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A Simple Two Word Mantra: It’s Easy

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As I sat quietly this morning feeling (not thinking) how I wanted to start my day, I closed my eyes to sit in meditative silence. Sometimes I simply breathe mindfully allowing my brain and body to quiet down. I may listen to nature sounds or ocean waves and be lulled by their beautiful flow. Other days I find myself having a conversation with the universe or like today, a simple mantra came into my mind. I went with the mantra.

As I am getting close to releasing my first meditation album Falling Into Zen – 10 Guided Meditations Under 10 Minutes (info about its availabilty will be on my website soon) I have had many conversations with people that yes, calming & empowering oneself with a healthy mind, body and soul connection can take mere minutes daily. Perhaps this is why my mantra popped up. When a thought like this calmly enters my mind, I don’t try to push is away. I realize it is surfacing as a gift and quietly explore the information it is trying to share with me.

This morning these words popped into my mind: It’s easy.

So I went with it…

It’s easy to be happy.

It’s easy to be healthy.

It’s easy to have a life I love.

It’s easy to be surrounded by love. 

It’s easy to be filled with joy.

It’s easy to laugh a lot. 

It’s easy to travel the world.

It’s easy to be filled with creative ideas. 

It’s easy to have an incredible career I love.

It’s easy to attract fantastic people, companies and projects.

It’s easy to make lots of money.

It’s easy to make lots of money so I can help others. 

It’s easy to create positive change on this planet. 

It’s easy. Whatever I think, I can do. It’s easy. Whatever I think, I can create. It’s easy.

I am sure there were a few more in there but you get the idea. One “it’s easy” flowed easily into another…and then another… When we change our minds, we change our world. When we change our world, we can then change the world. Small steps can create big changes and what could be simpler than taking a couple minutes to explore the power of two small words?

The Body Love Series: Monday Mantra

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I spent the weekend writing and recording meditations that I am looking forward to releasing and sharing with you all this year. The more I wrote, and the more I listened to my recordings, the more I felt the need to KISS – keep it so simple. I tried to speak slower using less words, in a calmly energetic, soothing voice, trying to keep in mind what makes me relax. After several recordings of a particular track, once I listened to it and really felt myself sink into the meditation, I knew I was onto something.  So I guess you could say I was doing a meditation within a mediation?  (Ask me about this theory after about 1000 attempts at recording!)

I started to write down some simple mantras that I have shared before.  These really helped me reconnect my mind-body-soul connection when none of them felt like they were hanging out in the same room due to massive levels of pain and having limited abilities from Hashimoto’s and Gluten Ataxia. When I was frustrated and my mushy mind was all over the place, when I was exhausted and my body wasn’t working, I told myself to keep it simple. And I would repeat the same phrases – or mantras – over and over willing my mind, body and soul to come together and hang out again. And the more I would repeat them, the more the energy of these positive words would resonate with me throughout my entire system. I felt better after. I literally could feel the positivity oozing into my cells. My cells were believing these words. My fractured brain was believing these words. My heart was believing these words.

Send yourself some body love with simple mantras – or if you can’t wrap your head around that word, tell yourself you are going to create one or two simple sentences that will be your positivity-go-tos that will help create a positive shift in your life. Close your eyes and listen to this simple mantra for a great example. Repeat it in your mind a few times in the shower in the morning. Close your eyes on the subway on your way to work and say it in your head. When you look at yourself in the mirror, say it out loud. Feel it resonate throughout you. Feel your body accept it.  And just KISS – keep it so simple. Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated.  We survive on hugs – think of this as giving your body and soul regular hugs.

Looking forward to creating many mantras, meditations & guided manifestations to share with you all.  I know they have helped me and I know they can help you. Body love starts with us loving ourselves and magnifying that love to bring others in.  Just KISS and be kind to yourself.

The Body Love Series: Dancing It Out In Meditation

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I meditate every day. It feeds my body and it feeds my soul. Sometimes it’s only for 5 minutes but other times like today, I start my day with half an hour or more.  And some days I stop, drop and meditate a couple times. Depends what I feel guided to do.

Yesterday I started my Sunday with a really deep meditation.  I do visualizations to help heal my body and send it energy and this one went r-e-a-l-l-y deep. I have been feeling really run down for the last 2 weeks after catching a bug while travelling and pushing myself too hard. I find travelling with time changes with autoimmunity and the stress of trying to find places to eat gluten-free tends to wear me out way more than the average person. I should not have kept bragging that I haven’t had a cold in 6 years….

I envisioned energy seeping into my cells and my body filling with bright sunlight. I infused swirling beautiful colours into my body and brain.  I went to town on the healing and after about 45 minutes, felt more energized and alive.  I wanted to go for a walk which was a great sign that I had upped my energy.

I sat at the beach and had a great chat with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while on my cell phone. I told him I wanted to take him to the beach with me as I watched the sunshine hit the waves. After our chat, I sat in the sun for quite some time feeling the vitamin D seep into my skin. Even though my body’s energy was still low, I felt it increasing with everything I was doing. I closed my eyes and put on some more relaxing meditation music…and then… had to switch it up!

I needed to dance. Meditation dance that is. I flipped on some 90s music. Perfection.

And just as my calm morning meditation helped heal me, closing my eyes and meditatively dancing it out while seated healed and energized me as well. After years of limited movement from Gluten Ataxia and Hashimoto’s,  it’s necessary for me to unify the mind-body-soul connection. When my soul wants to dance and my body doesn’t have the energy, I need to find a way.  I honour my body when it needs calm and I honour my body when it needs energetic movement. I hit my 90s Mix on my iPod and started to bob and sway with my eyes closed while feeling the sun shining down on me. I didn’t really care who was watching – I was too busy dancing it out in my mind, throughout my body. My movements weren’t too crazy but I am sure I amused everyone walking by.

liis-windischmann-dancing-meditation

Here are some of my 90s meditative-perk-me-up-dance-like-nobody’s-watching songs:

#1 It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock

#2 Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) – CC Music Factory

#3 Jump Around – House of Pain

#4 I Like to Move It – Reel 2 Real

#5 Bust a Move – Stone Cold Rhymin’

I believe what we can visualize we can make real. I believe what we feel in our bodies, in our cells, we can make real. Our bodies need to feel the love in various ways and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate one’s body than through dancing. I danced my ass off on the beach yesterday. It felt great. I was smiling the entire time. And after all my dancing (about 10 songs worth) I had more energy to walk home. I stood taller and my legs felt sturdy. My legs didn’t buckle like they often do. They didn’t go all ataxia wobbly. I walked home energized with a strong body.

So who says your meditations have to have rules?  That you have to sit in silence for hours on end with no thoughts entering your mind?  If the word “meditation” feels overwhelming, don’t use it! Take 5 minutes out of your busy day, throw on your iPod and dance. Smile. Feel energized. Feel connected to all your body parts. Feel your mind-body-soul connection.  Just dance.

Sharing Some Great Meditation Techniques

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Meditation has saved me a million times over.  There is no way I would have got through my healing journey without it.  When my brain and body seemed to be operating in another universe, meditation would bring everything back into focus. I would literally sneak meditation in whenever and wherever I could in an attempt to calm my system down – in change rooms, in the car, in bathrooms! With my gluten ataxia, I could literally stumble down the street to the beach, exhausted from the energy it took to make my limbs move, meditate for an hour, and walk home perfectly fine. It was that powerful.

It has become a morning ritual for me – as important as brushing my teeth. I don’t leave home without doing it. Some days it may only be a quiet five minutes, other days it may be much longer.  And visualization is a big part of my world too. I am a firm believer that if we want to build anything, it starts in our minds first.  Also a major part of my healing journey.

I recently had a great chat with Dwight Hurst, the owner and director of Innovate Mental Health Solutions in Utah and the creator and host of The Broken Brain Podcast – an interview series about psychology, mental health, treatment, and all things brain related.  Talking about how meditation helped fix my broken cranium seemed like a great fit!

We explore lots of tips and techniques to try – we are all built differently so perhaps an idea will resonate with you and you might give it a try. As we both agreed, there is no right way to meditate!  The right way is the way that works for you.

Take a listen by clicking below. Thanks Dwight for the great chat and for all you do for brain and mental health!

Happy meditating everyone.

Namaste.

How I Danced Around the World on My Birthday

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I have a birthday tradition I do every year on my special day: I throw down a mega long meditation-convo-thank-you-bonanza to the universe.  I say my “gratefuls” as I like to call them.  I put in my shopping order to the universe along the lines of,”Hey….do you think you could hook this up for me?” I have a good long chat with my peeps on the other side with no words used.  But his year I felt the urge to shake things up.

This year I decided to do one thing.

This year I decided to dance around the world.

Just dance.

There have been a few times over the last few years that I have had energy to dance, and when I did, I danced like a  mad woman.  Sometimes all I was capable of was a slight sway.  Sometimes all I could do was imagine it in my mind (and I danced like a mad woman).  So….I thought for my birthday, I wanted to dance around the world. I wanted to pick an action that exuded delirious happiness, being caught up in a moment, moving in sound without a care in the world.  Movement. What better order to the universe than envisioning myself fully energetically, nomadically dancing around the world?  What better announcement to say this is the healthy, happy future I see for myself than to simply dance?

I cranked up the tunes on my iPod,  and I…

danced under the fool moon on beaches around the world

danced at a street festival somewhere in Europe

danced around a bonfire at a cottage surrounded by friends

danced on a hot summer day at a BBQ in my fave maxi dress

danced at my fave Cali bar at sunset

danced on the streets of Amsterdam laughing my head off

danced in an outdoor club in Greece

danced in the car on a road trip with a friend

danced everywhere and anywhere

The list could go on for days – it’s amazing how many places around the world you can dance in an hour’s meditation! Oh, and I actually danced in the seated meditation pose. Yes, I did. And I could not care who was watching. If they came close enough, I would have asked them to join me.

I meditate quietly every day. But sometimes a girl just needs to dance. If you want a really simple way to put an order into the universe to say,”Hey, can you help me feel more like THIS?” Just. Dance.

Make Morning Meditation as Important as Brushing Your Teeth

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Would you ever leave home without brushing your teeth? Of course not. Really gross. (And if you do, well, um, we can’t be friends) The thought of it would never occur to you. It is something necessary to feel good, to feel refreshed, to start your day. Without ever questioning it, it is simply a vital part of your morning routine.

It only takes a couple minutes.

You do it every single day without fail.

You feel better after.

So what about a morning meditation? Before you offer up a million and one excuses as to why this won’t work, hear me out…

I am still on my healing journey with cerebellar gluten ataxia and will be (lovingly) doing health homework for well, forever. In a nutshell, gluten was affecting the part of my brain which controls motor skills and tap dancing on my nerves. Walking became laboured to say the least and my world became one of sensory overload. The combo of a few minute walk to a din-filled restaurant would take me down before the entrees hit the table. But the one thing that always helped calm down all the symptoms and still does is meditation.

I have always loved meditating and can peacefully sit in silence for long periods of time, on a bench, under a tree,  in crowded areas, in the middle of a rock concert if need be and would do it sporadically. When the pain and exhaustion was too much I would often listen to ocean waves or calm music if I couldn’t quiet my own cranium. Then one day it hit me, if meditation always made me feel so good, helped me to walk better, helped calm down my nervous system and cleared my brain, why wasn’t I doing it every day?  I love fruits and vegetables and eat them every day because they are good for me. Well…meditation is good for me too. And every day seemed like a good idea.

Autoimmunity has forced me to create some new morning routines to keep my wellness on track. I decided to add meditation to the list. I quietly sit down every morning after brushing my teeth and showering.  I usually sit for anywhere from five minutes to ten , sometimes longer.  Even a couple minutes is a gift every morning and lets me start my day on a calm, peaceful, yet energetic note.  Most times I am able to sit with a clear mind but if it does wander, I may choose that morning to set some intentions for my day or give thanks for the positives in my life. And if something pops in my head unexpectedly, I don’t try to push it away, I question what I am to learn from it. There are no words to describe how grounding – and necessary this morning ritual has become.

I don’t have kids so I can already see the parents rolling their eyes. I hear you! I know mornings with kids can be crazy. But if your mornings are hectic, where can you slot in the calm? If you have little ones running around, and literally don’t have 2 minutes of peace, here are some suggestions:

Close your eyes in the shower and calm your mind for even a minute – sit if you want to – why not?

Listen to a relaxing meditation be it sounds or music in your car, on the subway or on your commuter train

Take turns with your partner getting the kids ready in the mornings so you both can carve out a couple minutes to meditate on alternate days

Get up a few minutes before everyone else and alter your morning routine slightly

I am not what you would call a morning person so the fact that this is my new normal is shocking even to me! But I’ve grown to crave it. I can’t imagine missing it. It has become as vital and normal as brushing my teeth.  For those of you thinking of how crazy your mornings are, those of you still rolling your eyes at me right now, I leave you with this – can you carve 5 minutes out of your lunchtime or break every day? And just sayin’…you also brush your teeth every night before going to bed…  Pick a time that works for you and stick with it for 2 weeks.  Looking forward to hearing how you feel.