mood
Inspiration In A Time Of Crisis
During this time of the coronavirus lockdown in Spain, I realize that I am fortunate, and for this I am very grateful. For example, I already work from home and I am also accustomed to a certain amount of social isolation, for reasons of choice, at least for the time being.
Furthermore, I can do and buy the necessary. Here in Spain, we are allowed to go out for necessities, to help the vulnerable, and to walk our dogs, but we are encouraged to keep our distance from others and make shopping a swift event. Again, getting shopping done as quickly as possible has always been my preference anyway!
But, even I am aware of missing the occasional coffee in town with a friend, or being able to travel back to the place I moved from last year, to have lunch with a special friend there. Where I live, people are very social and tactile, and interact at any given occasion. They love to meet at their neighbors’ homes, or in bars and restaurants, which are all currently closed.
I have been thinking how this situation might go one of two ways for many families, currently cooped up in small homes or apartments. They could become very frustrated, especially if there are small children confined in a small space. Or, they might get very creative with how to use their time, as well as appreciating being able to spend time with one another and their pets.
The Transformative Power Of Gratitude
The act of giving thanks is a transformative one. When we live in gratitude, our energy vibration becomes elevated, and this positivity spreads outward like the ripples in water. If you’ve ever heard of paying it forward, this is the same idea! Gratitude changes lives – both our own and that of others.
Being appreciative and giving thanks to others, to the Universe, to the Earth for its sustenance, raises positive energies which will in turn come back to us.
Sometimes being grateful can feel like a chore, or something we need to pretend feeling. Every one of us experiences hardship and adversity. Life’s challenges sometimes get even the most grateful people down. The best way to flip that into something positive is to make a list of gratitude statements, in your mind, aloud, or in your journal.
Are you grateful for your friends, family, your health, the beauty of nature? Maybe you’re simply thankful you were able to get up this morning, when many other people were not.
Make this process one from the heart. Feel the positive energy. After a while, it will become an uplifting habit, and your body and mind will start to enjoy the positive rush of feelings. Let this routine be the first thing you do in the morning, and the last one you do at night before sleep.
Find Your Balance With Rest And Relaxation
As I made my way into 2020, with great intentions and resolutions, I found that my life was full of busyness, obligations and a calendar quickly filling up. My 2020 vision board was filled with new goals and dreams, and my employer was eager to roll out new duties and processes to an already demanding workload.
I felt hopeful for all the things I wanted to accomplish, ready to take on all of the manifesting and challenges with gusto. Determined to find balance. But, as I look back over the past few weeks, I realize that I was reluctant to get going.
I began to cut corners in my new workout regime, and my meditation practice was not as frequent and strong as I knew it could be. I was not focused on my goals and felt myself burning out quickly in all tasks. My plate was full and the harder I tried, I had to admit, I was just not into it.
I have been feeling absolutely overwhelmed by the huge amount of work I needed to catch up on. My workout goal has only been making me more tired. As I procrastinated on the items on my ‘to do list’ and the commitments piled up, I actually felt more paralyzed than motivated.
Instead of trudging further through the process in a reluctant mood, I then chose to make an abrupt halt for a few days and simply rest. Just rest. Took a break. Time out. I cleared all of my commitments and turned off connection to all work items. I had no need to get out of my pajamas for a few days. I ordered takeout and let any dishes and laundry wait for a while.
The Spiritual Power Of Color
Color is a bridge between the spiritual and physical and can have powerful impact upon our emotions and well-being. We all have colors that are our favorites, that we use personally, and in our homes, to create a sense of joy, beauty, relaxation or passion and excitement.
There are many applications for specific colors in various spiritual pursuits and practices. Various meanings are also applied according to cultural beliefs. The Chakras, for instance, are identified by color, as well as their location in the body. Chakra therapy usually also encourages the visualization of colors, while focusing on specific charkas.
Spiritually, color can impart both information, as in the reading of aura colors, and energy, as in healing. The aura is the energy field surrounding living beings which is ‘visible’ to those who are clairvoyantly sensitive.
Color therapy, or chromopathy, is becoming a very popular alternative therapy. The principle of color therapy is that different colors carry different energy frequencies, and therefore they can be used to address specific concerns. Studies have shown that color can affect mood, heart rate, alertness, and impulsivity, to name but a few.
Certain colors tend to have significant spiritual therapeutic properties, and science has recognized the impact of these same colors on the brain and emotions. Green, blue, yellow and red are examples.
There Is Nothing To ‘Fix’
If we can appreciate that everything in the Universe is composed of, and moved by energy, we would also have to concur that this magnanimous mysterious energy vibrates.
If this vibration determines how the state of matter’s density and frequency is measured and monitored, we must also conclude that like sound, the occurrence of its regularity in various designated patterns (as with elements) institute reliability in the state of transferred chaos. It is through the exchange of energy (attraction, cohesion and repulsion) that life is established and maintained. In other words balance is arbitrarily formed by the opposite action undertaken.
Now, after having said all of that, in the entire elementary, short, diffused chemistry or physics lesson…what is my point? My point is that in the midst of our seemingly chaotic lives, we are living very much in balance, but we refuse to accept it. We spend most of our precious life time seeking to find something we already are in possession of.
We are vibrating to and through the essential experiences including all of the circumstances, people, places, things and so-called problems necessary for us to exist. We are not ‘out of line,’ or out of order, or out of chances. We won’t be still enough to completely feel the fragility of our inherent unconquerable strength.
We are always on the lookout for something (a career, relationship, lover, friends, family, involvement) that is better, newer, shinier, emotionally less complicated, faster to bring desired results, easier, more beneficial, productive, financially rewarding, gratifying, and certainly less stressful.
Nine Lemons In A Bowl
You will always find a bowl filled with exactly nine lemons in the center of my kitchen island. It is a labor of love keeping that bowl filled to this exact number, but the happiness which fills my soul with just a quick glance at them, makes all the effort worthwhile – because I know they are doing so much for me physically, mentally and emotionally.
So, why lemons and why exactly nine? In Feng Shui, lemons are believed to help clear away bad karma and their bright yellow color is a symbol of optimism and happiness. Also, in Feng Shui, the number nine is considered to be the luckiest, as it represents wealth, accomplishment, and attaining personal goals. Why would I not want to welcome these wonderful attributes into my home with such a gift from nature?
I love the pop of color those nine lemons bring to my home and they have actually become a permanent part of the decor. Of course, it does help that I happen to have a large lemon tree in my backyard. From December to April lemons are available in abundance here in Arizona!
Lemons are also a great source of nutrition. They are a natural antioxidant and great source of Vitamin C. Lemons helps to detoxify the body and clear away negative energies, to bring balance to your health and your soul. They also create a positive, uplifting environment.
Aligning With Your Circadian Rhythm
The circadian rhythm is 24-hour ‘internal clock’ that governs physical, mental, and behavioral changes in humans, animals, plants and even micro-organisms. I have known for many years that the circadian rhythm was an important aspect of our well-being and that it had to do with our mood and sleep cycles, but recently I discovered some new information that caused me to sit up and take notice.
A renewed interest in the biological process of circadian rhythms appears to to be trending these days, and reportedly it has a much more profound impact on our bodies and our health than merely affecting our sleep patterns. Much of this may be due to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their work on the molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. Their research into what controls circadian rhythms is enlightening.
Their research discovered a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythms. This gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cells at night and then degrades during the day. The cells inside our bodies therefore contain a self-sustaining clock that regulates functions such as behavior, hormone levels, sleep body temperature and metabolism. Thanks in part to their discoveries, scientists and doctors now know these day-and-night cycles keep creatures alive by regulating our alertness, sleep patterns, blood pressure, hormones, body temperature, and when we eat.