Paint and My Mat

My Paints Are Calling

I have no motivation to paint! I think a lot of people are suffering during this time. Almost all of my favorite YouTubers are talking about the lack of motivation. I have spoken to more than one person recently who has told me they are not motivated. I’m no different. I haven’t been motivated, the only thing I am able to focus on intently is cleaning and I suppose that makes sense. It’s easier to clean out the mind when your space is clean. I love having a clean and clear space. It brings me so much joy to see a sparkling kitchen, or a nicely packed linen closet.

I think it is time though. There comes a time when I have to force myself to be productive. To sit down and create something. To lay out all the colors on a page and watch the paint dry. I came across an idea once, where similar to a mind dump, you just paint whatever emotion comes up. It could be shapes or completely abstract or it could have more detail. What matters is that you are channeling your feelings into it. Whatever the surface feelings are, paint them. Put it all on a page. I think that’s a great way to get back into painting. It could also be very interesting to see what your emotions and feelings look like.
It probably won’t be very pretty but who cares? You’re doing it for yourself.

I’m going to start trying to motivate myself more by doing little exercises like this.

How are you guys doing? Are you having the same problem?

I hope you are all safe and healthy out there!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Music Is Good For The Soul

Don’t you love music? I love music.
Someone just sang me a song while playing piano and sent me the recording. It was so wonderful to hear him singing and it brought such a huge smile to my face. Music is such a wonderful connection. I love it when someone sings to me and I think it’s that vibration of energy that really speaks to me.

Why do we listen to music? How does music make us feel? Music is emotional and full of feeling. What was the writer feeling? How is the singer feeling? How do those notes and chords make us feel. Music is such a powerful tool. I feel like there is a song and a voice for every emotion and feeling.

You know, I watched a series not long ago, and there were these random scenes of music, where the actors would just stop and lip sync like a music video, the scene was choreographed and the songs chosen went along and in many ways built onto the story that was being told. Music has that power. It can sometimes speak so much louder than our own voices.

I am going to look at what I listen to on a day to day basis more carefully, let the songs tell me, give me extra clues to how I’m feeling. Maybe that’s silly but hey, we’re in lockdown people and it sounds fun to me. I think I will open a section in my personal journal on music, create a playlist at the end of the day full of music that will tell me the story of how my day went.

I know this is a really random post but what can I say? I was inspired! 🙂

I hope you have all had a glorious day!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Triggers

I don’t want to go into crazy detail here because I am not a professional and I won’t pretend that I am. I just talk about my thoughts and feelings. I give advice based on my results but it is entirely up to you to use it, what works for me may not work for you.

When it comes to triggers, I think it is important to identify what triggers you. If you know a certain song will trigger you into feeling a certain unpleasant way then you deserve to know how to handle that.
It might be uncomfortable to think about it but what I did, was force myself to look at my triggers and try to understand them. When we understand what something is, or how it makes us feel then we have more control over those feelings. We can rationalize the situation and realize that we don’t have to feel out of control or scared because in that moment we can sit ourselves down, take a deep breath and understand that we are safe and secure.
The trigger can’t hurt us unless we let it. Those thoughts cant hurt us unless we let them. Our reality is what we make it. Know that you are loved even if you can’t feel it, you are loved.

Start being more aware of yourself and your surroundings. Listen to your feelings and take note when certain things make you feel uncomfortable, anxious, angry… etc. Whatever it may be, try to analyze it. Why does it make yo feel that way? What does it make you think of? Where is the discomfort sitting in your body. When you have identified these things then its easier to handle. It makes it more tangible and controllable.

One of my Reiki healers gave me a wonderful exercise to practice and it really helped me. When I am triggered and I feel an unpleasant emotion, like yesterday I felt paranoia and fear. What she told me to do was, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Now feel that emotion, accept that you are feeling that emotion, don’t fight it. Acknowledge it. Then picture that feeling as a shape, see it in your body where you feel it has settled. (An example of this is, when I am paranoid I feel all that emotion sitting in the pit of my stomach, when I am anxious I feel it sitting in my throat.)
Then give that shape, that emotion a colour. Make it as tangible as possible. Take another deep breath and see it melting away. See it disappearing. See the area clean, and free from the discomfort.

Using this in conjunction with understanding my triggers has really helped me. A few years ago I would have been in a horrible way because of the trigger I went through yesterday but because I was given these tools and I used them, I felt immediately better. As soon as that paranoia was melted away out of the pit of my stomach I jumped into my affirmations. Repeating the good things, the good positive affirmations over and over until I felt my heart soar and a smile spread across my face.

Is there anything you guys do to help you through the triggers and the discomfort that follows?

I hope you are all well out there!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Something Positive.

So on a positive note. Today I managed something that surprised me!
I managed to do a forward fold. I touched my feet and it felt amazing. I haven’t been able to do anything besides Yin Yoga and even though it is very relaxed and non strenuous, many poses activate the feet and ankles. So most of my Yin practice has been tricky too. I haven’t been able to go into child’s pose for goodness sake!
I am so pleased to say that my ankles allowed a lot of movement and stretching today. Without any discomfort I managed a forward fold! I have been able to go into down dog the past couple of days with slight stiffness but touching my toes just felt so wonderful!

I think it is safe to say that eight weeks later, I am on my way to having normal movement in my ankles again. I am sure that I am a long way from full strength and I must still be very aware not to damage myself but I am celebrating all the small achievements!

What can you celebrate that happened today? We should strive to find all the good things that happened in our day. 🙂

As always I am sending you all good vibes and many blessings.

Until next time,

Namaste.

I thought I Was Done

I had a bit of a strange moment today. I was triggered and paranoia hit me like a tonne of bricks and I haven’t experienced those feelings in a long time. Paranoia is such a strange feeling. What am I really scared of? I know I am safe and that as long as I believe it, I am protected. I am loved by so many and the universe will always provide me with what I ask for. That is why I am scared of fear itself because I understand how the law of attraction works and I am scared of dwelling on fear and the things I fear. This is where paranoia is different for me. I can handle fear and I know how to let it go, for myself. Everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you but over the years I have gotten to know myself and I know how to let go of my fears but I find paranoia doesn’t work the same way.
I don’t know if you guys have experienced the same thing? I find that when paranoia latches on, it’s incredibly hard to let go. My brain runs with it like a crazy person. Now I’m going to touch on my last post because the only thing that brings me any kind of peace when I am paranoid is affirmations. Affirmations just saved me a whole anxiety attack because my paranoia was so intense.

I am starting a new daily habit for myself and feel free to join me if you’d like. I am going to add a step to my time in the mornings when I do my mind dumps and I journal. I will write down a few affirmations for the day and I will read them out loud whenever I need them and just before I go to bed at night. I of course didn’t start in the morning because I just decided to do it but I will share today’s affirmations with you.

I AM SAFE.
ALL IS WELL IN MY WORLD.
I AM ABUNDANT.
I AM LOVED.
I AM HAPPY.
I AM SECURE.
I AM AT PEACE.
ALL IS WELL.
I AM INSPIRED.
I AM CREATIVE.
I AM BALANCED.
I AM HEALTHY…….. and so it is.

It doesn’t matter how many you come up with, these are the ones that felt right for me in the moment. I will be doing this everyday and hopefully it will become a natural habit. I’m all for good mental health and I want to be done with paranoia forever. It’s a horrid feeling.

if any of my affirmations resonates with you go ahead and use it. Affirmations don’t have to be long they can be whatever you need in the moment. Do remember though that the words I AM are some of the most powerful words in the universe try to use them often in your affirmations.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and may you all be blessed.

Until next time,

Namaste.

Those Good Thoughts

I wanted to write about affirmations. I think positive self talk is very important. I believe it’s very common for us as human beings to bully ourselves, to be negative in general. It makes sense, especially with all the content we take in everyday. Life has lost it softness, we see a lot of the rough side of life therefore our thoughts have become rougher too. I don’t pretend to know what it was like 100 years ago but I do know how current content effects me. As an empath I do feel things very deeply and I do know I am not the only one, I have quite a few people in my circle who are empaths too. That is why I try to encourage people to use affirmations, it slowly trains the brain into thinking more positively. The more positive our thoughts, the better we feel, the more likely we will attain a peaceful life.

I find that affirmations can be very personal, like a fragrance or shoes. You need to try a few on, see how it feels, does it stick?
One affirmation that has stuck with me for the past ten or so years has been All Is Well In My World. (You can try it on if you’d like.)
When I was in a slump a few years ago and I was highly paranoid I used a rather simple affirmation and it helped me so much. I Am Safe, All Is Well In My World.

I like to make up my own affirmations but it can be nice to get some guidance. One of my favorite teachers is Louise Hay, (I highly recommend her book You Can Heal Your Life.) her affirmations are amazing! She writes out affirmations which can be used to heal certain issues you may have, like anxiety or headaches.

Affirmations are such a powerful tool to use, I do believe that positive self talk can change your life. Even if you just start by looking in the mirror everyday and saying “I feel wonderful.” Say it with feeling and even if you don’t believe it right now, I am sure after a while of doing this you will start to believe it and as a result you will feel wonderful! 🙂

I hope you are all keeping well out there! I am sending everyone good vibes!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Dalgona Coffee

I’m sure you have all heard of the Dalgona Coffee, it has gone viral. It is the coffee recipe to make during lockdown. I am not a TikTok user but most of my favorite youtubers are making this coffee. It is everywhere I look. So I wanted to find out if it is worth the hype.

At first I wasn’t impressed but I tried again and again, I tweaked the recipe to my taste and now I am addicted! I can’t get enough of this coffee!! It is so yummy. It’s like a coffee milkshake without the ice cream but the whipped coffee makes this drink so creamy you don’t miss the ice cream at all. Pretty amazing!

Now I can make this coffee when I’m really missing the coffee shops. You can make your own special coffee at home and boy is this coffee special!

So, if you were wondering if this coffee is worth it. Is it worth it taking that time to whip some coffee, just to put it on top of some really icy cold milk?
Yes!!! It is so worth it. It takes a few minutes but you won’t regret spending that time on your coffee once you have sat down to enjoy it!

Let me know what you think if you decide to try it!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Put It All On Paper!

Do you guys do this? I find a mind dump very beneficial.

Yes, meditation and yoga creates a lot of space in the mind but those pesky thoughts and ideas that take up all the space just creeps back in. It is natural to think, we can’t not think but we can control what we think and with practice we can find a peace in our minds. Our minds don’t have to be our enemies, we have trained the mind to think in a certain way. We have years and years of training to work through. This will take a while and mind dumps can help.

What I like to do is find a blank notebook or journal, this book will become a home for my thoughts. I like to keep my mind dumps separate from my actual journal. I have a journal, a book for mind dumps and my daily “bullet journal”.
I will do a mind dump every morning, I wake up go through my morning routine and then settle in front of my journals. Armed with a cup of coffee I will go through my To-Do for the day, then I will do my mind dump. I open up to a clean page and I start writing, I try not to judge my writing. It doesn’t have to make sense. Write whatever comes to mind, whatever you need to get out. Write, write, write, write until you are empty, until you feel peaceful, until you can breathe with ease. As soon as I am done with my mind dump I close the book. I don’t read it. It has left my mind, I don’t want to put it back in. I then do my gratitude. I list all that I am grateful for in that moment. Then I am ready to start my day. All of this doesn’t take too long. I would say it takes me about 15 to 20 minutes every morning. It allows me space to enjoy my breakfast with my momma. I don’t like eating on a full mind. 🙂

If you decide to try this out, I hope you find it beneficial. If you already do it and find it helps, then I am glad! We need all the love and support we can get and who better to receive it from than yourself?

I hope you have all had a wonderful day today! I for one am enjoying the change of seasons!

Until next time,

Namaste.

Yoga For My Mental Health

I am so excited, my yoga teacher, (the best teacher/friend in the world and I really miss her right now!) she has sent us our yoga classes! Yay! It’s so wonderful to hear her soothing voice during practice. I have been in a slump the past couple of weeks understandably, as I’m sure the rest of the world has been.

Besides the isolation and lockdown my mother has been getting more and more sick and I have been slacking in my practice. I find I am just too tired by the time I get to my mat and I have no motivation to practice. Receiving my classes has been the best thing to happen regarding my practice. I feel happy to get on my mat and take that hour and a half to myself, to be in silence with myself. To close my eyes and meditate. I know I am always saying how important it is to breathe and sit in silence but I admit, I fell down for a few days but I think I am back now. I will be practicing everyday, going back to my mat and coming back to myself.

Yoga has a beautiful way of keeping my negativity at bay, it allows me a huge amount of space to be calm and peaceful. I am so grateful for it. I still can’t do much with my feet, I can’t do anything strenuous so I will be focusing on Yin Yoga for now and perhaps some core and arm movements that won’t put pressure on my feet. No Sun Salutations for me… not yet at least, it has been eight weeks but I think I got on my feet too soon and it’s taking longer than usual to heal completely. I will just be gentle with myself.

I will be thinking of the world and I will be dedicating a few of my meditations to the people out there suffering.

I hope you guys are having a great day and I’m sending you all loads of love.

Until next time,

Namaste.

The Choices We Make

Choices, I always struggle with the choices I have made in my life. I think too much. Ultimately I need to make peace with the fact that everything happens for a reason. I don’t need to beat myself up for certain choices that I have made. I am human, I make mistakes and yes I do suffer with intense guilt. I’m working on that.

My point is, maybe you guys have made decisions that you regret or feel guilty about, maybe a choice you made hurt someone else or it hurt you… it’s okay, you don’t need to bully yourself. We are all human and if people want to judge you for your actions, if they feel the need to attack you, or speak their mind about your actions, that’s also okay. It’s their way of dealing, you don’t need to listen, you don’t have to defend yourself, just stay calm and be gentle with them and yourself. Please don’t take those judgments to heart. Ultimately what happened, happened for a reason.

I once worked through a teaching on forgiveness. Forgiveness in general. One of the points that stuck with me is, if you feel the need to apologize to someone and you can’t speak to them for any reason- maybe they don’t want to hear from you, maybe you lost their contact or maybe you’re just scared to reach out… you can still apologize. Sit in silence, hold their face in your mind and apologize. Keep up with this practice, apologize whenever you feel the need to, send them blessings and happiness, eventually that wound does heal.
This worked for me, I have used this practice to make peace with a number of people including myself and even though they don’t hear your apology, that energy still flows to them. You attract what you put out into the universe, I would rather be sending blessings and love to the people I may have wronged instead of fretting over the situation… the more negative energy I pour into the wound the worse it will get, it might never heal… who knows it might attract another situation which might give me even more grief!

There are lessons we need to learn scattered throughout our lives and we need to consciously acknowledge that.
Yes, I am human. Yes, I have made many many mistakes and yes, I have hurt people’s feelings… I need to learn from those mistakes, I need to learn my lessons and I will take on those lessons with love in my heart.
I will continue to send love to those who have wronged me and to those whom I have wronged. I will learn my lessons and I will grow so that hopefully I never make the same mistakes and hopefully I won’t create another pattern.

Be gentle with yourself and others, love yourself and others, honor yourself and others. Life can be ugly, let’s sprinkle some goodness and beauty over all the ugly situations.

Just thought I would share some intense thoughts and feelings with you guys. My opinions might differ from yours and that’s perfectly fine, I hope if you take at least one thing from this post its to just love… love with your whole being.

I’m sending everyone in the world loads of blessings and I hope life is treating you all well!

Until next time,

Namaste.