 Your Happiness by Stephanie
"The greatest adventure you can have is to live the life of your dreams." - Oprah Who's in charge of your happiness? You are! Why do I say this? I've dedicated my life to learning how to live each day in the present according to my highest purpose. I've been learning myself in order to teach others. After all...when we teach, we learn twice! Why am I writing about happiness? It's one of the main reasons people come to me. And... One of the greatest lessons I've learned while studying with Eckhart Tolle is that life isn't here to make us happy. What!!! Exhale. Life is here to make us awaken...so that we may choose to be happy. What does that mean? If happiness is our goal, we will often find ourselves unhappy. As we know, life gives us challenges. One minute all is well...the next minute not so much. And our emotional state takes the hit each time. When things are going well, we attach. When things aren't going so well, we detach. Hence the practices of non-attachment we speak of in yoga, shamanism, meditation, other spiritual paths to help us stay in balance. What I have learned, continue to practice, and want to share is this: t When our focus is on "awakening", meaning-- waking up to who we are, what we want, and why we are here...a funny thing happens. We actually end up experiencing more more happiness!!! Why? Because we learn how to live a meaningful life, a life that is aligned with what matters most to us, not someone else or some ideal. Quite simply, we start taking action on the things that make us "happy" on the inside - things that bring us joy, peace, love. Things that give us a sense we are living a "meaningful" life. How each of us defines a "meaningful" life varies across time, space, personality, etc. As an example, have you ever known a person who is living their life to the fullest by doing only the things that bring them joy? Maybe these people irritate you? It seems so selfish of them!!! Ahhh... or not. Maybe taking care of our own needs is the greatest act of self love we can experience. Because when we love ourselves, we are able to love others. So, while we may have moments of happy/unhappy in our life as challenges arise, when we fully commit to awakening, we are clear on our purpose even when the path is uncertain. We gain tools to weather the storms. In the end, we realize it's our choice to be happy and live the life of our dreams...or not. I support you! >>>If you're ready to choose happiness, book a meditation or energy session with me here. Namaste, Stephanie  When we are faced with circumstances outside of our control, it may feel like an impossibility to let go.
The paradox? Letting go is exactly what we must "do". I was remined of this last year while moving to my "dream" house. Of course, along with the "dream come true", also comes the rainstorm which reveals leaks, a dryer that decided to break, backordered everything!, and all the other logistics. It's truly small stuff in comparison to life's bigger challenges. One of the ways I "trick" my mind into letting go is by asking myself the below 3 questions. Since inner peace is a way of being many of us want to experience, this exercise works quite well. 1. Do I wish to experience inner peace or conflict? Inner peace, of course! Note: Some of us still like being in conflict...it provides a distraction of sorts and gives us an excuse not to take responsibility for what is and/ or our present life situation. Some of us are in conflict and don't even know it. All have been true for me. It's part of the human condition at times. It's up to us to be aware and then make the choice again and again to accept what is. Once we do accept, all the energy we were using to "resist" is freed up and we are able think clearly and choose a better way... 2. What am I willing to do in order to experience inner peace? Be open to trying things that support a peaceful way of living. There are many things/ tools we can do/ use: books, meditation, a mentor, energy work, prayer, workshops, podcasts... I do all of this and then some :) The point is, I am willing to do what it takes to live a peaceful life. Over time, we may need more or less of these things/ tools based on what we are facing in life. More stressful times = more support. Make sense? 3. Who must I become to experience inner peace? Become a student of inner peace. Know thyself. Use the tools above. Today, right now, begin to practice: acceptance, non-judgment, non-attachment, presence, compassion... and the big one - forgiveness. EXTRA CREDIT: Enjoy the process... yes, all of it. I am always surprised at how quickly my inner state (and therefore my mind) can shift when I am willing to enjoy life. I become re-energized, enthusiastic, and see opportunity everywhere! WE GOT THIS! If you want support, email me. Namaste, Stephanie  Lately I have been writing about shedding, healing, and empowering one another to live our best life. I shared how the practices of shamanic energy healing are powerful tools to support.
What's important for me to share today is that we are more than energetic beings. Meaning, we are also driven by emotion!! These emotions are driven by our deeply held beliefs / thought forms. When we allow negative emotion to drive behavior, we don't always act with integrity and we feel even worse. A vicious cycle ensues and relationships can be damaged or even permanently destroyed. What can we do? Find resourceful ways of dealing with the emotions and commit to those actions consistently. Examples include: working out, meditation, talking with a trusted person, and definitely learn how to skillfully manage emotions by reading/ listening/seeking support. In addition, when we combine energetic releases (shamanic energy healing) with practices to bring underlying beliefs / thought form to the surface (mindset coaching), we experience transformation. In transformation we return to inner harmony and alignment. Our thoughts, words, and deeds line up. We allow our emotions to come and go like the tide. We live with integrity. We feel good. We live our best life! I support you! Stephanie  Feeling unclear, disconnected, maybe even down?
Take time for stillness. We live in a non-stop and noisy world. Add our busy mind to that and a perfect storm ensues. Over time the noise drowns out our own voice. In stillness lives your connection to yourself, your desires...your truth. In stillness lies your connection to pure potential and the creativity of the universe of which we are a part. One of our favorite ways to access stillness is with meditation and energy healing practices. Whether you have a formal meditation / energy practice or not, simply sitting in silence or watching nature connects you to stillness and the energy of life itself. It rejuvenates, restores and renews us. Many of us continue (and will continue) to experience times of transition in work/life and much uncertainty. That energy can cause us to feel fearful and frenetic--- like things are speeding up and we have no control. Most of us find this energy unsettling and our nervous system reacts with fight, flight or freeze. My friends, this is when we need stillness the most!! What I have learned is that in stillness practiced over time, there is incredible inner movement. Inner movement generates and attracts outer movement. In fact, the more still we become, the more things move "on their own" to support exactly what we need/want/desire.. without having to put forth much effort. Magic? Maybe. Want Support? >>>Connect with Me  "It's in relationship with self and other that we heal...when we have the courage to...cause it takes lots of courage to create peace. It's worth it." -Stephanie :)
Previously I have written about transformation and Shamanism. Today I want to revisit relationship success...and in some cases "pain". Relationships are one of my favorite topics. They have posed the greatest challenges for me, and have also been the most gratifying part of my life. Hmmm...a paradox? Yes! I love a good puzzle :) Note: Above picture was taken in 2021 on my birthday with sis, mom, and husband. These are examples of relationships I have advocated for, been insanely challenged by, healed, and totally appreciate today. Because of this, I want to help you heal your relationships!!! It's so darn worth it. Think about it: 1. At some point or another, everything we do involves others...relationships of some type, at some depth, for some period of time. You may erroneously fantasize you can do it all alone, forever. I respectfully disagree. Even if you do it alone, you still have to be in relationship with YOU. More on that... 2. Our ability to have good (peaceful, positive, prosperous, playful, present) relationships is a foundation for our well-being. I talk about this in more detail in my book Reclaiming Joy. 3. Relationships show us where we are on our spiritual path and can become our life long spiritual practice, aka our greatest teacher. Perhaps at some points in your life, relationships caused so much pain, you felt you "didn't" want to engage. Understandable, yet not sustainable. Maybe you experienced feeling like relationships were more trouble than they were worth. Makes sense. As humans we don't like "pain". And yet, pain, suffering, and trauma is how most of us learn. By learn I mean, "wake up". Why do we continue to do this to our self? Why are we so resistant to waking up? The cool thing is, we can choose to awaken. We can choose to stop having to experience so much pain!!! By awaken I mean we choose to become more conscious, aka, deal with our stuff!!! As you may have experienced, if we don't deal with our stuff...life has a funny way of dealing with it for us. And when life deals with it for us, it is often more painful than necessary. Something big has to happen to get our attention and then we act like something happened to us...when in reality, we simply have chosen to stay asleep at the wheel of our life. Perhaps this sounds harsh. Well, I am here to provoke your truth, and living your best self. That said, this isn't about right and wrong...good or bad.... It's not about judging ourselves and others and playing in that triangle of dis-empowerment I have spoken about --- victim, rescuer, perpetrator. Part of awakening means we understand, through personal experience (knowing) a natural human tendency to want to avoid pain at all costs, thinking it will go away. The flaw in this line of thought is...whatever we avoid, will ultimately surface. You know the line, "whatever we resist, persists". What to do? First, recognize the primary relationship we have--- and therefore have to heal--- is with ourselves. Re-read it. Truth. Second, commit to a daily practice to connect body, mind, spirit. You know I love meditation for this! Third, build your awareness of YOU & get support. Start paying attention to your self talk and therefore your beliefs about relationships. It's only through awareness that we can transform. Ask yourself questions: Are relationships painful? Are relationships joyful? Some? All? Depends on person, situation, what you want? Am I attached, expecting, judging? ***What is the relationship I have with myself? Love? Hate? At some point, hopefully not on our deathbed, we realize that we all need people, it's no so serious, and it doesn't need to be so darn painful...if we are willing to commit to awakening. Working with people on healing relationship to self and other is the foundation for my life's work. I do it with shamanic energy healing sessions and with my mentorship program. I see you. You matter. It's possible to heal & be happy! I did it. You can too. Namaste, Stephanie |
AuthorArchives
August 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed