Self Realization Articles

I am always puzzled when I hear new answers to that deep philosophical question, why do men cheat? To me this question is the equivalent to what is the meaning of life? Not surprisingly, thousands of books have been published attempting to answer this very question. There are those that say cheating in men can be prevented if women do all the right things to keep their man happy. We have new celebrity books written by; you guessed it men, to tell us what we women are doing wrong.

The strength of Mother Earth resides in her oceans. Our hearts are like the ocean, beating with a force like an undercurrent that provides us with such tremendous power and strength to swell us up and beyond the surface of our fears. The ocean is our passion, and when we survive, it is not because we overcome our weaknesses; the ocean pulls us deep within ourselves where we find our greatness, which is our immense life force and beauty. The ocean, with all of its power and

Feeling your emotions is very important if you wish to create a life you love. Many of us avoid feeling emotions we tend to think of as negative; for instance, anger, sadness, fear, hate, doubt, shame, jealousy, and resentment. These emotions (and others like them) become especially toxic when ...

Good, I have your attention. Now what do I mean by being a “sellout”? To achieve anything worthwhile in life, you must do 3 things: 1. Identify your purpose. 2. Identify what it takes to accomplish your purpose. 3. Be willing to “sell out” for that purpose. By “selling out”, I mean a total abandon of all else, be they thoughts, opinions, other desires, etc. in order to see only ONE goal…the attainment of that particular purpose.r

It is wonderful to surround yourself with loving friends and family who cheer you on and support you in everything you do. I feel blessed that I have a great support system. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and boosts me up no matter what I do. I have a loving mom who has always been there for me and allowed me to always be myself. And I also have supportive friends who love me and honor me. Their love means the world to me. And it's easy to sometimes rely on their support rather than look within and be my own cheerleader.

Why is it so hard to slow down – to take ourselves off of the treadmill of our busy lives and just be still? Why are we not welcoming stillness and peace and serenity? Why are we instead choosing chaos and imbalance and busyness? I had planned on taking a day off this weekend. I had big plans to relax and unwind – to treat myself to a day on the couch where my only task was to chill out, watch a miniseries, snack all day, play games, read, and take lots of naps. It didn’t quite go as planned.

First of all, obesity is a problem all over the world, including in France. I remember in high school eating doughnuts every day – fresh, still warm – my favorites were the ones with cream inside! Yum. So good! But I also walked two miles to school every day! I went dancing every Friday, played sports and participated in 60 km, midnight hikes every year. Fresh out of college, I ate pasta most nights and I was lucky if I could add some cheese to it. Fresh organic fruits and vegetables are ridiculously expensive in Paris. I preferred keeping my money for trips around Europe.

College graduation is fast approaching and soon you will be heading out into the real world to seek your fortune from the sea of possibilities that lies before you. And although you might have already taken the time to investigate the job market and received indications of interest from a ...

Have you ever wondered how others see you? Have you ever stepped back from your life and looked at it as though you were an objective bystander? Have you ever felt stuck and asked a loved one to offer guidance and perspective? A few months ago, Dan and I were on a call with a wonderful life coach, and she asked us how we defined success. At the time, we were in the mindset of “when this happens – we’ll feel truly successful.” We quickly listed off many things that needed to happen in our lives for us to feel like we were successful. Our list went something like this:

The Thanksgiving holiday has just passed and for the first time in my life, I celebrated it alone. Life seems to have been so busy and moving so quickly lately, that I felt I needed some down time to reflect on what is transpiring in my life. Taking time for myself to be thankful for all the gifts I have in my life seemed important. For me, 2011 has been a challenging year that has truly tested my personal and spiritual strength. Life hasn’t turned out the way I thought it would for me but I am learning to appreciate it for what it is, rather than mou for what it isn’t.

There is only Consciousness and unconsciousness. We are either awake, or we are sleepwalking and sleeptalking. We are either lucid, or we are submerged in and believing unnecessary, unexamined, unfounded thoughts and beliefs. These thoughts and beliefs create our reality, and how we experience our lives. Right now. Try this: • Unclench your teeth. • Relax your shoulders. • Notice and loosen all contracted muscles. • Take 1 slow, deep, relaxing breath. Doesn't that feel better? When we notice thought, we wake up to the bigger picture and free ourselves.

What if we were to tell you that there is one thing that has the ability to give you everything you have ever wanted? Not only that but what if we were to say that this ‘thing’ is very easy to access? Want to know what it is? Read on. All of life’s complexities tend to seem so major when we focus on them; such as what we haven’t got, what we need more of and how we need to change. In reality, many of our worries aren’t real, even though we create such a huge deal ab

What would it take to engage you in the work you are doing? Is it passion? Is it some shared sense of purpose? Is it because you like checking off the tasks that the boss gave you? Do not get me wrong. Any answer is a good answer but the last question marks the differentiating point between what ...

One of my favorite times of the day is when I sit down to write my blog post. I have some breakfast and sit in front of my computer until a topic comes to me. And then I write. And sometimes it goes smoothly and effortlessly.

"That which you assume yourself to be is not actually a thing, but an action. It is the action holding on. In every moment, you are unconsciously holding on to an idea of who you are. And although this idea of who you are is constantly changing moment to moment, the action of holding on remains the same, giving you the feeling that there is a 'you' moving in time, changing and transforming, learning and growing. But if you become aware of this action of holding on and even for this moment let go of this action of holding, then you fall into this momentr

Our expectations get us into a lot of trouble and often cause a lot of stress. We expect our customers to always come back; we expect our boss to behave in a certain way; we expect the company we work for to take care of us; and we expect coworkers to be team players. And when our expectations aren’t met, life is not good. Bad feelings, conflict, and unrest, are common symptoms. And, our business and our customers suffer. Could it be that many of our expectations are misgui

The Positive Negative Side of Polarity The story goes that positive is good and negative is bad. How can that be when you are both positive and negative polarity? Your positive and negative poles work in unison with your body to stay balanced. When you go to the ocean or around water, it feels so good to your body. Why? Because… you are feeling the negative ions that the water emits! You and your body are soothed, refreshed and calm from the peacefulness of the water. When you are taking an Epsom salt bath, the water and the salt help to distress you as you relax.

To measure happiness, you must first define it. Do you really want all your life circumstances to show up perfectly to your satisfaction at every moment in time? Would that result in happiness... or abysmal boredom? We’ve been indoctrinated to believe that the smiley, giddy sensation of “happiness” is the only emotion worth living for, and that we have to reluctantly trudge through all the others while waiting for those “happy” circumstances to arise. Our “measure” of happiness increases significantly when we expand our definition of happiness.

I sincerely believe that we would have world peace and that this earth would be a virtual "Garden of Eden" if every person on the planet were getting paid to do what they really love to do instead of "working" for a living. I believe that beneath the many exterior displays of anger, depravity, despair, and hopelessness is a sense of regret and irritation at not being able to fully live the life we were meant to live...the freedom to BE...

Fred Haley a Distinguished Toastmaster wrote an article here on selfgrowth entitled; Toastmasters Doesn't Want You To Be A Great Speaker. The title is surely provocative and clever, and when you read the article you see that Fred is making the point that more than anything else, with Toastmasters, the message is key. I have to agree with Fred ...mostly. It is true that the message is Toastmasters' goal, but it isn't necessarily true that it need be THE goal.

Do you ever think about what were you like as a child? What did you like to do for fun? Did you like playing indoors or outdoors? Did you have a lot of friends or just a few close friends? What did you spend your time thinking about? What did you want to be when you were all grown up? Sometimes the responsibilities of being an adult can lead us away from our path - we take the safe, secure road, which isn't always our true calling.

My favorite quote is this one: "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not where ships were meant to be." I don't know where the quote comes from, but I think of it at those times when I hesitate to do something that I want to do, out of fear. Being comfortable and safe is nice, but it isn't everything. We only grow when we step out of our safe havens (harbors) and risk riding the waves of life. It is only then we can potentially see new worlds, or at least new ways of looking at the world, and our role in it.

I remember my first visit to a therapist and it still makes me smile. He was a small frame of a man who weighed about the same as a 13 year old boy. He greeted me with a warm smile and made me feel at home almost instantly. Our rapport was obvious and while I was still quite apprehensive about ...

You just lost your job and I know you are not wanting to hear trite sayings but the truth is: While it can be considered a blessing or a curse the thing about life is that " the game is always changing." If it didn't how would we get better. The first thing you must do to find the perfect career or job is to right now open your mind to all possibilities, do not be closed minded. If you are closed minded and think it is a lousy time to look for a job and that their is nothing out there then read no further. You will only waste your time.

Have you ever embarked on a wonderful new adventure that you were super excited about, and just when you really started to get into it with both feet in - fear stepped up and started listing all of the reasons why it's probably not a good idea for you to do this after all and tries to get you to see how much safer it would be for you to just step back into your comfort zone? When this happens, what if we took some time to listen to what fear has to say? It's there to protect you - it doesn't want you to get hurt or fail or be disappointed.

Darkness was strangling me. I was inside a cocoon of fear. I tried to think good thoughts and write down positive affirmations, but the web was just too thick to escape. It had been a full year since I resigned after fifteen years working in corporate America. I had left to pursue my dream of coaching, speaking, teaching yoga, and writing. I was passionate about helping people to love themselves. During that year I had a journey of getting in touch with my own heart. I had put myself under enormous pressure to succeed, to figure out my destiny. I also had big hopes of finding my soul mate.

So many of us today lead extremely busy lives. We find ourselves constantly rushing around, always "on the go." We have commitments to jobs, to family and friends, to our households, churches or temples, and even the gym! We are stretched and pulled in many different directions; no wonder we often feel "stressed out," tense, and pressured. We need to balance all that whirlwind activity with some time to unwind. Many people use guided visualization for that very purpose: To r

What you deserve and what you think you deserve sometimes have completely different answers. It all comes down to our thoughts, our beliefs about ourselves, and our self worth. To give an example - imagine you are looking for a life partner. All you have ever wanted in life is to find someone who loves you for you - who appreciates you - who cares about you - and who would give anything to be with you. You know you deserve this. And yet...the partners you actually end up with are afraid of commitment, treat you horribly, don't appreciate you, and don't care about you.

"Unde eath everything is silence; deep, profound, infinite silence. It is in everything yet remains as nothing. The spiritual path is very slippery because of this. Because the mind is always looking for that next bit of knowledge that might take it to silence, that next quote that temporarily makes you feel good until the next one comes along. And although there isrna 'feel good' experience in this, it does not really take you closer to your essence. Rather, it keeps on empowering the mind, strengthening the intellect. That is the beautiful thingr

For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with what it means to hold onto other people’s energy, here’s a quick explanation: Empaths have a very thin aura, resulting in a tendency to absorb other people’s mental, emotional, physical and spiritual energies whenever they are exposed to it. For example, you may find yourself running a conversation in your head well after its taken place. This is mental energy you’ve taken in. Feeling upset in response to a friend’s upset is an example of taking in emotional energy.

"For your enlightenment, we want to get you out of your mind, out of the controlled idea that you are an intelligent and together person and into what is here in this moment beyond such ideas. The mind is always trying to put things in order. But once the mind puts things in order, you are out of touch with what is here. Unconsciously, the mind has an image of how a perfect person should be and the mind tries to emulate that. Not on a conscious level, you are not intentionally doing it. But once you do it, then consciousness

"Let yourself relax into this moment. Give up trying to make this moment any different than it is. Simply close your eyes and feel with sensation what is here. Allow yourself to feel existence happening without thinking about it. We're not here to change anything or transcend anything. Just to feel life itself. To experience what is here beyond the thinking. Any attempt to define itrnor describe itrnor judge itrnseparates you from what is here. Give all of it up. Give yourself completely to what is here. Allow thoughts to arise

Let's schedule an entire day where we pamper ourselves and do exactly what we want. Let's spend the day replenishing our energy and nourishing our soul. Let's declare it to our loved ones. Let's let them know ahead of time that this is our day. On this day, let's wake up when we want, eat what we want, and do exactly what we want. Let's get creative in what this means for us - let's talk about the specifics. Let's spend some time planning it out. Write down when you want this day to take place.r

We desperately want change in our lives. We’re out there making one effort after the next, only to find that we are running in place. We all know the meaning of insanity, doing the same things and expecting different results. So we switch things up, and try new things. How is it that we push, and nothing seems to move? Somehow, some way, we are having the same thoughts and emotions, supported by the same unnoticed, underlying beliefs. Same programming, same outcomes. The Universe likes to keep it simple.

I’m never going to be like you. I could try and try with every ounce of my being, but I still would be a lesser version of you than you already are. I could put all of my focus into acting like you, talking like you, writing like you, being like you – and you would still be better at being you tha I ever could.

Perspective on a Positive Attitude

You’ve probably come across stories of children relating past-life events or memories to stunned adults. Some have been documented and are quite amazing. No doubt we have had past lives – states of consciousness in other states of being or form.

"Close your eyes: what is left when there is no thought? rn(Truly, nothing else ever need be said beyond this.) But to try and answer what cannot be answered: All that is left is now. Now is not a place between past and future. For the past and future can only exist in thinking. Now is. It is a completely different reality to time. It cannot be separated from awareness and it cannot be separated from existence at it's essence. It has no beginning and no end. It is consciousness itself. Only when you get caught up in thinking does this e

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." Thomas Jefferson "You are what you do, not what you say you'll do" C.G. Jung "Action expresses priorities" Mahatma Gandhi All of us become stuck at some point.

Rabbi Yehudah taught: The generation of whom Rabbi Shimon is one are all righteous, saintly and fearful of sin, and the Divine Presence abides among them as among no other generation. Therefore these things are stated openly and not concealed, whereas in former generations supernal mysteries could not be revealed, and those who knew them were afraid to utter them. For when Rabbi Shimon expounded the mysteries of the verse, all the Companions were in tears and his meaning was

I wouldn’t consider myself a team player. I have always been the type of person who would rather just do something myself than have someone else assist me. I thought that bringing in another person with their own set of expectations about how things should be done complicated things, and I found that it was just easier to work alone. So I created an entire life based on the premise that I didn’t need anyone’s guidance. I believed that I was fine (even better off) without anyone’s help.

I grew up as an activist, always fighting to protect those I felt were being treated unfairly, fighting unjust political wars, racism, unjust rules and authority. I'm glad that I was awake and aware enough to take this path, although, I am ready to adjust this fighting nature.

Ask any adult human being alive today if they have heard of any special significance given to 2012, and almost without exception, they would say “Yes.” All one needs to do is to look around at the current world condition to see the significance of a changing world in 2012. Of course, these changes did not only occur starting in 2012, but have bee “brewing” and “set into motion” long before the arrival of 2012.

Whenever I mention to people that I teach stress management, meditation, and life mastery skills, they almost always say to me, “Boy, do I need that!” We live in a very fast-paced world. Information, opportunities, and challenges are expanding exponentially every day. Life is full, to say the least! n nToo often, our experience of life is like a series of breathless, unconscious, one-after-the-other chase scenes in a fast-paced movie. Rather, I believe life is meant to be

We see and experience our lives through the filters of our history, beliefs, stories and learned behaviors. The ultimate filter is the mind-made identity. We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are. -Anais Nin When we recognize thought as something separate from Self, we are Awake. We step outside of the limitations of thought, into our own Awareness and boundless possibility. It is here that we may bloom into our own Greatness. Stay Awake with me. EMPOWERMENT: Today I will be the eyewitness to thought.

Who do you allow into your inner circle? A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about our happiness levels being the average of how happy our top few friends were. This is so interesting to me, and it really brought home the fact that we are all so sensitive to the energy around us. (You can read more about this here.) Because we are like sponges and tend to take on other people's moods and emotions, I think it's a good idea to be careful about who we let into our inner circle.

THERE IS A SPIRITUAL LESSON BEHIND MARITAL STRESS DURING THE HOLIDAY’S -Every marriage must first be grounded, steeped and honored within a sacred timeless intimate spiritual union and understanding of each soul’s purpose before the two can try to do or be anything else for anyone else outside of that union. –

We all have loses in our lives or times where we feel deeply about a situation or experience. There was a time in my life that I blocked myself from feeling my experiences deeply. I would actually apologize for having them.I just stuffed them down and didn’t allow myself to feel. The mindset for me was just keep going. You don’t really matter. I don’t really have time for this feeling so let’s just ignore it. Well let me tell you “Yes, you do matter”.

When we were young most of us growing up felt very secure. The world seemed to be working well. Then as we got older we started to see the chinks in the armor society had created. Now as we are even older we see that the society we thought was perfect is broken and about to collapse. What happened? While it will take books upon books to adequately explain what went wrong I will try to just topically address it in this short blog.

Spirit speaks through your “Heart” – the highest, deepest part of your Heart where Soul connects – and you will find that your heart has a lot to say. No matter how many times you may have overridden it, ignored it or denied it, it will continue to speak in the same soft, loving, gentle voice it always has, and it will tell you all that you need to know. It will be there to guide you and to shine a light on your path, the path that brings you the greatest joy you will ever ex