breathe, deeply, repeat ....

A friendly and needed reminder for us all!!

this print is available on my society6 shop*

As the holiday season approaches and the days are getting darker quicker, making it feel like time is just vanishing, it is very important to remember to breathe!!!

Stress and anxiety are truly unhealthy and can cause serious health issues, so don't get caught on the gerbil wheel. Take time for yourself, even if it is just a minute to sit quietly and breathe.

Quieting yourself is also a great way to approach a quiz, exam or paper.  This is also the time when trimesters are ending and midterms are common.  When it feels like the work load is piling up and you can't think, that is the best time to sit back, breathe deeply and let go.

From personal experience, I can attest to the myriad of negative results caused by stress.  Stress lowers your immune system, making you more vulnerable to germs and viruses (yuck!).

Stress can affect your thinking. Have you ever taken a timed quiz, and while you are timed you can't remember the answers only to have them all flow back into your brain once the clock had stopped?? 

Lastly, you are not at your best when stressed.  Just think about how when you are running late and getting stressed out, these are the times that you more often than not, will lose something or forget something?!? 

So for today, a friendly reminder to us ALL - 

take a moment (even when you feel like you don't have a moment to spare) take a moment to stop, to breathe, breathe deeply, to exhale, exhale fully and let go of stress (as much as possible). XX

love, mom

* if you would like to have this friendly reminder that you can have around your house, check out my society6 shop, where you can get a print of it, or get it on a mug or clock or even a blanket. 

I am a big fan of the visual reminders!! :)

click here to go to shop

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day65: cultivate a meditation habit

It feels good. 

Kinda like when you have to shut your computer down, just sometimes when it goes crazy, you just shut it down and when you turn it on, it’s okay again. That’s what meditation is to me. 

 Ellen DeGeneres

The benefits of meditation are well documented. 

It appears that meditation is the wonder drug, the cure all for all that ails us, and yet for many, it is still a foreign concept. 

We seem more willing to fill our bodies with chemicals in the form of pills, than to sit quietly and breathe?!?! 

What's that about??? 

I wish I had had a meditation practice when you were young, so you would have thought of it as a normal part of a routine day. Even now I wish my meditation practice was as routine for me as brushing my teeth or making my morning cup of coffee. 

But this is all a work is progress and the more I weave meditation into my every day the more I experience its benefits.  And the more I recognize the benefits the more I make sure that I do it,  as I said, a work is progress.

So for today I would like you to consider weaving meditation into your every day. Start small.  

I have discovered this app called 'headspace' which has really helped me to make meditating a daily practice.  The app also presents meditation as a way to give your head some more space!!! 

Also, as you both know, I love the guided meditations from meditation oasis.  You could see if there is a meditation club or group at your school, meditating with a group begins different benefits and to have the support of a community can help you make sure that are you do it.  

There are so many, many options and aids to help one cultivate a meditation practice and I am here today to encourage you to do it!! 

In fact, there is the idea that if you do something for a certain amount of days, 

the time ranges between 21 days to 100 days or more. 

But for today's purposes lets go with 21 days, less then a month, 3 weeks in fact, 

and for the next 21 days, I challenge you both to meditate.  As I said before, start small, it could be for 10 minutes a day, you could use an app, or join a club or group, you could meditate inside or outside, there is a walking meditation, whatever works for you. You both do it for 21 days straight, and I will do it too (remember how I mentioned that my meditation practice is a work in progress.) And if we start tomorrow, the 21 days will bring us to Thanksgiving and we can celebrate in Portsmouth.  

so, what do you think,  you in??? 

love you both so, mom

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may this dress remind us to meditate and be kind!!! XXX

Happy Birthday to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

'you are heading for a land of sunshine and relaxation ...' mixed media collage

My religion is very simple. 

My religion is kindness. 

Dalai Lama

and in honor of his Holiness's birthday, take some time to meditate ... XXX

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/09/easiest-meditation-instructions-ever-steve-haase/

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may this dress reminds us of the importance of meditation!!!!

“Meditation is the soul’s perspective glass.” 

 Owen Feltham

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May this dress WAKE us UP . . .

to the beauty and wonders that surround us, always . . . . peace

'from the ground up . . .' 7aug14, 74F, 5:10pm

We don't sit in meditation 

to become good meditators. 

We sit in meditation so that 

we'll become more awake in our lives.

 Pema Chodron

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a day for happiness . . . .

“Happiness is part of who we are.

 Joy is the feeling.”

Tony DeLiso

I wish to give you the gift of meditation. 

 Last April I discovered Oprah & Deepak Chopra's 21-Day Meditation Experience, Finding your Flow,  it was an amazing experience.  Today they are beginning another free 21-Day Meditation Experience, Expanding Your Happiness!  

One of my current personal goals is to incorporate meditation into my daily, everyday life.  

These series have been a such a help for me, which I wish to share with you!! 

Here is the link:

https://chopracentermeditation.com/experience

you will need to register but it is worth it!!! 

happy monday & namaste!! 

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