Take care of yourself!

Life can be hectic, even when everything is going well so remember to take time for self-care. This will ensure you’re living fully in the present, and it will also help you do things that are in alignment with your deepest dreams and desires.

Breath work is a great way to work in some quick “you” time, and it’s also free and something you can do anywhere. Breath work Mindfulnessconnects you to your Higher Self, which is where your source of wisdom and intuition can be found. Doing this work will have a positive effect on you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and it’s easy!

Find a quiet place and sit in a relaxed position. Close your eyes and consciously inhale slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Follow the breath down into your belly, about 2 inches below your navel. Follow it up as it leaves your nostrils. You can practice for a minute or build up to 31 minutes or more. One minute of deep breathing is a powerful stress release!

Don’t try to “figure” anything out. Answers will come in perfect time; just focus on your breathing. You’ll find as your physical tension is released, the deeper emotional and mental fatigue or blocks you’re dealing with, will also start to disappear. When that happens, everything begins to shift and you’ll see things through a different lens.

© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved

Share the Wealth!

Jennifer Maldonado had just begun working at her new job and had not yet received a paycheck when she was asked to contribute $20 the office Powerball Lotto pool.  She declined. As a single mom with an autistic son, cash was tight.

Jennifer’s twelve co-workers won $1,000,000.00, and they shared their winnings with her.

When Today.com asked their readers whether they would do the same in similar circumstances, 41% said, “no;” 41% said it would depend on the circumstances. Only 18 % said it would be the right thing to do.

“We are hoping that the 18 percent shifts more to about 80 percent when they see how good it feels to give and to include someone, and the small gift that you can do for another, it changes everything,’’ said Laurie Finkelstein Reader, the office worker who organized the pool.

“I honestly believe that my group and I are getting more joy than Jennifer is getting just by including her.’’

Did you know that it’s a Universal Law that giving and receiving are the same?  What you share with another, you are in essence giving to yourself!  Conversely it is equally important to receive… and we’ll talk about that in another post!

What will you share today?

© 2013 – MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved

Wanna go play?

Do you love to play? The power and benefits of play, even as an adult, especially as an adult, should never be underestimated.  Studies have shown that play (meaning a non-work activity that you find fun) increases creative thinking, reduces stress and enhances energy levels.

Ever wonder why kids always want to “go play?”  Because it’s fun!  Although there are a lot of perks to being a grown up, ample play time usually isn’t one of them, and that’s sad.   A good amount of play time has always been shown to increase life longevity and encourages you to take risks in other areas of your life.  Why is that?  Imagine shooting white water rapids or learning how to paint if you’ve never done either of those before.  The adrenaline rush from one and the self-acceptance to try something you may or may not be good at with the other, tells your mind, body and spirit that trying new things is okay.

Trying new things in the safe environment of “play” means that you’re more likely to try new things in other areas where you might normally not be so risk tolerant.  Ultimately, play brings more joy into your life and that is a good thing!

© 2013 by MarBeth Dunn – all rights reserved

It’s all about you!

The most important thing to understand about forgiveness is that this courageous act should be done by you for you. When you feel you have been wronged in some way, it can feel strangely good to harbor resentment against the person who hurt you. Doing this however, only harms you because you are now carrying around negative feelings.

In your hurt, anger and grief, you can mistakenly feel as if the bigger your anger, the more likely the person who is the target of it, will be suffering. While it’s possible that the other person may be feeling some sort of guilt for what you think they’ve done, it’s also quite possible that they feel they have done nothing wrong and are just going about their lives.

Your anger can never make them feel what you think they SHOULD be feeling, which is why the act of forgiveness is always for you. It’s YOUR letting go.

Imagine your peace when you let go of all your anger and bitterness, and accept that what happened was an opportunity for you to grow. Forgive and find peace. Do it for you.

© 2012 – MarBeth Dunn, all rights reserved.

It’s All Consciousness

Did you know that everything has consciousness?  All relationships, the ones we have with people, animals and even nature, all have a consciousness.  We really can choose to communicate with anything and when you do so, with an open mind, you may be surprised by who your teachers can be.

Opening up and allowing yourself to communicate with all that is may sound like a strange concept but let me take you through an exercise:

Think of a time when you just had a feeling consciousnesswhen you were somewhere in nature.  Maybe you were in the woods and the soft rustle of the trees nearly convinced you they were speaking to you.  Or perhaps one peaceful day at the beach, you heard the sound of the ocean and realized it was trying to tell you something.   By expanding your vision, you’ll see that everything around you has a “voice” and that sometimes, teachers come in the most surprising of forms.

Animals can definitely be wonderful and surprising teachers.  Ask any animal lover and they will tell you that there is absolutely a consciousness between a human and its pet.  One of my dear friends is a cat mama to three and she shares with me all the time how her cats just seem to know when she is feeling sad or stressed because they tend to give her extra attention.  She’ll tell me how after experiencing some discouragement or frustration in her day, she’ll turn off her computer and notice the cats sitting on the floor of her office, staring up at her.  As she walks out of her home office to her family room and sits on the couch, the cats immediately come over and sit next to her (or on her!) and just look at her with a kind of “sympathetic” look as she describes it.  Now, that may not seem like such a big deal but when you take into consideration that this is not necessarily the normal behavior of the cats, it does seem kind of intuitive of the animals!  There is a consciousness in all things and animals not only have it, they can sense the emotions and consciousness of humans.

There is a depth and richness to experiencing the consciousness of things but you do have to be open and bring yourself into the present and the now to fully experience this.  Remember to just stay still for a moment, the next time you are someplace interesting or beautiful.  What are you hearing, feeling or sensing?  Open yourself to recapture that childlike innocence and sense of play to fully come alive in the moment.

Be conscious in your surroundings so you can experience the consciousness around you.  Enjoy!

© 2013 MarBeth Dunn – All Rights Reserved

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