Come and sit a spell
Let's talk about how things are, how things could be,
and the state of life in general
and the state of life in general
I'll see it when I believe it! -Wayne Dyer ![]() So what are your thoughts about the following things?
Now consider why you think the way you do about them. These are your beliefs about these things! You may think that what you think about them are just some observations based upon your realities about them, but in actuality they are your beliefs about them and these beliefs will create help to create your reality based on your thoughts about them. Maybe your first thought about life was that it was hard. Maybe it is only hard because you started thinking it was hard. Don't think so? Then why is life easier for some people. When you start thinking something, no matter if you are "right" or "wrong", helpful or unhelpful, you automatically start thinking similar thoughts. AND those thoughts become the things and events of your life. It is when you understand that where you are in your present life is a direct result of your thoughts and beliefs that you understand that where you need to go first is to those thoughts and beliefs to make a change! You know, you can't make something happen without first believing that it can happen. The belief in something comes before we make it happen. The Wright Brothers believed in flight long before their first plane actually flew! Belief is why people succeed in sports, music, business and absolutely everything else. Your life won't change until your beliefs about life change. But here's the good news, you can change your beliefs. Most people think that their beliefs come from their life experiences but where did your life experiences come from? They come from your thoughts! Let's take the following example: You're driving down the road and all of a sudden your gauges register that your engine is overheating. You pull to the side of the road and phone your significant other about your problem. Two conclusions are made about this episode:
This may not be the best example, but it is an example of how thoughts play into the lives of many people, causing them stress and anxiety in their lives. But people don't see the connection between their beliefs, their thoughts and their experiences. If you look back at things that have happened in your life you might just begin to see the proof that your beliefs and thoughts about something is what made it happen in just such a way. As I have stated in other posts it is your thoughts that create your reality and now we can add into that mix the belief in something that creates the thoughts. "To master your thoughts, and therefore your life and destiny, you must first master your beliefs." You get to choose what you think and believe and by choosing you build your life. If you think about 2 positive thoughts and 2 negative thoughts what do these thoughts reveal about your underlying beliefs. If you change these beliefs you can change your thoughts and therefore your life. Let's break this down into the conscious and sub-conscious mind. The conscious mind, based on free will - the ability to think whatever we want, can accept or reject thoughts. What this means is that when a negative thought starts you have the ability to reject the negative and turn it into a positive. This is the part of your mind where you are consistently thinking about things. And whatever you consistently think about ultimately gets stored in the sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind if filled with conditioned or fixed thoughts. These are the things that your conscious mind has thought about for so long that they are now stored and are left to function in every cell of the body. These become habits and they are not able to be rejected unless changed by the conscious mind. This is where the free will comes in again! You can change your thoughts but first you must change your beliefs. Choose new thoughts, words and behaviors and your life experiences and then your beliefs will change to mirror those changes. There are 3 steps for installing new beliefs. 1. Choose beliefs that serve your life. 2. Claim these beliefs through your thoughts and words. 3. Act as if these beliefs are true every day. 1. Create a list of belief that you'd like to possess. Beliefs about life, yourself, your body, money, love, other people and being successful. 2. After you know what you want to believe, then start thinking and speaking as if you already believed it. I love my life, life is good. I am happy, healthy and prosperous. I am the perfect size. I have abundance. See how it works? 3. Act as if these beliefs are true every day. Live your new beliefs! Act as if they were yours by behaving in ways that reinforce them. Think about them when you get out of bed, when you choose your food, what you will wear or where you will go, who you will be friends with and in every decision that you make. And remember - sometimes when things are falling apart, they are actually falling into place. "Happy, successful and wealthy people are proof that you don't have to be blessed, spiritual and perfect, you just have to dream and believe in those dreams." - Mike Dooley Next:
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My apologies to those people who have been following this blog and its postings. I have been very lax in my postings this past week. Was a very strange week last week. I know we all have had them.
Mine began quite calmly with the two classes that I was teaching, but for the last few weeks I have had this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach about a friend of mine. Have you ever had those feelings, that ominous butterfly type feeling that something is not completely right with your world? Moms, you know what I mean. It sometimes hits when things are not going right with your children. It has come to include some of my closest friends, but I always stop what I am doing and text each of my children and my husband first to see if they are okay. Anyway, that is what had happened on a number of occasions over the last two weeks. Never fear, my family is all okay, and I am okay but I was greatly surprised and saddened by the actions of what I thought was a very good friend of mine. Isn't it funny how you think you know someone and then they go and do something that seems to be completely against their nature. AND against all the things you have been told over the last 12 years! Reminded of the old country song "God is great, beer is good and people are crazy!" So, I have had to rethink my life choices over the last few days and I have come to the conclusion that family is indeed everything and that you really need to choose the people that are around you by their actions rather than their words. Still a very strange feeling that will have to take some time to digest. There are more important issues in the world to face than my little "crisis", so I hope that this week brings more of my thoughts and wanderings than the last 2 have. Thanx to the folks who are with me and that may get something from my posts. Been a crazy week for me teaching Massage Core/Basics both afternoon and evening classes since Monday!
Sorry I haven't posted/blogged much this week. As I head to Florida next weekend the blogs should be more timely, but who knows? Once I get close to sand and sun, that may all change! ![]() So what are these Chakras that I talk about? Essentially they are energy centers in the body. They form spinning wheels, or vortexes, that act as conductors to filter energy from the heavens and the earth so that they can combine and act upon the physical body. They are associated with many types of healing therapies and most often with ancient Eastern healing traditions. The ancient Eqyptians would have associated them with aromatherapy and colors, while the early Jewish tradition made this a part of their mystical Kabbalah. Indian Ayurveda uses them as part of their traditions as does the current practice of Japanese Reiki. I was introduced to the chakras as part of my training in energy balancing through my massage therapy studies. Most people are introduced to them through the Hindu symbols at the top of this page and the associated colors and their placement on the body. They directly mimic the colors of the rainbow in their order as they ascend from the base of the spine to the top of the head: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, however some teachings use white for the 7th, or crown chakra. There are associated emotions, gemstones, colors, musical notes and endocrine glands with each of the chakras also. I will take a couple weeks to review what I know and teach about the chakras and the healing energies within each of us. Let's begin with the chakras themselves; their names, locations and colors. Root - base of the spine - red Sacral - pelvis - orange Solar Plexus/Stomach - abdomen - yellow Heart - heart/mid-chest - green (sometimes pink) Throat - center of the neck - blue Third Eye/Brow - center of the forehead - indigo/purple Crown/Top of Head - center top of head - violet/white Got hit with the comment "you haven't posted anything in 3 days" this morning, so here is a random post about nothing.
I have been making smoothies everyday, just been too busy to take pictures to post. My smoothies have been random and sometimes downright weird. Been putting avocado in everything lately - don't know where that is coming from. BUT, it makes the smoothie creamier and more like a milk shake so I like it. I have also gotten out the spirulina powder and occasionally add that in too even though it turns everything green, no matter what else you have in there. Yesterday I raided the freezer and came up with pineapple and strawberry which I added to the fresh banana and half an avocado. Used orange juice and vanilla protein powder with that one. AND, on another note, I got the urge to make homemade mayonnaise yesterday too! Still playing around with the actual ingredients but yesterday took one whole egg and added some mustard powder, white vinegar and salt and 1/4 cup light sesame oil. Using my stick blender I whisked that together and then added another 3/4 cup olive oil and kept blending. Little to olive oily for my taste but worked well for what I was attempting to make in the end, which was honey mustard dressing. After I had the mayonnaise made I just added dijon mustard, honey and some lemon juice. Been making that for a couple weeks now and we love it! Plus this time I knew exactly what had gone into it. Only keeps a couple weeks but that doesn't seem to be an issue! So, I use the allrecipes.com website and app on my ipad for a lot of my recipe ideas, but yesterday my daughter invited me to pinterest. I see major time wasting on the internet in my future! OMG so much stuff and so little time. I may have to take up blogging and web surfing as a full time occupation. Do you think there is money in this kind of stuff? Since this is a rambling entry, I must also tell you that we had a "mess" of dandelion for the 3rd time this spring last night for supper. Tried to make some dandelion tea, but that did not work out so well. The tea was made but no amount of additives could take away the dandelion bitterness. Oh well, I tried! But the way I make it wilted with ham or bacon over boiled potatoes would make my PA Dutch grandmas proud! (BTW - be on the look out for my PA Dutch Grandma's Cookbook, which is in process!) Anyway, back to the dandelion. It must be picked from a non-sprayed yard or garden and cleaned thoroughly before using. Oh, and no flowers! Once the flowers are produced, the greens are even more bitter. Use only the green tops of the plant, however the roots can also be used for tea or a tonic for the liver. Check other places for this as in our family we only used the greens. Oh, okay some of my relatives were known to make dandelion wine. But I digress again, back to my supper last night. So after a thorough cleaning and soak in cold water, I chop up the dandelion and set aside. While boiling the potatoes (I leave the skin on), I fry the ham or bacon and prepare the "dressing". I start with an egg or two and add flour to make a paste whipping with a whisk, then I add sugar and vinegar to taste. I make mine a little over tart at this stage since I will be adding water later on. You may also add onion and mustard powder for added flavor. I just shake some in so I would guess at maybe 1/2 tsp each. I am now ready to proceed. I remove the bacon or ham from the frying pan, leaving some grease from the meat. Last night the bacon stuck to the pan a bit so I poured some of the potato boiling water into the pan to loosen this up and add even more flavor to the dressing. Then I poured the entire dressing mixture into the pan and began to stir so as not to stick or thicken too quickly. As it thickens I add more potato water to get to the consistency I want (now you know why I go heavy on the vinegar to start as I do not want my dressing "watered down" so that it looses it flavor). As it is cooking I also add in the dandelion so that it "wilts". When the dressing is to the desired consistency and the dandelion is wilted, it is ready. Let cook for a bit longer to lock in the flavor of the dressing and serve over hot, boiled potatoes. It can't get any more PA Dutch than that! So enough of this ramble. Hope you enjoyed and came back with one or two of my random recipes. ![]() Now obviously this is a stock picture so mine didn't really look like that but it was most definitely green! Got the Dr. Oz recipe this morning and a friend posted a variation of that recipe for me yesterday so here is that info and how I modified it for my taste. Hey, it's a start! I needed to have some of my morning "sweetness" and didn't have any apples so had to make a few changes . This is the original recipe that I received: Make the breakfast drink that Dr. Oz swears by! This "green drink" is high in fiber, low-calorie and rich in vitamins. Ingredients Makes 3-4 servings (about 28-30 oz) 2 cups spinach 1/2 cucumber 1/4 head of celery 1/2 bunch parsley 1 bunch mint 3 carrots 2 apples 1/4 orange 1/4 lime 1/4 lemon 1/4 pineapple Directions Combine all ingredients in a blender. Serve and enjoy! This is apparently how it was introduced by Dr Oz on Oprah. Dr. Oz Green Drink Recipe. 2 apples, cored. 2 big handfuls of spinach. 1/2 cup of chopped parsley. 1 celery stick, chopped. 1 thumbnail length of ginger root, peeled. 1 lemon - juice only (use peel slice for zest). 1 medium cucumber. Place ingredients in a blender, add 4 oz. spring water or a handful of ice cubes, then puree quickly for one minute. Makes two glasses of Dr. Oz’s green drink. The green drink has a strong taste and if you are used to drinking soda or sweet tea, the taste will take some getting used to. Dr. Oz suggests adding other items at first to sweeten the green drink to your taste. Green drink – Optional ingredients: 2nd cucumber raw carrot unsweetened fruit juice. banana And this is what I came up with: 1 banana 1 small orange, peeled & seeded juice of one lemon 1/2 avocado handful of fresh spinach 2-3 baby carrots, cut up 1 stalk celery, cut up 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder 1 tsp. spirullina 2 Tb. vanilla Yogurt orange juice to thin Yummy, but I will still try Dr. Oz's recipe (the 2nd one above) when I have all the ingredients! All that we are is a result of what we have thought. - Buddha ![]() What you think creates the life that you have. For this first lesson I like to use the model and concept originated by Dr. Thurman Fleet of San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Fleet was the founder of Concept Therapy. This works out to the same idea as thoughts become things only on a more physiological level. The actual functioning of the mind. Now I know what you are "thinking". If thoughts become things then why am I not a millionaire, or why haven't I met the perfect mate, or why are my children struggling, why am I struggling. Look at those verbal representations of your thoughts. See the negative connotations there?I am not a doctor, nor am I a professed self-help speaker or even a talk-type therapist. I am a student! And my studies tell me that this "stuff" works. As Henry Ford once said: If you think you can't, you're right! Let's look at the mind as divided between the conscious and sub-conscious. And yes as an anatomy instructor I realize that it is not that simple, but humor me here and just stick with me for a bit. The conscious mind is the thinking mind. This is your free will. The thoughts that you choose to accept are most definitely the ones that determine your life. If you determine that life is going to be hard and that you will never get ahead without (fill in the blank) then I can guarantee that is how your life will turn out. You are a product of your environment and what you have set as your beliefs. The sub-conscious mind is the conditioned mind. This is where everything that you have accepted as true from your conscious mind is stored. There is no free will here. Whatever you accept at the conscious level gets stored here - good, bad or indifferent. If you look around you right now you will find that what you see are a reflection of your thoughts up to this point - good, bad or indifferent. Once the sub-conscious accepts a thought, that idea will continue to express itself without any conscious assistance. They become habits. And the way these habits are expressed are through your body's actions. Those thoughts or ideas that you have consciously chosen and imprinted upon the sub-conscious move your body into actions through the emotions that they create in you. The actions that are taken determine the results - the things of your life. To paraphrase Napoleon Hill, What the mind can perceive, the body can achieve. Thoughts build ideas, ideas stir emotions, emotions create action, actions are the physical manifestation of the original thought. Tada! Thoughts become things! To change the result you need to change your thoughts, emotions and actions. Keep it simple. So what have you created up till now, what are you creating now and what will you create for your future? Your Past Thoughts: Think of at least one example of thoughts you have had about some of the following:
Your Present Thoughts: Now think about what you currently think about in your life? Are these thoughts positive or negative, empowering or limiting, loving or fearful. Be honest with yourself. Negative thoughts are normal so don't beat yourself up about them. But take some time and think of some examples for the following:
So what can we do about the negative thoughts that we may have? AND we ALL have them! Worrying about anything gives it power. Do your best to stop them and keep yourself positive. If you are watching a program on TV and it becomes boring what do you do? You change the channel! That is exactly what you need to do with negative thoughts. Bring back a happy, pleasant or uplifting memory from the past and think about that. If money is an issue, start thinking about tens, twenties or even fifties in your wallet rather than the thought of running out. If you job is boring or you think people don't like you; begin to imagine a job where you are excited to get up every morning and people being drawn to you because you are so outgoing and positive. Tony Robbins calls this a state change. Change the state of mind you are in and move to a different state. Will tell you that when my daughters were younger we used this in an even more fun way. Since they had traveled a bit when they were younger, they got used to "state" change if they were being fussy or arguing as a way to think about a different state they may have traveled to and the fun they had there! Are you reading this Tony! One caveat - as Genie says in Aladdin "and ixnay on the wishing for more wishes and you can't make someone love you!" In other words you can't force or manipulate other people, they have their own thoughts! But this also means that no one can force or manipulate you also, unless you let them. You can, however, attract like-minded people to you - that potential mate or business partner, client or customer. If you are trying to attract someone into your life, don't concentrate on a specific person but rather on the type of person you want, the way you want to feel with them and then allow the best person to be attracted to you based on those thoughts and feelings. Your Future Thoughts: So what are some positive, empowering, loving thoughts that you would like to have for the future? Ignore what is currently happening in your life and write down the thoughts you would have if you life was already fantastic in these areas:
Guidelines for Visualizing (from the Infinite Possibilities Workbook)
Emotion is pure power. It is the emotion associated with a thing that drives the body to manifest what the mind is creating. Start practicing visualization today! Next: Beliefs ![]() Was doing some organizing of files in my home office today and came across something that I had gotten from a yoga instructor when I took some classes in Lake Helen, Florida about 10 years ago. Just thought that maybe you would enjoy knowing the true meaning behind the word that many people speak. The gesture of Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow, "as"means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you". To perform Namaste, we place the hands together at the heart chakra, close the eyes, and bow the head. It can also be done by placing the hands together in front of the third eye, bowing the head, and then bringing the hands down to the heart. This is an especially deep form of respect. Although in the West the word Namaste is usually spoken in conjunction with the gesture, in India it is understood that the gesture itself signifies Namaste, and therefore, it is unnecessary to say the word while bowing. We bring the hands together at the heart chakra to increase the flow of Divine love. Bowing the head and closing the eyes helps the mind surrender to the Divine in the heart. one can do Namaste to oneself as a meditation technique to go deeper inside the heart chakra; when done with someone else, it is also a beautiful, albeit quick, meditation. This information come from Aadil Palkhivala NAMASTE Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. - Henry Ford Day by day in every way I am becoming more successful. - Napoleon Hill Thinking by Walter D. Wintle Chapter 2: Self-Confidence - Skepticism, unbelief and doubt have no place in the mind of the person who wants to reach his definite purpose. Thought, according to Hill, is the most highly organized form of energy know to man. Thorough goal setting, affirmations, persistence and self-confidence in what you are trying to achieve a person can achieve anything.
But first you must let go of fear, that nagging voice in your head that says you can't, you shouldn't or you don't have the ability. "If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been." - Robert Schuller Many people live in constant fear of making a mistake so they never take the first step toward making their dreams and aspirations a reality. Start looking at things a different way. Instead of being fearful of what might happen, especially in the negative, start looking at positive outcome may happen instead. By being positive about the things you are doing, you set in motion the positive outcome of your actions. How many times have you heard stories of people born into a bad situation who through positive thoughts and actions were able to pull themselves out of that situation? Self-confidence develops as we use it to move forward with our lives. And, yes there may be setbacks. Edison did not invent the light bulb on his very first try and Milton Hershey failed many times until he succeeded with the now world-famous chocolate bar. Self-confidence in reaching the end result and perseverance to keep trying made them the successful men that they were. Self confidence is a way of believing in yourself. You will, of course, need the cooperation of others has you work toward your definite purpose and the best way to do that is to surround yourself with those people who also believe in you. Surround yourself with those people who will boost you up with have setbacks and will offer encouragement when you need it. Do not surround yourself with "negative Nellies", those people who will discourage you from your chosen path or look down upon whatever it is you have set out to do. Napoleon Hill set out the following Self-Confidence Formula, which I have condensed for this post.
Make a copy of these items, if you like and study them and commit to them. The positive habits that you form now and do repeatedly will be very powerful in developing your self-confidence. Anything you have learned to do up to this point has been by repeated practice until it became a habit. The use of my keyboard to type is through a "learned" habit of knowing where the specific keys that represent the letters are located. Over time then I have developed the ability to type words without the need to think about where they are. You can do the same thing with anything you set your mind to do, including the habit of self-confidence in your ability. People who are successful are so because they believed in themselves, created a definite purpose as to where they wanted to be and then backed that up with a definite plan on how to get there. As Hill says, your only limitation, within reason, is the one that you set up in your own mind. Take the time to perform a self-analysis - take an inventory of your current abilities to see if you have what you need to achieve you goals. And then when you do set out on your journey to that purpose make sure that you finish all that you set out to do each step of the way. AND, be fearless as you go, having the self-confidence in your abilities that you have acquired as you proceed toward your definite purpose. Ready? Sorry, no picture but I have an appointment at 9:30 that I am on my way to! But you need to hear this new twist! I took my small can of mixed fruit, added my vanilla yogurt, vanilla protein powder, orange juice, a squirt of flax oil and some aloe and blended. Was not quite as thick as I wanted so......I added half an avocado! Yummy! Just a tad bit green tint but very tasty! Go ahead and try it!
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Paula J Kaprocki, LMT
I am a Licensed Massage Therapist with thoughts, aspirations and opinions - much like any other person on the planet! Archives
March 2021
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