Random Mid-Week Musings

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? Aahhh... I have been following Kimberly Wilson's Paris travels - so inspiring! Over the weekend I even picked myself up a sequin beret (featured in the above photo of moi). It is quite fabulous if I do say so myself! I'm actually wearing it right now, just for fun :-)

Things have been super busy here in Niagara Falls! Over the weekend life coach Kim David and I hosted the first Women's Wellness Retreat at Tree of Life Yoga Studio. It was soooo amazing!!!! I could go on and on about it, but for now I will just share one major take-away from the day. One of the things Kim had us do was write down our to-do list for the upcoming days. Then we rated each item on our to-do list from -10 (really not fun) to +10 (completely fabulous). She then challenged us to "better" everything on our list that was not a +10. Kim believes that everything in life should feel as close to a +10 as possible. This felt like a pretty radical idea to me! I'm not sure about you, but I typically just accept that there are some not so +10 feeling things in life that I have to do.

Of course this is true and Kim was not trying to gloss over that fact, but she was challenging us to "better" these things. For example, if you have a stack of bills to pay and that feels like a -5 for you, maybe lighting a candle and pouring yourself a nice glass of wine to enjoy while you pay the bills. I notice that I do this in my life at certain times. For example, when I was writing my dissertation I had special candles that I would light only when I was writing and I would reward myself with simple treats after a work session, like listening to some music or browsing online. Imagine what life would be like if we "bettered" every single thing on our to-do list! It sounds so lovely to me and I am going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes!


I have been participating in two amazing weekly conference calls with awe-inspiring ladies such as SARK, Marianne Williamson, and more. These calls are through The Self-Love Studio and Wake-Up Call Coaching. They are both free if you are on the live call and they both offer packages with recorded calls for a reasonable investment. So many take-aways to share from these calls and I promise I will in future posts. In the meantime, maybe you can join in on the fun!

Inspiration was my word for 2009 and I truly have been inspired so much this year! I've already started musing about 2010. Partly because my 2010 Planner Pad arrived!!!!! OMG I LOVE IT!!! I'm not sure what my word for the year will be, but I do have some goals in mind. I'm planning on a major makeover for the blog and website. I would like to paint yoga-inspired murals on the windows at Living Wellness of Niagara. I am going to record for my first yoga practice CD. I want to have a backyard garden. I want to write a book. I hope to hold a Women's Wellness Retreat in some fabulous location like Costa Rica. I know I'm dreaming big for 2010, but hey why not?

I'm going away this weekend for a yoga training. I am so excited for a whole weekend devoted to yoga! And I booked myself a jacuzzi suite for the weekend. Aaahhhh.....

Namaste,


Mindy

Good Things by the Numbers

Good Things by the Numbers

• 1 lovely dinner with my family at the new Pita & Grill restaurant tonight
  
• indulged in 1 massage last week
• celebrated 1 year of TOL Yoga Studio
  
• planning to record 2 yoga & meditation CDs
• ran 2 consecutive miles yesterday
  
• 2 loving orange kitties
  
• 3 new therapy clients this week
• 3 consecutive weeks of spinning class
• 4 new books arrived in the mail, including If You Want to Write and Bird by Bird - books to inspire me as I focus on (eek) attempting to write a book
  

It's only Tuesday and I feel like it has already been such a fabulous and exciting week! Before this week is up I hope to bake something with the surplus from our apple-picking trip, start on another grant application, and make several necessary phone calls.

Hope you're doing well! Enjoy the week :-)

Abundance

I have been thinking a lot about abundance these days. Mostly because I am finding myself in a scarcity mindset (the opposite of abundance) more often than I'd like... but something clicked for me this weekend as I was reading Gail McMeekin's 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. In Secret 10 she talks about how our society often equates abundance with having money, but that there is so much more to abundance than money. She says, "Abundance invites us to live the life we desire instead of settling for less." Abundance is about how we live our lives; the choices we make, the choices we are free to make. It is about how we spend our time, the relationships in our lives, and our daily experiences.

I realized that although I may not receive a plentiful paycheck, I have plenty of abundance in my life. I wake up in a warm and cozy bed with a wonderful, supportive husband next to me. I spend my morning leisurely getting my daughter off to school. I have a wonderful family close by. I have fabulous friends that I get to spend time with regularly. I craft my own schedule each and every day of my life. I have time to exercise and practice yoga regularly. I live in a beautiful home filled with good books! I do exactly what I have always dreamed of doing for my work. I meet amazing people through my work. I have freedom and independence to explore my creative dreams. I am surrounded by abundance!

Happy Abundant Monday,

Mindy