Archive for January, 2010

Spending time with my new grandson,
Mason, was an absolute treat. At three
months old, he is eager to smile
and engage in story telling.

His cheeks are chubby and his breath
is sweet. I can’t help but laugh softly
when his eyes sparkle with enthusiasm
for the connection between us.

When you want to be reminded of your own
preciousness, find a baby to love. That
little infant will remind you of exactly
what you have forgotten.

Babies are pure joy and Mason knows that
he is precious, cherished and perfect.
Even when he is having a rough time being
hungry or tired or wet, there is no doubt
in his mind that all will be well.

When was the last time you looked
at a picture of yourself as a baby?

Our life long journey is just to
remember….to simply remember our
own preciousness and the inner joy
that is our birth-right.

Think of yourself as an infant or find
a baby picture of yourself. Sit with
the memory for a while and imagine being
loved.

You might experience some tender emotions
for your initial innocence as a baby.
Allow the feelings to pass through you.
Trust that you are beginning to acknowledge
how beloved you truly are, and that all
will be well.

By spending time getting to know yourself,
you are learning new ways to practice
loving yourself unconditionally.

Love your cute little baby self, right now!

Smiles, Gena

P.S.
Join us at:
HeartSong Yoga Studio
264 North Main Street
East Longmeadow, MA
Book signing and Workshop
“Love Your Slim Self”
Feb 22, 2010
7:30-9:00pm
413-626-6528

http://www.lysscentral.com

This past week has been one of
adjustment and re-entry. I returned
to my home in Massachusetts after
spending almost a month with my
daughters in Budapest, Hungary.

We all had a wonderful time and
I cherish the photos and memories,
but, I have been missing them terribly.

The sad news came last week, when my
daughter phoned and told me that Jasper,
their beloved pet dog of 14 years, had
suddenly taken ill and had to be put to
sleep.

Jasper’s passing was a shock to all of us
and the heartache and sadness was very real.
A number of times, during the week, I was
surprised to find myself crying so freely.

Truly at the core of many of our struggles,
sadness is genuine, honest and worthy of
the tears that flow without effort.

It was a card from my younger daughter
that brought hope and lightness back to my
heart and spirit. I am sharing what she said,
because I want you to pretend you are saying
these same words to yourself at your own
tender moments of sadness.

…”I am sorry you are going through
such a hard time. You are the
strongest person I know. You will
get through this and come out even
more beautiful than you are.

I know it is hard but I will always
love you and be there for you.
We are in this together.

Life can throw us curve balls, but we
must be ready to swing the bat and
hit a homer! Love your sad self!”….

I love it when my kids remind me to
love myself!!

And I will remind you to do just that,
love your precious self, unconditionally!

Soft smiles,
Gena

p.s. My book Love Your Slim Self, is
creating a buzz. http://lysscentral.com
Join me at
Heartsong Yoga Studio
East Longmeadow
February 22, 2010
7:30-9:00pm
for a fun workshop, yoga and book signing.

My daughter lives in a little
town in Hungary. It is an adorable
picturesque village nestled in the hills
about 30 miles outside of Budapest.

In her neighborhood, the houses are small
and built close together. Almost every
home has a fence around it to keep the
dogs in the yard. And everyone has dogs!

The first time I walked her pet pooch,
Jasper through the neighborhood, all the
dogs were out to greet her.

Now, I know those dogs were barking because
Jasper was walking too close to their
territory and it set them off. But, it
was curious to me that Jasper was not
impressed with the barking and walked
confidently along side me never even
giving those dogs a second glance.

Our walk was a continuous collection of
canine noise. There were furious barking,
loud yelps, high pitched yaps, low growls,
deep long howls, soft whimpers and
even a snort or two.

After laughing out loud at the symphony of
sounds,I began to think that all those dogs
were cheering me on to the finish line.
It seemed like it could have been a
“standing ovation” for just walking by.

How about yourself and your efforts to be
your own best friend. Don’t let someone’s
barking, including your own, upset your
day in anyway.

Being in love with yourself and confident
that you are in the right place, doing the
right thing, at the right time, makes it easy
to be joyous with anything that you do.

Keep smiling,
Gena

P.S. Go ahead and grab your copy of my new
book “Love Your Slim Self” at the website

http://www.lysscentral.com

Being with grandchildren is simply
a joy. Their innocence and unconditional
love gives you a sense of acceptance
that is worth all the time and energy
it takes to enjoy them.

My journey to Budapest, to visit my two
granddaughters, is coming to an end.
Tomorrow I fly back home to New
England and wait patiently for the next
trip.

Aliya is my little four year old who has
delightful wisdom about loving yourself.
When I ask her how she knows that she loves
herself, she tells me it is because her
“heart is so big”.

While we were cuddling on the couch, our favorite
place to cuddle, she turned to me and as her
big brown eyes blinked with a smile, she said,
“Nanny, I love you all the way up to the sky
and never back”.

The “never back” part was the catalyst that
initiated a delicious feeling of warmth, care
and love.

Aliya has a unique way of validating her love
for me and her words inspires me to share her
wisdom about truly loving yourself.

This journey of self awareness, will help you
come to know your personal self worth and your
own preciousness.

The love you are nurturing for yourself deserves
to be unconditional and in fact so much love that
it is…”up to the sky and never back”.

Safe traveling,
Gena

P.S. Love Your Slim Self is available through
the website: http://www.lysscentral.com
and friends can still sign up for these emails
at http://www.loveyourslimself.com

Happy New Year for 2010!

This is a time of reflection and renewal and
certainly the New Year is a time for change.
Everything is always changing!

While visiting my daughter in Budapest, we
decided to venture on a week vacation to a
resort at Lake Balaton in Hungary. We had
great expectations.

It is December in Hungary and the weather
is similar to New England. Not only was it
cold and dreary, but Lake Balaton happens
to be a summer resort,therefore everything
was closed for the winter.

What were we thinking?!

We made one full day of vacation a memorable
event by eating great food and exploring a
fabulous castle. Our spirits were positive and
we simply chose to love where we were and then
cut our losses, change where we were and head
for home.

How are you doing on that journey of
“Loving Where You Are”?

How about a heartfelt “Congratulations to
yourself for being just perfect the way you are!
For loving yourself where you are and then trusting
that your life is unique to you and will always
change for your best interest.

Celebrate the New Year with Joy and Gratitude
in your heart,Lightness in your spirit and Hope
for Peace and kindness in the world!

Cheers, gena

My new book “Love Your Slim Self” is available
on my website: http://lysscentral.com

There are many things that make us wait.

We wait for the light to turn green.
We wait for dinner to be ready.
We wait for a party to begin.
We wait for the sun to shine.
We wait for hot water in the shower.
We wait for someone to say “I love you”.

But, waiting for a loved one to arrive at
the airport is in a class all its own.

My youngest daughter was due to arrive at
the airport in Budapest at noon. She was
joining us for the holidays. The terminal
was rather crowded and while I waited, I
noticed the faces of what waiting looks like.

Many people appeared pensive and concerned.
Some looked anxious with a look of longing
to have their loved one walk through the doors.
For two hours I waited for her to arrive.

I was happy for the families that were united.
Smiles and hugs gave a sense of relief and joy
as they greeted each other. Although I don’t
speak Hungarian, I could tell they were saying:
“Welcome, so glad you are here!”
You could taste the gratitude in the air.

There was a two hour delay in New York and my
daughter arrived six hours late. I was more
than grateful to see the whites of her eyes.

I would have waited forever!!

How about you?

Are you willing to wait for yourself to arrive.
Are you waiting to fall in love with yourself?
Are you waiting to be your own best friend?
Are you willing to wait to claim your own
preciousness?

Go ahead and give this little exercise a go:
Walk up to a mirror and say to yourself:
“Welcome home, I am so glad you are here!”

Then have a genuine sense of gratitude and
appreciation of having waited for your
loved one…YOU!

May there be joy in your heart and peace on
the earth!

Love and Laughter, Gena

P.S. Please feel free to pass along the
websites and help me spread the message of
truly loving yourself!

http://lysscentral.com

http://loveyourslimself.com

You can also purchase a copy of my book
“Love Your Slim Self” at http://lulu.com

I am visiting my granddaughters
in Budapest, Hungary and am already
learning lessons from their young minds.

Aliya, who just turned 4 years old,
changed her name to Lilya when she
only two. She is a girl who knows
what she wants, because
she wants who she is!

Whenever Lilya is around you can
count on her bringing some sunshine
to the day, sharing her little giggles
in the middle of a storm and putting
stickers all over you to help make
you smile.

Just this morning we were cuddling on
the couch, reading a favorite story,
when she looked at me and said,
“Nanny, I know something”.
“Tell me precious”,I said,
“what do you know?”

She looked at me with a twinkle in her
big brown eyes, and said,
“You have to like yourself, and I have
to like myself, right?”

I smiled, nodded and thought…she knows
this truth and I have to be continually
reminded of it. Her young mind has a clear
awareness of what matters for happiness.

You knew how precious you were at 4 years
old, too. Find it in your heart to remind
yourself and remember how special you are
and have always been.

We simply forget our own preciousness and
spend the rest of our lives trying to remember.

Lilya said she would help me write the
next book “Love Your Special Self”, and
we will write it just for the children who
are beginning to forget.

Give yourself the gift of loving yourself,
right now,right where you are in life and
everything will continue to change for the better.

You can quote me: “You have to want who
you are before you can know what you want!”

Smiles, gena

p.s. Do spend some time on my website where
you will find pictures of Lilya and her sister,
Selah, who will be six on the winter solstace.

http://lysscentral.com

p.p.s. Feel free to share the link for my free
report and these weekly tips of loving the
YOU that makes life more fun.

http://loveyourslimself.com

My friend, Eric, showed me a book last night
that appeared rather cheap and nothing like the
others on his shelf.

The book was paper bound with a plastic spiral
spine and looked like a project from middle school.

Eric told me and the other guests at his holiday
party, that the book cost $300! We all gasped!

“That’s ridiculous”, some one said.
“Why?”, I asked.

“It’s what’s inside the book”, he said, “the content
is priceless, and I’ll tell you about it for only $60!”

Although I didn’t take him up on the offer, for some
reason I believed him about the worth of that sad looking
little book.

Eric is the kind of guy who sees the extraordinary value
in about almost anything.

So, of course, this morning, after too much celebrating,
I looked in the mirror and thought….’maybe I am worth
a whole lot more than what I look like right now’!

It is the content of who you are that is precious, special,
and certainly spectacular. When you believe that you are
priceless and significantly more important than how you look,
you will develop such a level of confidence and appreciation
for your lovely self, that it will surprise you.

Falling in love with yourself is becoming easier and
is supporting your sense of delight with all that you are.

Remember that old saying:

“Never judge a book by its cover”.

Now, you can apply that wisdom to your lovely self.
Eric would say that was great marketing!

Smile more often today!
Cheers, gena

P.S. You can pass this along and have others sign
up for the free report and these weekly little messages
at: http://www.loveyourslimself.com

My book “Love Your Slim Self” is ready at:

http://lysscentral.com

or at http://lulu.com

Here in New England the weather will
occasionally surprised us.
On December 3rd, it was almost 65 degrees,
and felt like a spring day. Thank
goodness the tulip bulbs didn’t react.

It was shocking that only two days later,
on December 5th, it was really cold and snowing!

The weather is delightfully predictably
unpredictable and at the very least,
New England weather, gives us all the
opportunity to talk about something.

What happens when you run “hot and cold”
with yourself and your journey towards
accepting every aspect of your own
preciousness.

When there are surprises in your life and
you are afraid that the situation will end
up in disorder, breath, wait twenty minutes,
remember not to react and simply proceed
back on course.

Remind yourself that everything changes and
that whatever it is, will pass. Trust that
your faith in moving towards health and wellness
is as natural as the weather…it happens!
Keep yourself motivated to find ways
to honor, appreciate and love your sunshine self.

Be well and stay that way,
Gena
p.s. Check out my website for other
tips and hints on how to care for the most
important person in your life: YOU!

http://www.loveyourslimself.com

http://www.lysscentral.com

The flurry of activity around the launch of my
book Love Your Slim Self, was amazing,exciting
and encouraging.

A warm welcome goes out to many new members
who have joined my site: http://lysscentral.com
and greetings again to all of you who are coming
to learn to simply love all the parts of yourself.

The contrast of action and movement with quiet
and stillness, showed up for me on Thanksgiving
morning.

I arrived at my daughter’s charming chicklet
apartment in Brooklyn the day before the holiday
to cook dinner for about 10 people.

The evening before Thanksgiving was filled with
greetings and laughter, catching up stories and
dinner preparations. We cooked into the night,
preparing stuffing, and cranberries, brownies and
seven layer cookies. At midnight, my daughter and
her friends were still going strong and I finally
gave up and climbed into bed to the sound of their
giggles and music.

New York is always busy and buzzy, but the next
morning was amazingly still and quiet. A surprise
to my senses given the chaos of the night before.

The young guests who stayed over slept until late in
the morning and for me it was a contrast I will cherish.

There came a delicious sense of gratitude
and appreciation that came over me. The silence
was profound compared to the sounds of the
night before.

Are you finding the calm in your day and in your life?
When you can notice the differnce between the activity
and the stillness, you are living more present and
able to recognize your own essence.

Embrace the opportunity to simply breathe and
catch the gift of quiet. It is your privilege
simply be grateful for the moment.

Be well and stay that way, Gena

p.s.
Feel free to share this with friends you love
and care about. Send them to the site to sign