In honor of the upcoming holidays, I thought it would be timely to remind you of the concept of SIMPLICITY.
In coaching, my job is to help clients keep ideas alive between sessions, so they realize the full benefits of an idea put into action. One of the most effective ways to do this is having a “structure” or “que” to REMIND one to live a desired intention.
The Minders Collection™ was designed to assist you in keeping a lesson alive in your life. The Gem-Minders™ subtlety reminds you with beautiful colors and symbols on your wrist. They look good and carry inspired meaning with you everywhere you go. A quick glance or a soulful meditation on these thoughtful images, supports you visually and emotionally.
The Path of Simplicity
• Yellow is creativity to inspire us to find new creative ways to live in simplicity.
• The butterflies in between each gem signifies transformation as we apply simple “spiritual principles” in our lives in lots of creative ways.
• Musical note reminds us to listen to the music in life, and dance and sing along with it.
• The “spiral” symbol represents the labyrinth, a meditation practice used centuries ago and reminds us to “go within” and listen to our inner guidance to help us finding creative ways to live in simplicity.
Living Life to the FULLEST
Honoring…Our Friend
Vytas Pazemenas
1938 – 2009
On November 15, 2009, we gathered for Vytas Pazemenas’ Memorial at Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach. I found myself even more honored to know this unique man.
Born in Lithuania in 1938, as a child Vytas was smack in the middle of World War II, between the German Army and Red Army of Russia. His family once hid under a train, protecting themselves from gun-fire. His father was captured by the Russians…and later escaped. They finally fled Lithuania. Vytas was a refugee.
As a young man, Vytas came to the USA to attend college, graduating from Penn State with a degree in engineering. He chose the medical device industry, and steadily worked his way into management in Silicon Valley. He had a knack for recognizing and developing talent. In 1999, Vytas was invited to southern California to lead a company in distress. As CEO, he turned it around! When that company sold, Vytas decided it was time to start his own medical device company. Vytas was an avid sailor, and a fan of the book series about Jack Aubrey, a man of high character and integrity…hence the company name: The Aubrey Group. Vytas was a leader.
Vytas built a top notch engineering team through his somewhat unusual interviewing techniques. Nearly every man who spoke at the Memorial chuckled as they remembered how Vytas presented a “puzzle” for them to solve in that initial interview. It quickly revealed one’s “on-the-spot” thinking skills. Apparently these “puzzles” were Vytas’ secret for culling talent. Vytas was discerning.
Collectively, this talent has saved countless lives and silently impacted the world in a myriad of ways. The first time I visited Aubrey Group, tears came to my eyes as I learned about project after project.
Filed under Emotional Muscles, Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace 101, Inner Peace Moments, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (1)“GRATITUDE unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough . . . and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order,
Confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,
A stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
And creates a vision for tomorrow.”
-M. Beattie
This week, gratitude is the perfect emotion to adopt. Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. Appreciation and gratitude are interchangeable. In gratitude there is acceptance, love and acknowledgment of “what is”. In gratitude, there is spaciousness and connectedness.
APPLICATION – Appreciate the moment. Appreciate your strengths and weaknesses. Appreciate who you are, a unique being with personality and soul. Appreciate the gifts and challenges in your life. Appreciate your work, income, clients, employer, employees and referrals. Appreciate your health, your body, your senses, your ability to walk and live. Appreciate the acts of kindness and contribution you offer others, and that others contribute to you. Appreciate others’ unique qualities, their foibles, quirks and gifts. Appreciate your environment, your neighborhood, city, state, country and planet. Appreciate the government for providing a structure that strives for order, safety, education, services and justice. Appreciate the entertainers, the artists, the business owners and entrepreneurs, laymen, doctors, lawyers, dentists, massage therapists, dry cleaners, yoga teachers, manufacturers, farmers, teachers, executives, cab drivers, salesmen, managers, photographers, wedding planners, electricians and garbage collectors. Appreciate freedom, free-trade, the stock market, opportunity, creativity and choice. Appreciate joy, love, peace, kindness, humility, forgiveness, truth, honesty, integrity, knowledge, wisdom and grace. Appreciate your stressful thoughts for expanding your awareness and allowing you to discover the truth. Appreciate the thoughts that allow joy and bliss to electrify your being. Appreciate your vulnerability, your humanity and your willingness to grow and learn.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Filed under Emotional Muscles, Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace 101, Inner Peace Practices, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (0)
We are human BEINGs, not human DOINGs. And society has conditioned most of us to DO, DO, DO, and offered little to no “training” in simply “being”.
Underneath all the doing in life lies some sort of BEING energy – it may be determination, confidence, love or even anger, fear or depression. Some combination of BEING energy is ALWAYS driving the DOING energy, however most of us don’t consciously choose the energy that serves us most.
So, how do you want to BE?
A: Overwhelmed, angry and frazzled
B: Loving, clear and grounded
C:_____________ (you fill in the blank)?
Would the “being” states of A or B influence your “doingness” or output? Absolutely. The good news is, over time you can re-condition yourself to live in the states of “being” that support your highest happiness. Your “being” states dramatically impact your level of joy and satisfaction, whether you are conscious about it or not. Why not choose consciously?
What BEING states do you want more of in your life? What BEING states do you want less of? What will you choose?
Filed under Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace 101, Inner Peace Practices, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (0)“As we express our gratitude,
we must never forget that the highest appreciation
is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
LOVE… This is truly one of the great emotions in life, isn’t it? The word LOVE is used in numerous ways to capture that special connection that ties us all together as human beings, and to everything we have an affinity for. In our purest state, I believe we love everyone and everything in this world. The dictionary defines “love” in the following ways.
Sometimes love seems so natural, as we love our families, friends, pets, children and favorites in life. We love out of appreciation and gratitude. We love moments, people and memories that put smiles on our faces. We love feeling good. We love to love.
Yet, sometimes we forget to love, as we get caught up in distraction, stress, fear and suffering. Sometimes we fool ourselves in believing that the emotion of “love” is somehow not appropriate. I don’t believe that love is ever inappropriate. There are times I’ve stayed present to love when others have been “critical”, “cold”, “controlling”, “broken their word”, “forgotten a birthday” or “shut down in fear”. Loving through those moments have been some of the sweetest of my life.
“When they attack you
and you notice that you love them
with all your heart,
your Work is done.”
— Byron Katie
The place I see that we forget to love the most is toward – ourselves. Have you ever found yourself saying any of the following?
Filed under Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace 101, Inner Peace Practices, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (1)
Do you get an energy slump in the afternoon? Are you relying on caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea and soda to “pick-you-up”? What if you could zip up your energy naturally and effectively?
One of my favorite clients once came to our call to explore alternative ways to tackle the mid-afternoon energy droops. Finding three empty coffee mugs, a Diet Red Bull and two empty tea cups on her desk at the end of a crazed day jolted her system in more ways than one. She was also finding it more difficult to sleep at night after artificially zipping up her adrenals all day. Fortunately, she was ready and WILLING to implement alternatives. Here’s a snapshot of the list we generated that day with a few additional ideas.
1. Breathing. When stress sets in, the body contracts. Instinctually breath becomes more shallow. We practically stop breathing. Less oxygen makes it to your brilliant brain cells, and passing out on your desk becomes inviting. Fortunately, the fix is simple. Bring your conscious attention to your breath. Inhale with deep diaphragm breaths. Make your belly rise and fall with each breath. Most of us only breathe from our chest. Where is your breathing now? Get the oxygen pumping again. A phenomenal exercise involves breathing in a 1:4:2 ratio. It works like this. Breathe in for 8 counts, hold for 32 counts, and exhale for 16 counts. Any 1:4:2 ratio works. Breathe in for 10, hold for 40, and exhale for 20. You’re exhaling out longer than you’re breathing in. Repeat this 10 times.
Filed under Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace Practices, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (0)
“Express” is to communicate, convey, reveal, expose or give. “Yourself” is YOU. In Expressing YOURSELF we want YOUR thoughts, feelings and emotions, not someone else’s. “Express yourself FULLY” means “all of you”, not a partial rendition or “playing it safe” version. And, yes there are huge rewards for ”expressing ourselves fully”, including fulfillment.
Of course, we want to Fully Express Ourselves responsibly. It’s no longer fulfilling when our self-expression is destructive or harmful to someone else. Performers, singers, artists, and musicians find fulfillment in their work because they have a direct channel for expressing themselves fully. On the contrary, when someone follows a format that is ”NOT really them” or is forced to fit a mold, the same level of fulfillment disappears. What prevents us from full self-expression? Fear of JUDGMENT. If we can learn to ”let go” of what others might think, we can be free to “fully BE ourselves”
What would you like to express to the world? What haven’t you revealed yet? How can you ”express yourself fully” everyday? One of our deepest human needs is to be “fully seen” by another. And, it’s so fulfilling to do so. Try it, you’ll like it.
Filed under Fulfilling Lives, Inner Peace 101, Inner Peace Practices, Inner Peace Strategies | Comment (0)“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.
Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever,
even if your whole world seems upset.”
- St. Francis de Sales
Everyday Inner Peace is about maximizing YOUR inner peace. Whatever is interfering with your inner peace is temporary, unnecessary suffering. Here you’ll find tips, strategies and inspiration to return to relaxed bliss … in minutes. Everything is better in life with an abundance of "inner peace."