Coincidences?

Here I have been working on my yoga practice and becoming more flexible everyday. I even got myself into mermaid pose a few days ago.
This is not an easy pose for anyone to get themselves into, so I was elated when I accomplished it with witnesses around me at the gym......much to the chagrin of my knee. I managed to hyperextend my knee while in this pose and have been nursing it back to health ever since.

I've been very focused on increasing my flexiblity and feel I have achieved a good range that I now want to step up my strength so I can take my yoga practice to the next level.


But I find it funny that as I switch my focus to increasing my upper body strength, my knee gives me trouble. My legs are very strong, so there's really no need to focus on that part of my body as much right now anyway. It's as though my knee is ensuring that my legs don't get a work out right now so I can in fact work on my upper body strength and really focus on it.

Here are a few pictures of what I hope to do with that strength:



The trainer I'm working with is a gymnast and has been putting me through the wringer......so I'm glad he hasn't had the opportunity work my legs......yet. However I think it's an interesting coincidence that as I switch my focus something happens that ensure the focus stays on where I want to work. It's like the universe is conspiring on my behalf. I'll take it! More on this later.


Until next time.....

Thanks for reading!

Kristen

Social Conspiracy??

While I was at the gym yesterday, I was listening to my audio book of The Secret because I felt I needed a dose of inspiration. I was listening to it while I was on the treadmill and hearing what was said about the fact that thoughts become things and the power to create the life I want is merely a thought away. Well, as we all know, gyms have TVs on all the time. And I was frustrated because I kept getting distracted by the TV as I was listening and realized I was missing part of my audio book because of the TV.

And then it HIT me like a ton of bricks! OMG! How could I be so blind? Society is being brainwashed and forgetting how to think for themselves because of all the TV that we as a planet consume! Okay, so that sounds a bit paranoid, but stay with me. In The Secret, a bit of history is given about the origins of the Secret and how it has traveled through time.....if you have seen the movie or read the book, you know of what I speak. For most of history there has been no television......only for the past 100 years or so has the technology been around, but ever since the television entered people's homes, people have shut their minds off.....and with it, their imagination and power of visualization. Think about it......why would we use our imagination when the television provides us with all the images? If you have seen the commercial for HULU with Alec Baldwin, you should be scared by that.....because even though it's meant to be funny....it's pretty damn close to the truth.

And when you consider all of the powerful and wealthy people of the world, how many of them do you think spend a lot of time in front of the boob-tube? Very few I'm sure! It makes me wonder if the the television is a tool for keeping the power within the powerful and keeping everyone else in the dark about their own personal power and spiritual abilities. Okay, so this still sounds like I've fallen off my rocker and hit my head, just keep up.

As a child, yes, I watched a lot of television, but I also played outside a lot! My family had woods behind our house where I played and spent a lot of time. As I grew, I spent more time in front of the TV and I think that hindered my creativity, but I never forgot my childhood spent playing in the woods and still often cling to that for inspiration. I found that one of the biggest drawbacks to watching too much TV is that we as a society are fed all these opinions and ideals from politics to beauty and our attention is so focused on these things that we forget to focus on our purpose on this planet and finding our true happiness. TV has played an integral part in keeping human beings from realizing our true potential because we get so wrapped up in the drama and so called "reality" that is fed to our brains through television. I can honestly say that I have a hard time visualizing because I have become so distracted by things I've seen on TV or other images that are media produced.

We need to become a human race again that knows how to use their minds for the things they were intended for and that's manifesting our happiest life and dreams. Not wallowing in hours of mind numbing mellow drama that is sure to leave us less creative and less powerful in the long run. Children today spend WAY too much time in front of the TV and in front of video games.....my kids included.....and now that I've had this epiphany, I feel really bad for subjecting them to the mind musher. I want my kids to be imaginative and play outside and make up games and stories with wonderful characters and really begin to visualize what they want their life to be when they grow up. It has to start young, or they may just get confused about what they want to do by all the mixed messages on the TV and never really find and pursue what they love. There is probably nothing worse than being stuck in a limbo where you can't figure out what your life purpose is.

More on this later.

Until next time......

Thanks for reading!
Kristen

An Awakening?

I had the pleasure of meeting up with my friend Lissy this weekend before she had to be at a baby shower for another of her dear friends. We got our iced teas, sat down and caught up before taking a walk around downtown Katonah to reap the benefits of the amazing and unseasonably warm weather. We stopped in on a few shops, many of which I'd never seen before. Katonah has experienced a lot of turnover, but there are a few shops that thankfully have stayed the course. The first shop we visited catered mostly to trendy older women who like to wear the very bold prints. The clothing wasn't exactly my speed, but there was a very cute book that Lissy and I began to thumb through and read passages called, If Women Ran The World, Shit Would Get Done. Knowing how the economy must be affecting the Katonah businesses, I decided to purchase the book as my contribution and to show my support. Did I need the book....absolutely not.....but the shop needed my support....and I was happy to give it.

Next, Lissy and I ventured into a shop that has been in business for about 20 years, called Offerings. They have the most wonderful artisan created goods there from pottery, to jewelry and a host of carved wood pieces. The shop is very ecclectic and looks like it caters more to the "organic" crowd, which I am proud to say I am a part of. While in the shop, I asked the owner how things have been for her with the economy being the way it is. She said things have been pretty bad and that many of the shops in Katonah are going to go under. I purchased a pair of earrings to show my support(and who knows, that may be the $20 that makes all the difference for her), I wished her the very best of luck and Lissy and I continued our walk around Katonah discussing life and what good may be coming out of the current economic "crisis".

We theorized that probably the best thing that could come out of this recession is having more people in the world who have stepped back to reassess their lives and their true purpose after having been laid off or lost thier business. Usually what happens when people experience a crisis such as losing a job, they start to ask the typical questions, "why?, how could this happen?, what is my purpose?". When a person asks these questions, they begin to question the universe which is the root of all organized religion and belief system on the planet. Ultimately, people begin to open up to the mystery and possibilities the universe holds for us and thus brings an awakening in human consciousness.

So, the recession has created much stress and hardship for many people, but if we just look at the silver lining and the opportunity to truly explore the possibilities instead of wallowing in fear and angst, the earth would be filled with enlightened and awakened people who can appreciate the lessons in life and reasons for why things happen the way they do. In my opinion, let the lay offs continue, let the businesses fail. The more people there are in a crisis, the more opportunity there is for a true awakening in human consciousness and perhaps a better chance for world peace in the future.

Until next time......

Thanks for reading!

Kristen

The Meaning of Life

Yes, let's start this blog off with a controversial subject. We all question our existence, why it is that we were put here on this earth; this paradise turned chaotic mess. What is each individuals sole purpose in life?

Most religious traditions would have you believe that we were put here for the sole purpose of procreation. Obviously, as mankind is coming into a new state of consciousness, these statements feel more and more like half truths. I myself believe we are here for many reasons, most important of which is to follow your dreams....and in doing so, be happy.

In this day in age, most teens and college grads go out into the world thinking that the ONLY way to be happy is to have huge amounts of money so they can do all the things they want to do that actually do bring them joy. The problem is that they take a job that may afford them the lifestyle, but they are miserable because what they are doing for a career doesn't speak to their heart and by ignoring that, one goes through life feeling empty and unfulfilled.

We are all born with innate talents and gifts that we are meant to take out into the world and share with mankind as way of expanding our consciousness and that of our fellow man. Somewhere along the way, we get mixed messages about life and our priorities. Our parents, our teachers, our pastors, our peers all contribute to the confusion and chatter in our mind, feeding us false belief after false belief. Pretty soon, we have been conditioned to believe what all the masses believe as well. We loose sight of our dreams and our joys. Our energy is sapped by all those who live a miserable existence and before we know it, we are just as miserable as everyone else.

The main reason for all the misery and feelings of powerlessness are fed by the media who's sole purpose is to report on all the horrid things taking place on a daily basis. Is it any wonder that we all feel like our planet is going to hell in a hand basket? Imagine the difference it would make in the lives of everyone on earth if all the media did was report on the good news.

Another source for the conditioning into mediocrity comes mainly from those closest to us, our parents......those two wonderful people who raised us from infancy to adulthood; whose opinion and authority we would rarely question. The problem with that of course is that parents are often operating based upon what their parents taught them and what their parents taught them before and so on. Beliefs can be hereditary! Imagine if you just stopped for a moment and thought about all the "beliefs" you grew up with and questioned them for a moment to sense check if they really ARE true or if you just believe them because it's what a trusted person told you.

You would be surprised at how many things are just beliefs you have accepted based upon someone else's opinion. How does this relate to following your dream? Simple. Here's a hypothetical. If a child loves to dance and has a natural talent for it, but the child's parent makes any sort of negative criticism about the dancing, the child may put that natural talent up on a shelf based upon their parent's opinion regardless of how much the child LOVES to dance. The child goes through life with low self esteem and doesn't feel like anything they do is good enough. The love of dancing has been long forgotten and the child feels lost and dissatisfied in all her endeavors. If confronted by the idea of dancing again, she may feel that familiar anxious joy she once felt, but may not recognize it for what it is and avoid it vs. pursue it. Thus continuing the cycle of living in mediocrity.

So, how does one overcome false beliefs brought about in childhood, inadvertently passed down through one's parents? Well, that's tricky. First of all, one must recognize their lack of happiness and truly want to change things. Change begins with AWARENESS. With awareness comes insight and introspection, thus opening oneself up to the possibility that they have been living under false pretenses all along and therefore need to go back through their life and reassess their belief system. Once this happens, amazing changes begin to unfold. One can feel confident knowing they finally have a mind of their own and have broken free of the droning herd. They can feel free to pursue what they truly love doing, knowing they are adding value to the world and thus understanding the meaning of THEIR life.

There are several wonderful films that illustrate what I am talking about. The most recent one being, At Sachem Farm with Minnie Driver and Rufus Sewell. The film itself is not new, but I just found it and loved it. The message was a good one to ponder. Another great film that is more recent is The Peaceful Warrior with Nick Nolte. GREAT flick. This movie really makes you think.

If you are looking for other movies that will makes you question things, check out What the BLEEP do we know??? and The Secret. When I first watched The Secret, I didn't know what to expect, but it changed my life for the better.


"Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life."
—Leo Buscaglia

Thanks for reading!

Kristen