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.
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.
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.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who fell in love with the moon.
She liked to sit outside and tell the moon all her secrets.
She kept the moon company, until one night she noticed the moon seemed tired, so she climbed up on the roof to tell the moon a fairytale.
The old moon told her it was time for her to grow up and she could no longer spend all her time telling stories.
The little girl looked up at the moon and begged, “Take anything from me, take it all if you want to, but please – please let me keep this one thing.”
The moon answered, “Maybe one day we’ll find that place where you and I could be together. So, smile for me one last time, and believe that we’ll meet again. Until that time, I’ll be missing you.”
The little girl climbed down and went into her house, up the stairs to her room where she flung herself onto her bed and cried and cried.
The little girl grew up and never looked up. Until, one night she was walking around in the dark, having been lost for a very long time, she caught a glimpse of the light out of the corner of her eye and felt bathed in unconditional love. She looked up and saw the moon smiling down at her.
She softly asked, “After all this time?”
And the moon whispered, “Always.”
And now the girl wears a moon around her neck so she is constantly reminded that just because you can’t see love, you can feel love surrounding you. Always.
As the old saying goes, pain is compulsory, but suffering is optional. Pain is what we will inevitably feel when something happens to our bodies. But suffering is what we create at a mental and emotional level in response to what is happening to our body or to what our perceptions are of the world around us and our lives.
Our bodies could be in pain, but we choose not to suffer. Some do manage to make that choice. I have a dear friend who happens to be my publicist and she is going through chemo for breast cancer – her mother had it and one of her sisters died from it. But when I spoke to her yesterday, I was so taken aback by her joyful attitude. She has accepted her circumstances and her choice is not to suffer.
Some people have perfect health and yet they spend their life suffering as they judge, blame, criticize and condemn others and rage against events in the world.
Bottom line – Pain is physical and suffering is mental and emotional.
So much of our suffering as individuals and in society is caused by fear. In fact, according to Buddhism, fear is at the root of ego and samsara.
So, what do you do? Let me share a story from my third book – Where Am I Going? There was this monk who would do his daily prayers and then get ready for the mediation portion of his day. Every day for a month as he relaxed, in his mind he saw this evil man. The evil man would wait for him, attack him, and beat him up. The monk would get jolted out of his meditation and physically feel like he had been punched in the gut. Every day this same scenario happened. The monk began to fear his daily meditations. One day, having had about all he could take, he figured out a way to make the evil man go away from his thoughts for good. The monk got ready, settled into his meditation, and when the evil man appeared in his mind, the monk surrounded him with thoughts of love. The evil man disappeared from his thoughts and never returned.
Love is the opposite of fear. It has nothing to do with what we see, only what we feel. We feel it in kindness, compassion, mercy, joy, peace, and acceptance.
Love is inside of us and with us always. It can never be destroyed. I am convinced it is the only thing we can take with us when we die.
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.
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.
