how much I want to help, humor or praise them. However, it redirects attention, from them to me. It steals their chance to process and evolve and be present with their feelings. Let people cry, don’t tell them it will be ok and try to change the moment. Be in the moment, the rawness of the emotion and let it run it’s path. When people turn to another person, it is to be seen and heard, not necessarily to be given a solution or advice. By just being there and indulging them time to explore their emotions, you have given them the gift they want and initiated the path to healing. Silence is golden. It holds space and heals. It speaks louder than any well intentioned words and is received on a cellular level beyond that of the ears.

Sometimes in life we get knocked off center. We CAN begin to doubt ourselves and struggle to find ways to trust ourselves, our strengths, beliefs, our knowledge, and our power. We can get knocked off center because of things that came up unexpectedly, or something we tried that didn’t go according to plan. Maybe a harsh word from another or ourselves that allowed self-doubt to creep in. The causes can be endless, but regardless of any cause, any cause of imbalance always rests at home in our mind and our thoughts. It is in the mind where we can hide out in the past or false truths, instead facing the untainted present with clarity and confidence. We can know all of this and yet still feel challenged to find the confidence to give things another try, or step out of our protective barriers. An easy way to restore confidence is to do something you know you do really well.

Fear of failure vs. fear of success. In writing it looks clear, sure plenty of people understandably have a fear of failure, but looks ridiculous why anyone would have fear of success. And yet it is common. I for one can put both hands up to say success terrifies me way more than failure. In fact, I sit quite easily with failure. Perhaps it’s because my self doubt convinced me a long time again that I would fail, so then if and when it happens I am prepared and I can say “I knew this would happen!” The saying whether you “believe you can or you can’t, you are absolutely right” rings true.

I recently bought myself a new computer and became so caught up in the frustration of trying to transfer information from the old to the new that I almost found myself in tears. I am mostly a calm and balanced person, who does lots of yoga and uses breathe to get through life’s tougher times and yet when a little piece of technology doesn’t play according to plan, all that practice seemed to go out the window. Feelings of frustration and lack of control ruled as I did what the manual said to do, waited hours, and the desired effect never came. What did come, was clenched fists, shoulders around my ears, a sore jaw from clenching, back stiffness from sitting too long and a very agitated mind and mood. I felt jumpy as I lost connection with my breathe. I then got annoyed when I tried to breathe perspective back in and moments later lost the awareness. Does this sound familiar to any of you, when technology seems not to work how we want it to? I was so far from the grateful girl I try to be. Hours spent scratching my head from my computer malfunctioning, certainly was not going along with the idealistic plan that I had created of my perceived future. Rather than being present, letting go of the ideals and attachments and accepting the truth of the situation, I was going into a tailspin of frustration. Then, I started to see things began to work technologically, and I started to have lightbulb moments about what computers can teach us as humans.

Forgive and forget. One of those catch phrases we throw around attaching no thought or action to it. So easy to say these words, but do you; have you, actually done it? Or are you like most of us, and have something that you are harbouring or dwelling on deep inside? While life would be one bright and colourful place if it was only full of rainbows, butterflies, unicorns and sunshine, we all know, reality isn’t. There are dark moments, painful experiences, words that hurt, disappointments, set backs and things that make us see red and breathe fire. Saying “I am sorry” and meaning it, is harder than truthfully expressing “I love you”. What’s more; is it’s a challenge to say it to someone else, but near impossible to say to ourselves. Can you relate to that? Sometimes, the disappointments and harsh words in our life, come from ourselves and in my experience, they are the ones that cause the most damage.

I am a dreamer. Head in the clouds, anything is possible, never settle kinda' girl. I believe that the bigger your dreams, the bigger your possibilities. Why would you want to place limitations on this short and fleeting life we have been granted? A life without dreams is like a garden without flowers. Where is the beauty? Plant seeds, create awareness and then focus on finding potential. Voicing your dream whether in words or writing, is like fertilizer, so be prepared to watch the dreams blossom into fruition. They say when the student in ready the teacher appears. I say when the seed is planted the sun will shine. If you aim for the stars even if you fall short, you will land in the clouds. From experience I know there is a much better view from the clouds than there is from the ground always looking up and wondering what if. I grew up conservative in my approach. A planner. I saved money and believed in hard work and long term effort to reach goals over time. Then I realized I was frustrated and impatient. My meticulous planning and attention to detail was preventing action.

Have you ever felt like you are living a Shakespearean play within, conflict and drama a plenty? Romeo and Juliet taking duel inside, the battle of head and the heart? Where courage challenges consideration to a duel and thought stabs thrill in the back? At heart, I am all Romeo, full of passion, love and extremes. Loyal to a detriment, I’m often tempted to act foolishly in defense of those I do love dear. This is an example of the heart winning over the head. Oh, the angst and drama that overtakes my life, where it would be all too easy for my heart to throw away any logical order that exists in my life, and insteads leads me on spontaneous adventures and lust inspired indulgences. Life would be fun and fabulous. My heart sometimes guides me to just ignore the dose of danger waiting in the wings. Many times however, I do give thanks to the dear Juliet who lives in my head, which keeps me level and sane. As independent and loyal as Romeo, she is thankfully more capable and self assured.

Do you label your feelings as good vs bad? Do you push away the painful and only welcome the pleasant? Do you offer each of your emotions and experiences the same amount of energy? Do you ever feel grateful for your anger? Most of us, the answer is a simple no. We prefer the feel good over the fear based. It can be said it's better to be in a state of positive emotional health, more than in despair and suffering. Still, a full range of feelings is an inevitable part of the human experience and each unique emotion has the potential to teach us something worthwhile. For many, we welcome positive emotions with open arms, and kick and scream when negative emotions such as anger, disappointment, and sadness, are felt. If the end goal is one of acceptance and self-love, shouldn’t we have as much acceptance for our perceived weaknesses and uncomfortable emotions, as we do in our celebrated emotional triumphs and perceived strengths? We can only truly be at peace with ourselves, when we are able to experience peace even in the midst of uncomfortable emotions.

Within us all, rests a powerful warrior. An ally, full of belief, support and courage. A passionate protector, ready to go into battle when there is risk. When harm comes your way, your inner warrior rises into full defense. The reaction of your inner warrior is usually not to external threats, but to the struggles which we create ourselves. Called to action by ego, doubt, fear, ignorance, self-sabotage and neglect. The battle of your inner warrior, is to restore and reveal your best self. Fueled by passion, the inner warrior is strengthened by being open, raw and real. Life experience cultivates wisdom and calling on our inner warrior inspires resilience. Intelligent and articulate, our warrior is fine tuned to rise when needed, acting in support of our highest self. Think of your warrior as your biggest cheerleader.

What if the answer is simple and is hidden in your daily cup of coffee or tea? Datamonitor states that in Australia alone, the “hot drinks market had total revenues of $1.4 billion”, so there is plenty of opportunity to practice the art of being mindful when you indulge in your favorite cup. It is weird to think that I grew up hating coffee. The smell made me feel sick and up until my mid twenties I was disgusted by the idea that anyone would want to drink the stuff. Fast forward a decade and I enjoy a barista made cup each day. It’s not the caffeine, as I am someone who can consume the last sip and take a nap a few moments later. I like the taste but I’m not addicted or obsessed by it. I have given up and can easily do so again, with no side effects. For me, it is the ritual, an indulgence, a romantic gift to myself celebrating how amazing my day and therefore my life is.