Think Your Way to Fun!

What you focus on grows

There is a saying that “what you focus on grows.”  It's something I first learned as a yoga teacher and then again as a qigong teacher.  The idea is that our thoughts affect our reality.  Another way to think of it is: “the energy we put out is the energy we attract.”  And our body, our thoughts and our emotions are all made up of energy.  But is it really true?  Can what we think actually affect our reality? Let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios

Have you ever had a morning like this: “ Great! My alarm didn’t go off, I’ll be late and this whole day’s gonna be a mess!”  Or maybe you didn’t get enough sleep and think: “What an awful night! I’ll never make it through the day.” And then you stub your toe on your way to the bathroom, your hair doesn’t want to cooperate, and the milk for your coffee has gone sour, just proving your point.

Like Attracts Like

But what if I told you that by focusing on the negative right away, we only start to see more of the negative in our day. It’s a snowball effect.  Think about it. Does lack sleep really mean the day will be miserable?  I know that’s not true because I distinctly recall not sleeping well one night, as I was so excited to go on a vacation to Europe, that when the alarm rang, I bounced out of bed with pure joy. Even the grumpy guy at the airport couldn’t affect how happy I was. And truthfully, I couldn’t think of anything that spoiled the day. In this case, my thoughts were apparently all about the fun I was going to have.  In other words, “like attracts like.”  The more you focus on what’s fun and exciting the more of it you get

Not yet convinced?   

There are many studies that do show that our thoughts affect our reality, but why not do your own experiment and attract some fun into your life as well?

Here’s the idea:

In qigong, we sometimes focus and meditate on the word “qi” to increase the energy or qi in our body.  (The idea that what you focus on grows!) So why not take a minute each morning and “meditate” on the word ‘fun’? Just allow yourself to think of all the feelings, visuals, and activities that come to mind when you think of the word ‘fun’.  

That is all you have to do.  For 1 minute each morning, meditate on the word ‘fun.’ Then see what happens.   Try it for at least a week. If you really want to go all out and see what happens, meditate on ‘fun’, while you wait in line at the grocery store, during your walk and even before bed!

““We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”


”

— George Bernard Shaw

When I did this recently, I ended up with a 10 minute giggle session with my daughter over a wardrobe malfunction that brought tears to our eyes, a spontaneous visit for dessert with friends across the city, a day where everything just worked out, a surprise free coffee, and several dinner conversation filled with ease and laughter. It was truly a fun week!

To get you started, here are a couple of videos of what fun looks like.  😉

Now that’s fun!

Go on, send some fun to a friend and share this post!

Need to de-stress? Try my Qigong class!

STOP Stress in its Tracks!

The One-Minute Strategy to Help You Conquer Stress

Have you ever had  a day where it feels like life is just coming at you faster than you can manage? A day where you are frazzled and juggling too many things at one time? 

Take for example this scenario: It's the end of a long day, you’re running late for making dinner, the kids are fighting in the other room and the pot just boiled over. You are overwhelmed! So what can you do? This, my friend, is the best time to S.T.O.P!  Here is how to use this magical acronym:

S: Stop what you’re doing. You really cannot find new, effective solutions in the same mindset of stress and overwhelm. It would be like taking a subway going south, then realizing you need to go in the opposite direction and trying to jump off a moving train! First, you have to stop and get off the subway before you get too far off track.  Then, you can take a moment to figure out where you really want to go. 

In the scenario above, you would turn the stove down, stop cooking and let the kids be for now.  Find a quiet room if you need to.Then, while taking a moment to yourself:

T: Take a breath.  Breathing is key to switching your nervous system over to a more relaxed state giving you, among the many benefits, access to your higher brain centre, which is not available during stress. This allows you to be more creative and problem-solve better. 

So go ahead and place your hands on your lower abdomen. Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose, allowing your abdomen to rise. Then, exhale slowly and completely, through your mouth letting your abdomen fall gently towards your spine. Do this for 4-5 breaths. As you continue breathe deeply and slowly:

O: Observe what is happening in your body, mind, and environment.  Keep breathing and just notice what’s going on. How does your body feel? What emotions you are feeling? What thoughts are running through your head? And what is going on in your environment? Observe these things without judgement and without getting caught up in the story.  JUST OBSERVE. And remember to keep that long, deep breathing going!  By now you will be feeling calmer and have a better understanding of the situation. You are thinking more clearly and may even have a creative idea pop into your head.

In the scenario above, you might sense tension in parts of your body and your heart racing. Emotionally, you might feel overwhelmed, angry and frustrated. You may be thinking: “Why can’t the kids just behave!”  “If only I didn’t have to deal with that issue at work that made me late.”  “Why can’t dinner be easier?” You notice that the kids are yelling, the pot has boiled over and dinner is 30 minutes late. You may even realize that the kids are acting out because they’re hungry! Aha! And that leads to the next step:

P: Proceed.  This is where you DECIDE how you want the rest of the day to go and CHOOSE how you want to proceed.  You are in complete control of what happens next! This is where that higher brain centre kicks in allowing you to think more clearly and, with your ultimate goal in mind, also come up with many options. The possibilities are unlimited. Truly!  

For example, in the scenario above, you decide you would like to have a more relaxed and fun evening with their family.  So, now, you have a few choices about how to proceed: you could keep doing what they’re doing, you could keep cooking dinner but invite the kids over for a snack while listening to some music, or you could scratch dinner and order pizza. Because, after all, the idea is to have a fun, relaxed evening! The possibilities are endless.

So experiment this week.  Write STOP on stickies and place them in your office or on your fridge, as a reminder.

Once you have the idea, the technique takes about a minute to complete.The more you practice this technique, the more you start making choices from a place of calm instead of chaos. And that‘s where the magic begins.

Go ahead and share this post with a friend!

NEW TO MEDITATION? TRY THIS!

Yay! You've decided to meditate!  That's great, as meditation can really help transform your stressful days into more calmness!  But where do you start?  How do you start? Which app or program or type of meditations is best?  Well, I have a great suggestion for you! The Oprah & Deepak 21-day Meditation Experience is the perfect meditation plan for beginners and experienced alike!    

These meditations are theme-based and have about 10 minutes of Oprah and Deepak introducing inspiring ideas and then Deepak leads you into a 10-minute meditation.  Often, there is a 21-day free experience offered and then you can purchase the meditations to use at home, whenever you like. And, lucky for you, there is a free experience going on now (beginning July 23, 2018)! Check it out here!

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