11:11:11 - Opportunity to Renew and Transform

Whether you believe in the 11:11 concept or not.... I encourage you, on this Veteran's Day (in the US), to take a few moments to give thanks for the freedoms we have - breathing a prayer of gratitude to those living and dead who have and are giving their lives to ensure our freedoms in our world.

Also I encourage you to take time to look at your "inner" world... and consider the questions....

• Are you really free?
• Are there areas in your life where you have given away your personal power?
• Are you being "held hostage" by negative thoughts, worry, fear?
• How do you see yourself? What's your self-image?

If your answers are not what you'd like them to be, this is a great opportunity for you to begin to transform them. Change begins with a decision. Set the intention and resolve to create a more positive inner world. Determine the steps needed to bring about those changes and follow through!

Remember - Even if the changes you want are in your "outer" world - most of those things are out of our control. The only thing we really have control of is our Self - our "inner" world, which includes our perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

The good news is that as we make those changes on the inside, our outer world begins to transform as well!

Here's to continuing the Journey.... giving thanks for the freedom we enjoy in our outer world.... taking time to examine our "inner" world and initiate changes that create a more positive, fulfilling life inside and out!

-Becky

If you're interested in learning more about the 11:11 concept, a good place to start is Tania Gabrielli's blog.

Fast Way to Get Out of Overwhelm

Overwhelm is one of my favorite self-sabotage techniques. And I can get there pretty quickly.

It happens most often when I get side-tracked - as I discovered again this morning!

I woke up this morning with a brilliant idea for a product tumbling around in my head. While having coffee I mapped out plans for it, then went back to my office to get started.

About 15 or so minutes into it I wanted to incorporate some ideas I'd written out from a teleclass I'd listened to a few days before... but I couldn't find my notes about it. (Yeah... I know, that organization thing... it needs work too!)

So... I thought I'd just look quickly online to see if I could find something similar....

An hour and a half later, making myself close the web-brower...... I was completely overwhelmed and the drive to get this project done had dissipated.

It didn't seem important now. And actually NOTHING seemed important.

But, luckily, I still had at least some wits about me.... Instead of taking a regroup nap (after all, it was only 7:30 in the morning!)... I decided to take a shower and regroup.

That helped me get some perspective and got me out of the overwhelm mindset/feeling - (it's the old actions-change-feelings "trick").

After the shower I wrote down the answers to this question: "What's most important for moving forward today?" (And yes, writing a blog post was on the list :) - also interestingly, the product idea did not make the "A" list for today.)

What DID make the "A" list were things I'd been putting off that really needed to get done and had deadlines this week. (Okay, yes, I admit.... getting organized was on the "A" list. I've been putting it off a long time.... and now things are getting backlogged because of it.)

So - long story short - the fastest way I know to get out of overwhelm is to do that thing you've been putting off that really needs to be done!

Usually the putting-off-of-it is much more time and effort consuming than the doing-of-it!

AND you feel so relieved and have a much lightened energy about your when it's over.

At least it did for me. :)

How about you?

Here's to continuing the Journey.... getting overwhelmed..... and learning to get out and back on track quickly....

-Becky

Practice doesn't make perfect...

... It makes confident!

"I have more self-confidence now. Starting out I was very nervous. My heart would be going very fast. I get a lot of practice in front of the television cameras and I'm more comfortable doing shows now."

- Mike Pascual

The more you do something, the more comfortable and better you get at it.

For instance, we all "sucked" at walking the first time we tried it. But we kept trying, kept "practicing" it till we got confident enough to let go of mom or dad's hand (or whatever support we were holding on to) and DO IT ourselves. Then there was no stopping us!

Do you still have that kind of determination to succeed now?

Make a list of things that you want to do or achieve. With each item ask yourself:

• How confident do I feel right now doing/achieving this? 
• What would I need to feel more confident?

I can confidently guarantee that the bottom line answer to feeling more confident in each of those things you listed is..... getting more experience doing it. 

Experience.... "practice" .... makes confidence. 

And that confidence - or lack of it - determines your beliefs.... which determine your actions... which become your experience.... 

... Which can either turn into a vicious downward cycle or a happy empowering consequence. 

The choice is yours. 

Here's to continuing the Journey.... practicing.... and growing confidence.... daily. 

-Becky

7 Soul Messages for Spiritual Healing - Message 7

This "7 Soul Messages for Spiritual Healing" Series is meant to offer a different perspective, or a new way of looking at things, and give some tips to help heal those "imbalances and disharmonies" we've collected along the way.... (see original post)

Soul Message #7:  Communication is The Golden Key

Clear communication is critical in relationships - whether at work or at home.

At work... If you're the supervisor or manager, you must know what you want and be able to express it in a way that is understood by your employees....

If you're the employee, you have to have a clear understanding of what's expected, and be able to communicate any needs or limitions to fellow colleagues or management....

At home, communicating needs, desires, wants, feelings, and upsets is essential for harmonious co-habitation!

You also need to be able to communicate with your Self.

To communcate means to "be in touch" and... don't you really have to "be in touch" with yourself BEFORE you can communicate honestly with another person?

• How can you truthfully speak about your needs and desires if you haven't made time to reflect on what they are?
• How can you set healthy boundaries or limits when you haven't explored what really means for you?
• How can you verbelize an upset when you're unclear about what it is you're actually feeling?

Sometimes it may seem that not speaking up - not communicating - is good judgement. But how many times has it really been FEAR - not "discretion" - that kept you from reaching out?

Sharing what has been withheld can be a transformational, healing experience. It helps you clarify your ideas, feelings, and position. And it restores trust. This is true whether the "sharing" is with another person or with your Self - your Higher Self.

Writing down your thoughts and feelings on paper is the best way I know to honestly get "in touch" with your Self. You can sit and just "think" about it... but it's too easy to get off track, start day-dreaming, or allow distracting mind-chatter to get in the way.

Using a pen and paper to physically write things down slows your brain so that you CAN actually think! Plus the kinesthetic act of writing taps in to the subconscious mind where non-verbalized thoughts, feelings, and beliefs live.

Writing also helps you tap in to your intuition, which is the language of the Soul.

Journal Exercise

Start keeping track of your ideas, feelings, insights, questions, beliefs, goals, commitments, etc. No need to write in it everyday, but write in it at least 3-4 times a week.

Writing things down opens the door for what's deep inside and gives it permission to come out and be heard. And with that comes growth, change, and deeper understanding.

And the more deeply we understand ourselves, the clearer we can communcate to others.... Because communication IS the golden key.... to healthy, happy relationships with others... and with ourselves.

Here's to continuing the Journey... speaking up and speaking out.... communicating clearly from the heart...

-Becky

How to Release Negative Emotions Immediately

The days between November 11 (11:11:11) and November 29 (another 11:11:11 day) are extremely powerful days.

11:11 alone is like an energetic doorway opening to the energies of Creation on all levels. Add to that this year is an 11 year (2009=2+9=11) giving it added boost. (11 is a master number that represents illumination, insight, intuition, and a channel to the subconscious.)

What does this mean for you?

It can be a conduit for moving you into a higher vibrational state OR it can sink you deeper into the spiritual quicksand.

The choice is yours. (Hurray for Free Will!)

For me, I am doing whatever I can to keep my vibration up! You see, we are all vibrating energy. And energy of our thoughts, feelings, emotions, words send out vibrational "messages" that come back to us as our life experience. It's the Law of Attraction, "cause and effect"... the "as ye sow, so shall ye reap" principle.

Now more than ever, it's critically important to nip those negative thoughts and negative feelings in the bud!

Here's the 4-step process I've been using....

1. Be Aware of what you're feeling.

Even though I consider myself pretty good in this area, as I've more consciously monitored myself, I've discovered that I often walk around in sort of a "numb" state. I know that in order to attract what I want in life, I need to stay positive. But I'm human and "stuff" does come up. And I've noticed that I tend to go into denial about what I'm really feeling.

So I sat myself down with my journal and asked: "What are you feeling?" And made a list.

This step is extremely important. Writing down your feelings and emotions (thoughts too) gets them out of your mind, heart, and body so that you can look at them from a different perspective. If you "name it" you can "claim it." And claiming it puts the power back into YOUR hands.

2. Do EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) on those feelings.

If you're not familiar with EFT, please download this short introduction of it.

Determine the number of intensity that you are feeling these emotions and write that number beside your list.

For the set up, while tapping on the karate chop point say, "Even though I'm feeling (read your list), I deeply and completely love, support, and accept myself." Say this a total of 3 times as you continue tapping.

Then go through the tapping sequence saying your list of feelings at each tapping point. I typically do the whole sequence 3 times as one "round" of EFT.

When you're done, take a deep breath and feel inside to determine the intensity level. If it is down to 1, great!! If not, do the set up again with "Even though I'm still feeling (your list of emotions)..."

And do the tapping sequence with "Remaining (your list of emotions)..."

3. Turn your list of negative feelings into positive ones.

When you get the intensity down to 1 or 0, look at your list again and turn each feeling on your list into a positive emotion that you would rather be feeling. For example, if you were feeling "anxious," turn that into "trusting," "deflated" could be "energized," "foggy/fuzzy" could be "clear headed," "what's the use/defeated" could be "motivated/ready for action."

After you have your positive emotions list, do a tapping sequence on this new list to anchor in these positive emotions. (No need to do the setup here.)

4. Add a Physical Trigger

To give this process added impetus, think of a physical movement you can do while saying these emotions. This will act as a trigger as you go about your day to keep you in this more "happy" high vibrational mindset. It could be something like, snap your fingers 3 times, pat your knees in a certain rhythm, raise your arms in a "victory" sign... anything that is quick to do and has meaning for you.

Try out this process and let me know how it works for you!

Here's to continuing the journey, staying in that positive, high vibrational state of mind.... releasing negative thoughts and emotions... and tapping your way to a happier, more fulfilling life.

-Becky

Recipe for a Delicious Life

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect.
It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."
- Unknown

At one time or another, we've all had situations in our life that we wished would have been different. A lot of these "imperfect" situations tend to be things we really had no control over, or perhaps only minimal control. I know I've had my fair share!

But what I've learned, and what I teach my clients, is that the only real control we have is over our own self. We can not change a situation by fighting against it. We can only change our perception of it and how we choose to act in spite of it.

It IS possible to be happy and to have a "delicious life." Here are five key steps to take toward it....

Love Your Self

This is probably the most important ingredient, yet, it seems to get the most flak. The idea of "self-love" tends to bring up images of selfishness, which most of us have been taught since childhood, especially when it came to sharing our toys... to NOT be selfish.

In the Bible, Jesus admonishes us to "love our neighbor as our self." But in my experience, the passage has been used more to emphasis loving others and forgetting about our self, rather than loving our selves so that we can love others.

But let's look at this logically.... Can you really and truly love another person if you dislike who you are?

Or put another way, how much would you do for someone you dislike? Probably not much, right? And if you don't like yourself, you probably wouldn't be inclined to spend a lot of effort to create a wonderful, prosperous, nurturing life for yourself.

Fortunately, since you're still reading this article, that means that on some level, you must already like yourself a pretty good bit. So, let's turn our question around....

How much would you do for someone you really love? You'd probably go out of your way to do wonderful things for them, right?

So, treat yourself the same way. :)

Stand in front of a mirror and say, "I love you, (state your name)" and "I love myself," then accept the thoughts and feelings that come up.

Many people make a big protest about doing this. But I ask again, "How much would you do for someone you dislike?"

Show yourself a little self-love. Only then can you truly love the other people in your life.

Be Willing to Receive

Life is amazing. Despite all the pain and sorrow it can entail, life here on planet Earth is awesome. If you've temporarily forgotten, just go outside and sit in nature or watch the sunset tonight to get back in touch with the wonder of it all.

And the coolest thing is that YOU are so deserving of life to have been given all these wonders of nature to live in, so anything you might want while you're here is a mere trifle in comparison. You see, the universe gives you all that it gives you without condition (your life, your breath, etc). In fact, you could even take the view that the universe has been throwing good stuff to you your whole life, and the only thing that's stopped you from having it is that you've been unwilling to receive it.... Until now.

As you go through your day tell yourself, "I am willing to receive all the good that comes to me," then accept any thoughts and feelings that arise.

Make Room for What You Want

Nature always fills up a vacuum, so it's important to make space for what you want to bring into your life. This applies not only to the more tangible physical things such as money, furniture, hot dogs, or pies. It also applies to relationships, ideas, and even emotions. If a person is full of bitterness and resentment, there isn't much room for fulfillment and happiness.

Take time to consider what you want to bring into your life, and then start making room for it.

Make Peace with Your Goal

Inner peace, and its close relations (happiness, freedom, love, serenity, fulfillment, etc) are what every person ultimately desires. These are the "goals behind the goals" that people are seeking. There is a simple way for you to bring these into your life: Make inner peace your primary goal.

Now, this doesn't mean you have to go around being peaceful and serene all over the place. (Unless you just want to.) Nor does it mean you can't have any other goals. The main point with goals is to not become attached to them. Realize that your ultimate happiness and well-being does not depend on any one of your goals. Instead, in any situation, make peace your ultimate goal. In other words, whenever there is a choice (and there's always a choice), choose peace.

Remember, Life is Like an Ice Cream Machine

Life IS like an ice cream machine. No, really! If you put strawberries into an ice cream machine, you get strawberry flavored ice cream. If you put in peaches, you get peach-flavored ice cream. It's the same with people. When we put fear into our minds and bodies, we get fear-flavored results.
But what happens when you imagine putting feelings of happiness, freedom, abundance, peace, and fulfillment into your ice cream machine? Delicious! :)

If you're not sure what you've been putting into your ice cream machine, check the flavor of your ice cream. This will give you a clear indication of what ingredients you've been using.
What ingredients will you choose to put into your ice cream machine? (Hint: start feeling now the way you'll feel when you've got what you want.)

We all long for a happy, fulfilling life full of all the ‘good stuff’ life has to offer, with minimal hardships and sorrow. Although I can’t promise these five ingredients will ease all your troubles, practicing them daily can put you on a path toward an increased feeling of well-being which can lead you to that happy, fulfilling life you deserve.

Here's to continuing the Journey.... learning, growing... being careful about what we put in our 'Ice Cream'!

-Becky

PS. For some ideas to take these tools and techniques to the next level, see the September issue of TIPs for the Journey: Going Deeper

IT's HERE!! Soul Meditations

Finally!! The Soul Meditations CD is ready.

This 77-minute music CD comes with a 30-page Guidebook filled with ideas, activities, and suggestions to deepen and enhance your listening experience and to turn each Soul Meditation into your very own personal self-growth tool.

Find out more here:
http://www.yoursouljourneycoaching.com/SMCD.htm

Here's to continuing the Journey.... sharing music... and loving life!

-Becky