Know Thyself, Listen to Thyself, Care for Thyself

I had my first real bicycle ride of the season this morning.  I hadn’t planned on riding the twenty mile loop, but that’s what I ended up doing.  While it felt great to be out in the cool morning air with a ride and my muscles moving, the distance was a bit hefty for my entrance back onto my bike.  And I am feeling the results now.

Luckily, I know what to do now because I understand the three pillars that form the foundation of self-care:

• Know Thyself: which means understand your core tendencies, needs and the just of who you are so you can work with the flow of natural energy rather than against it.
• Listen to Thyself: you are constantly getting messages from your body-mind-spirit and if you tune into the messages and heed them, you will be much better served.
• Care for Thyself:  this is the step that follows up on the information from the first two pillars and is what tools and techniques you use to provide self-care.

In terms of my ride this morning, knowing myself I knew I would be better with a shorter first ride.  So I told my cycling partner that I didn’t want to do a long ride.  Our plan had been to split off at a certain point so I would do the shorter fifteen mile loop and she could do the twenty plus loop she wanted.  Somehow this didn’t quite work out as we ended up together for the whole twenty miles.  This is partly because another part of my personality is that sometimes I push myself too much, like feeling that I needed to ride faster to keep her pace initially and not cutting back and shaving a extra couple miles off the loop.

That said, despite my best intentions getting derailed by the competitive impulse, part way through the ride I got very clear messages from my body that I needed to slow down and back off the pace a bit.  This is part two above – listen to thyself.  And I did listen to my body and let my partner ride ahead and went at my own pace.  Maybe a little late, but better than never.

Returning home, I did feel tired.  My muscles were a bit fatigued but not too sore.  I felt lacking energy in core energy which means I went a bit beyond my capacity in the moment and tapped into my reserves.  So here I am now at pillar number three – taking care of thyself.  For me this meant taking the time to stretch, popping some arnica pellets (and taking the bottle to work with me for two additional doses throughout the day), a protein and grain breakfast to boost my energy, and not diving into more busy activities before heading to the office.  It may be enough…or not.  Time will tell and then I can take the next set of action.

Life is full of choices, actions, and the results that come from the whole sequence.  You will stay in better balance and health if you know how to apply the three pillars to your life. 

Need help understanding and using these three pillars and getting your self-care foundation clear and strong?  Then make sure to register for my upcoming group program on “Building Your Self -Care Toolkit.”  The six weeks of classes start in the fall but are registering now and space is limited.  Take action today – I guarantee you’ll like these results!

Easing Sore Muscles

Late spring is the season when we come out of the winter cocoon and dive in to outdoor activities again.  This includes fun sports like tennis and golf.   And it also includes the fun household jobs such as lawn mowing, weeding, mulching, and gardening.

And along with the re-awakening of these outdoor activities comes the re-awakening of muscles long dormant.  Even if you exercise regularly over the winter, there are activities that use specific muscle groups that only come into play when doing them. I know first hand as I weeded and gardened over the last two weeks and some of my inner thigh muscles made their presence known in a very loud way!

Have the yard or house projects left you with sore muscles?  Try these SORE MUSCLE TIPS…

#1: Start with ice. The cold slows the blood flow and helps counter painful inflammation. After exercising or working on a project, apply ice for 20 minutes, every 2 hours if severe. Compression, rest and elevation will also help with the anti-inflammation process. Note: this is the same process for an acute injury!

#2: Pull out the remedies, creams and salts. Address the symptoms on all levels by using creams such as Biofreeze or China Gel for lowering inflammation and providing an initial analgesic effect; use homeopathic arnica to work on the joints and deep muscle healing; and use Epsom salts to relax the muscles and pull out the toxins (follow the bath by a big glass of H20).

#3: After the acute period, usually a day or two following the big project, switch from ice to heat. At this point the inflammation should be down and heat will increase the blood flow to the areas bringing healing through the oxygen and blood. Use as needed or every few hours for 20-30 minutes if severe. Moist heat (packs with grains that when heated naturally create moisture) work best because the heat penetrates more deeply into the tissues than dry heat.

#4: Roll out the aches and pains with tennis balls in a sock or foam rollers. These act a bit like a DIY massage by creating compression release. Initially as you roll your body parts across these surfaces, you will feel discomfort as the muscles will be tight. But the more you use the tools, the more accustomed your body will be as the muscles relax, release and become healthier. If you hit a painful spot, stop on that point, try relaxing into it and breathe.

#5: Stretch. This does not have to be an hour of yoga or a professional routine but if you used your muscles, they will be happier if you take a small amount of time to stretch them back to their normal resting length. Remember, something is better than nothing. Five to ten minutes will go a long way, especially if you do it regularly.

#6: Get the professional touch. If you try all your home care techniques and you are still having problems or you left the situation too long and triggered a muscles spasm, now is the time to get professional assistance. Find a good deep tissue massage therapist and have the knots worked out. Often one session will be enough to downgrade the crisis mode then you can follow-up with more self-care.

Take self-care action by following these measures and you will not only reduce your muscles soreness, you will improve your muscular health, allowing you to continue enjoying those outdoor activities.

Like these tips and want to learn more self-care tools?  Check out your options at http://www.discoverhealingandharmony.com

The Lure of Just One More

Health is about balance and sometimes the lure of that “just one more” is what tips the scale from balance to imbalance.  This “just one more” could apply to an activity, a food, alcohol, or whatever that takes you out of that space of balance and moderation and into excess.  And the tricky part is that the excess amount isn’t always the same since you are never in the same place with the same needs.

The reminder of this concept showed up for me last week.  I was busy getting ready for the Relax and Renew Retreat I’m leading to Costa Rica next week.  And as so often happens when getting ready for time away, my schedule was jammed full of trip preparation, finishing up projects, dealing with the normal flow of life, and studying.  The scene of “too much” was set, the potential for overload ripe.  And what took me over the edge?  You guessed it, the lure of just one more.

In my case, my “just one more” was working at the computer on my Audio Yoga Class updates which I was really wanting to get finished by the end of January.  The project has many different pieces for each class and I’m working on eight different classes.  To make matters more interesting, I’m coordinating with two different people, one who is doing the illustrations and one who is doing all the review.  In other words, I’m not in complete control!

So it was as I was spending a large chunk of time on this project that instead of realizing that I really wasn’t going to be able to finish all the classes and move on to deal with some of the other legitimate needs that I stayed glued to my computer thinking, “I’ll finish just this one more class.”  And over the edge I went.  Suddenly I was running behind in the kid and household activities and my stress levels soared and my friend imbalance reared its lovely head.

Luckily my foundation is fairly balanced and I recognized that I had crossed the line very quickly and took steps to counterbalance the situation – such as mentally letting go of the project whole and being satisfied with having two classes completed, getting off the computer and taking 30 minutes to do yoga and meditation, and going to bed with a good book and cup of tea.  But if I hadn’t stopped the slide down that slippery slope of imbalance, I could have ended up like my husband who has gotten a nasty chest cold (he finally has stopped his slide by taking the day off from work today to rest).

Take care of your own state of balance with this simple 3 step approach:

• Identify your greatest area of “just one more” or what is up for you in the moment and ideally stop before the critical one more.
• Know the signs of imbalance in your body, mind and life of what happens when you go over the edge.
• Come up with a list of effective counterbalances that if you do cross over the line that you can use to stop the slide and bring you back to health.

As always, being aware is the first step.  Pause today and see where you are at.

Beating The Winter Body Blues

Although we haven’t officially entered winter by date, for those of us in WI and many other parts of the country, winter weather has arrived and with it comes the possibility of the winter body blues.   The winter body blues are those special aches and pains, spasms and pulled muscles that sometimes accompany the winter chore of snow and ice removal and even driving in slippery conditions.  Some of you may avoid the bulk of this because you have a snow removal service.  But for those of you doing your own winter chore work, whether occasionally or consistently, try out these tips to beat the winter body blues.

 1.  Work Smart: when you can’t avoid the activity, you need to think about how you can do the activity with the least amount of impact to your body.  For shoveling this means good body mechanics, remembering to bend your knees and lift with your legs and to rotate which side of the body you are throwing the snow so you spread the impact better between your two sides.  Use a more ergonomic shovel or do the light stuff with a broom which uses a different motion.

 2.  Pace Yourself:  the line from being sore to becoming injured often gets crossed by trying to do too much at one time.  I understand that you want or need to get the job done quickly, but even so, taking a few breaks to do a couple stretches and get some water can make a difference and still keep you on your time schedule.  Going a bit more slowly to take the time to use the right body mechanics will pay off.

 3.  Share The Burden:  recruit everyone in the family to do part of the job.  Many hands might the work light…and will help your back and shoulders!  Even little ones can do some parts of the job like a front stoop or a small patch of the work.

 4.  Consider Hiring Help For Certain Conditions:  the really wet snows make the heaviest burdens and even small clearings can strain the body.  These might be the snows for which you hire the plow or a neighborhood child.

5.  Stretch: using your muscles creates tension, especially when done for longs periods in a repetitive fashion.  An important part of preventing the tension from building up into a crisis point is to reduce the tension and return the muscles back to their normal resting length, rather than having the muscles held in shortened, tight state.  Full body stretching provided by yoga can be nice but if you’re short on time, pick stretches that address the specific areas that are impacted by the work.  If you don’t know what to do, work with a massage therapist, a physical therapist, an exercise physiologist, or a yoga teacher to find what would serve you.

 6.  Follow Up With An Epsom Salt Bath: after you’ve done your work and tried to minimize the impact, you now need to address the tension that did develop.  A hot bath with Epsom Salts to draw out the toxins can take the edge off the soreness.  Note that if you are doing this in the day and you need to do other work, follow the hot bath by a cool or cold shower rinse so your energy rebounds.

7.  Use Arnica: homeopathic arnica or arnica creams further supports the body’s aches and pains.  The difference between homeopathic arnica versus the cream is that one is for a systemic effect, all over aches and pains, versus area specific body areas.  Usually with winter chores it will be a whole body effect so the homeopathic pellets taken 3 x day for 1-2 days will work well.

 8.  Stay Hydrated: being out in the cold, you may not realize how much energy you are putting out and how much water you are losing through sweating.  Muscles tighten when dehydrated.  The general rule of thumb is to drink at least 4 ounces of water every sixty minutes depending on how hard you are working.  At the least, make sure you drink a big glass once you’re done.

 9.  Get Professional Help When Needed: if you done all of the above and still feel on the edge physically, this is the time to get professional intervention.  Get the chiropractic adjustment, the deep tissue or hot stone massage, the acupuncture treatment – whatever techniques fit your needs and philosophy.

 10.  Rest: last but not least, make sure to get some down time.  Whether that means going to bed early, taking an afternoon cat nap, or just getting your feet up while reading a book, rest is a key component to renewal.

Why Meditate?

With the popularity of meditation, I’m sure you’ve heard why you should meditate from many different sources.  So what’s holding you back from taking advantage of this great technology to get control of your rascally mind and start enjoying the numerous benefits, both mental and physical?  

I find that two things tend to hold us back in life: not knowing what to do or how to do it, and feeling overwhelmed by that thing we think we need to do.   If either of these conditions apply to what’s holding you back from learning the art of breaking habits (meditation), then you won’t want to miss my upcoming class “Meditation for Total Health” on October 13th from 6:30-7:30 in Elm Grove.  For full details just click the underlined link (name of the class).

In this meditation class you will get a simple overview about the power of meditation and, more importantly, easy and tangible ways to start.  Yes, even if you think you have a mind that’s too woolly and wild to meditate (all the more reason to do it!), I can guarantee you that I have a meditation that will work for you.  Because there is more than one way to meditate and armed with the right tools, anyone can do it.

Let me give you a preview of why to meditate.  Just like your body builds up stress which eventually leads to crisis points of pain, illness and disease, so does your mind build up gunk.  In fact, my yoga teacher, Yogi Bhajan, calls meditation “clearing out the garbage” because it helps unload the bombardment of external stimulus you take in every moment which clogs up the subconscious mind.  And whether it be physical or mental, when things get clogged, our energy doesn’t move well in our bodies or our lives.  And then, we get problems.

Maybe you’re not interested in the ultimate goal of meditation which is to “abide in the Self” or connect with and hear your Infinite Self, but I’m sure you would enjoy any of these other meditation benefits:

• Develops a neutral meditative mind (quiets and calms the mental agitations).
• Promotes a sense of well-being, inner peace, stability, and calm.
• Releases reactions and unconscious habits, and subconscious fears and blocks.
• Helps prevent disease process
• Meditation therapy is effective for treating nervous disorders from simple insomnia to severe emotional disturbances, chronic and debilitating diseases like allergies or arthritis in which stress or hypersensitivity of the nervous system are involved, and in treating heart disease which is the seat of consciousness in Vedic thought (Ayurvedic and Yogic perspective).
• Helps deal with pain as it transfers attention of the mind.
• Promotes the ability to focus energy, enhancing effectiveness and efficiency.
• Promotes clarity of mind, mental awareness, and the ability to be present.
• Resolves core issues of stress-producing patterns.

So don’t wait…come join the fun!

The Weight of Stress

Is Competition Pushing You Beyond Your Best?

Competition, whether in an actual event or just how you hold the space inside yourself in relation to others, could be pushing you beyond your best with unhealthy results.  I talk about “your best” as the point in each moment that fully represent you true capacity whether it be mental, emotional or physical.  Your best is not the ideal nor is it less than what you are capable of.  And it changes in every moment.

While a certain does of the competitive mindset might serve to motivate and inspire you in your personal goals, it can also create expectations and actions that don’t fit with your true values or where you are in any given moment.  By definition, competition involves at least two parties and has an outcome where one is perceived as the winner and the others losers.  To me there is also an energy of external expectations which can create a space which causes you to stop listening to your own inner wisdom and what you need, and move into the place of what you think you SHOULD be doing.

Sometimes the competitive beast rears its head in an obvious way.  And, if you are being mindful, you can make a conscious decision how you want to interact within that space.  Other times, the competitive energy is more subtle and this is the area I think can be most tricky…it sneaks up on you before you realize it and you might find yourself already engaged in something that has pushed you beyond your best.

I experienced one of this subtle moments just yesterday on a bike ride with my normal biking neighbor, Tina.  Tina happens to be a stronger cyclist than I am.  And that’s OK because cycling is a passion for her whereas for me it’s an activity I enjoy a couple times a week and gives me a great workout outside.  I purposely ride with her because she is better and therefore I push myself  to ride faster and do more hills than I might on my own.  Overall this works fine.

Yet there are some days when my energy is out of sync with her energy above and beyond our natural cycling differences.  And yesterday was one of those days when I was feeling sluggish and tired.  I didn’t fully realize this, however, when we started.  It wasn’t until a good 5 miles into the 22 ride that I realized I just wasn’t at my peak…but I kept pushing.  I didn’t identify it as competition; rather I didn’t want to slow her down or disturb her experience.  Several miles later my inner wisdom kicked in and I realized that I wasn’t responsible for her experience and taking on that responsibility was coming at my own expense.

So I simply pulled back.  I didn’t apologize for slowing her down.  I just stated that I was sluggish that day and if she wanted to go ahead to feel free to do so.  She did ride a bit ahead but I would eventually catch up on a down hill or a different spot.  It was nice to maintain the connection in some way, but I also would have been OK making my way back on my own had that happened.

So eventually I took care of my needs appropriately…but some of the damage was already done.  I exceeded a bit of my energy reserves and came home feeling overly tired.  Not a good way to start a work day in which I had 7 clients scheduled to see.  I made it through the day fine but ended up sleeping from 9 pm to almost 6:30 am this morning.  I also am going to take it easy today with slow stretching and quiet…in theory OK but it also interferes a bit with some tasks I needed to get done.

By not catching on in the initial moment, I then had to make corrections afterwards that had a greater cost to them.

So beware of competition in all forms.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing…unless it pushes you beyond your best.

© 2009 Jamie Durner. All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Jamie Durner, BodyMind Coach™, holds multiple certifications across the health and wellness disciplines including Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, Registered Kundalini Yoga Teacher, and Credentialed Coach. She is the creator of the “Total Self Mastery” group coaching program and publishes “Healing and Harmony” monthly Ezine and blog with easy-to-use, FREE tips to move beyond chronic imbalance and into healing and harmony (sign up at www.jamiedurner.com).  She is a contributing author of the book “Yoga in America”, to HealthWise Magazine, and is one of the Expert Authors for HealthyWomanGuide.com.  She is also the yoga expert and instructor for Your Health Professional online professional exercise program.

10 Tips Every Weekend House Warrior Needs To Know

Many of us find ourselves with house projects that turn into playing weekend warrior to get it all done.  Try these 10 tips and points of caution to watch out for as you go about your projects.  They can make all the difference for your body and mind come Monday morning.

My husband and I started our own house project this past weekend…refinishing the back deck.  It had been a couple years since we did this last and I had forgotten just how much time and work is involved.  However, after just one day of moving, sweeping, and sanding, my aching muscles quickly reminded me that I needed to exercise some smart thinking and self care to come through this without feeling utterly exhausted and sustaining a muscle spasm.  I hope this tips will help you stay in better balance and health in whatever your latest house project is.

1. Evaluate Whether You Want To Do The Job Yourself:  more than money is to be considered when looking at whether to hire out for a job or DIY.  Yes, finances do play a role as to what and how much you hire out, but also consider the emotional, physical, and mental toll on you and your family as well as what you would like to be doing instead.  If you work 60 hours a week and dislike house projects, the cost to yourself of trying to DIY could be high due to your mental attitude.  If you don’t want to do it, this energy will come through and very often all sorts of things start to go wrong with the project.  If you and your space don’t do projects well together based on different styles, attempting one could add relationship tension.  Look at the whole picture when examining costs so you don’t end getting “spent” in more ways than just your pocket book.
2. Consider Hiring Out Some Of  The Work: this doesn’t have to mean break the bank, either.  Look at what tasks require a lower level of skill and look around.  For our deck project, I actually hired two fourteen year old neighborhood boys to do the sanding along the deck edges with a palm sander.  There was a little instruction time as well as extra questions along the way, but for  $7/hour they did a great job and saved me hours of work and toll on my body.  So worth it!  In this tight job market, you can likely find willing labor at cut rate prices across the board.  Just don’t try to cut too much…being fair to your workers will always produce better job results.
3. Pace Yourself: this is especially true of big jobs.  If you throw all your energy into the game early on, you won’t have the stamina for the long haul.
4. Take Stretch Breaks Often: different jobs are going to work different muscles but anything which you are doing repetitively is going to eventually catch up with you in the form of overly tight muscles and possibly even a muscle spasm.  By breaking often and stretching things out, you give your muscles a chance to release some of the tension, which will hopefully decrease the chance of you going into a muscle crisis or sustaining an injury.  If you don’t know what stretches are needed, work with a physical or massage therapist, or personal trainer to get some advice.  As a BodyMind Coach I offer Posture Strategy Sessions which examine current problem posture patterns and provide adjustments, stretches, and strengthening exercises to bring about greater balance.  These can be done as part of project specific prep work as well.
5. Drink Lots Of Water: your muscles need hydration, especially when you are giving out lots of energy through physical labor and is absolutely key on hot days.  Not only will you get fewer muscle cramps but you also will stay on the safe side of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
6. Know When To Stop: it can be very tempting to keep going because you can see the end, but BEWARE…this is the high danger point.  Many injuries occur by being in a fatigued state and going too far.  When your body and mind are tired, you are more apt to make mistakes plus you simply have less to give at that point.  How do you know when you’ve reached the stopping point?  Listen to your body.  If you’re feeling exhausted, you’ve already gone too far.
7. Have Some Post-Job Tension Remedies Ready: to take the edge off your day’s labor, especially if you’re starting again the next day, you want to have some tools ready.   Yes, there are over-the-counter pain relievers but they can have side effects for some.   Instead of or in addition to the pain relievers, try good old fashioned hot baths with Epsom Salts, a heating pad, rolling on tennis balls along the back and hips to create pressure point releases, or even get a professional massage.  The investments you make in the moment can save you big in long term tolls.
8. Arnica cream or homeopathic pellets work with your body from the inside out to aid in soft tissue/muscular tension relief.  In other words, they ease the aches and pain.  For whole body aches and pains, use the homeopathic pellets which can be found at most health food stores and an employee should be able to tell you what dose to take.   If you have a specific area of the body that requires extra TLF, use the cream on that area.  The best cream I’ve found on the market is this cream put out by True Botanica .  Not only do I use it in my practice, but I use it myself with my family.
9. Hot Or Cold?You might be familiar with using a heating pad or ice pack but not know when to use what.  Here’s the basic guideline.   Cold is used for reducing inflammation/swelling often with an acute injury; can provide pain relief; and can sometimes decrease a muscle spasm.  When using cold you need a protective layer between the cold pack and your skin and time should be limited to no more than 20 minutes.  There are also some health conditions which are contraindicated for cold so be sure to check with your health professional before using.  Superficial topical heat has long been used for muscular and joint pain, promotes relaxation by lengthening the soft tissue parts, and promotes healing by bringing more blood, nutrients and immune support to the body part.  With heat you need to watch out for burns and should not be used if you have any of these conditions: an acute injury of less than 2 days old, skin infection, inflammation, hemorrhaging (blood loss), or the inability in the body or part to receive sensory input which prevents you from getting feedback on what’s happening to the tissues.  For basic aches and pains without injury or spasm, heat is likely the best choice.
10. Stretch At The End Of The Day: stretching is what gives your muscles to message to let go of the work and tightness and come back into a relaxed, resting state.   It is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.  Yoga provides a great full body approach so feel free to take a class or use a audio or video product.  There are also good stretching books on the market or, again, work with a local professional to help you design a simple but effective routine that fits your needs.

With these ten tips and techniques packed in your tool box, you are now fully ready to tackle your next house project.  Have fun and let me know how it works!

© 2009 Jamie Durner. All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Jamie Durner, BodyMind Coach™, holds multiple certifications across the health and wellness disciplines including Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, Registered Kundalini Yoga Teacher, and Credentialed Coach. She is the creator of the “Total Self Mastery” group coaching program and publishes “Healing and Harmony” monthly Ezine and blog with easy-to-use, FREE tips to move beyond chronic imbalance and into healing and harmony (sign up at www.jamiedurner.com).  She is a contributing author of the book “Yoga in America”, to HealthWise Magazine, and is one of the Expert Authors for HealthyWomanGuide.com.  She is also the yoga expert and instructor for Your Health Professional online professional exercise program.

Self Acknowledgement

Self Acknowledgement is an important piece in celebrating each day’s successes, which I spoke about a couple of posts ago with the idea of “to-do” lists.  So today I want to take a moment and do just that.

In expanding my business alongside seeing my current clientele and taking care of needs at home, I often feel like I have more to do than I have time for.   And this happens day after day after day.  Sometimes pushing hard to get a specific project done is needed and worthwhile; however, because my tasks are more constant than isolated, living in the space of all work and no pause doesn’t serve me.  Yet, I find that I can often get stuck in that “doing all the time” mode.

Yesterday was a similar day.  I had two meetings and a class which took up a large chunk of my day leaving me feeling like I hadn’t had time to work on some other items that needed addressing.  Yet I also acknowledged that I hadn’t exercised the day before nor had I done the amount of yoga I was looking for.  So for today, I want to acknowledge that I was able to set aside my compulsion to keep going and instead made a different choice…a choice to nourish me inside and out.  After getting the kids moving towards bed and their reading space, I took the time to ride my exercise bike, do a set of yoga, enjoy two meditations and then deeply renewed with a long corpse pose while listening to yogic music.  Then, instead of acting on the inspiration I received in my meditation, I simply wrote down the threads of key thoughts and went to bed!  Which allowed me to rise this morning earlier and ground in with some morning rituals, office organization, and computer tasks before starting my day.  How refreshing.

I acknowledge myself for taking care of myself with nourishing activities that recharge not only my body but my spirit and allow me to move through life with greater balance and ease.

Inspiring Resources

I was recently listening to a teleclass between James Roche and David Neagle while taking a walk.  I love to use “down time” to listen to inspiring material.  I do this while cooking, while cleaning the house, while walking by myself  when I don’t need ponder time.  This technique creates a win-win situation…I can find time that I wouldn’t normally have to listen to uplifting things, and I enjoy mundane activities more by doing this.  It’s great self care for me.

Anyway, back to the teleclass.  David Neagle, who is a prominent life coach with a rags to riches story, was talking about two critical elements he discovered early on in his journey that were breakthrough tools to his moving forward.  The first was an internal shift that he sums up as “change your attitude”.  He recognized that a stumbling block, at that time, was his current attitude and beliefs.  He had been told to change his attitude by others but at some point it became an “internal aha” that clicked.  And changing his attitude was key.  Just in changing his attitude, his behaviors began to shift and he opened up to receive new opportunities in his life. 

He reinforced this shift by modeling the behavior of someone who held the picture of success that he was looking for.  And this was his second element to moving forward powerfully…finding mentors who can shorten your learning curve by not having to re-create the wheel.   He used growth seminars then coaches but one could use many different things as a mentor.

Both of these elements…aligning your beliefs to serve who you want to be today and finding resources to achieve those goals…are things I not only live but also offer up to my clients.  And one tool that I use to achieve both is Kundalini yoga.  Yoga may not on the surface look like a mentor because it’s not a particular person, at least not for me since I don’t have a single guru.  However, the teachings as a whole in Kundalini yoga offers a road map to living a life of healing and harmony that has been invaluable to me.  It is 5,000 year old, time tested technology and I see it working everyday in my life.  It is powerful and quick in transforming outdated patterns and is the single greatest element I have found that has transformed my life in huge ways.  The mantras and meditations also serve to expand my beliefs and align my mental beliefs with my higher truth.

What resources do you use to inspire and transform?  Taking a moment to reflect on this question can in itself me an important step on your journey.  As you explore this question, you might also be inspired to discover new resources to support yourself.