What I have learned about the NOW this week

by Tanya Paluso

This week on Tribal Chats (www.BlogTalkRadio.com/TribalTruth) I interviewed two women, Donna Fuller and Sue London, about their life experiences. Donna had experienced a difficult childhood with her mother and Sue had a near death experience with her health and pregnancy.

The reason I share this with you is because I saw a reoccurring theme: both women became present to their gifts and talents and used their life experience as an opportunity to build on and make a difference in the world.

No coincidence, I am reading Managing Brand YOU by Jerry Wilson & Ira Blumenthal, where they have you do an exercise called Who Am I and How Did I get Here? where you do an audit of your experiences all the way back to your birth. From there, you can take this audit to recognize “Core Themes” and “Life Learnings” to start to create your own personal brand/mission/purpose.

No coincidence AGAIN that the number 1 theme coming up in the Sistership Circles is Who Am I, What is My Personal Brand, and how do I want to impact the world?

This month, being in the NOW is not just paying attention to your breath and noticing each moment by moment. It IS that, but it’s so much more.

Being in the NOW is reflection on your past experiences and using those lessons and themes from your life to create who you are NOW in the present and for the future.

We all have special unique talents, gifts and assets that we have developed from our personal experiences.

Rarely do we actually utilize those experiences, and not only learn from them ourselves but teach others those lessons. It’s when we teach that we become masters of something.

This month, I challenge you to create your Audit. Yes, go to some of those dark places, those breakdowns from your life. But instead of seeing the darkness, look at them from your present perspective. They are the experiences that shaped who you are today. What did you learn from them or what can you learn from them that perhaps you haven’t looked at before? What is the opportunity that they provided you? What is it that is special about you?

Did you have a near-death experience or did you go through an abusive relationship? It’s those things that we are most ashamed of, embarrassed about, and hiding from that will actually make the biggest difference for others when we open up and authentically share them.

For a while I could not share with my family how bad my past relationship got. That the fights were not just nasty words, but that they got physical. I was never hit, but he pushed me and put a pillow over my face once.  I was so ashamed and asked myself, how can I, such a powerful woman who is so confident, put up with and stay in an abusive relationship? What I realize is that I went through that to really get to the core of my self-loathing and start healing that part of myself. After that, I started the process of owning my self-worth and loving myself so much that I could find a partner like Nayan who loves me and treats me like a queen, telling me that “Worthy” is not good enough; I am “Priceless.”

This is my path and I am thankful for that relationship as ugly as it got. Why? Because I would have never been able to meet Novalena and create Tribal Truth with her. I wouldn’t have gotten how valuable it is for women to own their worth and power as the basis for all relationships.

Share with us your stories and where you are turning your Audit into an opportunity in the present below.

We love you and create the sacred space for your authenticity to shine. For your reflection in the NOW to be powerful and true.

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Imagine Being- Claiming Responsibility for YOUR Future

By: Kristin Andress, Co-Author and Speaker Imagine Being in a Life You Love!

It is never too late to imagine being. If you want to be an active
participant in your life—to become the person that you have always wanted to
be—then consider those you love (including yourself) and declare your
initial intention:

I will participate in my own life. It is MY life.

“It just seems out of control and I want someone to blame.”

This past year was a perfect example of that. In 2009, the anguished cries
of millions of people could be heard amid the deepening recession that
wrapped itself around the globe.

o Recession? Blame the government.
o Housing foreclosures? Blame the banks.
o Astronomical medical costs? Blame the insurance companies.
o Unemployment? Blame big business.

It’s all too easy to blame others for the crises in our lives. Yes, we are,
at times, at the mercy of those in whom we place our trust. Yet, while we
have the right to feel frustrated and angry for their wrongdoings and
mismanagement—and outright greed—we cannot fully assign blame to them for
all the bad that has manifested itself in our lives.

Responsibility for our well-being must lie with each of us.

To take back your life, you must imagine being the cause of what takes place
in it—and across your entire lifetime. In order to access the life you truly
imagine, you must first assess your current life to determine what role you
have—or have not—played in taking responsibility for it. You must:

Realize and accept that you alone must be responsible for your life.

Most of us will have eighty years in this world. During that time, there
will be any number of choices and decisions for which we must be
responsible. You can certainly ask someone else to choose your direction,
yet, even then, you are responsible for having asked. Each day, you have an
opportunity to own your life. Accepting and embracing your responsibility is
the first step toward realizing the results—or consequences—of action or
inaction, choice or lack thereof. This responsibility is ultimately on you.

Become clear regarding exactly what you must be responsible for

The bottom line is that you are responsible for the good, the bad, and the
ugly. There is as much grace in celebrating your good as there is in taking
ownership of your not-so good. Your responsibilities are founded on choice
and decision. This can pertain to how you behave, what you do/don’t do, who
you spend time with, what you say/don’t say, what you eat/don’t eat, whether
you work out, how you feel, and so forth. As you assess where you are in
your life, identify precisely where you need to step in and be more
responsible.

Assess who you need to communicate with about your responsibility.

Whether it is to clear up the past or to ensure you are cleared to take
ownership of the future, you must come clean with proclaiming your
responsibility for the many aspects of your life. Even in arguments with
loved ones, you have responsibility—even if shared. With coworkers, you may
disagree or agree to disagree, and the outcome of doing so rests on your
shoulders. As you take ownership, it is freeing to let others know you have
made this conscious choice. In doing so, you rally supporters or you
institute a measure of accountability.

Accept and forgive yourself for previous shortcomings.

We all have them—shortcomings. They present themselves in our ability to
manage our time, our tempers, and even our oversights. We too often beat
ourselves up for our shortcomings, when what we could be doing is learning
from our mistakes and developing our abilities. Assess where you have not
quite measured up. Decide to forgive yourself, and do better next time.
Ensure you learn so you don’t repeat the same mistakes. Mistakes are
commonplace in life. Mistakes happen every day. They can be embarrassing and
they can negatively impact our confidence. However, they are necessary to
help us learn and grow. We certainly don’t know everything when we enter or
exit this world. It is a perpetual process of creating our knowledge base
that enables us to make better and better choices.

Acknowledge your mistakes—how they were caused and what can be changed to
avoid a recurrence. As our knowledge grows regarding what we can  cause
through taking ownership of our responsibilities, we also learn how we can
teach others to do the same.

Access the Life You Imagine

The truth is, if you do not accept your responsibility for being the cause
of the outcomes in your life, the dissonance will fester, grow, and follow
you across time until you deal with it. As much as accepting responsibility
for being the cause in your life can be complicated, it does feel good to
realize that the possibility to “cause” rests squarely with you. In these
times, more so then ever before, it is time to take responsibility so you
can access the life you imagine. It is time to be the cause. Your life is
yours, and you have the power to choose between taking responsibility for it
or leaving it to others who may not know what you truly want in life.
Kristin’s keynote presentations are in part based on the principles taught
in her and her co- author, Jaqui Jeanes-Lowry’s book, Imagine Being In a
Life You Love. Imagine Being arrives at a time when people around the world
are seeking opportunities to take control of their lives amid the myriad
setbacks facing them, what she calls the PINGs of life. Whether it is job
loss, weight loss, or clarity of life’s purpose, Kristin provides direction
for people to take the reins of life in hand. She offers the navigation
tools for learning defining and creating a purposeful life you imagine
living.

Buy Kristin’s Book on Amazon:
Imagine Being In a Life You Love

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Partnering with my ego

The achievement of anything that you desire must be considered success, whether it is a trophy or money or relationships, or things. But if you will let your standard of success be your achievement of joy—everything else will fall easily into place. For in the finding of joy, you are finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe.
— Abraham

Excerpted from the book “The Law of Attraction, The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham”

Partnering with our ego is a delicate dance that can be learned and experienced with grace by utilizing our power of awareness. Although it is often thought of in a negative light, ego serves a crucial purpose to our life experience and personal growth, as it aids in anchoring our goals and passions through claiming our individuality. Think of ego as a neutral party, a moderator among three things: our instincts and desires, our conscience and morals, and the external world. There is a constant attempt by our ego to please all three simultaneously. As we manifest our desires, be they material things, a relationship, a new job, a hot fudge sundae with extra sprinkles (how big or small is of no consequence), it is important to bring detachment into the process. Doing so tends to clear self-imposed obstacles that can interfere with happiness and joy as we move throughout our lives.

Detachment is not indifference. It is the practice of inner calm through observation (awareness) without emotion or cognitive involvement. When we manifest something we desire, by thinking, speaking, or writing it, we need to avoid getting caught up in a game plan of the how, when, what, and where those manifestations should take place. The untamed ego can succumb readily to ‘shoulding’, serving only to create suffering as it takes us against the universal current. We need to learn to let go of how things should be and embrace what is. Trust that the universe is looking out for your best interest.

Trust that the universe is looking out for your best interest. This is an ego taming lesson that I have recently been reminded of in a grand way. My hope is that by sharing the story with my Tribe sisters, it will help you understand the balance between the power and usefulness of your ego, and the personal practice of awareness and detachment as a method to continue with joy and forward momentum throughout your life’s journey.

Six months ago, I lost my boyfriend to cancer. During his battle, & certainly in the months since, I have had many moments of cursing the unfairness of it all. For my own personal loss of course, but also because he was an incredible, inspiring, beautiful man who was a gift in the lives of many. I understood that there were life lessons to be learned as I was witness to his very personal experience of transitioning out of this earthly world, but in my most emotional, gut-wrenching moments of suffering, I struggled to understand why it had to be ‘this way’. We were just beginning to make plans for our future when he became symptomatic. Less than five months later, he was gone. It was humbling to see, as I awoke the day after his passing, and each day since, that the sun continues to rise. Life carries on, despite the fact that my life, as I had become attached to it, had been shattered into a million pieces. Ego. My pain. My loss. My suffering.

My years spent practicing meditation and cultivating a life of awareness and mindfulness was put to the test. My life has been forever changed, but it is with a grateful and open heart that I embrace the experience. I allow myself a sacred space for my ego to become untamed as it grieves, vents, screams, and cries. I tune in to the messages my ego sends me, and then bring my ego back in check by drawing attention to my breath, and then to my very soul essence. I, like each of you, am a part of the big universal picture. Each of us has a purpose, and it is not up to us to decide how that purpose manifests itself. Engaging in the dance between my ego and my universal calling, I can see the beauty, grace, & incredible blessings in my boyfriend’s cancer & death. I harness those blessings and use them to propel me forward and to tune in deeper to the opportunities that are being presented to me along this new life path. There has never been a more humbling, magnificently beautiful experience for me.

Each of us is meant to ebb and flow, learn and grow from life events. Pain is a necessary part of life, but suffering is not. Begin to cultivate awareness and detachment as you embark on your sistership circles and every other venue of your daily life. Wishing all of you life filled with purpose, passion, power, and play.

Love and Namaste,

Jeanne Penton

Chicago Tribe

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Conscious Health – choosing Vibrancy daily

by Aimee Gallo

A few weeks ago a woman (let’s call her “Susan”) walked into my office. She was in the middle of several major life changes that were cumulatively creating a great deal of stress in her life. Like many women, Susan had learned to utilize comfort food to cope with her stress. Seeking a structured diet and exercise plan were her top priority, but I saw something different. No amount of structure or planning was going to be effective unless we addressed her stress. Conscious health is more than food or exercise.

We have all experienced the desire to do something good for ourselves and the disappointment that follows when we don’t “stick to” our goals, our plans, and what we have designed to give us the health and the body we know we deserve. The motivation to change ourselves and our life when things are stressful provides a feeling of control and stability when other aspects of life are beyond our control. With Susan, many recent changes had left her stressed, isolated, and overworked.

Instead of a diet plan, we began with a few exercise changes that worked for her – solutions which did not add to her stress load. Simultaneously, we took a look at creating greater health, energy, and motivation by actively collecting joy. When we are under stress, part of the fight or flight response is literally narrow-mindedness! Our ability to see the big picture disappears, and we become very focused on fighting the stressor or escaping it. The window to creativity narrows and spontaneous moments of joy and laughter become more scarce. With chronic stress, it is easy to get stuck in a pattern of putting out fires, fighting battles, and just “making it” to the next objective. As quality of life deteriorates alongside our health, it becomes harder and harder to stick to another plan to get back on track.

So Susan’s main goal for the next two weeks is to find the moments in her life that give her joy and lift her heart. She’ll be recording them in a small notebook she carries around so she doesn’t forget about them. By changing the mind’s focus from “fight or flight” to “pleasure gathering”, Susan is reducing her stress response several times a day. She is consciously choosing to open up and acknowledge what is working and where her happiness lies in this place in her life. By recording them, she will learn more about the things she can turn to ease her stress when it flares up. As her stress decreases, she will find it easier to say no to the drive-thru, get into the gym and stay creative and positive as her life continues to change and shift in new directions.

We’ll be continuing to work closely on finding easy ways to get healthy foods in despite an unpredictable work schedule and limited cooking time. Her overall health and energy will elevate back to previous levels and she will have a go-to list of proven stress-busters to keep her inspired and motivated in her own life as she integrates her diet and exercise changes.

My aim is to have Susan finish her work with me secure in the belief and knowledge that she has a ready set of joy options at her disposal to bring her back into balance, the know-how of healthy eating and a deep understanding of what she truly needs as a woman to avoid the call of comfort food. Conventional Wisdom would have looked at Susan and determined her weight loss goals to be best met with an increase in exercise and a change in diet. She already knew that needed to happen, had tried it, and was having a hard time “staying on a diet”. By working with her spirit and her emotional needs first, Susan is setting herself up for lasting success and abundant health. The real mystery isn’t what she needs to be eating, but what it is she is really hungry for. Finding the answers to this question is foundational to a life of conscious health and vibrancy. It is the answer to our soul’s calling. When we are aware and aligned in that, it’s very easy to walk away from Ben, Jerry, Jose Cuervo AND French fries.

Beginning June 7th -

Vibrant Living Women’s Health Series

Learn No-Fuss Secrets to Healthy Living:

• Ways to add healthy, natural foods into your diet one easy step at a time.
• Nutrition Secrets to tame mood swings and the blues.
• How to deal with food cravings that get the best of you.
• Simple ways to experience healthy, vibrant living with greater ease.
• Discover the foods and activity that are right for your unique body.
• Healthy snacks that keep you on track.
• Acknowledge and celebrate hidden abundance in your life
  • Eliminate the mid-afternoon slump for good!

Beginning June 7th

And continuing every other Monday, 6pm to 7:30pm

at LotusRain Naturopathic Clinic

2602 First Avenue, Suite 209 (corner of First and Maple, Banker’s Hill)
San Diego, California, 92103

With Aimee Gallo and Stephanie Boyd

Open Enrollment starts now! Email Aimee at aimee@vibrancenutrition.com to reserve a seat!

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Spirituality Made Simple

by
Jeanne Penton, B.S., ACSM

In a culture riddled with all sorts of technological gadgets aimed at keeping us forever in the loop & connected to everyone & everything, where there is tremendous pressure to balance the demands of career, family, the neighborhood bunko club, & a litany of other ‘things’, where bigger is better, & less is not more, it is no wonder that many of us stop along the game of Life scratching our heads & wondering if ‘this’ is really what it’s all about. The truth is that the techno culture that keeps us informed & tuned in via television, internet, Iphones, Blackberrys, & so on, is also partly responsible for the disconnect & detachment we feel from something more meaningful & ‘meaty’ in our lives. Our minds are constantly barraged with ideas, thoughts, game plans, projects, worries, and so on. We often end up focusing on the minutiae & lose sight of the big picture, resulting in feelings of isolation, lack of direction, & lack of life focus. As we go about our daily grind of to-do lists, business meetings, carpools, children’s soccer games & endless loads of laundry, how many of us have longed for simplicity? Connectedness? Something to root us more firmly in our own amazing essence as well as the essence of all those around us? We cannot necessarily change the influx of technology & ‘busy-ness’ that life brings. We can, however, ground ourselves with meaning, vision, & a sense of universal belonging, making our fast paced world easier to navigate through.

Spirituality simply refers to the notion that we are part of a greater whole. There is no hierarchy, no judgment, & no ego when we are rooted in our true, spiritual essence. Finding our spiritual center is as individual & unique as we are. It takes time, attention, & reflection to find our spiritual path & it is time well spent. We all need something to fall back on when we feel drained at the end of the day, & most assuredly when life throws a curve ball. We need reminders of our gifts, our blessings, our strengths, & even our weaknesses, as that gives us permission to reach out & ask for help from mentors, friends, family, our communities, & for many of us, a higher power (God, the Universe, whatever term feels comforting). Spirituality keeps us from feeling isolated & alone in a world that is often chaotic & seemingly ‘unfair’. There are key elements & practices that will help us define our individual spiritual path. They require discipline & regular practice, but they are easy to incorporate into daily routine. In time, pathways will open & become clearer, feelings of unrest will lessen, compassion, understanding, & patience will increase a thousand fold, & our resilience to life events will be second to none.

Meditation
Meditation has been practiced in the East for thousands of years. Research has repeatedly shown its numerous benefits, including reducing stress, anxiety, & depression. In addition, it is a gateway into living a life rooted deeper in awareness & compassion, & taps into the universal energy that is all around us as well as a part of us. How does it work, exactly? It’s a practice that ultimately relaxes the physical body while keeping the mind alert. The aim is to quiet the endless supply of mind chatter, most of which is anti-productive. Mind chatter is, for the most part, focused on past events, & interpreting & projecting from them. All of this distracts us from experiencing the present moment. So, essentially, meditation is a practice in becoming aware of the ‘now’, how we feel ‘now’, what we are experiencing ‘now’. Meditation teaches us to be more present to ourselves, to others in our lives, in our communities, & beyond. It has been described as the ‘gaps between our thoughts’. Meditation brings us to that blissful place of ‘just being’, where all is as it should be. There is no past, no future, only the present moment. With regular practice, the feelings of calm, empathy, & compassion begin to emanate into all venues of our lives, & begin to have a ripple effect with all we come in contact with. By developing a deeper relationship with ourselves, we in turn develop a deeper relationship with life. We begin to realize that we are not separate from one another, but part of a universal whole. We are influenced ‘by’ as much as we are influences ‘of’. Once we begin to realize that we are connected to all that is, we cannot help but change the way we think, the way we view others, & the way we live. It is in stillness that the universe brings us answers to our questions. It is imperative that we train our minds to hush in order to cue in to the subtle signs the universe sends us, guiding us more easily down our life path.
Developing a meditative practice need not be complicated. Simply sit in a quiet place, lengthen your spine, open your chest & shoulders (no slumpy slouchers please), & begin to breathe. Inhale & exhale through the nose, paying attention to the rise & fall of your belly with every breath. Make your breath audible if it helps bring focus to it (which it may, especially at first). Meditation is a lesson in passive awareness. While the aim is to clear the mind of chatter, it is easier said than done. Be patient & gentle, & when the mind wanders, gently redirect it back to the breath. Begin with a 5-minute daily practice, & commit to it for an entire month. Eventually the connect will happen, & the beauty & peace that unfolds from it is more than worth it.

Awareness/Mindfulness
Living an aware life means our physical bodies & our spirits are in sync. Our bodies are fine tuning forks giving us hints as to when our spirit falls out of alignment with the greater whole. These hints may take the form of illness, aches, pains, or gut feelings.  We tend to go through our days on auto-pilot, failing to pay attention to our body’s subtle nuances. Our spiritual selves are always within us, waiting for us to connect so that we may continue to evolve & grow.  When we fail to pay attention, discord follows, & with it comes a sense of unrest, illness, anxiety, or depression. When we are suffering, physically or emotionally, our spiritual self is at a state of unrest. While pain is a necessary part of life, suffering is not. Suffering occurs in isolation; it is our own minds creation & a useless one at that. To live a harmonious, happy life, we must begin to become aware of our physical & emotional states, as well as learn to let go of judgment of how things should be. Awareness means we place no judgment on our thoughts; they are neither positive nor negative. They are simply thoughts. As we learn to become a third party observer of our mind chatter, stripping away all the ‘should haves’, ‘could haves’, and ‘would haves’, we find that our emotions calm, our bodies settle, & our minds rest. Once that begins to happen, we can find our own personal truth & find our footing on life’s journey.
Cultivating awareness is a simple task, but does require consistency & discipline. Sit in a quiet place, alone with pen, paper, & your thoughts. Take ten to twenty minutes, jotting down as many thoughts as you can, the emotions tied to them, as well as how your physical body is feeling. Are you tense or relaxed?  Pay attention to body aches & pains, & any & all physical sensations. Become aware in this precise moment of all that you think & all that you feel. Once you tune in to what your mind & body are doing, you will be able to tune in to the messages they are sending you. That is when you can begin to cultivate awareness by releasing judgment & increasing compassion, not just towards yourself, but also towards others.

By beginning a practice of meditation & living a life of awareness, we can begin to see things more clearly & objectively. By letting go of self-imposed restrictions of how our lives should be, we can fully enjoy the lives that we have. Through knowing ourselves better, we become gentler in our approach to life, relationships, & all our dealings with those around us. It is in this spiritual plane that our physical & mental selves can truly soar & our full potential can be reached. In a world filled with constant going to & coming from, insanely busy schedules, constant media streams, chaos & suffering, the answer is simple. Peace & harmony begins with one. It begins with each of us. Begin to cultivate your greater self. Begin today.

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Community Sparks Successful Collaboration

by Sasha Clines

As many of you know, this past week marked our first 48-hour
challenge for a charity at Tribal Truth. A friend’s condo downtown
known as “the Loft” was the central gathering location for our
challenge. A bright sign in the window marketing
www.48hourchallenge.com and painted Jeans hanging from every
corner set the scene as an interactive and energetic fundraising
home base. Knowing I would be working at my day job the first day of
the challenge, I set up my fundraising website and drafted emails to
send out to my network a few days early. On the first morning of the
challenge I sent out my email campaign and checked my fundraising
website every few hours in hopes that the little green marker
indicating the total donation amount would keep getting higher and
higher. To my disappointment it didn’t get very far. I must admit a few
of my friends donated immediately and I felt so supported and
excited, but as the donations tapered off after the initial
communication I began to feel my mood soften. I sent out a second
email that evening and went to sleep determined that when I woke up
the green marker would be at the half way mark to my personal goal
of $2,000.
As the sunlight peeked through my blinds the next day I rolled over to
look at my alarm clock. 7:30 A.M. “Hmmm do I get up and get on the
48-hour challenge phone call at 8:00 A.M.?” I thought, “Or just roll
back over and sleep some more.” With the visualization of that silly
green marker in my mind I slowly woke up, turned on my computer
and logged on to my fundraising website. “NO CHANGE?!” I
exclaimed out loud to myself. At this point my two cats were looking
at me hoping I would get over my little green marker trauma and
focus on opening a new can of tuna for their breakfast. Feeling a bit
deflated and defeated I decided I wouldn’t join the morning call.
Minutes later the familiar “Sasha devil” and “Sasha angel” showed up
on each shoulder. The Sasha devil kept whispering, “You’ve lost!
Close up shop and move on! The green marker is destined to stay at
$140 and if you are extra unlucky it might even go down!” Meanwhile
the Sasha angel fluffed her feathers and claimed, “You know you
need to get on that call, get motivated, head down to the loft and kick
some serious fundraising butt!” With no room for argument, the
Sasha devil immediately vanished in a poof of red smoke and I dialed
into the 48-hour challenge call. I am not sure I would call it a universal
truth, but more often than not I believe the things we avoid the most
are usually the things we need most. The Tribal Truth call that
morning was exactly what the doctor prescribed. Although there were
only a few people on the call, we shared our experiences with the first
day of the 48-hour challenge and then Jess Johnson, founder of
Jeans 4 Justice, asked us what our “why” was for this challenge. For
me, the “why” was very personal and as I spoke about it, I began to
visualize my original reasons for committing to the 48-hour challenge.
I had become so consumed with that silly little green marker and the
end result of what I would raise that in just 24 short hours I had lost
sight of the positive impact any and every amount would have on the
lives of others.
After the call I made some coffee and stopped by Trader Joes to pick
up some snacks for the fundraising group. By the time I made it to the
Loft downtown in San Diego, it was about 11 in the morning. There
was a vibrant group of members emailing and making phone calls. As
I began setting up my fundraising station I was contemplating a new
message strategy for my email campaign. “If every one of my friends
donates $10 today, I can reach my goal!” I liked the sound of that
one, not asking for a lot but if everyone I contacted donated just $10 I
would in fact hit my goal. As I introduced myself to James Radina and
we began to chat, we realized that we had April birthdays about a
week apart. He mentioned he was setting up a birthday campaign for
the 48-hour charity challenge on Facebook. I immediately chimed in
with, “What is that? Can you help me make one?” Fifteen minutes
later I had posted a campaign on my Facebook page for the 48-hour
challenge and had contacted each of my friends to notify them of how
they could wish me a happy birthday while donating to a great cause.
Brilliant! Five minutes after that Novalena Betancourt, co-founder of
Tribal Truth and author of The Total Female Package, said, “Text
messages are the way to go! My phone is blowing up!” After tossing
around various words and phrases as a group we came up with a
general text message to work from. Minutes later the room was
silenced except for the intense cliquey clack noise from our text
messaging. Sure enough, Novalena was right! Within seconds of
sending out the first set of text messages our phones were beeping
back at us. Personally, I went from $140 to $350 in an hour.
As the day carried on between text messages, follow up phone calls
and emails I managed on and offline to move that silly little green
marker up to over $600. Take that devil Sasha! To feel empowered
as that green marker kept rising was a great high but the most
rewarding part of the experience was the sense of community I felt
that day. Between the collaboration of ideas, the support and the
high-fives for every win each person received the group was vibrating
with success and gratitude. It was a moment when you realize that all
those silly cliché statements are true; two heads are better than one,
the more the merrier, there is power in numbers, etc. It wasn’t just the
feeling of accomplishment when another donation came in but rather
the recognition I received from the group that made me feel
unstoppable.
With midnight approaching, we all began to head home and prepare
for the final numbers to come in. Although we didn’t reach our 100K
goal in the first 48 hours, the overall event was a huge success and
we all knew that we were that much closer to raising 100K for Jeans
4 Justice. As we continue into the month of May with additional
fundraising events ahead I encourage you to look at this charity
challenge again. Did you get involved for the 48-hour segment? If so,
did your green marker hit its goal? What worked for you and what
didn’t? What felt comfortable and what pushed the envelope for you?
Everything we do in life is a lesson for us. Often times it is when we
don’t think we are in a learning situation that we are in fact learning
the most. This charity challenge is an amazing opportunity to gather
as a community and support one another while in turn supporting a
phenomenal organization, Jeans 4 Justice. The games have just
begun tribe members and I challenge you to play! The support
systems are in place with people well versed in sales, fundraising,
technology and motivation all you have to do is say yes and the rest
will flow. Today, tonight or whenever you are reading this, this very
moment is the perfect time for you to open your mind and your heart
and think big with this challenge. This is a chance for you to create
something bigger than you, to help others and to play in May!

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Free to Be trUe to You

By Micole Noble, Life Cultivator

Before my synchronistic introduction to Cynthia Silbert one afternoon on a conference call, I was spending too much time in my head trying to figure out what was next for me.  Even though I was committed to my spiritual path, using tools from books I’d read and classes and workshops I’d taken, I was drowning in the “shoulds” of what to do and/or be in my life.  The True Course and Life Cultivation™ have re-connected me to my true self, what I also call my heart center. In the True Course I was given tools to easily clear what stops me, connect with who I truly am, and create my life with grace from alignment with my true self.

I realize that my spiritual path is really just expressing my true gifts. What I am doing now is creating a Life Cultivation™ coaching business guiding others to create from a place of alignment with their own true self-expression.  Writing this article was a big step in expressing my passion for writing and coaching as well as empowering women.  In the past, I would have been terrified and now I feel nothing but freedom and joy writing this article because it’s a natural expression of my true self.

The emergence of the Divine Feminine is now supporting all of us on our spiritual paths of true self-expression but it wasn’t always that way. There was a time in ancient history when feminine power reigned and was worshipped.  Somehow that connection was lost and feminine power was forced to succumb to the harshness of masculine power.  As a result, we’ve become fragmented from trying to change ourselves in order to conform to masculine-ruled environments and have given away our power and full self-expression in exchange for recognition based only upon our achievements.  We are left feeling disempowered, drained, and lost.

At this time in our history, Universal energy is shifting.  We are being called upon by the Divine Feminine energy to reclaim what is rightfully ours.  This shift can feel like a tugging, a nudging, or as crazy as having an angel and a devil on opposite shoulders.  This tugging or pulling may cause you to make sudden changes like leaving your job, starting your own business, beginning your own spiritual path, reading books on topics that have never interested you until now, or even being drawn to statues or symbols that signify the Divine.  How is it showing up for you? Are you in transition or do you feel a burning desire to take your life up a notch? It may be as simple as feeling the need to Feng shui your living space or whatever else quantifies as spiritual housecleaning for you.  “Simplify” may be your new mantra.

What also signifies this shift in our Universe is the emergence of groups like Tribal Truth – powerful women coming together to empower and support each other.  Like a flock of birds, they speak to each other without words, each knowing which direction to fly because they are tapped into each other energetically.  We recognize our disconnect with ourselves and each other, but fortunately, we have support to re-connect with our true selves and be on our way to powerfully creating life exactly how we envision it.

Are you being called to live completely free and loving your life? Tribal Truth believes in you and your path. As part of you coming into your true light and expression, they have made the True Course available to you as part of their Illuminator Program (see http://www.tribal-truth.com/illuminator/).
The energy of the True Course is absolutely the Divine feminine and leaves you completely liberated, clear, joyous and ready to take action in creating your life and businesses as an expression of your true self.

Why not allow yourself to shift to living from a space of true joy and freedom in only 6 short weeks?  Come play with us and dive into you! trUe: Free to Be starts Wednesday, May 5th at Indigo Village 6:30-8:00 p.m.  Enroll now at http://www.lifecultivation.com/True/.

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Gratitude and Manifestation: A Harmonious Duet

By: Sasha Clines

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Reflecting My Gratitude as a TFP

by Tanya Paluso 4.1.10 -

“Well, I have good and bad news.”

I’m sitting in front of Dr. Gin in his office in Laguna Hills. I already know the answer. Intuitively, I’ve felt like something has been off with my body.

“The bad news is you have an auto-immune disorder with your thyroid. Do you know what that means?”

He proceeds to tell me that my body has been attacking my thyroid, which he considers to be the most important part of the endocrine system, the mother gland that regulates everything from digestion to blood sugar.

Other auto-immune disorders include MS and Lupis.

“The good news is we’ve now identified the problem and we’re mainly going to treat it with lifestyle and biochemical changes. I’d like you to start by going on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. And it would be good for you to cut out sugar. Oh and no iodized salt.”

I’m sharing this with you today because I too, struggle with being the Total Female Package. When I heard this yesterday, I felt pretty lousy. I had been working so hard on building up my “emotional bank account” as I like to call it, digging up the past and completing it so I can pave way for my future. I do yoga, I eat healthy. How could this happen to me?

And yet it’s happened. And it’s like all my past coming up for me again. Mononucleosis in 9th grade turning into nothing but illness off and on for sophomore and junior year.  Fevers as a kid so high I was deliriously wandering around my neighborhood sleepwalking. Three parasites in my twenties. The list continues.
It could be my sugar addiction for years that triggered this. Or the birth control. A combination of stress and diet. Emotion. Years of physical buildup. Who knows.
What I realized today, however, is how lucky I am to have met a talented holistic doctor who is guiding me on a journey back to optimal health. I can stop pretending that I’m energetic when I’m not. I will feel better without the gluten. My digestion won’t be so crazy.

And most of all, I’m catching this at 30 before it turns into something more life threatening.
My health is my most precious asset. As it is almost midnight and the beginning of April Fool’s Day, I am not feeling like such a fool like I was yesterday. Instead, I am reminded of my gratitude for the awareness I have to seek a doctor and take care of this nagging little thing called Hypo/HyperThyroidism.  I am grateful for my attitude and self-worth as the Total Female Package. And most of all, I am forever grateful for the incredible support system I have around me from family, boyfriend and community of fellow TFPs.

What’s cool is I am already feeling better. Not as tired tonight and my stomach isn’t in pain like it usually is. It’s funny how I keep all this hidden, and when I started sharing, people look at me funny and ask, “Really? You have all these things going on with you?”
That’s one of the things I’m learning the most: being vulnerable. Not being afraid to share the good, bad and ugly.

This will be fun to document this new aspect of my wellness journey. Stay tuned for my transformation….

4.6.10

I had my follow up visit with Dr. Gin this morning. After sharing the
entire week, I found out that many of my friends, both men and women,
had a thyroid condition. According to Harvard Health Publications,
more than 12 million Americans have thyroid disease, many of whom
don’t realize it. I am shocked by how many of my friends have had
their thyroid completely removed or are on pharmaceutical drugs for
the rest of their lives.  Do doctors educate on alternative options?
Apparently not.

I already feel better. My energy is up, my stomach is less irritated
and my sugar cravings have decreased. Dr. Gin gave me a high five.

I have still felt sharp stomach pains occasionally. He did some
kinesiology tests to find out what’s going on. Identifying that it’s
my small and large intestine, he thinks that I could have celiac
disease, which basically means that the lining of the small intestine
is damaged from eating gluten and other proteins found in wheat,
barley, rye, and possibly oats.

Whatever it is, I know that I need to stay off gluten, which is in
almost everything. I’m grateful for my nutrition training at IIN,
where I learned how to eat gluten-free. I’m considering a raw diet in
May and definitely am getting a power blender like the Vita-mix.

The fascinating part of my visit today was the emotional work he did
with me for my large intestine around feelings of suppression and
self-worth.  No coincidence that I am creating this organization with
Novalena centered around women owning their self-worth.  It was
interesting how he tested me when I said an affirmation out loud, “I
am worthy” and my arm tested strong, but when I said it to myself, it
tested weak. From all my training, I consciously know that I am
worthy, but my subconscious still needed clearing and was still
holding onto something. He cleared me and I’m excited to see what
unfolds this week.

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Feng Shui

by Amanda Collins

One of the most important principals of Feng Shui is clearing clutter

Throwing out junk and getting rid of things like excess paper, empty boxes, and broken items can go a long way toward energizing your home for prosperity. In particular, de-clutter your SE corner of your home, of your living room, and of your bedroom. This is the wealth sector and if it has piles of junk, then financial chi can’t circulate.

This includes

Your car

Your purse

Your garage

The computer inbox

Your desk top

Overall house tips for prosperity

Clean you’re Front Door. The front door is where all good energy enters your home; a clean door attracts prosperity while a dirty or faded door repels it.

Have rounded corners in your furniture

Replace Burned Out Light Bulbs. If your rooms are dark so is your financial future; replace burned out bulbs and brighten your possibilities to attract wealth.

Clean you’re Windows. Windows are the eyes of your home; dirty windows cloud vision but clean windows represent a clear view of the opportunities.

No cracks in the windows this is our view out in the world

Remove Dead Plants. Dead plants symbolize dead energy; replace them with healthy living plants to grow wealth in your life.

Replace Your Desk Chair. If you sit on a broken, stained, or torn desk chair it represents disregard for your work; get a new chair and improve your career outlook.

Repair Broken Mirrors. If you look at a broken mirror you can’t see things smoothly; remove or replace it to reflect a smooth road to prosperity.

Tighten Lose Door Knobs and Handles. If your handles are loose you cannot get a grip on your money: tighten them and wealth will be within you grasped.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is related with the prosperity area of the home very important to clear the clutter

This includes old, stale foods in the cupboards and refrigerator. It’s also important not to have an excess of stored food, even in the freezer. To encourage prosperity, you have to have room to grow.

To double prosperity, a mirror or reflective aluminum, may be placed at the back of the stove. This also allows the cook to be in a position to see what is going on behind his/her back thus keeping them in a position of command. It’s particularly important to the honor the cook since they bring chi to the food we eat.

Do use your oven, an unused stove implies untapped resources or ignored opportunities.

The stove should be in good operating order; it’s as reflection of what is going on in your life

The Bathroom

If you bathroom is located in the center of the home to keep prosperity inside your house the Remedy is Paint the walls red, and place a stone or other earth-type object Place a full-length mirror on the entrance door.

Keep toilet lids down we don’t want money leaking down the toilet.

Keep all plumbing in excellent working order. A dripping faucet is your money dripping away.

Cover all drains to keep the money in your possession. You do not want to accumulate wealth and watch as it drains away.

Keep bathroom doors closed and have them sparkle.

Create energy flow: Enter into your home and ask yourself the following questions

What gets in your way?

Where do you flow smoothly?

Are any areas blocked off from you?

Are you able to open all the doors fully?

Are there large piles of clutter?

Repair broken items

Broken energy comes from, well, broken things.

If it is broken, cracked, chipped and can not be repaired let it go

If your dishes are chipped, you are eating off of broken energy.

Keep your clothes, your home, your car and your doors in good working order. What’s broken that is draining your energy?

Energize your finances

Get a red wallet and checkbook,

Put your investment and banking account information and statements in red folders,

Write checks in red ink.

Put bills into blue or black folders so they aren’t energized.

Get a red purse or wallet. It attracts money

What’s in your wallet?

Old scraps of paper, credit cards for accounts you closed two year ago or for accounts you never use? Remove them

Don’t have an old torn wallet invest in a new one.

Be sure your wallet is clean, neat, and organized.

Do you Believe you deserve

Do you believe you can be wealthy and prosperous?

Do you think you deserve it?

Do you really FEEL that way or are you just intellectualizing it?

It’s so important that you believe you are worthy of being a prosperous person, someone who doesn’t just make a living, but makes a life with the money you earn.

Observe your thoughts about wealth and money and see if it’s really not you who is standing in the way of money.

Affirmations to attract Prosperity

I deserve to be prosperous and wealthy

Money flows easily to me

Wealth enables me to more fully express my creative potential

Expressing my creativity allows me to be wealthy

Money and prosperity help me to help others

The more I give, the more I receive

I enjoy being paid for doing what I enjoy

I am willing to receive money for my pleasure

I am willing to allow my life to be fun and easy

I am a trust fund baby of the universe

I am a magnet to money

Balance your checkbook regularly and pay your bills on time. Put your checkbook in an attractive cover choose green, purple, red, blue, or black

Live generously. Money is a form of energy, and it needs to flow through your life, not just into it. Living generously within your means makes space for even greater abundance. If you don’t yet have ample money to share, give as generously as you can of your time, energy, compassion, and appreciation.

Express your gratitude The more you notice, appreciate, and express gratitude for blessings received, no matter how small, the more good things will come your way, including money.

www.sdfengshui.com

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