Friday, November 14, 2008

Dizzy Blue Dizzy Me


This whole week has been a complete whirlwind! I started a new job in addition to the job that I have-so now I'm trying to figure out how to not get caught up in all of the business of my own life. I'm trying to find balance in my life-because I know that if I don't I can get mean and feel so disoriented. My new question is-how can i have two jobs, friends, a boyfriend, and still have time for me? To still have my spiritual time? To still live heaven on earth? Should I meditate in the morning-if I'm not to sleepy? Or should I do yoga when I get off work? I know I will find the right balance eventually and hopefully soon!



I still plan on going Golden Gate Spiritualist Church this coming Sunday!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Location, Location, Location!

Next week I will be checking out the Golden Gate Spiritualist church in San Francisco. It looks huge! You can see the picture of the building at their website- http://www.ggsc.org/.


I did know someone who went to this spiritualist church and their personal review matches the one review I found on google reviews. It is a very nice place, they sing, they have a sermon, and then they have people that can talk the dead at the end of the service-hmmm, sounds spicey!

Church service for The Golden Gate Spiritualist Church is every Sunday, at 10:30Am. I havent been to a church service in a long time, so it will be interesting to see how this one compares to the memories I have of Baptist church service.

Managing Stress Class: Think a Little Happy Thought


This is the continuation of the managing stress class I'm attending at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center in San Francisco:




The first thing we were asked to do was to think of a couple of happy memories. Why? Because happy memories, or happy thoughts make you feel-well-happy! And when you're happy is there any time for stress? No!



Here is a list of what you might feel when you are thinking sad, distressing thoughts:


  • Negative

  • Nervous

  • Alone

  • Angry

  • Blame

  • Hate

  • Stuck

  • Crying

  • Low energy-or no energy

  • Wanting to give up

  • and of course...Un-happy


When you feel distressing thoughts on a chronic level, then it begins to affect your body. Usually this is :



  • Ache

  • Pain in the joints

  • Soar

  • Lethargic

  • Weak

  • Sickness

*remember stress is just the messenger that is saying stop what you are doing, stop what you are thinking-when chronic stress happens sickness can occur, and this is almost like an eviction because you didn't listen to all of the messages the landlord has been sending you. Sickness means you have to stop and take care of yourself.



When you think of good things that could happen in the future, things that made you smile in the past you begin to feel:



  • Happy

  • Energetic

  • Warm

  • Smiling

  • Patient with others

  • Release of tension in the body

  • Loving

  • Connected to the world


I know some people get freaked out when people say positive thinking is all you need. "No way that's impossible," some people will say. But, would you rather think positive thoughts and get your work done, or think negative thoughts and get your work done?



Its important to remember positive thinking doesn't just happen overnight especially if you're already feeling really down right depressed. Thinking the cup is half full takes time and practice-so take the time to practice those thoughts, even if you just start with one a day-write it down, look for new memories to feel good about throughout your day, and document it!



Thursday, November 6, 2008

Managing Stress Class: What is Stress

For the rest of this month, every Monday night at 7pm, I will be attending a stress management class at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center (San Francisco).


I've already gone to the first class on Nov. 3rd, and it was amazing!


Everyone in the class was so nice, kind and warm. I already love the little group of nine people that gather around this young (or at least she looks it) woman from India that is here to teach us all about what stress is. But like I said, I really just love the people in the class because everyone is so diverse, and from a different age group.


My favorite quote of the whole class:
Stress is just a messanger that has brought the message something needs to change

Reasons why stress happens:
  • Have forgoten we are responsible for how we feel
  • Have learned to absorb negative images and information
  • Are not able to increase our response rate to keep pace with the rate of change in the world around us

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Waiting on the World to Change


Well, I didn't want to make my blog about anything political of course-but I guess I had to do it since I wrote about voting. It's just an update that most likely isn't needed. Our new president will be Barack Obama!
It is amazing because he won in a landslide of 349 electoral votes to McCain's 147. Wow, are we ready for change? Yes we are!
I keep watching all of these interviews about what people were thinking before they voted for the next president, what they felt. I listened to many answers that sounded the same.
What was I thinking before I put in my vote? I thought about the Mayan calender their 2012 prediction of the end of the world (well my interpretation of this is just that they meant the end of the world as we know it now-not literally the end of the world as in kaboom! we're all dead). I thought of the Mayan calender because I though who I would want to be president in 2012 which is the mark of a great change of consciousness on this planet of how people think, function, and believe-and you know what? I think that Obama would be the perfect person to bring part of the change in human consciousness, in human thinking, that the Mayans predict for 2012!
I look forward to seeing what happens next! It will be exciting!

Yoga, Meditation, Tea



Today is November the fifth- a complete week from the day I started Yoga, Meditation and Tea! I have to say, wow, wow, wow! Just doing this for a week has changed my life!

Here are some things that changed in my life with yoga:
  • more energy!
  • more relaxed!
  • easier to laugh throughout the day!
  • more of a sense of well being
  • more flexible (I can almost do the splits-almost)
  • stronger !
  • less tense!

Here are some things that changed in my life with meditation:

  • calmer
  • more of an ability to step back from problems
  • easy going
  • less quick to anger
  • less annoyed
  • easier to focus on my self-my well being

What happened to the Tea? Well it sort of disappeared! I couldn't take drinking tea after fifteen minutes of concentrated meditation. Drinking the tea was almost like another form of meditation which was too much for me-at least for now!

I think I am going to try my hardest to continue with the meditation and yoga. I just got an additional job to the one I have, and I think I will need to have my center before I go out into the world of two jobs!

What was my Yoga, Meditation, and Tea schedule like?

  • Thirty minutes of yoga (Three full sun salutations)
  • Sometimes listening to music during the yoga while singing really helped
  • Being concious of the breath during Yoga helps make sure you are doing the same amount of time on each side of the body

  • Mediation for 10-15 minutes (really dependent on how I felt)
  • Concentrate on the breath
  • Feel the inner body
  • Listen to the silence around me

*I have to note that with feeling good through yoga and meditation, my body seemed to crave foods that were better for it-most of the week I started my day off with water, then a fruit smoothie, and two bowls of salad somewhere in between regular eating. I also found that it was easier for me to know that I was full, and not overeat-maybe it came from the yoga, the meditation, or maybe its harder to overeat healthy foods that are harder to chew!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Is my Vote November 4th 2008 worth Dying For?

Yesterday, a young man approached me late at night at a bus stop. He was deeply disturbed and began to talk to me about what was on his mind, and what was on his mind were very troubling issues about tomorrow's election.



Apparently, if Obama wins, groups of people are planning on harassing people, killing people, and assassinating Obama. Well, this young man was just trying to warn me that I should vote with a group of people because I may be harassed when I come out of the polling booth, or I may be kidnapped, or even killed-and he wanted me to warn other people as well.



Then he went on to talk about slave labour in prisons, how unfair life is, how life is a battlefield, and how he is trying to survive with three children. I sat and I listened to him talk to me for fifteen minutes, not saying a word.



And then eventually, our paths parted. But what struck me during the conversation was that people are afraid of the worst to come for this election. People may be too scarred to vote, too scarred to leave their houses, afraid that someone may kill them if Obama wins.



So, this is my opinion of the whole matter:



Don't be afraid. You don't have to be afraid. Before anything great can actually happen there is always turbulence, but once you get past the turbulence good things are waiting. In almost any situation where great change was about to take place-for instance civil rights in the U.S-there is always resistance to the change, there is always a point where someone will oppose what is happening. But these are just growing pains. The resistance is a sign of growth, the turbulence is a sign that things are happening! The turbulence can show that it is actually positive, something great is about to happen! Please, don't be afraid of the growing pains that are happening with the upcoming election, it is expected and it is something that must happen for change to occur and it wont last forever-nothing ever really does, and eventually life will move on to even greater things!