The Art of Mindfulness

“Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing.”

http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/ 

In other words, mindfulness is the ability to focus. With all of today’s technology, our ability to focus has been quickly diminishing. Instead of looking people in the eye and giving them our full attention, we are on our cellphones or on our tablets. Instead of paying attention in class or at work, our minds are often elsewhere. We are missing out on the simple beauty of human connection. How does this affect our lives and our state of being?

Well, research has found that the ability to focus also dictates our ability to control our emotional state. It has been found that people who have a greater ability to focus, and those who consciously focus are actually happier. This is because through focusing, these people are able to block out emotional turbulence for the time being, which means they have more control over their emotions. They are also less likely to become depressed. On the other hand, people who day dream often and have trouble focusing are typically unhappy; they are often thinking of their feelings, past incidences, or even the future. Not being present in the moment causes people to be dissatisfied with their work, with their lives and with themselves. This is because people who lack the control to focus have trouble dealing with their emotions and lack the ability to fully control them.

Building up the ability to focus is like building your brain muscles. It takes a little bit of work. Now, I am not saying that focusing means not wandering off with our thought and feelings, because this is inevitable. But really strengthening this ability means being able to bring yourself back; bring your attention back from your day dream, bring your attention back from what happened last night, bring your attention back from how you are feeling. Bring your attention back to the present moment. This is building your ability to focus.  

I believe that really focusing and being mindful of the present moment can lead to a happier and more fulfilled life. One of the easiest and greatest gifts we can give our loved ones is our attention, and attention is also one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. We all seek attention, so it is also up to us to give it. Not only this, but us giving our full attention to even the little things uplifts our state of being; we become more grateful and appreciative of the people in our lives and of the life around us, and we are more attentive to our work and thus achieve more. So many people in this world just want to be fulfilled and happy… Practicing the art of mindfulness is definitely an important step in this journey!!

"Risk Being Seen In All of Your Glory"

 

This was such an amazing and empowering speech! 

Don’t choose your pathway out of fear! Choose your pathway out of faith, belief and love! As Jim Carrey states, “Risk being seen in all of your glory,” do not sell yourself short or try to dim your dreams or ambitions from the world. Napolean Hill author of Think and Grow Rich said it best, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve.” So dare to dream big because you are powerful. You are the creator of your life and well-being; it is all in your mindset. Remember that where the focus goes energy flows, and that all of the empires of the world were first created in the minds of men. If you have a vision and steadfastly focus on that vision, and thus act with enduring vigor and passion, you can achieve anything you want in this lifetime. The resources you need to succeed are already in existence, you just have to recognize them and find a way to utilize them. It is the lack of knowledge and awareness that compels man to believe that it is not possible that he can achieve greatness. It is always possible!

Dreams = Soul on Fire!

Have the Courage to Turn Your Dreams into a Reality

Tips on How to Have a Positive and Productive Day

Do you often find yourself in a negative state of mind throughout the week or throughout your day? Are you slow to start specific tasks? Do you lack energy and motivation? If so, then you are not alone. Many of us as people feel this way whether it is most days or every now and then. Either way, there is a solution!! It really all starts in the morning or whenever you get out of bed. Do you slowly get out of bed or do you jump out of bed? Do you start out your day thinking of the negatives or thinking of the positives that the day will bring? 

Here is a list of practices that will help you change your state of mind, and develop a higher frequency of energy and happiness in your daily life.

1.  From the Sheets to the Streets: How you get out of bed will determine how you attack the day. Get out of bed slowly… you will start your tasks slowly and with low energy. If you jump out of bed quickly with vigor, then that’s how you will attack the rest of the day, with energy!! It is important to set your state of mind up for the day!!
2. Powerful Incantations: It is important to get yourself pumped up! Remember in my last post where I talked about how words have power. Public speaker, Jim Rohn said it best, “Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.”
3. Declare it; Say it Loud, Say it Proud! With that being said, you must first decide how you want to feel and how you want your day to go. Then you must declare this. AND SAY IT LOUD! Look in the mirror and say your positive declarations over and over again! Get yourself ready and pumped up! Yell it, scream it and shout it! 
4.  Inertia: Now, that is just the first step. Yes, there is more!! As motivational speaker Tony Robins explains, motion breads emotion! So, as you are emphatically saying your declarations maybe jog in place or jog around your room, or do some jumping jacks. Get yourself moving, pumped up and energized, and then you will get yourself emotionalized!! Motion gets us emotionalized and the more positive, encouraging emotions you have towards a task (which exercising gives us through releasing endorphins that contribute to the feeling of well-being), the more likely you will be motivated to complete a task. 
5. Repetition is Key: Throughout day say your declarations! “Today is a beautiful day,” “Today I will be productive,” Today will be a great day.” There are many occurrences that can take place during the day to throw us off of our productive and happy trail. This is why it is important to constantly arm ourselves with reminders of why and how today is a great day. Repetition is always elemental! We must ingrain our goals and declarations in ourselves to make them last!

Remember that everything you think, feel and do is within your control. If you want to be happy, be happy on purpose. If you want to be productive, then be productive on purpose. We hold the paint brush of our lives in our hands. In order to feel good, do good, live good and be good, we must paint our lives with purpose to do so. You are in control. It is not the external factors that affect your mood, it is the internal factors (how you respond).


These are some basic tips I have learned that I hope will prove to be useful for everyone! Feel free to comment below if you all have more suggestions!

Tuesday Night = Poetry Night!

Going With The Wind

Always going with the wind,

When I long to go against it. 

Afraid of being independent,

When I want my freedom transcended.

Afraid that I will only be but a shadow of the woman of bodily flesh,

Moving through life with no finesse.

Scared that I won’t reach my potential,

My potential suppressed.

But Suppressed only by my own prudence and unrest.

I want to rise like the sun,

And glow like the moon. 

I want to be as precious as a daughter or son,

And embrace the aroma of perfume

Because time goes too soon.

But I am trapped by my insecurities

That keep me locked in

When I’d rather move freely, and swiftly like the wind.

However, my confusion, anxiety has deepened

And I long for more human interaction,

Which is not made possible because my personality had been stipend

By myself. But it is rooted in the actions of somebody else.

But I still blame myself, for my weakness,

For my meekness,

For my personality and its’ bleakness.

I suppressed my flames, my fire,

To be like someone that I admired,

When they were really scum.

So I have wasted my years and lost my personality,

Now to live life with fear of judgments.

Oh how I do resent

All of my past and the present.

To live life with no grit!

Where is all of my wit!!

It’s like I threw it all in the pit and just abandoned it, treated it like shit!

Now so indecisive like the weather

And derisive like a panther.

Unhappiness consuming my being,

My personality, like an orange is pealing.

When I just want to soar in the sky

Feel the wind in my face,

Be sweet like pie

Enjoy every single taste

Feel the sun on my skin

Have my soul deepen

And not be afraid to live again. 

-L. Marie

The Power of "I Am"

Having Trouble Becoming the Person You Want to Become?

     Are you having trouble with achieving success, whether it be at your job or in an entrepreneurial endeavor? Are you having trouble trying to figure out who you are, who you want to be and how to improve?  Believe me, I have been here and in some ways I am still here!! Today I will discuss the power that a simple declaration can have on your happiness, your success and your life. 

     As many of us have heard, “Life and death is in the tongue.” This is so very true. This is why we must declare our blessings, declare our success and declare who we are. This truth goes back to the mind, which is very powerful. What we think is manifested into the outside world. A thought produces a feeling, that feeling affects how we act, or if we take action, and how we act affects our results. So, negative thoughts will ultimately yield negative results while positive thoughts will ultimately yield positive results. With that being said, the question is, if I am not getting the results that I want, what or how am I thinking? Ask yourself, “Have I been thinking in a more negative light or have I been thinking in a more positive light?” If you have been thinking negatively, the most important thing now is that you are aware of it.

     Through my experiences, I have learned that it is essential to monitor and be aware of our own thoughts.  Only then do we truly have the power to achieve what we desire. Now, sometimes it is difficult to change our thoughts and it is difficult to change our dispositions. I am here to tell you that it is okay because there is a solution for this, too. It is not always just enough to just think it, we have to believe it and thus we have to be it. And how can we get ourselves to believe it? How can we get ourselves to become it? Have you ever heard the saying that if you tell a lie long enough that you will start to believe it? Well that is very, very true! In order to be happy and confident in ourselves, in order to achieve any endeavor that is worth wild and that requires the best of us, we must declare our victory and we must declare who we are. Speak positivity and victory into existence.

     Now, I want to get more personal in the sense of how we individually view ourselves, because how we view ourselves is also a determining factor in our success. When I first started my own business through affiliate marketing, I was working so hard and putting in so many hours, and yet I still wasn’t achieving positive results. Now, I know that success takes time, but I also realized that I wasn’t the person who I needed to be in order to achieve the success that I wanted. I had to become more so I could achieve more. The problem was that I was not confident in myself; I had difficulty seeing myself and believing I could be a great leader and so on and so forth. So I tried to take more action. This still did not work. Remember as I said previously, your thoughts dictate your feelings, your feelings dictate your actions, and your actions dictate your results. Welp, I was thinking negatively so I had negative results. So I was wondering how I could presume to change my thoughts; how I could change my thoughts about the business and more importantly how I could change my view of myself.

     My mentor shared with me some life-changing information. He explained that so many people speak death instead of life into their lives! Whether it be thought us saying or thinking that we suck, or that we cannot do something or that we are not good enough, etc. What people should do is turn their head away from the negative and state the positive, even if the positive is not present yet. Speak and declare life! I learned that I must declare what I want and who I want to be, but it is not enough to do it just one time, or every now and then. Repetition is the key.  He said I must declare repeatedly who I am (positive attributes only!), and soon I will start believing and embodying these traits. This is why “I am” is the most powerful statement known to man. As humans we can reinvent ourselves and our lives. It is a true gift; a blessing that we must use.

     However, there is a catch! Now, repeating the statement, “I am…” is not just enough. Some people do this and find that they are not changing or that they have not seen the results that they want. Bear in mind though that this takes time. We have to get in the habit of saying, thinking, believing and acting in this way, and a habit takes about 90 days to stick. It takes time. Not only that, but it is not just enough to simply say the “I am” statement. You must also feel it! The feeling and the emotion that is associated with your statements must also become a habit; it is also something you need to get used to. So say your statements with feeling and with enthusiasm! When I wake up in the morning I look at myself in the mirror and declare who I am, and I declare my victory with emotion! Throughout the day I also declare my “I am” statements to myself, when I am working out I say my “I am” statements, and before I go to be I look at myself in the mirror and again declare who I am. Do this and I guarantee, if you are not happy with who you are now and with your results, you will be!! Create a 90 day challenge for yourself. Choose to uplift yourself instead of put yourself down for 90 days and see how far you have come.