A Little Morning Sunshine Can Change the Direction of Your Day

Whether it is a sunny day or a cloudy day, choose to create your own sunshine through positive thoughts. With your eyes closed before you are even fully awake in the morning, imagine the most beautiful sunny day that you can remember and just take a few breaths. Allow that warmth to fill your body.

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Positive thoughts first thing in the morning lead to a positive day. Before you even get out of bed in the morning practice gratitude. Think of a person and close your eyes and think of things that person does that you are grateful for. Perhaps even consider keeping a collage of pictures near your bed of people near and dear, and pets that you are grateful for. Each day you can hold someone new in mind. Then, take a minute to stretch and practice gratitude for yourself. Taking these steps first thing in the morning sets the tone for your day. When you are faced with frustrating obstacles like a traffic jam or a long shopping line throughout your day, use that time to practice gratitude. Hold space again for someone or something that you are particularly grateful for. Allow a smile to span your beautiful face.  Open your eyes and look around. This will shift your energy from a negative state to a positive state of being.  

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our busy worlds that we forget to take notice of the lives around us. Practicing gratitude helps us reconnect and grounds us.  Once we reconnect we are able to realize how good it feels to be alive. 

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Get out into nature. Wonder at the trees. Take notice of the colors, the layers of the flower petals, the different chirps of the bird singing, the size of the acorns this season. Practice gratitude for all that mother nature provides for us. 

Then look at the people around you. Take notice of who smiles and who is busy looking at their phone, who looks sad or angry. You see, every day may not be great, but there is something great in every day when our eyes, or more importantly our hearts and souls are open to seeing it. When we live with eyes wide open and hearts wide open and practice gratitude, doors open and abundance is there for us because that is the Law of Attraction. Begin your day this way and direct your thoughts in the direction of your goals. Good things will come to you. 

Keep it simple.  Keep it positive.  Keep it clean. Keep it loving. 

Shine on,

Libby

PS, This is a particularly wonderful time of year to start your gratitude practice as we approach Thanksgiving. Maybe consider starting a gratitude jar where each family member can contribute one thing each day that they are grateful for another person and sign your name. Fold it up and put it in the jar. Then on thanksgiving, before or after dinner, take time as a family to read each gratitude note out loud.  Watch the energy rise as you all learn new things you are grateful for about each other. You can also do this other times of the year. 

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I am sooo grateful this season for each day, for each person I share my life with, and for each breath. I am grateful for laughter, for love, and for the seasons of change. 

5 Tips for Cultivating Gratitude in your Daily Life to bring Abundance

The great poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once said it so wisely, "cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and give thanks continuously." When we live in the present moment and are aware of our thoughts, words and actions, and practice gratitude then and only then will we truly live in the abundance of all that we desire. Being grateful is the key to a happier and healthier life. Gratitude shifts our focus into the present moment. Being appreciated and feeling connected, feeling needed and desired are deep human needs. You can practice gratitude simply by thanking someone for a job well done at work or for something that you like that they did. A simple compliment or pat on the back goes a long way. Simply acklowledge the people you come in contact with with warmth and compassion. Set your phone down in the check out lane of the grocery store or drive through, and take a moment to say "thank you."  It does not take much to practice gratitude.  You will feel better and so will those around you, improving relationships and decreasing stress!

So here are my top 5 Suggestions for How To Practice Gratitude Daily to Create Abundance in Your Life:

1. Journal:  write down one to five things you are grateful for each and everyday this month! Some days may be simple and other days may be more complex and that is ok.  Do this without judgment of any sort. There are no wrong answers.

2. Random Acts of Kindness:  Give what you can when you can. This has a ripple effect like you cannot imagine. which raises the vibrational energy all around you bringing you love and good energy. Hold the door open for a stranger, smile, buy a hot meal for a homeless person, volunteer (giving your time is an amazing gift), pay the toll for the person behind you, donate your old coats......

3. Be grateful for what you already have. Practice the concept of needing less.

4. Know that you are ENOUGH. Practice the I AM mantra each morning when you wake up. Say I AM and then follow that with possitive affirmations such as I am enough, I am loved, I am strong, I am forgiving, I am compassionate, I am grateful, I am kind.... Then look in the mirror and say "I LOVE YOU" yes, to YOURSELF! Practice loving yourself! It is amazing how far this will go.  You must first love yourself deeply before you can love others and before others can love you. 

5. Finally, learn from your own experiences. Be aware of what shifts your energy from dark to light, from sadness to happiness... then do more of what makes you happy and THAT will bring gratitude. 

Often the people who have suffered the most trauma and hardships in life are the most grateful and for the most simple things.  So, my advice is keep it simple, stay aware, stay grateful and keep your heart wide open.  Let that love energy flow freely. Peace and love to you all this holiday season and throughout the new year!

Much gratitude, 

Libby

Learning the Art of Surrender when Faced with Life's Challenges

We all face challenges at different points in our lives. It is how we manage the stress of these challenges that matters. The truth is what doesn't challenge us won't change us. And we ultimately grow stronger with each challenge that we conquer. But... As a whole, we are resistant to change. We resist change for two main reasons, in my humble opinion, and please feel free to comment below on how you feel! I feel we resist change because of fear and attachment to the outcome.  The truth is without change there is no growth and without growth we remain stagnant. 

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We are taught as a society that quitting is giving up and that is a sign of failure. But many times it takes the most successful person to recognize that it is time to move on. I would rather call it surrender. Surrendering is far different from quitting. It means acceptance of what is without battling against what you thought it should be. It is the full release of the ego centered mind. It is a full letting go...  

Anytime you feel stress, be it from a relationship, work, school, traffic, financial pressure, just surrender to what is and let it be. Breathe, release, let go. Sometimes this requires big life changes and breaking through major barriers of fear, but please believe me when I tell you it is so worth it! I have lived through this so many times in the past six months.   

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Most recently I closed my yoga studio. This was heartbreaking! At first I saw it as failure. Then I took some deep breaths and practiced everything that I truly believe from my years of yoga practice, spiritual studies and business lessons. I realized it was not at all a failure, but the beginning of the best journey of my life. My friends and family stepped up so beautifully, moving me out of the studio, showing up with meals and pies, hugs, notes... And this week a HUGE limb mysteriously crashed down in my backyard. It was not raining. There was no wind. Miraculously my dogs, who were playing in my yard, were not seriously injured or worse.  It was a really close call for Luna, but she fortunately escaped unharmed. Anyway, my daughter's friend showed up without being asked, cut up the wood and hauled it away. He even cut my grass. These acts of kindness are the light at the end of the tunnel. Accept the kind acts of others, surrender pride and practice gratitude.

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So you see, I never needed the studio. That was just the physical space that allowed me to bloom for a short period into who I am today. I can do my work anywhere, which is a liberating feeling. I am unbound and so aware of the miracles around me. I have let go of almost all fear (I am still human so...). I practice complete and full acceptance of myself and others and I welcome change. Surrendering to what is and what will be is my new motto because the truth is we are in control of very little. We can control our breath, our thoughts, our behavior toward others and our reactions and that's about it my friends!  

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Truly, I have been touched by the outpouring of support. Once I surrendered, I realized the difference between surrendering and quitting. I felt tremendous relief. Quitting implies failure. There was no failure in closing my studio. There is no failure in divorce. There is no failure in changing careers... Sometimes making a decision for change is the most courageous thing you can do to propell yourself toward upward growth. Surround yourself with like minded, positive, supportive people and everything will be ok. Listen to your intuition. Trust, trust, trust...  

Faith & Hope, 

Libby

PS, I hope you will watch the video below for many reasons.  Music touches our souls and affects our emotions in many ways.  The message is to simplify, which is so beautiful and is one part of the 8 limbs of yoga, which is non needing and non hoarding, which goes in line with the Yama of Aparigraha, and also in line with the Niyama of Santosa, which means contentment or being happy with what you have.  Ultimately, once you realize you have all that you need, you will be a much happier person.  Yoga is far more than a practice on the mat ;)