by Angela Blaha | Jul 2, 2015 | Coaching, Communication, Emotions, energy, Intuition, Meditation, Positive Psychology, Soul, Wellness
It begins to rain as I sit to write this blog. Some hate rainy days; I love rainy, cloudy days as they have a tendency to make me go inward. Something I need to do right now as this creation time for me is slipping away with no real creation at hand.
As I sit with my eyes closed, I can sense the flashes of the lightening. I know the thunder will start soon and right on queue it shakes the earth with its mighty boom. The sound of thunder continues to roll through, like a mantra it encourages me to go deeper. Enticing me to spend time with my soul and to feel the wonder of the earth and all of her beauty. As the raindrops begin to fall, I hear the splashing pings on my roof, the flashes of light and thunder continue. As I take a deep breath I settle into a peaceful place where there is nothing but the sounds of nature and the quietness she brings. I notice a child like essence begin to flow out of me as I wonder what it would feel like to stomp my foot in the puddle as I did when I was younger.
As my mind begins to wonder to my list of chores Mother Nature once again sends a gentle reminder of thunder to move away from the list, to experience her beauty and further within. The birds begin to sing their song of praise and I can imagine in my mind’s eye how they are fluffing their feathers in the gentle rain as it cleanses their bodies.
As I bring my awareness to the sound of the rain drops on the roof, then on the deck, then on the leaves of the plants near by, I again notice this child like essence who wants to come out to play yet I mentally tell myself not to splash in that puddle. I play this mental game with myself with notions to splash or not to splash.
I begin to notice that I hear an entire orchestra playing, sounds of thunder and how it rolls through the sky, splashing sounds as the water hits the multitude of surfaces around me. I envision the rain cleaning and cleansing the air, removing the dust from the leaves and nurturing the earth in a way that is simply a wonder and hard to find words to create the vision I am in right now.
I am in awe of the creation of it all. I have been feeling a bit stuck lately in my creations and I wonder how I can be feeling that way when such beauty has been created right before me. I have no excuses, as I am the creator of everything I do. If Source can create such wonder for me to live in then I need not have excuses of my own creation.
Thank you mother earth for reminding me of how simple life really is and that no matter what we perceive to be happening that we can return to such simplicity at any given moment.
I give thanks to Mother Nature today, as she apparently knew I needed to go inward to where the real essence of whom I am resides. She once again has provided the opportunity to settle inward with the perfect mantra and sounds for my meditation and writings today.
by Angela Blaha | Apr 22, 2014 | Wellness
As a Wellness Coach I am consistently coaching on self-care and self-love. Yet, traditionally self-care and self-love are rarely mentioned as a part of wellness. When you think about wellness, what do you think? Is going to the gym, eating enough vegetables, taking vitamins a part of your wellness picture? I would like to offer more to the picture!
Western Society for years has based it’s view of wellness programs on psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” model. In Maslow’s model our basic needs of food, shelter, water, sleep and feeling safe are among the largest section of our wellness. No doubt these items are top of the list for human survival. But, I ask what about thriving and living in abundance. The above model lives in a sense of lack, stating our basic needs for survival.
At the top of the Maslow’s list is self-actualization, which includes creativity, morality, problem solving, etc. In the middle of the chart is love and belonging. With many of my clients the lack of self-love seems to be one of the most important items and primarily at the root of the majority of their perceived suffering. Many of the problems they come to coaching with revolve around the lack of self-care and self-love.
Many people hold on to old worn out ideas causing fear and deprive them of power over their lives. They come with ideas such as:
- Life happens to me
- I have very little control, if any
- Life is unfair
- If I get a runny nose, I have to go to a doctor
When we live with a sense of lack we live in fear in which many of our basic needs are no longer met. This false sense of lack creates our perceived suffering and our lives seem out of control.
When we live with a sense of self-care and self-love these out of control notions change to:
- I have total control over my choices
- I am responsible for my health and the body can heal itself
- Dealing with my fears allows me to feel good about who I am
- Being mindful allows me to live in the present moment instead of in the past or fear of the future
When we change the “hierarchy of needs” to include self-love and self-care to a part of our basic needs, the whole dynamic of life changes. We begin to notice our purpose in life. The meaning of every “Hello” and every “Goodbye”. Living life with a higher purpose than just going to work, eating and paying bills. We see life as being fun and we enjoy being alive. We set aside time to quiet the mind, to bring a sense of peace to the body, mind and soul.
Create a new model of needs, one which includes taking care of your body, mind and soul as well as your basic survival needs. Isn’t it time to live with confidence, self-care and self-love, instead of fear. Many of your perceived problems may just disappear.
So out with the old and in with the new! Be the change! Love yourself and allow Love to flow to you.
by Angela Blaha | Jan 15, 2014 | Wellness
In a recent post on Facebook by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer which is a panel discussion with Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Dr. David Agus, the question was posed: What would be the most important thing you can do for yourself in relation to personal health? Deepak Chopra and Friends Q&A with Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann
The combined three answers were: know yourself, love yourself and observe your thoughts.
So I asked myself what am I putting into my body and is it sustaining the level of spiritual energy that I need to do my work?
HHHmmmm….really, this is not a question I want to think about. If you know me, you already know how much I dislike cooking. Mainly because it is such a chore to create a menu that is balanced. I am not creative when it comes to food, so I have created a thinking pattern that it is a chore.
For me, if it takes more than 10 minutes to make a meal it is too long. Now I am the first to admit my fault in this thinking, but when something becomes a chore it is very hard for me to do it.
In listening to the discussion my biggest take away was: Each expressed the importance to do the research and to use your own common sense when it comes to what we put into our bodies. To become self aware seems to be a daunting task in this portion of my life.
“Course correction” was one of the words used quite frequently with this discussion panel and it seemed to resonate with me as well. The words they referred to explain these words: to continuously correct the course your on, to challenge what you know and to change to how you feel. If you feel sluggish, find food that makes you feel energetic. Wow, what logic….duh, why didn’t I think of that!
Is is my duty, my right and my obligation to search or reach for help if I feel inadequate in an area, so I reached to my friend and co-worker Teresa Schlup, a nutrition coach for help. Her first question to me was, “What is my goal in becoming more nutritiously aware?” My answer was to change the body to sustain the spiritual energy level for my work. When those words actually came out of my mouth, I have to admit I was stunned, even though I had thought about it before, I never actually spoke it out loud.
So, I am now on a path of course correction around food, I am slowly changing my thinking to reflect love, care, nutrition, compassion and energy. I love the work I do and when the body is telling me that some days it is not able to sustain the energy level needed for a full day of work, then I really need to take a look at myself and change what needs to be changed. So today I am committed to change the energy level! Any one want to join me?
