relaxation

Give It A Rest — And See What Happens — by Martha Beck

Hey, you guys,

Listen, I love anything that starts with Give it a Rest.

And I’m kinds loving this crazy twist on letting go of stress by Martha Beck via Dan Howard. It’s easy-peasy so I thought you might want to give it a go too. Listen, it’s worth a try—right?

xox Janet


 

 

 

Warning to all those who think that resting is out of the question when you’ve got goals to achieve! Last June, I began getting an insistent message from a variety of sources telling me that the time has come for those who wish to heal the world to paradoxically move forward through rest.

I have suspected this for several months, but I wasn’t sure quite what this meant or how to do it. For me, rest has usually meant working (playing) until my eyes crossed, then collapsing into a coma for a few hours. Then, just when I needed the information, a teacher appeared in the form of Dan Howard, a wonderful Team member who spends his life developing and teaching a technique he calls “intentional resting”.

In a few minutes, Dan took me through some basic resting exercises, which seemed similar to other relaxation exercises, but for some reason created dramatically different effects in my body and mind. We’ll walk through one of these exercises in a moment, but first I want to say that using Dan’s resting techniques consistently has suddenly increased my ability to manifest the things I want to experience. In that sense, I have come to believe that resting deeply and deliberately is more than a nice idea. It is powerful magic!

Here’s your first intentional resting exercise:

Step One: Scan your body and find an area where you’re holding pain, discomfort or tension. For a few seconds stop reading this and imagine all your attention flowing into this stressed out part of your body. Allow the sensation of discomfort to grow until it fills your awareness. Then come back.

Step Two: Repeat step one, but this time, silently give your stressed out location the suggestion, “relax.” Then meet me back here.

Step Three: Note any changes that occurred in your stressed out area in response to the command to relax. Now, return your attention to that spot and this time mentally give it the invitation “rest.” Continue to invite the area to rest for at least 30 seconds, then return back here.

Step Four: Notice any changes, brief or lasting, that accompany the invitation to rest. Common experiences may include a sense of softening, or melting, diffusion of energy, lessening of stress symptoms, or nothing at all. No right or wrong answer – just observe.

Step Five: Send your attention into your stressed out area once more. This time, slowly switch back and forth between the words relax and restNotice any differences.

This is the basic format to achieve resting as opposed to relaxing.  The two are not identical. If you felt a positive response to the word rest, try scanning your entire body while slowly and gently stating “I am resting for my feet now; I am resting for my legs now; I am resting for my heart now;” and so on. Put special attention on areas that are in pain or in distress.

Then you can begin applying rest to non-physical aspects of yourself. Try stating “I am resting for my fear now; I am resting for my perfectionism now; I am resting for my troubled past now; I am resting for my future now.”

Then choose one thing you are trying to manifest into your material experience — good health, a relationship, more money, friends, whatever. Spend 30 seconds resting for these things: “I am resting for the friends I am about to meet now; I am resting for my bank account now; I am resting for my good luck now.”

As simple as this exercise obviously is, I have been flabbergasted by how powerful its effects can be. Not only have I been able to reverse minor infections in my own body, but the people and things for which I rest have been responding in ways that are simply too improbable to be coincidence.

Whatever it is you hope to attract, add a little extra twist by resting rather than forcing the result. The worst that can happen is a wonderful feeling.

Fuck That Meditation

OMG, you guys!
I love this so much I can’t breathe! And I KNOW you’re going to love it too.
Now this is a guided meditation I can get behind.

Carry on,
& You’re welcome!
Xox

Crazy, Sexy, Saturday

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Crazy Sexy Saturday
Kris Carr may own the Crazy Sexy franchise, but I don’t think she owns this one……yet. So I did it.

I love Saturday. It is without a doubt, my favorite day of the week.
It has a color: Yellow. Don’t all the days of YOUR week have a color?
And it just has that. special. vibe.
Rain or shine, it really is THE perfect day.

Here’s my reasoning:
It’s the crazy sexy sleep-in day.

It’s the crazy sexy lazy day.

It’s the crazy sexy Nutella French toast day.

It’s the crazy sexy “I have a hot date tonight” day.

You have permission to waste Saturday. You can stay in your pj’s, especially if the weather’s bad, and talk on the phone or watch “You’ve got Mail” for the nine hundredth time. You can sit with the magnifying mirror and pluck your eyebrows….for an hour. You can take a yoga class AND walk the dogs in the park. You can get lost in a good book, or listen to music, all day, guilt free.

Saturday is the day to indulge in all the seemingly mindless things that are vital to our metal health.

Having been in retail most of my life, I worked Saturdays. Even though I was convinced everyone was having the best day EVER while I was working, it still felt special to me. Even then, I always looked forward to Saturday. I know it was because vintage engagement rings were a large part of our inventory and Saturday was “engagement ring” day. I loved selling engagement rings. They actually sold themselves. You can’t talk anyone into an engagement ring. They have to feel it. Still, I loved being involved in the process.

I would even wear a dress and heels. By choice.
Saturday just had that kind of effect on me.

Saturday is perfectly positioned. It’s sandwiched between Friday and Sunday. Friday, (which is green by the way) has its own TGIF energy, but it’s still a workday.

Sunday, (Aqua) although awesome in its own right, has a little of that going back to work vibe.
My husband gets the “Sunday night blues” He has since childhood.
I don’t; but I can relate. I get the “last day of vacation” blues. They’re similar.
You ruin a day, by knowing its has to end. Sad but true. A ton of people do it.
Not the best way to live. Not living in the moment, I know.
Hey, give us a break, it’s our one shared neurosis.

Sundays we ride motorcycles, so we’re up early. If we’re not up for that, there’s the local farmer’s market or flea markets. It’s the day I tackle my list of “to do’s” around the yard and house. And some laundry, so that about shoots the shit out of Sunday.

Our house usually smells amazing on Saturdays. Partly because Maria comes and it smells of Pledge, Windex, wax and lemons. She has the magical ability to rid the house of dog farts for which I am forever amazed and indebted.

The other reason is: that is the night when we have people over for dinner. My husband is a magorific (His word) cook. He shops all morning, returning with overstuffed bags from several different culinary stores around town. (You only have the stamina for that on Saturday.) He chops, he slices, he dices. He buys things like endive and fennel. All his recipes start with onions and garlic sautéed in butter. Heaven.
The house smells like heaven, like crazy sexy heaven, on Saturday.

I’m trying to make an intangible……tangible.
It’s crazy sexy Saturday, because I’ve deemed it so.
Let’s all enjoy our Saturday!

Do you share my love of Saturdays?
What’s your favorite day? Does it have a color? I’d love to know.

Xox

Hi, I’m Janet

Mentor. Pirate. Dropper of F-bombs.

This is where I write about my version of life. My stories. Told in my own words.

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