Reiki

Hola! It's been awhile since I last wrote. I've been spending much more time away from my computer (one of my best year yet goals). Life couldn't be running any smoother for me.

Last night, a few of my book club friends came over and we watched the movie You Can Heal Your Life after reading the book. And this has led me to want to practice Reiki more. I've been trained in Reiki I and II. Reiki II is distance healing where the practitioner sends Reiki across time/location. I'm inviting you to help me practice more. Please email me, contact me, post a comment with the initials and if you choose to the date/condition for a healing session. This can be everything from a cold to finding a better job or even a pet related health problem. I would love to practice it more and have considered starting a Reiki chain with other practitioners and this is my first step.

Hope all is well with you!

Spring

I can't believe how nice the weather has been here the past couple of weeks. I'm ready for spring. I have a new bird feeder up and love watching to see who shows up. Squirrels are so funny and will get in crazy positions for bird seed.

Hot Tub Time Machine was awesome. JW and her friend dressed up in 80s with tight rolled jeans, crimped hair, and jelly bracelets. It def. was worth good laughs. I miss the 80s!

This past weekend Chris and I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Milwaukee Public Museum. It was a good balance from last weekend at the movies. The exhibit was mostly about how the scrolls were found and artifacts from that era. It makes me want to read more about it. If you know of any good books, let me know.

Living my best year yet has been going pretty good so far. I've been working on getting my 10,000 steps in a day, eating healthier, and spending more time with friends. I've felt pretty anti-social the past couple of years due to a busy schedule and needing more down time.

My next step is planning a vacation for May/June: cruise, Europe, Grand Canyon, Savannah. Other ideas? What has been your best vacation ever?

Hope you are having your best year yet!

Hot Tub Time Machine

This past week has been a staycation for me. It was so nice, I got some cleaning done around the house, took Kirby on lots of walks, and spent time reading and pampering myself. Ahhh. Part of that pampering experience involved chanting. I got an email through Hay House Radio on Krishna Das's new book and cd titled "Chants of a Lifetime." I admit that I did not really know who he was but there was a link to a song on his CD online and I absolutely loved it! I listened to it over and over again. You can download/listen to it at this promotional site. I ran out and gout the book and can't put it down. I've never thought about chanting as a way to peacefulness, but for me it works better than mantras during meditation. First, I had to get over myself since it sounds a little silly -- but luckily Chris is the only one who hears me. :)

So this week is about new beginnings for me. And to live in the present moment I'm going to surround myself with laughter. On the Secret movie, one of the stories is about a woman with cancer who surrounded herself with positivity and laughter by watching funny movies. So, this weekend I'm going to see Hot Tub Time Machine. JW and I have been talking about it for a couple of weeks because we can't wait, this Friday it opens. If you are in Madison and want to join in let me know. :)

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Letting Go

Right when you think you have it figured out, you soul asks you to grow even more. This past few weeks have been for me about surrendering. I've realized that change is not easy for me even when the universe is pushing me toward it. How do you handle change in your life? I keep reading that change is a constant. You would think that by now I would have much more trust in it. So, I've been surrendering and one way I do that is through the sedona method. It's a process for releasing emotions. It's not so much about change itself but the emotions you put on the situation both good and bad. Here's how the process works.

1. Identify the emotion/feeling (happy, sad, etc.)
2. Ask yourself, am I willing to welcome this feeling as best I can? (yes or no are both correct answers.)
3. Ask yourself, am I willing to let it go? (yes or no are both correct answers)
4. Will you let it go? (yes is the answer)
5. When? (now is the answer)
6. Repeat until you start feeling relief

It sounds to simple but it works, at least for me it does. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you too.

I also finished the first 7 days of the consciousness cleanse. The first week is about coming to terms with your past and moving forward. I was surprised about what bubbled up from my past. I was holding onto a lot that isn't worth holding on to. Release, release. The next 7 days are about the present. I'm wondering if I will learn concepts that are similar to Eckhart Tolle's teachings.

Here is an affirmation by Louise Hay that I've also been using.
The universe is conspiring for my greater good.

It's quite beautiful and aligns with accepting change. Wish you all well!!

Back on Track

I am back on track after being sick last week. The weekend was all about the cold medicine and resting at home. I'm so glad to be feeling better!

Last time I wrote I was working on meditating and preparing for my dream life list as part of Ford's book. I'm still not ready to write this list out yet. A dream list seems so final and I'm indecisive about what to include and not include on it. So, I pulled out another book to work on. (I love books!) It's another one by Ford called "the 21-day consciousness cleanse: a Breakthrough Program for Connecting with Your Soul's Deepest Purpose."This book is amazing and I highly recommend it. I think this 21-day process is going to get me to my dream list. It's part law of attraction and healing your shadow self. I even got my mom to download it onto her e-reader to work on it with me. I invite you too as well.

The first week is about reconciling with your past. I believe that you have to make room to allow good things to come into your life and one way to do that is releasing/forgiving the past. The first step is giving voice to that and acknowledging it.

This 21-day process is also on Oprah's website. Let me know what you think and if you plan on starting this process too. Adios!

Week 6

The next step in Ford's book on creating your best year is writing down your fantasy life. I've been avoiding this step because I'm having a hard time figuring out what my fantasy life would actually be. I'm fearful that my dreams aren't possible, that I don't have the aptitude/talent for others. Time is slipping past and I'm worried that there isn't enough time. What I do know is that the clearer I can get with myself the better and that I don't want to regret not trying.

So this week, I'm going to spend time meditating on what I want with the hope of being able to write down my fantasy life this upcoming weekend. I do have a vision board to start from. Do you have any other ideas that have worked for you in discovering what you want? If you do, please share.

Week 4

I have to give a big shout out to my friend JC in Seattle. Thank you for the encouragement to keep writing and thank you for reading this blog too. Your recent comment put a big smile on my face. :) And you too, JW. This past fall when I went through a rough patch with a surgery, JW, was completely there for me. She dropped off dinners, walked Kirby, and even spent time watching TV with me when I would have been home alone. Best of all, she knows I have a hard time asking for help and so I didn't even have too ask. Friendships are the best.

So, this week is going to be about celebrating friendships for me! Living my best year is about spending time with friends and making sure they know how important they are to me. I hope you will join me too and reconnect with friends from the past and foster new ones too. Let's pass it on.

Week 3

Hola! It's week 3 and I have to admit that I almost didn't reach my goal of 210 minutes of exercise last week. I was so close to being 20 minutes short but at 9:00 pm last night I finished it up. If it wasn't for this blog, I probably would have started "next week." That's always a good excuse for me. I'm always going to start next week. I need to keep the same goal this week, 210 minutes of exercise. To do this, I plan on walking at lunch, walking the dog, using Wii Fit Plus, and Wii Just Dance. And now my hubby has joined in on the Wii Fit Plus too, so we will be able to exercise together and hopefully keep each other motivated.

Last year, I read a really great book called A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen. According to Bowen, the average person complains 15 - 30 times per day which of course is contradictory to health and well being. In fact he states that if 1% of humanity focuses on and speaks about how they desire things to be rather than complaining about how things are it would be revolutionary. He has an action plan for individuals: 21 days of complaint free living. He suggests using a bracelet as a daily reminder. Here's how it works:

1. Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist
2. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing (it’s ok, everyone does) move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.
3. If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!
4. Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you will find that your entire life is happier, more loving and more enjoyable.

In December, I purchased a few easy to slip on and off bracelets but have halfheartedly been working on this. To live my best life, I want to challenge myself for week 3 by starting this plan and counting approx. how many times I have to move the bracelet. :) If you care too, try it and let me know how it works for you too.

Adios!

Week 2

What a great week. I successfully implemented my goal of watching no more than 7 hours of TV, in fact, I went under. Yeah. I have to admit it wasn't easy because I really, really wanted to watch both Badger basketball games but that would have been 6 hours. I also love the best year labels. When I see the labels, I reaffirm my commitment to the process and it just makes me happier. One of Ford's tips is to remind yourself of your intention daily.

My goal this week was going to be about Feng shui but I've decided to wait a few weeks. I need to look over good resources first. If you know of any good books, websites, tips, on Feng shui please post.

So week 2 is about getting healthier. And it's probably good that I'm starting this goal earlier because I'm going to need lots of energy to have my best year. My goal is 210 minutes of exercise this week to meet the minimum guidelines by Mayo Clinic of 30 minutes daily. So that's that. I'm going to log my time and post on Sunday. It should be easy to do, right? :)

Have a great week!

I woke up this morning and thought oh no what did I start, how embarrassing. It took me all day to get up the nerve to login and I'm so happy I did. Thank you for all the support!!! Goodbye ego, hello to quieting that little voice and being fine with both perfection and imperfection.

It's day two and part of the action plan is placing reminders around the house. I got out the handy label maker and created 20 labels with best year yet on it. I've placed labels on TV remotes and phones and plan on putting them on the fridge, car dash, computer, mirrors, etc. Right now I'm visioning myself coming home from work picking up the TV remote and putting it right back down after seeing the label. :) I think the labels are going to be really helpful. According to Ford's book, it takes 28 days to break a habit and I have several that are not good for me starting with watching too much TV to zone out. So my goal for this week, starting tomorrow, is to watch no more than 7 hours of TV.

Thank you again for all the support!!

The Best Year of Your Life: Debbie Ford

I woke up this morning and started reading The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford and just a few days ago watched the movie Julie and Julia and felt inspired to bring those two ideas together. This blog is dedicated to creating my best life along with family and friends in 2010. Plus what could be a better way to keep committed to the process then by blogging about it. I admit I'm scared to death that this will be a bit corny and self-absorbed. So bear with me on post 1 as I feel I'm off to a shaky start with the hope that this could become something better.

So here is the plan: 365 days of creating a better life day by day.

Start Date: January 2, 2010
End date January 2, 2011

Today, I'm going to ease into this process. I'm going to read more of Ford's book and find out how to "Dream It, Plan It, and Live It."

See you tomorrow!