Archive for the ‘Positive Thinking’ Category

Bathroom mirrors are often the first entry into the day.  Not only do those decorative, reflective devices greet you as you stare into them, but some offer inspiration and encouragement.  If you lean in close, you will be able to “fog” the mirror which means you are still breathing and participating in this human adventure.  Words and messages on your bathroom mirror will help your mind and your spirit stay focused in the moment and on the day ahead.

When someone else’s bathroom mirror inspires you, there is feeling of excitment and then an urge to find a pen in order to capture the new lesson.  The mirror I stared into just yesterday had a little sticky note with a quote from Mary Oliver:  ”What is your plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

When I read her words, I had to take another conscious breath.  The quote has been lingering in my head and in my heart.  You are on your own path in search of inspiration to validate your very precious self.  Using your bathroom mirror is another strategy to help you become your own best friend.  Imagine your best friend loving you unconditionally each and every time you look in your bathroom mirror.

Find some quotes to write on your mirror with lipstick or use those colorful sticky notes to carry messages that will energize your day.  The secret is to read them everytime you look in the mirror and smile back at yourself!

Here are a few messages that just might make the morning more fun and the day lighter.

*  Peace begins with your lovely smile!

*  Look deeply…listen with compassion!

*  Breathe, my dear!

*  Find some wild, crazy, delightful, fun today!

*  Look past those wrinkles…your essence is what matters!

*  Glad you are here, it takes courage to get out of bed!

*  Just look at you!  You are lovely!

*  Whatever you do today…laugh a lot!

*  Just breathe……. and be still!

There are hundreds of sites for morning inspiratioin, here is just one!

http://inspirationmorning.com/

Becoming your own best friend is a fundamental requirement to your happiness in life.  I found the following quote in my email  and it is a reminder to all of us.   Arnold Glasow said:  ”A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.”

The monstrous snow storms here in New England have created a challenging adventure for traveling, either by car or by foot.  The ice under the snow can catch you by surprise.  Slipping and falling happens suddenly and you could find yourself in a precarious position if you are not mindfully careful.

The same is true for the love you are cultivating for yourself.  If you are not cautious and paying attention to that inner voice, your self talk can take you down in a breath, without you even realizing.

There is a skill that is simple, but often not easy.  Change your self talk to remind yourself that you are just enough, perfect exactly the way you are and that it is your own personal responsibility  to be happy.

Listen to Jewel’s sweet song;  ”What You Are”…and breathe in the words so you can begin to encourage yourself, as a best friend would do, to love who you are right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDvO7-r3bOs

Be well and stay that way!

Our Meditation for Beginners will start February 8, 2011  Tuesdays at 3:30pm

Heartsong Yoga  264 North Main Street  East Longmeadow

Back in the early 1950’s, my mother would watch  the Jack LaLanne show and faithfully do her exercises.    While she would stretch and bend in the living room, I would often try to follow along.   Without any equipment or challenging moves, Jack LaLanne presented the world with a simple and effective way to maintain health and wellness.

Jack had an amazingly  positive attitude towards life  and wanted people to be healthy and happy.  Infact, the beautiful white dog he often had on the show was named “Happy”.   He was an inspiring example of living in the present moment and often would tell my mother…. “Don’t think about how old you are,  just think about today” .   Jack LaLanne, passed away last week at a sparkling 96 years young.

If you are young enough to remember Jack, enjoy a trip down memory lane:

In one of the YouTube video’s he shares with his audiance the plea for people to be happy and smile more.

In the second  video, his face exercises  made me and my mom  laugh until our stomachs hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEboAJf9UVc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLJ024EdMA&feature=related

Practice the exercise of smiling and being happy.  You always have a choice and the opportunity to feel good.  Just decide that you will love your smiling self.

Be well and stay that way!

P.S.  Check out the Meditation for Beginners Class starting Tuesday February 1, 2011 at

Heartsong in East Longmeadow.

http://www.heartsongyoga.com/events/coursesforming/

When the phone rings very early in the morning, your heart skips a beat and you dash to answer the call.  My granddaughters are still in Budapest, Hungary, so the phone call comes through skype, which has that entertaining and distinctive ring.  Thinking there just might be something wrong , I connected the internet and found Aliya sitting on her mom’s lap.

My precious five year old sweetheart had a big bandage on her chin.   “Tell Nana what happened”, said my daughter. Through tight pursed lips, Aliya told me about the trip up the stairs and the stitches she had to get at the hospital.

My seven year old granddaughter, Selah, proceeded to show me how the doctor used a needle to sew her  sister”s chin .  “It was just like sewing the stuffed dolls we  made at Christmas time.”, she declared.  “And Aliya was very brave, Nana.”

We chatted a bit about how the accident happened and all along, Aliya, kept her face motionless and tried to talk without moving her mouth or her face.

“Where’s your smile?”  I asked.   “I can’t make it, Nana, my chin is too tight and I have to keep  real still”, she whispered.   “Well, I can see it in your eyes”, I told her with hope and assurance.

Her face lightened, her big brown eyes brightened as her body relaxed and there was a slight up-turn of her lips that radiated the smile I have come to know and love.  “It’s there, I can see it.” I smiled back with gentle optimism. ” No worries, Aliya, you didn’t lose your smile, it is safely in it’s rightful place and it lights up my computer.”

Is there a smile that you are holding back and unwilling to express because the stitches around self esteem are just too tight?     Realize that your precious self is indeed safe, secure and in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.  Trust that you have the tools to  easily soften your face, relax your body, breathe deeply, radiate  self love and know you are special.  Just decide to believe you are falling in love with yourself!

When mother nature decides to orchestrate a monstrous snow storm, it is inevitable that school will be canceled , public offices will shut down, most people will stay home because traveling will be hazardous and flights will be delayed. As the fury of the snow onslaught materializes,  the world will come to a silent stillness.  Walking outside when the tempest comes to an end is like walking into a magical world of motionless, serene and quiet tranquility.

Before the children head outside for a “snow day” of sledding  and the plows begin moving the mountains of fluff, there is a moment in time that the world is quiet and the silent stillness creates a space of luscious peace.

If you have not been able to witness the magic of the space between activity and stillness, make a promise to yourself to be there the next time it snows.  Step outside for just a few moments, or longer, and be present with the world as it waits for its next breath.

Claiming your own preciousness and acknowledging the self love you have been cultivating is like stepping into your own magical moment in time.  Declare a “snow day” for yourself.  You don’t have to wait for a storm, or the news station to do it for you.

Come to know that you are  very special and deserving of love from yourself.   Relish in the stillness, in the space between the in breath and the out breath, that you are pure love.  Make time to feel the magnificence of who you are and hold on to your noble splendid self with dignity and tender loving care.

Watch for Snow Angels!

Take a look:

http://www.fotosearch.com/IDX005/349141/

It’s snowing in Budapest and it’s Christmas morning!  What a perfect beginning to a beautiful holiday celebration.  Watching the delicate flakes move through the gusty wind caused a sense of curiosity and interest in what do those little lacy pieces of ice exactly look like.

Here is a link to everything you ever wanted to know about snowflakes:

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/photos/photos.htm

We learned in grade school that there are no two snowflakes alike.  Each one is unique, unparalleled, and can not be compared to anything else.  Indeed, the same is true for ourselves as humans beings.  Here on planet Earth, each one of us is unique, unparalleled and can not be compared to anyone else.

Stop trying to measure yourself to a standard that is just not YOU.  Recognize that you truly are the special creation that is meant to live a life of joy, ease, peace, good health and abundance.  Give yourself the gift of loving who you are right now.  Celebrate your individual light of unique preciousness and live your life with gratitude and infinite love.

Have some fun with a Holiday Gift of making your very own snowflake:

http://www.zefrank.com/snowflake/

Warm wishes for a wonderful Holiday!

Smiles, gena

Snowflakes together make great skiing fun!

I am on my way back to Hungary to visit my daughter and her family for the holidays.

On one of my trips to Budapest, I took my granddaughters to see a production of the fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Children’s theater in Budapest, is worthy of a Broadway acclaim.

The Queen is the fictional character in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale and ranks #10 in the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years%E2%80%A6100_Heroes_and_Villains

In the story, the Queen is extremely beautiful, but very vain.  When her magical mirror tells her that Snow White is the fairest one in the land, her envy and jealousy and lack of self love, prevents her from knowing the truth and sends her into a rage.

The truth….even for the Queen, was that she was never able to claim her own beauty and she became bitter, resentful and tried to destroy Snow White.

Snow White, on the other hand, was in love with everything!  She sang and danced through the forest, as she did through life.  Not only did she love herself, but she saw the beauty in the birds and the animals and even all those funny little men.

Give yourself permission to “act as if” you have the attitude of a beautiful fairy book character and begin believing that you are the fairest in the land.

When you are looking in the mirror in the days ahead, you will find yourself smiling a hundred times more than frowning.  You are not the wicked Queen or King, but a loving, capable, sensible, strong, compassionate, precious person.   And with your permission, that lovely amazing self is reflected back.

Laugh a lot, Love a lot and Listen to your heart!

Be well and stay that way!

I am grateful for “Skype”.

This amazing technology has helped me stay in touch with my granddaughters who are still in Budapest, Hungary.  Thanksgiving gave me the opportunity to visit with them while they had a festive dinner.  As my daughter cleared the kitchen, the girls put the computer on the floor so I could join their make-believe play.

The holiday season inspired  Selah to re-create an early American scene with pilgrims, farm animals, crops, campfires and Native American Indians.   This was not an on-line computer game.  We were engaged in actual imaginary play and together we were pretending to have conversations as the figures talked to each other.

My granddaughters were thrilled to have their Nana with them in real time, just not in real space.  We laughed and giggled together as I made silly statements while they moved the figures around on the stage they had made out of a pizza box.

All of a sudden the picture on my computer screen began to shake and I became alarmed, thinking I might lose the cyberspace connection.

“ Whooo…you guys”  I said “ what’s happening… my picture is moving.”

The youngest, Aliya, appeared in the screen and smiled.

”Oh, Nana”, she said, “I am just patting your back.”

If you are reading this, then simply imagine that I am patting you on the back for just being You!

There is nothing to do, nothing to accomplish, nothing to proclaim, nothing to prepare, nothing to wish for….just be you and know that you are loved.

As you learn to love yourself, pat yourself on the back with enthusiasm and gratitude, and do it often.

Falling in love with yourself has been the ongoing theme

for all of these coaching tips.  Some of you are still asking ….”but,  how do I do that”.

“How do I love myself, when I don’t feel good about who I am,

or not happy with something about me and maybe even hate some things about myself.”

I would add…you don’t know how to love yourself, YET!

Would you consider doing some homework?

That’s right, homework on how to love yourself.

There is research to support the fact that homework does

make a difference in skill development.

New knowledge is only about 5% of the learning.

The practice of skills and abilities will help you

become a competent, capable, expert at “loving all aspects of yourself”.

I am not talking about narcissism or self adoration, being selfish

or hogging all the attention.  But, rather a genuine sense that you

have preciousness about you that shines, regardless of what you think.

My wish is for you to “want who you are, so you can begin to know what you want”.

Create a plan of action and begin to incorporate the skills into your daily routines

and habits.

Here is an article that just might help with your homework assignment:

http://www.wikihow.com/Love-Yourself

Let me know how you do.  No report card…only you can evaluating your progress.

Trust the process, have some fun and love yourself along the way.

Be well and check out the website:  http://lysscentral.com