Archive for the ‘Tips and hints’ Category

This past fall, while visiting my granddaughters in Budapest, Hungary, we spent an afternoon planting tulip bulbs randomly in the front yard.

As we dug all the holes in the ground, we talked about the beautiful flowers that were waiting inside those tiny little ugly tulip bulbs.

It is the end of March and I am back in Budapest for the third time visiting my grandchildren.

Yesterday, the girls and I were very excited to find that the tulips were beginning to push up through the earth.

There is glorious perfection and magnificent preciousness in a blooming tulip. The requirements are simple: earth, sun, rain and patience.

Are you continuing to plant the bulbs of confidence, acceptance and positive self talk? Those bulbs of encouraging self esteem have everything you need to be happy.

This is the season for you to witness your own preciousness that has been waiting to bloom.

Loving yourself, right now, in the present moment, is the sun and rain and rich earth that nourishes your true self and fosters faith in your success.

If the tulips can do it…so can you!

Smiles, gena

P.S. Pass this along and Save the date: April 12, 2010 7:30pm

I will be at Pazzo’s Restaurant in Springfield with Sheila Magalhaes from HeartSong Yoga. Join us for an evening of inspiration and well-being! http://www.lysscentral.com

Mornings can sometimes be a challenge. But starting the day off on a positive note is always helpful.

Loving yourself can begin with an encouraging and confident thought. Look in the mirror, and no matter what you look like, SMILE and say: “I am terrific and I am going to have an awesome day”.

Most of us have certain habits that help make the day run smoothly. Habits are just that, habits. You decide if they are positive or negative and what works best for your health, well being and welfare.

About ten years ago I decided to begin using an electric tooth brush because I wanted to have routines that were easy and effortless.

I love my electric tooth brush and it has served me well. My dentist has even commented on the improvement in my oral health.

Recently, I acquired a new tooth brush that keeps track of the brushing time. When I brush for two minutes or more…(which is a very good habit), there is a little smiley face appearing on the screen in the middle of the tooth brush.

I find myself checking to make sure the tiny happy face shows up as a reminder for doing a good job.

The mirror smile and the tooth brush smile help me start the day off with a positive and enthusiastic attitude. And in the evening, I find the reinforcement of that little smiley face inspiring and supportive.

If you are having a hard time smiling at yourself in the mirror; get yourself a tooth brush that will.

Smiles, gena

p.s. Let me know what makes you smile in the morning!

p.p.s. Pass along this little coaching email to help your friends and family learn more about what it means to become your own best friend. Send them to: http://www.lysscentral.com

The saying, “Pull yourself up by your
bootstraps”, has been around for decades.
No one really knows where it came from
or who said it.

It’s origin is not important. The
meaning is very profound: “improve your
own situation without any help from others”.

I have been using the straps on my red cowboy
boots to pull them on each morning and it occurred
to me that I could just as easily pull myself “UP”.

Having a positive attitude and feeling grateful is
totally my responsibility and when I intend to make
that happen my day runs smoothly.

I have gotten in the habit of pulling my boots
on and sauntering out to meet the day with a
smile on my face.

How do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Straps are really crafty little handles to make
the task of improving your attitude much easier.

Loving yourself is at the core of your
intention to become your own best friend.
No matter how difficult the situation,
you are the coach. Encourage yourself to
take a deep breath, plant a smile on your
face, dust yourself off and start all over again.

Be well and stay that way,
Gena

p.s. Join me on Monday Feb 22, 2010
HeartSong Yoga in East Longmeadow, MA
7:30-9:00pm
Workshop and Booksigning
“Love Your Slim Self”

http://www.lysscentral.com

http://www.heartsongyoga.com

Proceeds to benefit the Haiti Relief Fund

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

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

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

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

About thirty years ago, my mother gave
me a rather small, pathetic looking
Christmas Cactus. Over the years, I
have kept it with me, mostly in honor of
her memory.

The plant did not grow very much and only
on occasion has it bloomed. I stopped paying
attention to it and would often forget to
water it.

Over the years, I have even contemplated
throwing the cactus away, but when it was
passed up on the tag sale table, I decided
to put it back on the shelf near the window.

Most of the time it looked pretty ugly.
You can imagine my surprise when I passed
by the other day and the my little Christmas
cactus was in various stages of blooming.

Glorious buds peppered the leaves while large
layers of blossoms brought brilliant color
to the plant.

“Well, aren’t you a beauty”, I said out loud.
“You have been hiding that secret for much too long.”

That little ugly plant was truly in love with
every part of it’s self and was willing to show
off it’s true essence.

Don’t wait for the holiday season to remember to
love all the parts of yourself. Bloom each and
every day with your magnificent preciousness.
And as you pass by the mirror, say to yourself,
“Well, aren’t you a beauty!”

Smiles, gena

p.s. My new book Love Your Slim Self
is available on http://lysscentral.com
There is free content and meditations
on the site.
I am also collecting favorite photos
from readers. I will decorate them
with captions that encourage you to
LOVE YOURSELF! Happy Holiday!

Raking leaves on a beautiful crisp autumn
day was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.
With dear friends helping, the job was completed
in less that 3 hour. We filled almost 32 big
brown lawn bags for the recycle truck.

I couldn’t help but remember the days as a kid
and how we would pile leaves higher than the
fence in order to be able to jump into them.
We would throw them at each other, stuff them
down our shirts, bury ourselves, and spend time
looking at the clouds from that fresh bed of
foliage.

Many of the leaves were still brilliant and
perfect from their peak showing of the season
and others were faded, torn, wrinkled, wet
and soggy.

What if you were to gather up all the parts
of yourself, as if you were raking the leaves
in your yard. Rather than leaves, they would
be all the parts of you that make up who
you are and your own unique qualities of
preciousness.

Imagine that you could dive into the pile
of lovingness and with compassion and acceptance
love all yourself….even the soggy parts.

My trip to Budapest, has challenged my When you travel,
do you bring everything you can fit in your luggage or do
you take just the basics?
Or do you need to always have the extra choices of
clothing and accessories.

Because my daughter had me pack the suitcases
with things she needed, I had very little
space for my “stuff”. Consequently, I could
only take a few things.

After being with her in Budapest, Hungary
for more than a week now, I am surprised
that I am managing on so little. The washer
and dryer helps to make it easy, but I still
am impressed with my satisfaction of only
having one or two choices. I think I will love
traveling with a tiny little suitcase from now on.

Here is my challenge to you…how much extra
baggage do you carry around in your head about
yourself?

Can you lighten the load of negative thoughts.
Will you be willing to leave behind the thoughts,
ideas,impressions and opinions that are not in
your best interest.

If you are willing to leave the heavy self doubts
behind, traveling through life will become easier
and effortless.

If you make the luggage or baggage small enough,
you can carry it without strain or breaking the
back of your self esteem. You will learn to
love your self and whatever luggage you carry.

Empty the thoughts you don’t need and travel lighter!