It’s been decades since the sun caught me in bed, it’s my favorite time of the day. Investing more thought and time into morning routines can single-handedly change how the rest of your day unfolds. Adding these eight chi-boosting habits to your morning will help to improve your mood, and your relationship with others, and you will be able to manage your stress and anxiety. The important thing to consider is to create a morning ritual that makes you feel good about yourself. Here are mine:
Silence –sit in silence and focus on your breath. Notice the sense of calm that comes over you. You will feel peaceful.
Reading – grab any book, and read for 10 minutes. You will feel motivated.
Affirmations –an affirmation is a powerful reminder of the unlimited potential that exists inside of you. Write your own. You will feel empowered.
Visualization –what do you want? Put images on a board that motivates you and represents your heart’s desires. Take time each morning to pause at each image and feel what it would be like to manifest what you want. You will feel inspired.
Journaling –the simple act of writing down things is powerful. Start by writing down all the things in your life that you are grateful for. You will feel grateful.
Photo by Alexy Almond from PexelsExercise –moving your chi physically every day will prove to empower, inspire and get your chi set for the rest of the day. You will feel energized.
Prayer – speaking to a higher power will ease stress and set the tone for the day. You will feel holy.
Meditation – sit with your eyes closed and when a thought enters your mind imagine that you are tying a red balloon to that thought and allowing it to float away. When you empty your mind you will find that you make room for innovative ideas and solutions. You will feel deeply connected to the whole.
Photo by Simon Berger from Pexels
Sunrises are breathtaking; the sun starts subtly as if it is afraid to rise. Then the dawn breaks over the horizon like an egg yolk spilling across the clouds. The sun, a true artist, creates beauty on its canvas, reminding me that this picturesque site is not what I love about mornings. I love how they resemble hope and the promise of new beginnings.
40% of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lives. So, if you don’t have cancer, I know you know someone who does. Here are nine tips for you or someone you love who goes through the cancer journey to recovery.
Make sure the room has enough natural light. If not, bring in nature photos, and natural light bulbs.
If they are in the hospital have a few personal items that are meaningful and make the person happy, but not too much. We don’t want clutter. With hospital things, medicines, etc., there is already a lot going on.
Play the person’s favorite music. This creates flow in the room as well. We need movement or else we have stagnation. • Add an air filter. This adds movement as well and keeps the dust to a minimum too.
Don’t use ceiling fans. The blades of the fan create a “cutting chi” over the person. Feel free to use an oscillating floor fan for circulation and to cool the person if needed.
Use healing aromatherapy oils. An oil diffuser is nice as it sends the scent into the air. You can turn it on or off as needed. Lavender is relaxing, Eucalyptus is energizing. Peppermint is good for congestion. You can ask the person what their favorite flower scent is and find that oil. I used rose.
If you’re loved one can be moved to another room occasionally, it’s a good idea to Smudge. This is a Native American ritual to get rid of negative energies. When one is sick, depression, anger, or sadness, can come up. Even people entering the room can bring this in. Sage is a dried herb and can be found online or at Whole Foods-type stores. You just light it, it sends out smoke. You wave it around the room like you are doing a cleansing. Make sure a door or window to the outside is open when doing this. It only takes a few minutes. When done, just put the smoke out and save the sage for another time. Do this on the same day you would be changing the bed sheets/linens and cleaning up the room.
If you are the patient, then state an intention for what you desire. Read inspiring work, affirmations, or words that bring you to a happy place. “I am at peace where I am and I feel happy”, or “My body is healthy,” are some examples. See yourself where you want to be not where you are. Yes, be happy where you are as in gratitude but know that you can desire more and better.
Have a picture or painting of something that makes you happy opposite your bed, so you see it when you wake up and when you go to bed. NO mirrors opposite the bed as they disturb nighttime chi.
Add natural plants with rounded leaves. Plants represent the Wood element which is growth. They are good for adding energy to a room and creating better health.
I have a medical mantra: You can believe the diagnoses but not the prognosis. I know these tips will help because they certainly helped me.
Last month– while I was in Egypt, Pluto entered Aquarius for the first time in nearly 250 years.
The next few months are a powerful portal. During this time, you will likely get a taste of what Pluto will bring over the next 20 years. If you are conscious of this energy, it’s possible to co-create with it and manifest some incredible things.
Pluto is a generational planetary object. In a way, you can track the generation you belong to by the sign Pluto is in. It takes 248 years for it to orbit the Sun, and it can stay in a zodiac sign for between 12 and 30 years.
Since 2008, Pluto has been in Capricorn. Pluto represents transformation by way of death and rebirth, and it reveals the shadow side of whatever it touches.
As we saw with Pluto when it was in Capricorn, it exposed the shadow side of our systems, financial and otherwise. Starting with the 2008 financial collapse, at the exact moment when Pluto first entered Capricorn, this energy has spent the last 16 years basically annihilating many of our hierarchical structures – the old ways, the old paradigms.
Now Pluto will change signs and move into Aquarius, which is a rare event. Aquarius is about consciousness, revolutionary energy, and innovative ideas. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius, the French and American Revolutions were taking place.
Aquarius is about equality and objectivity – it’s a humanitarian archetype. It affects the collective, including the systems and structures that have been in place, but it also works on an individual level. Aquarius is about being different, embodying your most unique self, and living outside the box.
And because Aquarius is all about consciousness, we will be undergoing a transformation of consciousness – it’s a crucial time to get clear about what you’re committed to.
In fact, this is probably the most powerful moment of the year to set intentions, and not just for the month or the next 6 months. It’s about setting intentions for your life. Everything is shifting and changing, which opens the door for a massive surge forward – it’s a chance to envision a new beginning.
Whether you’re pledging yourself to a relationship, your family, an ideology, a career, or a behavior, this energy is about trusting your gut, and being unflinchingly loyal once you’ve made that decision. It’s a time to rise above outdated thinking – like basing your sense of power on how you look, what you own, or what people are saying about you – and commit to a greater mission and purpose.
There are profound energies at play now, so pay attention to signs and synchronicities – they are here to guide you to the right commitments.
If what you’ve chosen feels genuinely right for you, then this is the time to tap into your courage and go for it.
The theme right now is about entering a new era, and about observing the old ways and hierarchies dying – because they can’t stand anymore.
You – and others around you – have reached a time where your energy and power need to be in service to something greater, and they need to be imbued with love and compassion. This is a moment for you – and the world at large – to make a huge leap forward into a new way of thinking.
It’s important to ask yourself now: “Am I going to move along with humanity’s direction, and can I live with it?” and, “If so, what am I going to co-create with it?”
Or are you going to try and hold onto the old ways, and keep yourself small and disempowered? Are you going to keep thinking you’re not enough, because you don’t look a certain way, don’t have a certain amount of money, etc.?
The future is about the growth of your spirit and your soul. How is it evolving? How is it contributing? Are you connected to something deeper and truer to you?
Because if you’re not, you’re likely putting your energy and your commitments into things that are not right for you. And this is the moment to change all that.
When you commit your energy and set your intentions to manifest what is truly authentic for you, you’ll be filled with energy. You won’t be drained or exhausted.
Know that what you contribute to life is directly related to how you use your energy. It’s time to take responsibility for yourself and for what you put in this world.
“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Perception. How we see the world, and what we perceive the world to be is all about how we truly see ourselves in relation to the world, the people, and all the things around us.
Every life experience impacts our worldview. The humor is found, not in the life events that unfold, but rather in the disillusionment that we assume everyone around us sees, hears, and believes things to be as we ourselves, see, hear, feel, and experience them.
There are many ways to understand life, the universe, and you: through superstition, religion, philosophy, science, etc. While each approach has its own experts – scientists, priests, philosophers, doctors, poets – all are simply blind people receiving different impressions from touching an elephant.
A priest may feel its legs and life is a tree trunk; a scientist holding its tail may find that life is ropelike; a poet feeling an ear may proclaim life is like a lotus leaf, and so on. From each of their perspectives and perceptions, their expert conclusion makes sense and is based on knowledge. As we all know, their theories are merely parts of the whole picture.
I too am one of the blind. And because I touch a different part of the elephant, I have developed my own theory about the relationship of the universe to human life and the relationship we each have with ourselves. My insights come from spending time in Peru, Spain, and Israel, two trips to Tibet, and studying in China-, which during 5000 years of civilization has spawned many diverse and meaningful concepts. Among the most arcane yet practical of these concepts is Feng Shui.
Carl Gustave Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, and he coined the term synchronicity to describe what he called the “acausal connecting principle” that links mind and matter. He said this underlying connectedness manifests itself through meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by cause and effect. Such synchronicities occur, he theorized, when a strong need arises in the psyche of an individual.
Coincidence and synchronicity are both defined as “striking occurrences of two or more events at one time.” The difference is that coincidence is perceived as chance or luck while synchronicity implies intuition, harmony, and resonance, the presence of a deeper intelligence at work.
A coincidence is a random external event that has nothing to do with your inner world. You live as a reactor to the external. You are not yet conscious of the fact that you can think independently of your present circumstances, thereby creating your own experience. The magic of life is overlooked.
Understanding synchronicity, you realize that there is more to everyone and everything than what they appear to be in physical form. You know that the invisible essence of everything on the planet is interconnected. You recognize the power of your thoughts and begin to consciously choose thoughts and belief patterns that will serve you and the planet. You are deeply humbled as you begin to see the connection between what you are thinking and what the Universe is delivering to you. The recognition of a deeper intelligence at work holds you in a beautiful state of awe and wonder at the mystery of life. The secret to life is not knowing how it all works: rather, in knowing your purpose and allowing life to reveal itself with grace. You understand that to humans, time happens on a linear line; but, to the Universe, time happens all at once. Synchronicity means we are participating in the creative mind of the universe.
Some people attribute synchronicity to luck, fate, destiny, karma, angels, or a miracle. My grandfather used to say that synchronicity happens when God wants to remain anonymous. Whatever your belief might be, synchronicity is the magic that gives us a sense that something bigger is happening something we can’t observe with just our five senses.
Whether you believe in synchronicity or not, I encourage you to approach the mishaps of life as favors. View accidents as not so accidental and all people we encounter serving a meaningful purpose in our lives. There is significance in interruptions and in the unexpected. Your reality will shift, and you will find yourself on the bridge between the invisible and the visible. Moments will be full of discovery and fulfillment and you will realize that you are constantly surrounded by messages, blessings, and magic.