Just For Today

aloha_palmtrees

Today, when you realize your mind has wandered far away from where it was supposed to be, don’t be hard on yourself. Instead, use it as an opportunity to become more aware of your own mental experience, and gently return your focus to your breath.

We’ve all been there. You’re slouched in a meeting or a classroom, supposedly paying attention, but your mind has long since wandered off, churning out lists of all the things you need to do — or that you could be doing if only you weren’t stuck here…Suddenly you realize everyone is looking your way expectantly, waiting for an answer. But you’re staring blankly, grasping at straws to make a semi-coherent response. The curse of the wandering mind!  We need to bring purpose and focus back into the equation.

 

Life is only available in the present moment.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

Na Mana’o ~ Vulnerability Prayer

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“Give me the courage to show up and let myself be seen.”

Now, ask yourself:  What is worth doing even if I fail?!

Vulnerability is life’s great dare. It’s life asking, “Are you all in? Can you value your own vulnerability as much as you value it in others?”

Answering yes to these questions is not weakness: It’s courage beyond measure. It’s daring greatly. And often the result of daring greatly isn’t a victory march as much as it is a quiet sense of freedom mixed with a little battle fatigue.

Just For Today ~ Na Mahalo ‘Elima ~ The Five Thank-You’s

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Take the time each day to write down five things for which you are grateful.

We all know the benefits of a grateful heart. It helps us cultivate a deeper awareness of our true gifts in each moment. And yet, even though we know that the most important things in life aren’t “things” — why do we still have a tendency to want to accumulate material goods? Is there a way to deliberately cultivate gratitude, such that it releases us from our need for those bright, shiny things? New research suggests that the answer to that is, yes.

 

If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.

Just For Today

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One of the fastest ways to recalibrate your consciousness to higher frequencies is to take time to resonate with your higher self. Bonding with your higher-self raises your vibration. This approach to raising your vibration is very different than the more common methods of directing your mind to think positive thoughts or generating feel good emotions. Those methods are useful, but they are more mundane and linear than the act of merging and bonding with your higher-self.

You are a multidimensional being with access to far more knowledge than your conscious mind allows. When you open up to receive and listen for the broadcasts from your higher self, you open up to new wavelengths, new and original ideas, new frequencies of consciousness that deliver pure thought from the higher planes of consciousness right into your conscious mind. These “frequencies” overtime recalibrate your consciousness, so that you perceive and experience the world from a more expanded viewpoint. Creativity explodes, synchronicity expands and the ease with which you live your life becomes grace-filled. The higher the calibrated level of your consciousness, the easier it is to manifest anything in the material plane.

Higher planes of consciousness are accessed through gateway brain states of Alpha, Theta and Delta. To bond or merge with your higher self, you must be open and receptive. Your mind needs to be quiet and calm, like still waters. This is a deep trance like state of meditation. Let yourself move into calm pools of serenity. Invite the energies of your higher self to blend and harmonize with you. Open up to merge and bond with your ideal self.

Just For Today

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Pay attention to the subtle ways in which your mind and body are impacted by your surroundings. Make small adjustments for a greater good.

It is now one hundred years since drugs were first banned — and all through this long century of waging war on drugs, we have been told a story about addiction…This story is so deeply ingrained in our minds that we take it for granted: There are strong chemical hooks in these drugs, so if we stopped on day twenty-one, our bodies would need the chemical. We would have a ferocious craving. We would be addicted. That’s what addiction means.  The best way to win the drug war might not be police or prisons … instead, perhaps we should strive to reduce feelings of isolation.

There is no question that the objects that surround us impact our experience of the world.

Just For Today

helping tree grow

Starting this Valentine’s Day take a moment each day to acknowledge something you are grateful for. Imagine beginning a practice of gratitude that would someday help transform another’s world. In times of heartbreak, Gratitude creates a wonderfully healing salve. It’s Winter to Spring. Love stories are all about loss and renewal.

 

To those who have given up on love: I say, ‘Trust life a little bit.’
~ Maya Angelou

Just For Today

Open Door 2_0

 

OPEN A DOOR FOR ANOTHER

It is a small gesture, but it is a most powerful act. Actually, opening a door is more than a physical act. It’s about putting yourself out there, getting to know people, making them feel comfortable and making them feel welcome.

As I’ve observed the decades pass, I note that we as a society have lost something special by insisting we open our own doors. We’ve closed off the ability to make connections. And with the advent of electronic devices, we’ve disconnected, insulated, or rather isolated, ourselves in ways that are harmful. Harmful? Yes, because we are fundamentally social by nature, and the doors we’ve created separate, isolate. In our isolation, we’ve become despondent, distrustful, secretive and dark. And as the years whiz by, I’ve come to realize that doors don’t always revolve around me. Allowing another to open the door for me says much more about who I am and where my heart resonates. It’s also something more. It’s making a statement. It’s overcoming judgments, stereotypes, profiling based on appearances. It’s a declaration to the world that you are not invisible, that your presence matters in our world, that it’s okay to look into another’s eyes and acknowledge that they are present, too.

Big changes come about from a series of small moves. Just as a small pebble causes ripples when thrown into placid water, a small gesture, such as opening a door, sets into motion a ripple that can transform our world into a place we all want to be a part of. So, next time you’re out and about your business, BE present with those around you. It’s not a definitive answer to every situation, but it is a good start.

Peace be with you … have a great week.  Aloha Ke Akua

Ho’okupu: A Distinction Between Free vs. Freely

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As a Healer, I’ve often been asked, “Hey, you heal for free??” … Wow, folks. No; nothing of value is ever “for free”. Everything is energy, therefore, ho’okupu … the energy exchange that sparks positive results to sprout and grow … is always required. However, what I am able to give, I give freely. What’s the difference, you say? HUGE. Read on.

“Freely vs. Free,” by Thuy Nguyen

Today, after receiving acupuncture during my donation based shift, a patient asked me why I was “giving away” such amazing treatments for free. Don’t you value your skills? She asked. Don’t you want to demand that others value your skills too? Don’t you want them to show you respect by paying you what you are worth? Then she saw my perplexed expression and then added, oh, I see you are trying to fix the world. You are trying to help people in need because they are lacking. That is good of you. She waited for a response but I was speechless. There was so much off in what she said to me that I didn’t know where to start, so instead, I tipped my head slightly as to nod. She smiled, deposited $5 into our money box and left. I’ve been thinking about what she said ever since.

I do what I do and there is no amount of money that anyone could give me to make me feel that it is an adequate match to what I have to offer. Not $5, not $5000. Because what I have to offer is not quantifiable. What I have to offer is myself and it not only reflects in my practice of Chinese Medicine but how I run my business. It is what has evolved over my 16 years of thinking about medicine and health and how I would like to affect and be affected by the world I live in. It is a reflection of my understanding of health and our connections with one another.

My practice reflects my faith in abundance, trust, and connection that is possible in the world that we live in and my faith in the profound healing capabilities of Chinese Medicine. I am taken by its simplicity, its gentleness, its humbleness, its accessibility, its profound depth, its quiet healing. I am heartened (especially in this day and age) to be able provide an environment where 5 complete strangers can lie down side by side to nap, relax and heal together, no strings attached. And I am amazed that day after day, people do come to do just that. That is trust. That is healing.

From this understanding, value and worth take on very different perspectives. It is only because of my understanding of the profound value of what I do that I offer it up freely. Not for free, freely. I am not doing this to fix a broken world or to give to people in need. The world is not broken, what people may or may not need is beyond my comprehension. I am simply doing this because it is the most natural expression of who I’ve become and of who I am.

Just For Today

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This week lend a sympathetic ear: practice empathy with a friend, an acquaintance or even a stranger. Focus on the communication of empathy, along with the ability to understand another’s emotions, in the hope that it can facilitate clarity in experiences and more compassionate encounters in all relationships.

 

“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.”
~ Maya Angelou

Just For Today

jizo couple2

On this first day of the New Year, handwrite a letter to a loved one (perhaps to yourself) to be opened at a later date.

It occurs to me that we allow ourselves to imagine only such messages as we need to survive. When was the last time you received a hand-written letter? Write a letter to yourself, perhaps full of your hopes and dreams as well as memories of people who have since passed away.

Here’s an idea:  ask a young person to write a 10-page letter like that and keep it, sealed, to be sent to that person in, say, ten years from today. What a time capsule experience that would be for the young writer!

Just For Today

garden gateway oceanSlow down.  This moment is full of wonder, why not take the time to cherish it?

Grace has the capacity to transcend even our darkest of spaces.  It is a sudden miracle, basked in the light of loving-kindness.  And, grace has the capacity to heal.  These moments of grace teach us that there is always more to life than we can imagine.  In those wondrous moments, we realize there is more to life than we can possibly imagine.

It is a whisper of feeling, almost intangible.  Yet, it is powerful.  Suddenly, you are in a different space.  You feel almost weightless.  The air is still, your breathing is slow, but what you are experiencing is clean and clear.

But, how do we open our hearts to grace?

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief… For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. — Wendell Berry

Just For Today

peace childAsk a child what is beautiful to them. Tell them what is beautiful to you, too.

We’ve let ourselves get caught up in the pace of our lives and we’ve become distracted from the important issues that we all need to work on together. This is not an excuse for our actions. It is what it is.

If you wrote an open letter to the children of the world, would you apologize to them?

 

“We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.” ~ Maria Montessori

Just for Today

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Think about and create a balance between Life and Work …

Often times we can feel overwhelmed by what we see as competing values: how can I be a good family member, a loving spouse, a supportive friend, pursue my hobbies and interests and maintain my career? For many of us, integrating all of these elements into a fulfilling and rewarding personal life and career is difficult.

Here’s an idea: Think about a person who you feel brings together all the parts of their life in a way that makes them successful. Identify three traits they have or values they embody that makes them successful and figure out how you can better integrate these characteristics into your own life.

Not only is it possible to create a greater sense of harmony among the different parts of your life while achieving greatness, it is necessary.

Just for Today

Animal-Assisted-TherapyWhat does life mean to you?  Bring a taste of life to a hospice-bound and/or elderly friend or acquaintance this week by accompanying them in some way for a short time.  Counteract their boredom, loneliness and helplessness by infusing in life to bring back a level of quality to Life.  Cats, dogs, birds and green plants in every room, and visiting children after school, triggers  unexpected transformations.

“Where there’s life, there’s hope.”  ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Just For Today

orchid tiger-facedChallenge the conventional, romantic notion of love today by feeling love towards a stranger.  How does this connection expand your sense of self?

Love is an emotion, a momentary state that arises to infuse your mind and body alike. Yet this transient state holds much promise beyond feeling good; love can be poignant in shaping perceptions of who we are, how we relate to the world, and even our health. Far from being a private event, love is an experience shared between people when they connect in the spirit of goodness. And that connection is at the heart of love’s most telling effects: stretching us beyond our boundaries, inspiring awareness, and inviting us into a state of oneness.

 

“Love leads us into mystery where no one can say what comes next, or how, or why.” ~ Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

 

Just For Today

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“Contemplate the workings of this world, listen to the words of the wise, take all that is good as your own. With this as your base, open your own door to truth. Do not overlook the truth that is right before you. Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything—even mountains, rivers, plants, and trees—should be your teacher.“  ~ Morihei Ueshiba

Just For Today

MakingTheLeap-blog(1)Take a moment to ask yourself: what is keeping you from a leap in your own life? There are any number of reasons one can think of to not do something. In this beguiling illustrated strip Grant Snider playfully reminds us that, for all our potential excuses, there’s nothing quite the like the feeling of leaping.   Consider what it might feel like to take the plunge!

“Leap, and the net will appear.”  ~ John Burroughs

Just For Today

orange sunriseTry thinking of a new habit that you really want in your life.

When trying to form new, meaningful habits, there are always the usual suspects getting in your way — forgetfulness, apathy, time constraints and self-doubt. The key lies in finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.

 

“Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” ~ John Irving

Just For Today

sunset beach walkThink back to when someone did something kind for you. How did it make you feel? See if these feelings can guide you in any way today.

Kindness has gracious eyes; it is not small-minded or competitive; it wants nothing back for itself … Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of color and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference.

“To be here is immense.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Just For Today

morning rollcallThis Thanksgiving, as you give gratitude for blessings in your life, think of someone with whom you have a conflict. How might you transform your interactions with this person.

How easy is it to “love your neighbor” when your intoxicated neighbor wakes you up in the middle of the night and insults you? For people dedicated to the path of nonviolence, like Arun Dada and his wife Mira Ba, it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the only thing you can do. Instead of getting angry, they chose to try and transform the relationship through compassion. And in doing so they inspired their neighbor to replace his steady stream of obscenities with three words embodying their shared highest ideals.

“Whatever you do, make it an offering to me.”  ~ Bhagavad Gita

 

So, You Think It’s Cool To Buy A Bonsai Tree …

banion bonsaiMost people buy their first bonsai tree because they think it is attractive or will suit their decor. But this is not a good basis on which to make a choice. If you are a beginner, you should select a species that is easy to keep and that is appropriate for the conditions you are able to offer.

The best place to buy a bonsai and bonsai accessories is a specialist bonsai nursery.  Finding sources should not be difficult if you have access to the internet, but take care before you purchase, as many so-called ‘specialists’ are not experts at all. They are middle men who have little or no experience or knowledge of bonsai. If you are serious about making your first purchase, then seek a second opinion about potential sources from a local bonsai club or horticultural society.  Some large garden centers stock bonsai and may even have a resident expert to give you advice.

If you want to buy on the internet, make sure the firm is a reputable one.  Download details of the address and telephone number, so that you can get in touch with the supplier if there are any problems.  A specialist nursery, which gives personal advice, is always best, especially if you need an aftercare service such as repotting, care and advice.  Department stores, shopping malls and hardware stores do not offer bonsai an ideal living environment, and trees sold from such outlets are rarely in good condition. The staff are also unlikely to know anything about growing and caring for bonsai or will not be able to offer any bonsai accessories; pots, tools, and will not be able to give you any aftercare regarding re-potting etc.  If you are a beginner, avoid attempting to grow a tree from seeds or cuttings. It is perfectly possible to grow bonsai this way, but it can be a long and sometimes tedious process for a beginner.

Just For Today

Alan Watts

Practice tuning into your true wealth so that you can more clearly see the abundance all around you. Today, take some time to write about three things you are grateful for. If you’re up for the challenge, make this a daily practice!

The world is filled with abundance, but because we stay tuned into what we do not have, we can spend our lives grasping for more, never really arriving. Awaken to the true and profound wealth we have all been blessed with. To awaken to this very moment is truth wealth. This moment is in truth all we really have and own. Everything else is just on loan; we must give it all back in the end.

 

“Let your capital be simplicity and contentment.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

 

Just For Today

panther_watching

Think about how you define anger and how you might be able to channel that energy more constructively.

Anger can cause us a great deal of hurt, but it can also be a positive force that propels us to act and can spur creativity and fuel success. It is all about how we manage our anger in those instances when we feel overwhelmed by it. There is a “right way” to get angry and how you can harness your anger for good.

 

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Just For Today

bus benchIn what way can you use what you do for a living to help others in a small but meaningful way? How can you make this part of your daily or weekly practice, so it becomes a part of your life?

A Vancouver-based advertising company teamed up with a grassroots advocacy group to extend kindness to the city’s homeless population in a beautifully creative way. During the day, the [bus] benches serve as seating for those waiting for the bus to arrive. At night, the front lifts up and out to create an overhang. Acts of kindness like these stand out against the backdrop of many cities making it harder for the homeless population to survive. THANK YOU, VANCOUVER!

 

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ~ Albert Schweitzer