Breath, Consciousness and Staying Healthy

I have been studying about consciousness a lot lately. Anita Pathik Law from The Power of Our Way had a GREAT Community Call in Program on "Raising Consciousness and Taking Responsibility for Your Own Shift" last week and through it I met many others that were very thought provoking. Shifting into Consciousness used to sound so foreign to me.... but all it is simply is being in the moment. Being aware of what your mind is telling you and what your self-talk is saying. Being aware of the world around you and not moving through it mindlessly. Meditation or concentrating on your breath is one of the easiest ways to initiate this. Through the call in program there were many wise ways people used to bring them back to consciousness and relax their own minds from tools like gardening and dance to prayer or gratitude and many more.

Being given all this wonderful information lately has been very helpful as the holidays, feet of snow, child illnesses and heavy work load have been overwhelming me a bit. My good friend Alissa forwarded me the following video this morning -- she always seems to know when I need something even though she is far away from me in Miami! A GREAT way to start a Monday and exactly what I needed to bring me back to awareness. I've told Alissa several times that she is my guardian angel and once again she has proven it! She introduced me to my husband 13 years ago and she introduced me to The Secret which led to my healing. Thank you Alissa -- I am more grateful for you than I'll ever be able to say and miss you terribly! The following is a video of Prem Rawat/Maharaji talking about the importance of breath.

Through Anita Pathik Law's call in program I met someone who truly resonated with me when I heard her speak. Her name is Dr. Charlene Proctor and her website is The Goddess Network. She mentioned and has studied under Sai Maa of Humanity in Unity who is inspirational when it comes to centering, awareness and enlightenment. Following is a video where she speaks of how she sees enlightenment.

It is amazing for me to see the growth I have had during the last year and also amazing how far I have yet to go! ; ) Life is a journey and if you are bored, angry or experience a lot of negative emotions frequently you are definitely not living it consciously. When you begin to listen to yourself and quiet your mind you can start to see what you truly desire to be happy. You can set goals, make time for yourself and be aware of what is going on around you instead of being on auto-pilot. Everyone needs time to breathe and think about where there mind is in order to grow. If you are not controlling your thoughts than who is? Are you going through the day reacting as you have been programmed to do or are you living consciously?

I still have my moments that I am not proud of. Anger, frustration, worry and feeling overwhelmed sometimes can hit me hard. I am getting better of being aware when these emotions come up and naming them, acknowledging them and questioning why they are there and what to do with them. Negative emotions can be GREAT for noticing what you DON'T want but usually there is no benefit to staying in that space for too long. Negative emotions cause stress and stress leads to illness and un-wellness. I am trying my best when I do experience these emotions to breathe, work through what I am feeling and use my self-talk to turn things around. I love to get out and go for a walk when the weather and someone watching my kids permits but my fastest way to center is to be in quiet, breathe slowly and deeply and think CONSTRUCTIVELY instead of DESTRUCTIVELY. Other ways I turn my mood around and return to consciousness include putting on a song that I HAVE to dance to, calling a good friend, watching an inspiring video (like above), reading a great article or putting on Deepak Chopra's audio "Soul of Healing Meditations". My friend and fellow blogger Greg Butler at Holistic Personal Development has a lot of GREAT articles on consciousness that I highly recommend.

During this time of year it is easy to get off track and to have emotions get the better of you. It doesn't mean it has to be permanent and you don't have to let them control you or ruin your day. Take notice of them and figure out WHY they are there and what you can do to change them. Take the time to breathe, be conscious and recenter and you will feel better and be much more likely to STAY healthy during the end of the year rather than letting stress wear you down and make you ill.