Totally loving yourself: loving yourself totally
Those of you who have worked with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) will be familiar with the phrase: “Even though I …. (input some unwanted feeling and related event) I totally and completely love myself. ” Do you totally and completely love yourself no matter what it is that is going on in your life? This is an interesting inward turning of unconditional love. Reflecting on this, you could wonder if your yearning for unconditional love from others could be totally solved if you simply unconditionally loved yourself. What would it look like if you were to totally and completely love yourself? It would mean that no matter how much you were unhappy with a choice you had made, with how you look or perhaps how you have not done well in a particular activity, you would still totally love yourself. It would mean that even if you knew that you were sometimes irritating, or bossy, or negative, or sometimes unkind, you would be quite aware of your pitfalls and love yourself anyway.
Hmmmm. If you really loved all parts of yourself, then would you be defensive when other people point those things out to you?
The above is an overly simplified reflection on “the shadow”. I personally have found that working with and loving my shadow side is difficult, and rewarding. It does make a difference.
Ponder these things and, like me, you will likely learn something new about yourself. It is another step in learning to totally and completely love yourself … no matter what
Life Meaning
Had a wonderful day working with two open and caring people in the all-day intensive Blueprint for Embracing Life with Meaning. Loved watching their work unfold into actually creating a blueprint for themselves that they can modify, build on and then use as a guide to make important life decisions. They were great. Very inspiring day. A long day. But inspiring! Thank you.
The fit between facilitator and participant is key.
It makes a difference when the participants are really ready to work with the material and experiences being offered to them. The right fit between the workshop leader and the people coming together to benefit from the process is essential to the success of the time together. That is why I prefer to work with people with whom I have had some previous contact, even if just a phone call.
The process that is key to the work in Blueprint for Embracing Life with Meaning requires people wanting to get a handle on what is meaningful to them. That was the best part of the day today. Working with people who want to move forward, inspires me and that inspires them. It is a spiral.
I find leading this kind of workshop is very connected to who I am. When that part of me connects with the core of the participants, my sense of meaning is fulfilled and I feel inspired too. The energy exchange is uplifting and effective.
Click here to learn more about the workshop. Then call me to talk more about it.
Tip #3: Tap into your inner wisdom.
- Don’t feel you have to say or do anything right away. Assuming you are not in an emergency situation, it is important to let the situation sit with you for a bit. It may be as simple as not agreeing to sit on another committee until “sleeping on it”. Usually the next day provides you with the wise answer you want to give.
- Learn to recognize your wisdom. It is more intuitive than logical. It comes quickly in short blurts of insights as opposed to lengthy dialogues in your head.
- In fact don’t look for wisdom in your head. It isn’t there. Just be with a dilemma. Consciously open yourself to a solution rather than trying to find one. It will come to you.
Enjoy your wisdom and learn to trust it.
Tip #2: Unclutter Your Life
Unclutter your life and notice what is left when the clutter is gone. It is there that lies hidden the real you. You won’t find what is meaningful for you if you fill every second with things to do and places to go. It doesn’t lie in busyness.
Meaning lies in the quiet times when you listen to the birds in the morning or the leaves rustling with evening breezes. It lies in the times you quietly watch a tot play with a new toy or a six year old learn to ride a bike. It lies in the moments when you are not filling your mind with chatter or your vocal chords with continuous talk.
Unclutter your life and notice what is there when the clutter of driving here and there, buying this and that, chatting with this one and that one has stopped and it is just you. Just notice. Breathe deeply and feel the nurturing life flow through every cell and feel gratitude for the body you inhabit. Just notice the sensual experience of being alive at this moment now. Just notice whatever wants to be noticed.
Just notice. That is the first step in being more conscious. Notice. Noticing has an effect in itself.
Once your noticing has given you clarity, then decide on one action you will take to incorporate some of that stillness into your life. Let me know what you notice and what you do with that.
Enjoy noticing the quiet calmness around you and smile.
Meaningful Life Choices Tip #1
Enjoy noticing the enjoyable things in your day.
PS I am also now using Twitter @marieknapp
Live Your Life with Meaning and Wholeness
Is your life what you want it to be? What are you doing about it?
Are you going through life in a blurr with a long list of To-Do’s and no sense of how this is going to change or get shorter? Remembering that every moment is an opportunity for new possibilities, consider that you can make a difference in your own life.
1. In order to make a shift, it is important to stop rushing and take a few moments to be calm and reflect.
2. In you calmness, follow your breath and allow yourself to feel connected to who you are. Bring that awareness through your body right down to you feet and connect with the earth. Breathe in the earth energy. It is strengthening and grounding.
3. From this place, examine your to-do list. On a separate piece of paper make 3 columns and head each one as follows:
- Really necessary to do today (for example this column may be such things as buy milk, or pay VISA bill, or exercise for 1 hour.
- “shoulds”. These are the things you take on because sometime a long time ago you learned that you are supposed to do this. You really don’t enjoy it. This could be such things as: bake cookies for the neighbourhood kids (you could just buy some watermelon if you really need to do something) or make 6 pies for the freezer (freeze the rhubarb instead and bake the pies another time, or make rhubarb crumble instead). Consider “Do I really need to do this? Could I make it much simpler?”
- Love to do: Chances are the greater the entries in the first two, the fewer there are here and for some people they don’t even know what they love to do because they never thought that that was important (another old belief from long ago).
- Move your items to the column where they belong
Now that you have had a good look at how you manage to fill your day, just let it be and take it into account whenever you make your to-do lists. Major changes are difficult. But every moment is an opportunity for new possibilities. What little thing can you do differently in this moment?
Identifying what is meaningful to you gives you a measure by which you can decide on the activities you wish to do more of. It also gives you a sense of how you want to be in the activities that don’t seem to be currently giving you a sense of meaning and purpose.
Marie Knapp is offering intensive one-day workshops to guide people in just this. For more information contact Marie at 519 371 1255 or marieknapp@rogers.com
It’s Your Life – live it well
Marie Knapp
Marie Knapp
August 2009
Grey Bruce Spiritual Network
Guest Speaker: Suzanne Simmie Stier, Southampton
Presentation: Gifted Children and Adults
Date: The next meeting for the Grey-Bruce Spiritual Network is this Sunday, June 28, 2009 Doors open at 1:30 pm, presentation starts at 2:30 pm.
A question and answer period will follow the presentation. At the end of our meeting, Nancy Tebbutt will close the day with a healing circle similar to the one she led at the last GBSN meeting where she spoke on Meditation.
Suzanne is an eco cultural cosmic spirit, who comes to us with a International Master’s Degree in Leadership in Social Artistry, a creative consultant, trained in cross cultural and cross discipline leadership and a new paradigm thinker. Suzanne is future oriented, central to all of her work is a celebration of the land, the cosmos and a concern for the children of the present and the future.
She assists both locally and internationally to bring forward circle and creative process that supports the uniqueness of individuality and culture and will be speaking in regards to advocacy for creative children and adults for intuitive and out-of-the-box thinkers, their well being, and their environment.
Suzanne has had the privilege of being part of a community of learners to study closely under the guidance of Dr. Jean Houston. She is presently assisting and working along side of other leaders and planetary healers in teaching and learning communities and who are developing projects that support the birthing of a possible world.
She is best known presently in the Grey Bruce area as a visual artist, teacher, cultural environmental and human rights advocate.
Location: Tuscany’s in the A&P Plaza located at 1050 2nd Avenue East right beside Family Ties Restaurant
Fee: $5 at the door by donation
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS THE LAST EVENT BEFORE WE BREAK FOR THE SUMMER AND WE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!
NEWS: THE PAINTED TURTLE IN WIARTON NOW SENDS US BOOKS, CD’S, JEWELLERY AND OTHER ASSORTED ITEMS FOR SALE, RELATED TO OUR PRESENTATION. WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT CASH ON THEIR BEHALF ON SUNDAY, HOWEVER STARTING TOMORROW THEY WILL BE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER WHERE YOU CAN PURCHASE ITEMS WITH INTERAC OR CREDIT CARD.
Bring an open mind and maybe a friend or two!
Lynn Nightingale
Grey-Bruce Spiritual Network (GBSN)
Our thoughts are powerful — all of them
Do you know what your mind is? What are your thoughts? Can you take charge of your thoughts? When do your thoughts take charge of you?
I remember a discussion in one of my graduate school classes. It was based on the following: ”I have a body, but I am not my body; I have feelings, but I am not my feelings; I have a mind, but I am not my mind.” Those of you who have been paying attention to the Law of Attraction will be especially interested in this.
This statement was an effort on the part of Psychosynthesis to help us realize we can observe our own thoughts, feelings and body. At the same time we are whole, inseparable. You have the ability to take charge of your thoughts. It is being aware of what your subconscious thoughts are that is key.
The mind can be discussed as having two components: the conscious and the sub-conscious (meaning everything that is not so conscious). We could certainly go into that in far more depth but for now this works.
Your conscious mind is what you are aware of right now. It is a very small portion of what is actually going on in your mind. It is also much slower in operating than the subconscious. Your conscious mind is the thought that you are focusing on now.
Your subconscious contains all that keeps your body operating. A child consciously learns to walk and then it becomes part of the subconscious. Unless you have a disability, you do not have to think each move through before moving.
Your subconscious also contains stored information that your child mind took in (with child interpretations) maybe even before the age of seven. The child’s mind often misinterpreted situations and comments. After all, it was only a child with minimal life experience.
Learning what is stored in your subconscious takes work. It is not something that some magical formula can fix. Working on those beliefs that came from our early years is an important part of using the Law of Attraction.
This information is important to keep in mind when reading, listening to speakers, choosing someone to guide your process and ultimately using intentions and affirmations to attract what you want in your life.
Who you are is just perfect. You are loved, lovable and loving,
Enjoy the beauty of your day
Marie
Guatemala trips
Our trips to Guatemala are always thought-provoking to say the least. I am putting together some information about some good opportunites to contribute to some organizations that are functioning well and making a difference. Watch for this next week.
Those who have travelled to developing countries know that it is only an experience where you get to know some of the people and their life circumstances that one can realize how little our life resembles what most of the people on the planet experience.
Even when we reflect on the current possibilities of a swine flu pandemic, I think to myself that those of us who live in countries with knowledge, education, public health care have no idea of the possibilities of disease spread in other countries.
I welcome comments.
The spring edition of It’s Your Life will be distributed next week. I know you will enjoy reading it. I have written an article related to an experience in Guatemala city and Camino seguro. I will put it on this blog once the newsletter is released.
Marie
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RetreatsRetreats can help you with whatever it is you are doing when you need support or inspiration -- some time away with inward looking processes to guide you and keep you on track. I offer three weekend retreats yearly. Come and explore more deeply what you are all about.
Mentoring Program: Holistic Living and WorkingEach of the 5 units is really about bringing spirit, values and purpose to your daily life and work. Each has a different focus. It is its application to daily life and work that makes a difference.
WorkshopsEach of the units in the Holistic Living and Working Program are also offered as individual workshops that you can take without committing to the entire program. I also offer individual workshops related to Stress Management and Building Resilience, Reiki, the Chakras, Holistic Nursing.
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