Saturday, April 26, 2008

Knowing your limits

So a lot of work/life balance mastery is about knowing your limits. This is true across the board. You have to know your own limitations, limiting beliefs and when your body and mind has had enough. The first step is awareness. When you start to become aware of your energy and your limits, you will start to notice the one moment when you went over the edge.

Think back to a time in your life, where you were cruising along, things were flowing, and then all of a sudden you started to get stressed, overwhelmed, and felt like life was out of control. I have this happen a lot with work, I will be working and things will be flowing. I will have this intuition that it is enough work for today, but instead of turning the computer off or putting my attention elsewhere, there is this little pull, this compulsion. “Just one more email, just one more hour, just one more task.” In that moment I move from flow to force, and my energy shifts. I get overwhelmed, tired, or cranky. If I wasn’t so aware of my energy, I could blame it on a million things. I know now that not listening to my intuition telling me I was at my limit is what put me over the edge.

So becoming aware of your energy is the first step, listening to your intuition and following that energy is the second. We have to often ask ourselves why do we do what we do? Why do we push ourselves to just do a little more? Why can’t we naturally follow our intuition, instead of constantly questioning it with our mind?

I teach people a lot about structure, both physical structure and mental structures. The pull in our life, those little compulsions, are primarily effects of our mental structures: our beliefs, past experiences, fears and mental anxiety. We are rarely motivated by our deliberate decisions, but instead by our mental constructs. So what is it in your mental space that makes you push yourself over the edge? Maybe it’s a belief that you are not good enough. Maybe it’s a belief that there is never enough time. Whatever is holding us back from following your energy, is what often blocks our intuiton and throws us far off balance.

I believe innately we have a guidepost, an energetic compass. It lets us know what is balance for us, it guides us to make the right moves, and it helps our lives flow. We decide and direct this flow, but we can do it from a deliberate state of consciousness or from a limiting mental construct. This energy will tell us when we reach our limit, so the decision left in our hands is will we choose to honor that limit, or will we throw ourselves over the edge?

I encourage you today to look at your life and become aware of your limits, your energy and your mental constructs that are throwing your life out of balance. I ask you to honor that divine compass and let your life flow more freely. As always, I send you many blessings today.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

What do you do when life throws you for a loop?

So we often talk about work/life balance, and all the effort we spend towards achieving more of it, towards getting somewhere with it. What do we do when our designs for perfect balance are crumbled with one quick flip of the universe? What do we do when our plans are flipped upside down and sometimes our life as well?

Sometimes I wonder if our plans will achieve more work/life balance or if the universe’s “bumps in the road” actually create the work/life balance we are so trying to achieve. It makes you question whether there really is a divine plan we are yet to be given. Take for instance, my carefully designed plans the next three days. I have almost every minute accounted for: birthday parties, baby showers, work, time for me, time with my daughter and the 500 other things on my to do list. Then in one fell swoop: flip, my daughter has chicken pox. Clear the schedule for who knows how many days, plan for how to have enough of everything I need to be trapped at home for a few days. Sometimes trapped is how you feel when you are stuck at home as a single mother. My terrifically laid plans have now crumbled and I am left wondering how to get all my to do’s done.

Then I became aware that there was actually a feeling of relief present. How long has it been since I have been “trapped” at home for several days, and how much of our lives do we spend “trapped” in our to-do list? Sometimes it just takes a change in perspective. What seemed to be throwing me for a loop, has quickly become a blessing in disguise. How much time have I had to just fully enjoy being home with my daughter? Now I could make this a productive few days, or choose to enjoy the ride the universe has seen fit to throw my way. So I decided to choose the latter.

We so often think that we are not in control of our lives, that we are a slave to our to-do list, to our supposed-tos, to our have-tos. When we become aware that all of it is self-imposed and at any moment we can tear up those ideas and trash them, we take back control and power in our lives. We don’t have to wait for the universe to turn life upside down, but instead we can be empowered through awareness of when we are choosing our path, and when our path has started choosing for us.

Who or what is running your life today? Is it conscious choices by you, or lists and beliefs that set the pace? I think the most important aspect to work/life balance is being aware: of our choices, our belief systems, our urges, our indoctrinations, our standards of living. When we become aware, we can start to deconstruct those things that no longer serve us, those things that have been running rampant and making us slaves. I urge you to become more aware. Everyday ask yourself, what is running my life today. When you can say: you, consciously and happily, celebrate! When you can’t say those things, begin to look at the ways you can take back your power.

As divine beings, we are innately aware and intuitive. When we take the time to look, the truth of our lives unfolds. Awareness is the greatest step. May you find more awareness today and enjoy the ride of life.

Many blessings.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Are you opening to the divine flow?

So I encourage everyone today to ask yourself this question. Does what I am doing today open me up to the divine, love, the energetic flow of spirit? No, this is not just a spirituality question, but also a business question. My mission is to help integrate people’s lives. It is also to help people grow successful, thriving and abundant businesses and careers. So the question becomes, is what I am doing today opening me or closing me? Is the energy flowing, or is it stagnant? So much of my teaching is based on becoming aware of your own energy. This is what the Law of Attraction is based on and movies like The Secret. It isn’t just believing or visualizing what you want, you have to feel the energy in your body.

Understanding how your energy flows or doesn’t flow is the foundation of my groups and teachings. Business the Feminine Way is about opening up the feminine so that your life will be magnetic, your heart with attract all of the things you desire and there will be a continual movement towards balance. This may sound a little woo woo, but the truth is these are concrete realizations that when felt in the body, will bring success to your life.

We can no longer sustain ourselves through fragmentation and compartmentalization. It is the reason so many of us are exhausted, tired, unhappy and dissatisfied. I believe it is our nature to integrate, to become whole. It is a pull we have toward oneness, first in ourselves and then with all other things. The more we compartmentalize and fragment our lives, the more we move in opposition to our nature, and that creates friction and resistance. There is a million reasons why we compartmentalize, primarily beliefs, indoctrinations and past experiences. Society is a big part of this, we have to be this strong business woman here, mother here, wife here, and somewhere find the I in the middle of all of these hats and identities.

When we ask, is our job, is our relationships, is our choices opening us up to the divine or closing us and separating us from the divine, it is the greatest tool of divination. We can actually follow your energy and let it guide you to fulfillment, success, clients, money, relationships and anything else your heart desires. The first key point in all of this is to become aware. Become aware of when you are breathing, when you are holding your breath, when you feel alive and energetic, and when you feel lifeless. These are all keys. It doesn’t mean that when you feel heavy or lifeless, you run from the choices you have made, but it is an indication that something is not running smoothly. The next question I would ask is if this is shutting me down, what opens me?

This is a moment to moment practice, the epitome of the feminine essence. Is this moment opening me, is this situation opening me? Everyday, every moment ask yourself. Dare to become aware of your connection to spirit. When you do this, things that have been stagnant will begin to flow and you will once again be connected to the wave of divine energy. It might sound intangible, hard, ethereal, but just try it and you will see immediately how much of our reality is based in this awareness of energy. Many blessings to each one of you today, may your divine nature flow and may you attract all of your heart’s desires.