Category Archives: Coming Together

Blank Canvas

Today is a new day!

It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is or what month in the year, today is new and ready to be conquered!

To many times in our life we wait for an “opportune” moment for us to start something. “I’ll start that diet Sunday!” “I’m gonna start saving next month!” “I can always do that project tomorrow!” How many though can say you actually follow through? If you always stick to exactly what you set for yourself then heck yeah Girl!! You are a goal and I give you all props!! On the other hand though, if your like me, then the follow through sometimes doesn’t work out… Now I can’t be the only one that has a whole list of things to do or that I want to do but never actually get to that list! Something “always” comes up, or I “always” dont have time.

Sound familiar?

I put all the small things that would bring me joy on the back burner for the things I “think” HAVE to be done right then.

Why though? Why do we have a hard time following through with plans or projects that would bring us joy and happiness?

So many times we make plans of what we want to do but never follow through with the last step of actually doing. I wonder why? Maybe all the fun is in the planning? No, that doesn’t sound right! Maybe other things are more important? Possibly, but thats just an excuse really, if it’s important to you then it’s important! Maybe I don’t really deserve time for myself? Mhmmm, no I deserve every bit of time for my peace then the next person!

And SO DO YOU!!

I wake up an hour early almost every day so I can just be with myself. I’ll make coffee and either read, or pray, or go ahead and work on here for the future days. I take time for myself to make sure that these small joys don’t get put back. I need them to help fuel me for the day. I need them so that I can continue to give joy to others! You deserve that too! You deserve that peace for even just an hour to go and do things that will fill your joy tank!

So look at your canvas for the day. Lay out all the colors you want to paint with, and then begin. Just one stroke means you started. One stroke means you’re there. You followed through. Then the next day come back to that canvas and add another. Everyday come back and add another! Eventually you will see the picture your life is turning into! Eventually you will see that it isn’t so hard to to add that stroke, so soon you begin to add more! Soon you begin to paint your joys and happiness everywhere you go!

So get out that blank canvas and begin!

Acceptance is Hard!

Accepting yourself. Accepting others. Accepting our world. Its hard sometimes. Unfortunately acceptance is not something that comes naturally to many of us. It’s not something we just do, or that we are. A lot of times it’s something we really work hard at. To be able to accept the commodities around us. To Accept the people around us. To accept ourselves for who we are.

I honestly couldn’t say which is harder.

At what point in our existence did we as humans start to not accept anymore? To turn to a way where all we do is judge another or complain for what we have. Where we put so much expectation on ourselves to be a certian way or live a certian life, all for what? To keep up with this materialistic world we live in? To make sure no one sees our weaknesses or has negative comments to say? To fake a smile at a stranger cause we wish they would give us the same?

Why though? Why is it so hard for us to coexist on this place we call home? To live together on this Earth in total peace.

Why is something that is so easy to do so hard for us? Acceptance is as easy as saying, “okay”. Nothing more, nothing less. Just okay.

If for one day our World could look at its neighbor and say, “I see you are different than I, but that’s okay, we are all one being living on this Earth. We all share one world. We are all together forever.”

If for one day we could all look into the mirror and just smile, because we know that who we are is needed for this World! Who we are was perfectly made for this time now! Who we are at this moment is just the beginning of who we can become!

If for one day we all just accepted.

Imagine it!

Acceptance is hard!

The choice to choose not to accept though, is harder, but it is just a choice!

Your choice, to say “okay” or not.

Life can be hard, but Accepting doesn’t have to be!

Blessed Lammas – The power of Life, Death, and Rebirth

Blessed be my loves!! I hope your Monday morning is going amazing!!

Today will be short but I wanted to make sure to post about this, as this year’s celebration really meant so much to me in my journey.

Lammas, also known as Lughnasagh, to honor the Celtic God Lugh, the God of Light and Craftsmanship, is the celebration of the harvest!

This was the time of the year tribes, villages, and covens would come to harvest their wheat, grains, oats and rye to make room for the new seeds of the year!

This is the time for transformation and new beginnings, this is the time for Rebirth and awakening.

In just starting my own journey of rebirth and Discovery getting to celebrate this, on my birthday no less, meant more than one could ever know! We all live our lives in hopes that one day we will find our purpose or our reasoning for being, but after yesterday. After taking the time to just be. After taking in all that I have already accomplished, I have realized its not our purpose in life to find a reasoning, but it is our purpose to be the reasoning. Be the reasoning someone else find peace, happiness, love, or Sanctuary.

Be what you seek, and become what others seek.

So gather your harvest, from this physical world, and the spiritual, and give thanks. Put into the world Everything you want back from it. Plant the seeds in your life that you can’t wait to harvest next year. Join together in your own tribe or community and give back together.

We Honor the past and our ancestors by taking this time to celebrate what we already have and allow it to remind ourselves of all that we have yet to come! To many times in this new world we take for granted what all our ancestors had to fight for, what all the had to do to survive. It wasn’t as easy as going to the market to buy bread or vegetables, or buying a new shirt when yours gets a hole. They worked hard everyday to make what they could so they could live. Simply live. Nothing more than that. They joined together in their communities to take part in the harvest each year as it was a celebration of all the year has given, and to give back so that the next will be just as plentiful.

Blessed be my loves. Go forth and be blessed, always!

Home-made Honey Rosemary Bread for Offering! First time making this recipe and it turned out amazing!!!

Motivation Is Key To Achieving Goals!

What do you do to push yourself to get motivated? To push the others around you to get motivated? Does it just come naturally or are there steps to take? Can one find motivation even when the act they are doing is no where near what they thought or wanted?

The answer to each of those all depends on the person. It depends on the dedication your willing to put in to get the results you want. It depends on what your goal is and how much you really want it.

We’ve all had those moments where you’re so ready to go somewhere or do something, that others might not be excited about, and you’re just ready! Like pumped up ready! You remember that feeling? You remember wanting something so bad you didn’t care what it took? That’s motivation.

The literal definition of motivation is, “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”

The desire or willingness to do something!

Is what you desire worth the dedication it takes to stay motivated for it? Are you willing to put in what’s needed to get what you want?

To say that each of us has motivation inside of us is true, but to say that we all use that motivation…well sometimes that’s a different story right?

So what can you do? What helps people stay motivated? What can you do to make sure you don’t loose what you desire?

1. Write down your goals! Write down what you actually want or desire to have. Review this regularly! You don’t have to constantly remember every goal you have, write them down so when you do come back to that list it will be there. It might just spark some motivation as soon as you see it again!

2. Use what makes you happy! Do you love listening to music? Pump that jam up then! Do you like to chew gum? Girl grab you some of that hubbu bubbu and get to it! Find the small things that make you happy and incorporate them into what you want, or need, so you can get more out of what your doing!

3. Reach out to others! I know, some people feel that if they reach out for help on something then it “doesn’t count” when they do it or finish it. This has to stop! We NEED each other in this world. We all need help at times, and to say you can do it all, all by yourself, is pure insanity. Reach out to a mentor when you need help in your career! Reach out to a couch if you want to work on physically feeling better! Reach out to a teacher if you want to learn something new! Reach out to a friend is you need encouragement! Reaching out doesn’t make you week, it makes it to where when you do get where your going you’ll have a tribe behind you that you know supports you!

4. Exercise! I can hear it now, “Boooooo, no work outs!” Sorry, not sorry though! Exercise is key to physically, emotionally, and mentally feeling better! Just 5 mins! Take 5 mins everyday and do a stretch, go for a jog, go knock out some crunches and abs! Be active! We can’t expect our goals to just come to us we have to chase them down, tackle them, and make them ours! Can you do all that if your not feeling good? If you barley get up and move everyday, how do you except to tackle that desire you have? Exercise just 5 mins a day, if you’re not use to it, and use that drive to push you in your other goals!

5. Reward yourself! No, I don’t mean go eat an entire tub of ice cream after every workout! No, I don’t mean go buy yourself everything in site because you were able to redo your budget and have extra money this month! No, I don’t mean go fly to the Bahamas cause you got an A+ on your test! I mean, if you just did a hard workout, go reward yourself with a nice hot bath and a piece of chocolate! A PIECE of dark chocolate is the best! If you were able to redo your budget and got some extra money, go have a nice lunch with a friend. If you just scored an A+ on that test, hell ya by the way, go celebrate with a nice relaxing night at home where you dont look at books or anything to do with that class! Or go have a nice night out with friends! It’s the little rewards that actually help push us for more!

So what are you going to do to get motivated? What tools will you use to keep yourself accountable for staying on track?

Write it all down! Whatever you think, or know that helps, write it down! Go back to it over and over and over again! Push yourself!

You can achieve everything you desire, you just go to GO FOR IT!

Be the Goddess or God That You Need

As children we are told to look up to our elders and use them as role models. To use the doctors, the firefighters, the people in power, and so many more as our guides for wisdom. Now, while it is true that we need these role models to help set the examples of the good we need in our world and our lives, we don’t realize we’ve had these role models all along. We’ve had guides to help us along on our journey.

When you can find good in someone or something you’ve seen then it becomes easier to spot. It’s easier to become good when you surround yourself with it, and it’s easier to be good when you have something to base the good off of.

So why not use the past as a way to help guide our future? Why not use the stories of our ancestors and all they went through as a guide of where you came from? Why not use the legends of heros to show us there is good in the world? Why not use the stories of the Gods to show us we will always have somewhere to turn?

What if you could turn to multiple role models as guides and mentor’s?

Do you seek wisdom for upcoming decision that needs to be made? Reach out to Athena, the goddess of Wisdom and War. She can help guide you in any upcoming battles you may face.

Do you seek love? Reach out to Freya, the Goddess of Love and Fertility. She can help you reconnect with your inner love and allow you to give and receive it.

Do you need courage and strength to get through your day? Reach out to Kratos, he is the embodiment of strength, and can help you find yours.

Do you seek balance in your life? Reach out to Hecate. She is what balance is. She controls the heavens, the earth, and the seas. She is both maiden, mother, and crown. She is who I reach for in times of need. She can help you find that balance you seek.

You see, there are so many from our past that we can use to help guide us.

When we seek guidance, we can usually find it. It’s up to you though to determine rather its good or bad and if you want to use it or have it in your life. Not all guidance that is given can be helpful, but if we turn it all away then you will never know where you could have gone.

“Be what you seek, and become what others seek.”

Use the past to guide you in all that you do! Seek out good, in yourself, and in others!

Be the Goddess or God that you need in that moment, in that time. Appreciate all that you have been through and overcome. Rejoice in all that is left to experience and gain in life. Then, truly accept that you can be all that you already are and more.

Use your past and the past of our ancestors to lay a way for your path in life.

Walk it with honor and pride, and when you get the chance, share your story with others. Let your stories be a guide for others needing, and those yet to come.

Monday Morning Yoga – Beginners Edition

Good morning, I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready to conquer your Monday Morning! Heck your whole week!!

This morning we are going to look at a few key Yoga pose’s to help open you up for an incredible amount of breath and energy!

And it only takes 5 minutes!

Yoga is a great way to help wake your body up in the mornings and really get your overall energy and health up!

Benefits of Yoga:

⁃ Breathing! It helps to open your chest, and this will help with concentration and focus for your day!

⁃ Increased Energy and Mood! Feel good after knowing you took time for you and it helps your health!

⁃ Reduces stress! Allow yourself to relax! That is what you deserve!

⁃ Physical Strength! Grow your outer and inner strength through balance!

⁃ Mental Health! Don’t take this time for granted, truly come to your mat and just be. Do the moves that bring you energy and strength. Find peace knowing your mind and body are connected together, the way they should be!

⁃ Overall health! – sounds silly when you say but yoga is one of the easiest exercises to help your overall health! You don’t have to do the hour long practices either! Just a good five minute practice every day will help make you feel better, stronger, and with more energy!

Now with benefits like those, and so many more, do you think you too could spare 5 min from your day? Just 5 min to set yourself up for success!

It’s that easy!

Morning Stretch:

⁃ Start with hands by your side and breath in.

⁃ Go into Mountain Pose and make sure you reach as far as you can with your fingertips!

⁃ Grab left hand and pull to the right. This is a sideways stretch and opens the ribs. Do one side and then the other.

⁃ Hands back up to Mountain Pose.

⁃ Next, down to a Forward Fold. If you cant go all the way down that is totally fine! Only go half way, but make sure to breath!

⁃ Hands back up to Mountain, then back to a slight backbend. Release your breath when you go back!

⁃ Come up then go into a Goddess Pose! This is my favorite! Its such an Empowering move and really opens your whole body up!

⁃ Breath! Breath! Breath!

⁃ Stand up to do shoulder stretches. Left then right!

⁃ Take your hands by your side and breath in. Roll your neck to the right. Roll it to the left. Go one side all the way around twice. Then go to the other twice.

⁃ Come back to Mountain Pose!

⁃ Hands down, breath in the out, make noise when you breath out! Use your vocals to really get that last breath out!

⁃ Then, SHAKE IT OFF!

Whoooo! You did it!! See! Wasn’t so bad was it? And now you’re filled with extra breath for your body, your mind, and soul!

Now!!! If you want to push for more, below is an added on sequence to the top that I move through! I love really moving in my practice though! Just do what you feel comfortable with!

⁃ So you just came back to Mountain Pose after your neck rolls!

⁃ Let’s go down to Downward Dog!

⁃ Breath! Take a moment in this.

⁃ Down to all fours. Hands and feet. Make sure you Re-situate yourself!

⁃ Time for some Cat and Cow! Make sure your breath is alined for each. Don’t rush this! When your in Cat, check your shoulders, how do they fill? When your in Cow, hows your lower back? Be aware of your body in each pose!

⁃ Back to Tabletop.

⁃ Come back into a Child’s pose and breath.

⁃ Breath here for three good full breaths.

⁃ Come up and flip around to where you are sitting with legs straight out.

⁃ Stretch down to your feet. If you can’t thats completely okay!!! This takes time, and this is will come!

⁃ Hands up! Reach as far as you can with your hands while sitting!

⁃ Lay back all the way down!

⁃ Breath!

⁃ When your ready! Flip over!

⁃ Flow from plank to Downward Dog in one motion. Breath through this!

⁃ Once in Dog, walk yourself back up to a Forward Fold. (Half way is great too!!)

⁃ Breath in and reach up to Mountain Pose one last time!

⁃ Breath out and bring your hands to your heart!

⁃ Close your eyes and let go. Dont focus on poses or breath or any of it. Just be.

⁃ Open your eyes, take one more big breath in! Breath out and use those Vocals! Make it a breath that you are pushing Everything bad out of your body!

⁃ Then, SHAKE IT OFF!

You did it!!! How do you feel?

The time you take matters! Don’t rush through these just to say you did them. The time you make for yourself is your oasis. Own it, and Grow it.

Happy Mondays Loves! Go forth and make today and each day after YOUR DAY!

Morning Affirmations You Deserve

Say it with me, “I love who I see in the mirror!”

Again!

I love who I see in the mirror!

Now say, “I am happy, I am healthy and I am full of love!

Take a second. How did that feel to say? Are you just thinking it or actually saying it out loud?

What you say and how you say it mean everything when it comes to speaking to yourself.

Words are important!

Without words are world would be a blank canvas of untapped beauty. We need words.

From speaking to each other, being able to read and write, and most important speaking to ourselves words are what make up our lives.

Words are power and words are important! If you’re not use to speaking these types of affirmations out loud I challenge you, once a day for 30 days speak one of the below out loud. Go stand in your mirror or sit up in your bed in the morning and speak these words.

⁃ I am healthy

⁃ I am strong

⁃ I am full of love and happiness

⁃ I will be a flame for others

⁃ I will full my positivity

⁃ I have the energy to bless others

⁃ I am deserving of kindness and respect

⁃ I am beautiful

⁃ I am no less than anyone I meet

⁃ I love who I am

⁃ I love all that I have achieved

⁃ I love all that I can become

⁃ I will overcome anything

For 30 days, that is all I ask! Say at least one of these to yourself. If you can go to a mirror and look at yourself when you do that’s even better, you need to know who your talking too.

When you look into the mirror really look at yourself, the curves of your face. The dimples on your checks. Does your nose wrinkle? When you smile do you show teeth? Really look at yourself, study yourself and repeat at least one if not all of these affirmations. Don’t just whisper them…I want you to yell them!

Yell,

“I love who I see in the mirror!”

You are beautiful. You are strong, and You deserve unending happiness. No if, ands, or buts about it! You DESERVE it all!

No One Cares, I promise!

So I have come to realize…no one cares.
Hear me out now…
I have spent my entire life with a certain “image” in my head of how I should be. Kind, Loving, Hardworking, Accepting of Everyone, and most importantly Forgiving. And I really do try to live that way cause I feel we could all use a little more of each in our lives.
But,
I have also spent most my life with a certain “image” of how I should look and act. So now that’s constantly made me worried that I’m doing something wrong or I’m not good enough at times. Don’t ask me why cause I honestly dont have an answer as to why, maybe my childhood, maybe my adulthood, who knows. But I do know I’m not alone, I know there are women everywhere that constantly worry they are messing up, constantly thinking they aren’t good enough, and the truth is…no one cares!!
Not in the bad sense I promise but in the YOU ARE NOT ALONE sense! All of us are thinking and feeling this way, and if you dont then congrats ! That is so awesome and I could not be more proud (and secretly envious) of you!! But for the ones of us that have these thoughts, these feelings, the constant looking in the mirror and your smile goes to a frown…you are not alone!
And Sis, listen to me, no one cares! Do not let yourself go through life worrying about what you look like, worrying about how you should act or if that one person really does or doesn’t like you. You live your life! Act the way you want, wear whatever you want, talk, feel, love HOWEVER YOU WANT!
Cause in reality we all have so much going on, so much that we ourselves are constantly worried about that if someone does have the time to judge you for you being you then obviously that’s just proof you are that amazing to be on someone else’s mind and they can kiss what the good Lord gave ya!
I say all of this so that the feelings you have now you know it’s not just you, its not just me, its us, its we. As women we have to build each other up in every way possible. And I hope this helps to build you!
So here’s to being “over” myself! Over all the negative thinking, the negative feelings, the negative talk (that really only I say to myself). And Here’s to growth, to knowing I like me, my family likes me, my friends like me… exactly the way I am.
And Here’s to you, for it only takes one day, one moment to change your thoughts, to change your perspective on yourself and how you view your life and others! I know you can do it!
Here’s to us!