Appreciate EVERY Moment NOT Just the GOOD ONES

I will begin with a poem by Rumi called "The Guest House":

This being human is a guesthouse
every morning a new arrival
a joy, a depression, a meanness
some momentary awareness
comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.
Still treat each guest honorably
he may be cleaning you out
for some new delight!

The dark thought, the shame, the malice
Meet them at the door laughing
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

This is one of my favorite poems and is posted in front of me between my computer monitor and my vision board. These are words that keep me sane through what might seem like "the end of my little world" at the time. It is so easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment, dramatize, and be so involved in your own despair, worry or anger that it spirals you downward. We have been taught that "bad things happen" and we react accordingly, often before we even have time to process the experience as a whole. Sometimes when we have gone over the same negative pattern of thinking so many times the initial problem becomes twenty times worse than it originally was.

You Can Learn from EVERY Emotion

EVERY moment and every emotion that you ever experience should not be judged harshly. If you judge and say things for example like:

"But I KNOW this should not have happened",
"They are so wrong -- how could they have done that to me?" or
"But they were PERFECT for me -- how could this relationship end?!"....

you are missing out on an important opportunity. Every experience can be learned from. Every strong emotion examined for cause and effect. Be grateful for the times that might seem the toughest because within you can find your greatest strength and learning experience. You stand to learn a lot about yourself and why your life is where it is at that moment when you are aware. Then you can fully experience life around you instead of letting it flow thoughtlessly on autopilot from moment to moment.

I have touched on this many times in "Do I Have to Be Positive ALL the Time for the Law of Attraction to work?" and in my several posts on consciousness. I was one to berate myself for feeling badly -- "But Jen, you study all this positive stuff -- how can you allow yourself to feel badly?" Now when I feel badly about a situation I ask myself different questions:

How AM I feeling? (What specific emotion)
What caused this? (Is it just this situation at hand or is there more baggage attached to it?)
What can I learn from this?
What can happen next that this turns out to be OK? (Just imagining the possibilities can bring a new calmness)

I then try and set a limit for the emotion if it is sadness, frustration, worry.... It is wonderful to process and feel fully a "negative" emotion but is not healthy if you just sit there and dwell in it indefinitely. There are techniques to "let go" if you find yourself hanging onto the negative emotion for too long.

There is also the issue that if you do not honor or process these emotions you will be creating blockages as well as not learning from the situation. When you do not learn from the experience -- history will repeat itself and you will be tested again until you learn the lesson. Even after you think you have learned that lesson it is possible that you will be presented with a similar situation again that will ensure you have mastered and know how to handle it. I recently encountered this and talk about it in my post, "5 Steps for 'Letting Go' and Moving Forward".

How Do You KNOW it Was Bad?

Tim Brownson is a fellow blogger that makes me laugh out loud he is so funny. I just got done reading Tim Brownson's book, "Don't Ask Stupid Questions? (There are no Stupid Questions)" and found a very relevant chapter "Had a Bad Day -- How do you KNOW?" Tim is also a life coach and I highly recommend checking out more on his blog, "A Daring Adventure " and his books. Tim has very wonderful, funny, genuine and insightful writing.

I am a BIG believer in "everything happens for a reason". KNOWING that can get you through just about anything. Even the most in tune intuitive does not know what will happen moment to moment and what it all means in the big scheme of things. How do you know your last relationship wasn't meant to end so someone better for you could come along? How do you know that job you "wanted so badly" wouldn't have made you miserable in 6 weeks? The truth is NO ONE can know why everything happens at the time it happens. I have seen first hand how looking at things this way produces new results and leaves you open to all the possibilities.

There are times when the reasons are easy to find when you examine the situation. When my husband took a job 5 hours away from the family it was easy to find SOME of the good in it; more money, more opportunity to sharpen skills, time to work on his websites and martial arts journal.... and some of the reasons are being revealed to us now.... he is making great contacts, he is able to reconnect with friends, I am getting my first alone quiet time (at night when the kids go to sleep) in 10 years..... Sure, I miss him and there are some times I get pretty sad about it and feel his absence greatly. What helps is allowing myself to be sad for that little while and also KNOWING we will be stronger for it as individuals and as a couple and appreciating all the things we are learning about ourselves and life in general through this process. I know there are lessons in this and welcome the experience instead of concentrating on how much I miss him which would make me miserable and accomplish nothing!

It is so important to "Listen to Your self-talk" when you are going through what might seem like a "trying" time. Are you in your old habits of telling yourself how bad things are and worrying or are you opening up to the possibility that you just MIGHT NOT KNOW EVERYTHING and maybe things are going this way for a reason?

When I was ill I was constantly telling myself how sick I was. I was worried about how tests would come out, I was busily making my next doctor appointments, I WAS my illness and therefore gave my body no time to be healthy. The way you talk to yourself, your reactionary habits, how you process emotions are all so important to your well being. Being "conscious" of your emotions and self-talk takes some time and you will have relapses (believe me I know). But as Mr. Tolle pointed out in the Oprah/Tolle Webinar on Eckhart Tolle's, "A New Earth", the lapses become more and more infrequent and farther apart. I am no Tolle but it is amazing how far I have come in the last 18 months. Once you are aware that YOU are the only one responsible for the "voice in your head" and start listening rather than letting the corresponding emotions or bodily reactions rule you... You will learn to appreciate ALL your emotions, know that they do in fact serve a purpose and celebrate every gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) moment this life has to offer you.

Pangea Day -- Are you Attending?

I wanted to tell everyone about a very special event happening this Saturday (May 10, 2008) ALL OVER THE WORLD. It is called Pangea Day and here is the summary and trailer of what it is from their site:

The Pangea Day Mission & Purpose

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.

Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.

The Pangea Day Event

Starting at 18:00 GMT on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person's eyes. Details on the Pangea Day films can be viewed here.

The program will also include a number of exceptional speakers and musical performers. Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof, Robin Williams, Cameron Diaz, Forest Whitaker, Iranian rock phenom Hypernova are among those taking part.

What Will Happen After Pangea Day

People inspired by Pangea Day will have the opportunity to participate in community-building activities around the world. Through the live program, the Pangea Day web site, and self-organized local events, everyday people will be connected with extraordinary activists and organizations.

History

In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim won the TED Prize, an annual award granted at the TED Conference. She was granted $100,000, and more important, a wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film. Pangea Day grew out of that wish. Watch Jehane Noujaim’s 2006 acceptance speech now.

There will be films, speakers and musical performances and even in my smallish town in upstate, NY there is a place for me to go and watch with my community. I highly recommend looking up your town and seeing where you can go to participate in this event. There will be many great storytellers and it is an important step in uniting people from all over the world. Pangea Day seeks to have us thinking of us all over the world as a "we" and universal Consciousness and awareness rather than an "us" and "them". It is events like this that strengthen spirit and bring people together.

Please visit the Pangea Day site or the Pangea Day site on You Tube for updates and to find out who will is participating.

Hope you can join me in celebrating this event!

Jill Bolte Taylor -- Stroke of Insight -- A Brain Researcher who had a stroke and studied it as it happened -- A Must see TED talk

When Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, neuroanatomist (brain researcher) realized she was having a stroke she decided to study the experience. Her talk at the TED conference brings to light the difference between the right and left brain hemispheres and also has surprising correlations with consciousness and ego. She watched and was aware as her ability to talk, decipher speech, use her limbs and recognize things disappeared and experienced what happened when the right side of her brain took over. Her story is a miraculous one and is very in line with a lot of the studies I have been doing the last 18 months on consciousness and being. Please watch the following video -- I assure you that you have never heard anything similar and it will stay with you.

Dr. Taylor decided she wanted to study the brain because of her brother who suffers from schizophrenia. She worked in the Harvard Department of Psychiatry and was a also an advocate for NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness). She wanted to know and understand the biological differences between the brains of those who are "normal" as opposed to those diagnosed with schizophrenia and similar illnesses. She was also studying how the cells and the 2 hemispheres of the brain communicated. Through her stroke she was able to experience this first hand.

LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN/
EGO VS. CONSCIOUSNESS

Her hemorrhage was in the left side of her brain which controls linear and methodical thinking. The left side of your brain uses your past experiences to categorize, it picks out details of your experiences and makes associations and also projects thoughts about the future. The left side will also send you messages as "remember to go shopping" and is your constant mind chatter and self talk. The left side is essentially what Eckhart Tolle calls "the ego" and always makes sure that you know you are "separate from others".

The right side of your brain is about now, or as Eckhart Tolle calls it "consciousness". The right side of your brain thinks in pictures and it learns kinesthetically through the movement of our bodies. It is our senses but is NOT our language and our labels on everything. It is silent and is energy and it is what connects us to everyone else.

You have to watch the video and listen to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's explanation of all she went through to save herself during her stroke. All the realizations she came across and all the distinctions she was able to make. Her profession as a brain researcher allowed her to recognize what was happening each step of the way. It took her 8 years to fully recover from her stroke and now she is spreading her message which is a very important one.

Eckhart Tolle in "A New Earth" talks about the importance of being in the now and quieting the mind chatter. When Jill suffered her stroke her mind chatter was suddenly silenced for her. In "A New Earth" Mr. Tolle talks about trying to observe things but not label them rather just experience them and feel their energy. Jill Taylor lost all perception of where her body ended and the world around her began -- she was one with the other energy around her. When you listen to Eckhart Tolle speak you can sense his peacefulness and how present he is. When Dr. Taylor's left brain hemorrhaged she was thrust into the silence and beauty of being present only through how the right brain perceives the world.


During Dr. Taylor's eight years of recovery she needed to relearn how to read, walk, talk and write again. She goes into her recovery in detail in her book, "My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey". What stayed with Dr. Taylor was the experience and the importance of the right brain to us all. She points out that we are two very different entities just as Mr. Tolle does. Mr. Tolle talks about the ego and consciousness and she describes it as your left and right brain functions. By reading "A New Earth" and other readings and practicing the methods within you can begin to experience moments where your right brain is in control or "consciousness". I have experienced moments of this and boy is it beautiful. Dr. Taylor ends her speech by acknowledging we can all decide which side of the brain we want to live out of -- the left which is how our ego identifies, labels and separates us or our right which is peace, consciousness, being aware of our senses in the now and our connection with everyone.

By taking the Oprah and Tolle FREE Webinar -- you learn about this and about awakening as they take you chapter by chapter through "A New Earth". The course only has 2 weeks left but they leave all the lessons on the Oprah site for free or you can download them right to your IPOD. I highly recommend listening to this course however you can and joining the millions world wide who have already done so.

Jill Taylor made this amazing talk at the TED conference this year. If you have not visited the TED site or signed up I highly recommend doing so. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and gathers the top people in these areas to one conference to talk about "An Idea worth Spreading" and they each have 20 minutes to do so. I have seen some of the best speeches in my life by watching talks in the TED library. It is free to sign up and if you like inspirational or thought provoking videos -- be warned -- you might spend hours mesmerized and unable to leave this incredible site!

I am actively coaching although I have limited time slots available. You can contact me for a free 1/2 hour consultation. I am always available for comments, questions and suggestions either right here or by emailing me at jennymannion@yahoo.com. Please share this video with others.

Thoughts Affect Your Body

This week I have found two GREAT things to read on how thoughts affect your body. My good friend Angela told me of an article written by Robert Moss of Parade Magazine and featured on MSN titled "Thoughts Can Heal Your Body". Anyone that has read my blog or e-book knows this is EXACTLY what I talk about and how my thoughts were instrumental in healing myself of chronic pain and several chronic illnesses. I also have been participating in the Tolle/Oprah Webinar and this week Chapter 5 "The Pain Body" from Mr. Tolle's "A New Earth" was being discussed. Mr. Tolle is wonderful at explaining how the "voice in your head" and your thoughts play an integral part of who you are and how your body is affected.

Robert Moss's Article

Mr. Moss points out that new age thinking has been saying thoughts affect health for a very long time and now medical research is proving it true. I have talked before about pysychoneuroimmunulogy and am thrilled that there are many studies being done now to prove JUST how powerful the mind is and how our thoughts are connected to our health. I highly recommend you read Mr. Moss's article "Thoughts Can Heal Your Body" because he does an excellent job of citing studies and making recommendations to help you change your thoughts. From meditation as a stress relief, to the placebo effect, to hypnosis and visualization.... Mr. Moss shows how all of these are evidence of thoughts contributing to your health. Mr. Moss cites studies that sports psychologists have done that prove skiers whether just visualizing a race or actually performing the race -- the body reacts as if it is the same. In the movie "The Secret" they talk about the same thing with other athletes picturing a race versus running the race -- the body believes you are participating in whatever activity you are visualizing and will react the same way. Again, Mr. Moss has lots of studies referenced in his article and I highly recommend reading it.

My Experience with Thoughts Affecting MY Health

You can see how if you are always thinking "I am sick" your body will believe this and respond accordingly. In my last article "Healing from Within" I go into how you must face some issues to really understand what your body is trying to communicate to you by manifesting physical symptoms. I BECAME my illnesses for years because tests and doctors were telling me JUST how sick I was and that I would not get better. NEVER did anyone suggest that my thoughts might be contributing to my illnesses and might also help me heal my illnesses. With my "Paging Me System" that I summarize on Alex Blackwell's blog, "The Next 45 Years" several of my points deal with thoughts. Shifting Attention, Gratitude and No Negative Self Talk are all points where you have to become cognizant of your thoughts and work to change any negative habits that have formed.

Shifting Attention

Upon waking when I was sick every ounce of my attention would go to my hurting limbs. Shifting attention to the one tiny part that was healthy and feeling grateful for that part -- was a powerful way to "think my way healthy". Certain thoughts become habits and we all know habits usually do not change over night. The most important part is to be patient with yourself. I had heard for 6 years JUST how SICK I was from doctors and I believed it because tests "proved it". It took a few weeks for me to catch myself any time I told myself I was sick or was concentrating on a part that hurt and to become actively conscious of those messages. Turning those message around to "I am SO healthy because my fingers feel good" took some time and effort but soon became effortless because THEY were my new habit. Psychologists say it takes 3 weeks for a new habit to become just that -- a habit. Three weeks is not long at all considering how long most habits have been in place. I know I had at least 5 years of concentrating and telling myself JUST how ill I was and by 3 weeks the new habit was formed.

"The Pain Body"

Tolle explains in "A New Earth", "Any negative emotion that is not fully faced and seen for what it is in the moment it arises does not completely dissolve. It leaves behind a remnant of pain". He later states, "The remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of join together to form an energy field that lives in the very cells of your body. It consists not just of childhood pain, but also painful emotions that were added to it later in adolescence and during your adult life, much of it created by the voice of the ego. It is the emotional pain that is your unavoidable companion when a false sense of self is the basis of your life. This energy field of old but still very-much-alive emotion that lives in almost every human being is the pain-body."

When I read Mr. Tolle's description of the pain-body it resonated thoroughly. I addressed consciousness and forgiveness in my last post "Healing From Within" and this very much comes into play with facing and dissolving the pain-body. If you are carrying around a heavy burden from the past and every time you think about it you become upset all over again -- how do you think that will affect your body? If you are bearing a grudge or are blaming someone or yourself for something -- how will THAT affect your body? Similarly if you are caught up worrying about your future and what WILL be and what might never be -- how will your body react?

Everyone has had many ups and downs in their own lives -- that is life. Dwelling on the past or worrying about your future does not serve you in a positive manner. Mr. Tolle talks about the "Power of Now" and being conscious and I believe this is the easiest way to start accessing your thoughts and REALLY start to listen to what you are telling yourself. Consistent negative thoughts will affect your body -- emotionally and physically. After all if you are not controlling your thoughts, who is?

Take steps to become more conscious. Follow the steps Mr. Moss outlines at the end of his article, start reading "A New Earth" and do Mr. Tolle's exercises as well as participate in his Webinar with Oprah, read my e-book and start applying the Paging Me System. There are a lot of ways to actively become more conscious, start recognizing and changing past habits and ensure that your thoughts are actively improving your life and making it the best it can be instead of hindering it and causing you emotional and/or physical pain.

I am a Mind/Body connection mentor and offer a free 1/2 hour consultation. Please contact me at jennymannion@yahoo.com or via Skype at Jennifer.Mannion if you would like more information.

Healing From Within

The definition of the word "heal" is "to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment". Since I have first hand experience in healing myself this word means a lot to me and not a day goes by when I don't say to myself "I am SO grateful for my healing and health". Since I have healed myself not only do I NOT have Fibromyalgia, Benign Hypermobility Syndrome or Chronic Mono anymore but I have only had two colds in the last 15 months. Even those 2 colds I can attribute to me not getting sleep, not treating my body well, getting caught up in the stress of the moment and falling into old patterns of behavior. Once you understand JUST how much the mind affects the body anyone can put into practice what I have done and obtain better health.

I gave a synopsis of the method I adopted (and coach from) in a guest post on Alex Blackwell's Blog "The Next 45 Years" and I go into more detail of "The Paging Me System" in my ebook. Today I want to talk a little about what we do know about how the mind affects the body, about how consciousness affects your health and also discuss the role of forgiveness in being healthy.

Your Body Is Always Creating New Cells

This knowledge was my "AHA moment" for me in the movie "The Secret". KNOWING that my body is always creating new cells and replaces itself continuously. Understanding that WHERE your mind is influences what kind of cells your body is creating hit me like a ton of bricks. Dr. Deepak Chopra goes into this in much more depth in his book "Ageless Body Timeless Mind". The following quote from the book lays out the facts clearly, "The skin replaces itself once a month, the stomach lining every five days, the liver every six weeks, and the skeleton every three months. To the naked eye, these organs look the same from moment to moment, but they are always in flux. By the end of this year, 98 percent of the atoms of your body will have been exchanged for new ones." Followed a few pages later by "A lifetime of unconscious living leads to numerous deteriorations, while a lifetime of conscious participation prevents them."

This totally rang true on so many levels. I WAS my illnesses. I had been going to doctors for years to get these diagnoses and doing tons of research on what having these diseases meant for my life and for the future of my family. The doctors confirmed that I WAS chronically ill and gave me many diagnoses. They told me I would not get better and would be getting worse. I had a multitude of medical tests over several years that proved it so. But yet with this new information something snapped in me and I knew "I COULD and WOULD heal myself".

What does Being Conscious Have to do with Illnesses Anyway?

EVERYTHING! Your body hears what your mind is saying and more importantly HOW those words are making you FEEL. Are you on auto-pilot through the day or are you aware of your self talk? How do you react to others? What is your general mood? What are your most common emotions? Are you holding onto some anger or blame so tight that it consumes your daily thoughts making you feel drained and "bad"? Or are you able to notice but "let go" of negative feelings and move on to something happier and more productive? Think about it for a minute.... how did you feel the last time something unexpected that you perceived as negative happened? Did you think about it for a few moments, recognize how it made you feel but then decide to move on? Did you attempt to try to find the "good" in the situation? Most people will take one thing that didn't go their way and let it spiral them downward. Some will let something eat them up so badly they start experiencing physical symptoms; a headache, tension in their back, aches....

Eckhart Tolle in "A New Earth" defines emotion as "the body's reaction to your mind or a thought". When you think something (even if it is subconsciously) your body FEELS the result of that thought. Tolle describes a negative emotion as "an emotion that is toxic to the body and interferes with its balance and harmonious functioning. " Fear, anxiety, anger, bearing a grudge, sadness, hatred or intense dislike, jealousy, envy -- all disrupt the energy flow through the body, affect the heart, the immune system, digestion, production of hormones, and so on. Even mainstream medicine ... is beginning to recognize the connection between negative emotional states and physical disease."

After you have just talked to someone -- does the emotion that person was feeling rub off on you? I know there are plenty of people and situations that I could put myself in (but choose not to anymore) that would leave me feeling drained and defeated and sometimes physically in pain. I am sure you know some people that do the following -- you ask "How are you?" and you either get a smirk, complaint or an "Okay, I guess". How does it make you feel when you hear them respond like that? Eckhart Tolle states, "An emotion that does harm to the body also infects the people you come into contact with and indirectly through a process of chain reaction, countless others you never meet."

Throughout life EVERYONE has experienced "let downs", "chaos", "difficult times" and Yes, MOST have experienced the "less than perfect childhood". It is what you have taken and learned from these experiences that will make you stronger inside and out. If there are issues you have not come to terms with whether it be anger, blame, fear, self-esteem issues -- they will manifest in other ways. Healing these issues, facing them head on MIGHT cause some discomfort (emotionally or physically) but it will allow you to release them and become aware of how they have affected you for so long. There are many methods of letting go of past issues such as EFT or The Sedona Method but the one I find most effective for me is good old forgiveness.

Forgiveness/Pardoning

Pardoning is the P of my Paging Me System and there is a reason it is first besides the fact that it worked for the acronym! I have written 2 posts so far about forgiveness, "Heal Pain by Saying I am Sorry" and "Heal Pain with Self-forgiveness". Aaron Potts of "Today is That Day" has a wonderful article on the Hawaiian practice of Ho'oponopono which is an easy yet powerful forgiveness technique to put into practice.

The thing that has helped me the MOST with forgiveness is really examining the situation I was hanging onto and coming up with WHAT I learned from that experience. Forgiveness of myself for bad judgment, mis-said things or actions I wish I could have taken back. Forgiveness of others for how I perceived what they said or what they did and what lessons I learned from the experience. Yes, even situations that when I would think back would make my blood boil -- those are exactly the experiences you need to revisit and learn from.

Dr. Deepak Chopra has one of my favorite quotes that I remind myself of often, 'Everyone is doing the best they can from their own state of consciousness". Most people that abuse were abused themselves, most people that spread gossip have grown up hearing gossip... these patterns repeat themselves and while it does NOT make what anyone did "okay" it makes it a little easier to wrap your head around and get yourself ready for forgiveness. A lot of "hard" life lessons result in us being stronger, some make us look a little closer at our life and we gain some insight as to what we will and won't allow to happen to ourselves. If you don't take some time to gain this insight in a way you are setting yourself up for the same things to be done to you again until you "get it".

Harboring anger costs you so much energy -- by letting it go you are telling yourself "I have spent enough of my life worrying, dwelling on this". You can choose to forgive and put the past behind you and decide to be present instead. The past can only hurt you if you keep bringing it up over and over again. If you figure out WHY what happened occurred and what you learned from it you can still have the memory but leave the emotions associated with the memory behind. It is by being PRESENT and not worrying about the past or the future that you can control your emotions and use them to bring you healing, health and happiness.

I have to reiterate that the Oprah/Eckhart Tolle FREE Webinar is nothing short of brilliant. Mr. Tolle is all about "awareness and consciousness and being in the now". This coming Monday, March 31 he will be discussing the Chapter 5 "The Pain Body" which is brilliant. In my post "Influences: People, Places and Things -- Make them Predominantly Positive", I have a short video of Mr. Tolle talking about "The Pain Body".

I have officially started as a mind/body mentor and my clients are seeing amazing results. I offer a free 1/2 hour consultation if you contact me at jennymannion.com or via Skype at jennifer.mannion

Awareness Test -- Where is your Awareness?

I came across this You Tube video and had to do a post relating to it! I would love for you to take this quick awareness test before you finish this post.



Amazing huh? What were your results? If you, like me did not see the moon-walking bear you can understand the message of this video clearly. You only really notice what you are focusing on and it is easy to miss the rest. While this was a service announcement to warn you to watch out for cyclists (which of course is important) you can carry this message MUCH further.

What are you focusing on throughout your day? Are you making time to look around and appreciate the good and beauty all around or are you focused on the negative? I have addressed this in my post, "Are you listening to your self talk?" as to the messages you are telling yourself but it works the same with what you are seeing.

Are you seeing the traffic ahead or are you stopping to appreciate the world around you? Are you concentrating on those bills or are you stopping and paying gratitude for those checks that come in? Are you seeing that you are gaining weight or are you watching and paying attention to the food you are putting into your body? Most people eat without consciousness at all yet that subtle shift can help you to lose weight. Many people will complain about bills but not take that second to be grateful for their paycheck. A lot of people will curse in traffic rather than taking a moment to look around and notice the mountains, scenery or if you are in a city the changes taking place around you as well as all the interesting people. What you look at and take in you will internalize.

Oprah gave a great example of what I am talking about in her follow up show on "The Secret" a few weeks ago. She talked about how after having a master bubble blower on her show she was wishing for bubbles and said she couldn't wait to share bubbles with her God Daughter. She got back to her desk and there was a big package of bubbles with a silver bubble wand. She found out the bubbles had BEEN there for weeks and she had never noticed them before. Suddenly when she WAS consciously thinking about bubbles -- there they were.

What is right in front of you that is a gift that you are taking for granted? Are you seeing your spouse's quirks but not noticing all the great things they do? Are you noticing how your kids make a mess but not how much they are growing every day? You can apply this simple lesson to anything in your life. Set the intention.... "I will notice 3 things today that I did not notice before" -- and it will happen. Your life has good in it no matter how bad it may seem. Looking for the good will enable you to find it -- be sure to pay gratitude for it when you do - that is what enables you to find even more treasures!

I am enjoying the Oprah/Eckhart Tolle "A New Earth" class IMMENSELY. He talks a lot about awareness and it is not too late to sign up. Tonight is week 3 and you can always watch the class after the fact. It is free and you will learn a lot about being aware and consciousness.

I am a mind body connection mentor and offer a free 1/2 hour consultation. For more information email me at jennymannion@yahoo.com.

Eckhart Tolle & Oprah Web Course -- A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

By now I am sure some of you have heard of Oprah and Eckhart Tolle's monumental free web course they are offering. Since this week I met quite a few people that had not yet heard of it -- I have decided to do a post to tell you this is truly something NOT to be missed. Week 2 of the class begins Monday but it would be quite easy to catch up. The class will be held every Monday at 9PM EST for a full 10 weeks (9 weeks left). Every week they will be discussing a chapter from Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". You can logon to Oprah.com to get more info, sign up and watch week 1 or download it to your IPOD as a way to decide if you want to participate. The book you can pick up from the library, buy or download it to your amazon kindle and save on paper and money and have it within 2 minutes. You need to log on to oprah.com to get your free worksheets which ask very insightful questions to answer after every chapter. This past Monday over 500,000 people showed up to listen and it was inspiring to see JUST how many people are willing to open their minds and ears to listen to this important message.

So who Is Eckhart Tolle and what is "A New Earth" about? A New Earth is about becoming "conscious" and the shift that this world is undertaking and so desperately needs. My first encounter with Tolle was listening to the audio version of his book "The Power of Now". I love "The Power of Now" but find "A New Earth" in a better format and he offers very clear exercises to discover the inner you, awaken and differentiate yourself from your ego. I would find it hard to put it better than Amazon's summary, "In A New Earth, Tolle expands on powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence."

The first week's video is a great one to watch. Eckhart and Oprah explain how "A New Earth" is very in-line with religion -- instead of against it as many think and is a major reason for some shying away from it. I have covered posts that touch on issues covered in this book including listening to your self talk, consciousness and about two weeks ago I wrote a post called "Influences; People, Places, Things -- make them Positive" where I mention Tolle and the movie "The Shift". I feel Tolle and the movie "The Shift" are right on target about where our future is heading and are very important for people to become aware of. There are many discussions going on about this web course and "A New Earth" right now. From Facebook, to Oprah's Discussion Boards, to yahoo groups and one of my favorite blogs Evolving Times. There are so many people interested in this because of the importance. If you haven't experienced Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" yet I highly recommend it. I'm involved in quite a few discussion groups on it and look forward to talking with you and hearing your comments! I always make myself available to answer questions.

Book review: "What's YOUR Expiry Date?" by Patrick Mathieu

In January I entered a contest on Peter's "I Will Change Your Life" blog. The contest asked you to leave a comment on a guest post written by Patrick Mathieu on the methods you use in the morning to "Kick start your day". I was thrilled to win the book "What's your expiry date?: Embrace your mortality -- Live with vitality" by Patrick Mathieu. Patrick has an exceptionally inspirational story that involves his heart defects since birth, him being told he would not live past 30 and how he embraced this knowledge and decided to live in the present instead of worrying about the past or future. Patrick's message of "Enjoy Now" is one that we can all learn from and apply to our lives. Patrick's book is VERY easy to read and takes you through his phases (much like the the Kubler-Ross study) of dealing with impending death and his mortality. Unlike the Kubler-Ross study though Patrick takes it a step further and does not just ACCEPT his mortality but celebrates it and challenges you to do the same. Patrick was able to look at his diagnosis as not a death sentence but instead a wake-up call. I looked at my healing with similar eyes but the difference is I thought I was in for a lot of suffering but was never told that I would die.

Patrick's book woke me up to the fact that while life was MUCH better, I was looking to the future to how much better I would continue to make it instead of just living for "now" and appreciating every single moment. "What's Your Expiry Date?" came at such a perfect time for me. I have been asking a few of my online favorites (Albert of "The Urban Monk" and Tim Ferris of "The 4-Hour Workweek" how to balance time when you LOVE what you do. Patrick's book answered this question for me. Yes, I LOVE doing what I do and I am very grateful to be sharing my story with many and touching lives. I am so excited to become a life coach and even touch more lives. But if today was my last day on Earth would I want it to be JUST about the progress my blog/writing will make and how many people I will influence? I would definitely want it to be PART of the day but not all. I have 2 wonderful children that are growing up too fast already that I want to spend QUALITY time with each day. I want to show my husband how important he is to me and how much I love him every day. I want to reach out to friends and family and make sure no one doubts that they are in my thoughts and that I am grateful for them. I want to make sure I do something for myself every single day whether it be a walk, dance, cross country skiing or simply meditating. THAT is what makes up my perfect day and that is what I now know I will strive to balance every day.

After reading "What's Your Expiry Date" I will look at my life differently. I have grown a lot in the last year and I am SO grateful for that. I am "present" and conscious more often but do find myself thinking about the future a lot. I am not saying to not think about the future and set goals -- setting goals is essential in knowing what you want and making accomplishments. But when you fit into what Patrick calls the "Once Trap" (ex. Once I get this raise, we will go on vacation...etc) it is easy to forget that what is important is here and now. My favorite quote from his book is, "Now is the only time we ever have". It is so important to choose what we are doing "now". What do you choose? Do you choose to be happy and do what you love? Do you choose to sit around worrying about things that might or might not happen?

Patrick maintains a wonderful blog at Power of Mortality where you can learn more about his book and his life. He also has a coaching practice and helps his clients live a life that is FEARLESS, FOCUSED and FREE FROM REGRETS. He offers a free 30-minute initial session. Patrick has a lot to share and I highly recommend picking up "What's Your Expiry Date" and learning more about his important message to "Enjoy Now".

Do I Have to Stay Positive ALL the Time for the Law of Attraction to Work?

This is a question I get a lot and the short answer is "no". Everyone encounters moments or events that get them "off track" and that require some thought other than "I can't think of that because it is negative". It is natural to notice when things are not going the way you want them to in your life -- it is what you do with that knowledge that makes the difference. Are you sulking around for days wishing it was different or are you using the knowledge to move you in a more positive direction?

I would spend days in bed sad over the latest test result I got when I was ill. It seemed they were always coming up with additional diagnosis and I was always being sent for more tests. I would concentrate on "how sick I was" and "how I couldn't be the person I wanted to be" and would read books on my illnesses and go to online forums where people talked about "being so sick". I was focusing on my illnesses and I would WISH I would wake up one day and be healed but it was just that -- a desperate wish surrounded by all my negative thoughts. Before learning about the Law of Attraction or the mind/body connection I would never have dreamed that actually visualizing myself well and shifting attention to the few body parts that didn't hurt could influence my physical health.

It is certainly OK to realize what is not right in your life. Admitting what you don't want should allow you to shed a light on what you DO want. Knowing what you do want allows you to set goals, mini goals and plan for action to lead you to your final destination. The law of attraction says "Ask, Believe and Receive". In order to Ask you need to KNOW what you want. Some people have spent months or years concentrating on what they don't want, "I don't want to be fat", "I don't want to be poor" -- these are the wrong messages to send out. Turning them around and affirming them is simple. "I do want to be skinny", "I DO want to be rich". Not only are you speaking in positive terms but it is putting yourself in the right space for the next step.

Belief is an arguable point. Some people say that if you write down what you want and say it enough times it will come true. For me, I KNOW I NEED to believe in what I am trying to accomplish for what I want to come true. There were times in my healing process that I got off track and felt "this is hard". Sometimes I would have worse pain then I had experienced in a while. But KNOWING and BELIEVING with all my heart that I would make myself better allowed me to quickly get back into that space. I experienced set backs as you do in the road to achieving most goals. There were a few days when I had more stress than usual or a meeting for my invention didn't quite go the way I wanted and I would feel pain starting to creep its way back in. The difference was that I was focused on my end goal, believed it and would use that awareness of me feeling stressed to re-focus myself. I would tell myself "things won't always go perfectly the way you imagine them -- you have to learn to live with these little bumps and notice them and let them go so you can get on with your healing". I would also ask myself 'What can I learn from this experience?". Sometimes I would give myself a time limit to wallow in my sadness a bit. "Ok, Jen you can be upset tonight but you will do your gratitude list before bed and you will wake up feeling MUCH better".

Along with believing I think self-love and self-worth are integral to be in the right place to receive. Do you believe you are worthy of your final goal? Do you keep questioning whether or not this can work for you? You do not have to ALWAYS be sending yourself positive messages but are you MOSTLY sending positive or negative messages to yourself? Are you listening (REALLY listening) to your self-talk? Are you living consciously and believing you can do what you have set out to do? It does not matter what others say about your goal (if you have shared it) -- it matters what YOU believe. We often put a lot of self-limiting beliefs on ourselves as well as fear. There are methods to "let these things go". Meditation, EFT, NLP, The Sedona Method -- find a method that feels right to you and "let go" of the emotions that are holding you back from receiving. There are tons of videos available on youtube that highlight each of these methods for free.

No, you don't have to walk around in some fog "acting happy all the time" for the law of attraction to work for you. You DO have to be conscious of your self talk and what you are feeling and how you react when things "don't go your way". After all who are we to say we know exactly how things are meant to be? Life sometimes moves in ways we think are "bad for us" and it turns out to be the best thing possible. Try and find the lesson to be learned the next time something goes differently than expected, "let go of the negative emotions attached to the event" and refocus on your goals so you are in the right mind frame to receive.

Are you Listening to Your Self-Talk?

I have written about self-talk a bunch of times because it was such an integral part of me healing myself. I was on auto-pilot for YEARS and just moving through my days without really listening to what my mind was saying. Oh, it said QUITE a lot and I HEARD it but I was not conscious of what the words and thoughts were doing to my body or how they affected me. I already wrote about how self-talk affected my pain levels and to read about that you can go here or read my e-book.

Today I want to talk about how negative versus positive self-talk can affect your life and how you can change it. When you are standing in line at a grocery store and you realize the person in front of you has an item that isn't ringing up and it will be a while -- how do you react? Do you calmly smile and say, "I hate when that happens -- it's Ok" and pick up a magazine or take the opportunity to think about your day and things that make you happy? When someone cuts you off driving maybe a little more aggressively than needed, do you say to yourself, "Wow -- they must be in a hurry?" and move onto the next thought. Or continue singing along with a good song on the radio? I think it's safe to say many of us have similar experiences to these or other things that might seem "not to go our way or cause distractions" almost daily. Only YOU can choose how your react to these situations and the messages you send yourself.

We all have knee jerk reactions to certain situations because they have happened a bunch of times in our lives and it is our habit to react that way. The great news is (most psychologists agree) it takes only 3 weeks (or 21 consistent days) of being mindful and changing your reaction to ingrain a new habit. I want you to think for a second about how you reacted to one of the above or a similar circumstance the last time it happened. If you reacted with calmness, clarity and the desire to focus on something happy -- GOOD FOR YOU! Most people will react to these situations with anger, impatience, frustration and some even despair.

So how do you begin to change your habits and your self-talk if you commonly have negative reactions to situations like these? I can tell you what worked for me.... Firstly I thought about the most common occurrences in my life that caused me stress and rationalized them. Let's take the grocery store example. If someone needs a "price check" or there is another reason for a hold up -- usually no one is happy about the situation. It means extra work for the check out person to either look up the item themselves or have someone help, the person it happened to is feeling stressed because they are "holding up the line" and the people behind in line are giving evil looks and looking at their watches wondering "how long it will take". Now let's look at the possible reactions.

You could get stressed and mutter under your breath, huff and puff
about running late and bring your blood pressure up a few notches.

You could show empathy to the person in front of you and the check out
person by saying "I hate when that happens -- don't worry about it I'm
in no hurry" which will probably get a smile or two and add a bit of relief.

You could stop and breathe, think about how best to use this unexpected
time and go on from there.

Your time is only wasted if you tell yourself it is – there is always a place to go in your mind to make the use of time more positive.

Currently I react the second and third way but for years reacted with hostility, frustration and worry over being late or "thrown off schedule". In reality, how much longer will it take? A few minutes? Wouldn't you RATHER spend that time productively or feeling good instead of feeling badly and upset about a situation that is brief and you have no control over? Wouldn't you rather relax the person in front of you and the check out person by commenting lightly and then think about something positive? Only YOU can make the decision to be mindful and to change the messages you are receiving.

Let's take the second example of the speeding driver because "road rage" is something a lot of people are guilty of. I grew up in NYC and because I grew up with public transportation and the fact that I walked everywhere -- did not learn to drive until I was 21. I did not drive daily until I was 29 and living in New Jersey (in my experience, THE WORST state to drive in). Road rage was something I had heard of but never experienced myself. WOW -- did I get my fill in the 5 years we were there! My husband and I even adopted the 3 A$%hole rule for ANY drive you took. Meaning every morning when I drove my son to preschool (4 miles but 20 minutes away with NJ rush hour traffic) I would count the A$%holes that cut me off and as I said, "#1" I would breathe and not get upset, the same with #2 and #3. After #3 I was allowed to get upset and it was time to get off of the road and pull in somewhere to take a breath and rejuvenate before I drove again.... and started off again with #1. It was a good temporary solution for us but in hindsight it still left us thinking negatively about people and did not put me in a good space at all considering most days my count was up to #3 and I was ready to blow!

What positive things can you say to yourself after being cut off? Firstly wish the person well. If they are in that much of a hurry to be aggressive they likely are not very happy, are rushing to get somewhere or are a very bad driver that will probably wind up hurt at some point. Putting the positive energy out there for that person and in your head lets you move on and feel good instead of letting your rage escalate about something that is over and done with. You can tell yourself to "let it go" that instant. Realize that the moment is over and refocus on finding a good song on the radio or appreciating the scenery in the world around you. You can also give yourself a mental pat on the back for your improved behavior and for listening to your POSITIVE self-talk!

To change your self-talk you need to be conscious of what you are saying to yourself. Making changes like this GREATLY affect your life. Positive self-talk reduces your stress level which in turn reduces your chance of illness and pain. What situations are recurring in your life that bring you stress and how are YOU going to change the messages you send yourself? No one can change the way you look at, perceive things and talk to yourself about ANYTHING besides you.

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.