balance
Work-Life Balance For The Single Parent
Single parents face many daily challenges and can easily feel overwhelmed. This is especially difficult when juggling childcare, household responsibilities, and your career or business.
It is undoubtedly important to maintain a healthy work-life balance in your life, but it is easier said than done. How does one balance work, family, life, and love as a single parent in the busy world we live in?
Here are some simple strategies for single parents to achieve a better work-life balance.
Work-Life Boundaries. The first important step is to set boundaries between your work and home life. I find that this is often a key element that is missing in the lives of many of my clients.Without clear boundaries between work and home, it is very difficult to be fully present and focused on one or the other at any given time. Without defined boundaries, the single parent is constantly straddling two worlds.
Creating work-life boundaries simply means not mixing business with pleasure. You designate specific times and activities for work and specific times and activities for spending time with your children. This means no thinking about work, no work-related texting, no checking email, and no taking phone calls outside of your designated work time.
Envisioning A Better World For All
More than a century ago, the great Indian sage Paramahansa Yogananda spoke in his teachings and writings about envisioning a better world for all. He believed in the transformative power of individual and collective consciousness and emphasized the importance of spiritual practices such as meditation and self-realization in creating a more harmonious and compassionate world.
Yogananda stressed that true change begins within each individual. He believed that by working on our own spiritual growth and self-realization, we radiate positive energy and higher consciousness that contributes to a more peaceful and loving world.
He encouraged individuals to envision a new world of peace, harmony, and unity. By holding this vision in our minds and hearts, he believed, we could collectively bring it into being. Yogananda promoted the concept of universal brotherhood, which recognizes the interconnectedness of all beings. He encouraged people to look beyond differences of race, religion, and nationality and to treat one another with love, respect, and understanding.
Yogananda also spoke of the power of visualization and positive thinking. He saw prayer and meditation as powerful tools for individual and collective transformation. He encouraged individuals to live with a sense of purpose and to align their actions with higher ideals.
In a modern world filled with challenges and uncertainties, it is indeed essential that we hold on to a common vision of a better future. We must strive to create a world in which every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, can thrive.
Embrace The Fall Equinox In Mind, Body And Soul
As the vibrant colors of summer begin to fade and the air becomes crisper in the northern hemisphere, we stand on the threshold of the fall season of transition and transformation. It is a sacred time to prepare our minds, spirits, and bodies for the winter months ahead.
Today’s autumnal equinox is a poignant reminder of the cycles of life and the eternal rhythm of nature. Steeped in ancient tradition and folklore, this celestial event occurs each year around September 21st and marks the point at which day and night are of nearly equal duration. Spiritually, it symbolizes equilibrium; a momentary pause in time between the warmth of summer and the cold of winter. It invites us to reflect on balance and harmony.
Ancient civilizations held a deep reverence for celestial events such as the autumnal equinox, which were often seen as significant markers of time and the cycles of nature. The traditional interpretations and beliefs surrounding the autumnal equinox varied from culture to culture, but they generally recognized its importance in agricultural, spiritual, and cultural contexts, and saw it as a time of transition, balance, and connection between heaven and earth.
In many agricultural societies, the autumnal equinox signaled the time of the year’s harvest. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians celebrated this event with festivals and rituals dedicated to their agricultural deities. This often included feasting, music, and offerings to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Turn Your Home Into A Sacred Space
How many times have you needed a timeout, or place of refuge to clear your mind? Seeking peace and balance is vital, with all of the breakdowns and breakthroughs occurring in our personal lives, and the world today. This is why making your home a scared space is essential to your energetic well-being and mental health.
For me, an energetically healthy home is a reflection of who I am spiritually and what I believe. We all have a unique story that is to be expressed in our immediate environment, thus making it holy and sacred.
When you infuse your home or a room with your divine essence, you are creating Heaven on Earth and raising the vibration of the world.
You don’t need to invest a lot of money since simplicity is key.
Declutter
From past experience, the best place to start is by removing all the clutter in your living space that is no longer wanted or needed. Sell it, donate it, or simply toss it, depending on the condition, value and sentiment. This is a fundamental principle in the ancient Chinese tradition of Feng Shui to live in greater harmony with your environment.
By cleansing and purifying the energy in your living environment, you wipe the metaphysical slate clean and allow new inspiration, people and ideas to manifest. Sometimes we become stuck in a recurring cycle or pattern of doing things, until we remove an element, or find another perspective.
The Basics Of Reiki
Reiki is popular concept in modern spirituality, metaphysics and energy healing. It is therefore good for anyone interested in these fields to have a basic understanding of this technique to engage in discussions with likeminded people in a meaningful way.
The term reiki is a combination of two Japanese words. Rei means ‘divine wisdom’ or ‘divine power,’ and ki means ‘life force energy’ or ‘vital human energy.’ Reiki is therefore a ‘divinely empowered life force.’
Reiki, or rather the system of Reiki, was developed in Japan a century ago by a Buddhist monk known as Mikao Usui. He was a renowned spiritual man who dedicated his life to being of service to others. While seeking spiritual awakening on Mount Kurama, north of the Japanese city of Kyoto, he was divinely inspired with the gift of Reiki. It was introduced to the United States in the late 1930s by Hawayo Hiromi Takata, a Japanese-American woman who received training in Reiki in Tokyo and became a master practitioner.
Although it is more commonly known only as a form of energy healing, true Reiki is in fact a comprehensive spiritual practice and a conscious lifestyle. Yes, it involves the healing of the mind and body, but it also proposes living in total peace with oneself, and being aware of your own unique purpose and spiritual light within. The system of Reiki seeks to remove the layers of fear, worry and attachments that conceal our innate brightness of being.
Learning To Forgive
Accepting, letting go and forgiving is difficult, but necessary to thrive and live our best life. When we do not forgive, we carry toxic energy within that poisons us mind, body and soul.
Energetically non-forgiveness wreaks havoc in our chakras that can cause physical disease and mental illness. Our chakras store the energies of negative life events and experiences, if we do not release it, and heal those imbalances and blockages.
Forgiving does not mean we condone or exonerate the evil deeds of others, nor do we have to allow the people who have wronged us back into our life. This is seldom wise.
However, it is also not karmically smart to harbor resentment, seek vengeance, or wish others harm…for it will come back to us. Forgiveness is to surrender control and allowing karma to deal with those who wronged us.
When we forgive and release the trauma others have caused us, their choices and actions can no longer control us, nor steal our happiness, joy, and well-being. This is why forgiveness is the best gift we can give to ourselves.
Forgiveness does not set the wrongdoer free or exempt them from their karmic debt. Instead, we set ourselves free, so that their karmic choices no longer interfere with our energetic well-being and our divine right to manifest our best life. When we do not forgive and move on, it will continue to haunt us. It gradually infiltrates and contaminates every aspect of our life, and even causes us to attract more of the same unwanted experiences.
The Ancient Art Of Meditation In Motion
I recently attended a Tai Chi class for the first time and absolutely loved it. I have seen this ancient martial art being practiced on television and in films before, and always thought I would like to experience it myself someday.
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese tradition involving slow movements and breathwork that is essentially meditation in graceful motion. At this recent event, I enjoyed it so much that I intend to continue pursuing this practice.
Our instructor at the event also explained the many health benefits of practicing Tai Chi, which further fueled my interest. This may include reduced stress, improved mood, mental health and cognitive function, enhanced immune function, increased cariovascular health, better sleep patterns, and even reduced risk of falling in mature adults.
One of the key advantages of Tai Chi is that it has no age limit. In fact, I was surprised at the various age groups in attendance that day. It is certainly a wonderful mind, body, and soul pursuit for everyone, because it is a gentle and slow-paced ‘internal’ martial art that does not involve any competition.
The exact history and origins of Tai Chi is unclear. Some scholars believe it originated from ancient Taoist and Buddhist monasteries, while others contend that Tai chi is a purely Chinese art that originates from the spiritual wisdom traditions of Daoism and Confucianism. There are many styles of Tai Chi that differ in execution and training methods.