Note to self: practice what you teach...

I really do try to practice what I teach. Seriously, I do, but every now and then I seem to let some of the lessons I prescribe slip out of my mind… or more specifically I forget their why or how come.

Wednesday was a great example. I am a huge believer in listening to my body’s internal compass and step-by-step following the path that leads to the least resistance and most life! Coach Martha Beck calls this feeling “shackles off.” Taking this approach doesn’t mean I don’t experience moments of resistance and that life is always a bowl of Rainier cherries at the height of summer, because experiencing the best life possible takes work and practice. However, once we learn to experience the flow of things, we open the door for moments that feel like pure magic.

I’ve been practicing meditation for several years now and find it personally to be one of the best ways to start my day. It offers me a time to focus, breathe, and center my day. This month I’ve been practicing alongside Oprah, Deepak Chopra, and several thousand other folks as we do the 21-day Meditation Experience Expanding Happiness. My practice this day was on ‘Living with Purpose’ and the message I heard was about being in alignment where our actions feel good, decisions feel right, and we are evolving and growing. (Most people like to forget that part about 'evolving and growing' and only want to jump on the ‘feel good’ bandwagon… often with disastrous and foolish results.) 

“Noticing and nurturing these impulses (feeling good/right + growing/evolving) with conscious awareness brings your life purpose into focus.” Deepak Chopra

On this morning my focus was honed. I practiced meditation, spent a few minutes journaling, savored my coffee and yogurt-fruit-granola breakfast. Then it was time to get on with my day… Enter exhaustion. I couldn’t make myself move and the next best step in life felt like lying in bed and reading a novel. Darn it! I had work to do. Things to accomplish! Nevertheless, my internal nudge pushed me back into bed: Hard!! I couldn’t imagine how I was going to run a successful business or live a productive life if I lay around in bed all morning. Then the cat came and settled onto my chest and I surrendered. (I mean, look at that face, will you?)

Please don’t think I always surrender willingly. Even on this day, my monkey mind kept trying to encourage me that I needed to check email, check a list, check something in order to be productive. That’s where I forgot the bigger lesson. The Universe had my back… and those lessons I teach... Listen to your body. Do the thing that feels like least resistance. If it’s a tie, body wins over mind... well, they were out the door. I was mentally resisting staying in bed and reading, but my body (and the cat) insisted and assured me that was exactly what I needed to do.

Fast forward an hour or two, I arose feeling slightly more refreshed and ready to go make something happen… like I am the one in charge. Ha! That’s when the magic happened and I remembered the value in the lessons. I opened my email inbox and in the two hours since I’d last checked I had:

• A request from a potential new coaching client
• A woman who wants (and took) the final spot in our May 2015 Paris Pilgrimage
• A notice from my Production Team Manager about meeting the developmental editor for my novel and a contest we’re considering for cover art. (Stay tuned!)
• A note from my Paris Partner sharing dates for another possible adventure, and
• A thank you from a man whose Paris trip I helped plan. 

I nearly fell out of my chair, because the abundance was so overflowing. Today’s centering thought for meditation was “My actions have purpose.” Little did I know that my action of staying in bed offered the purpose of receiving all this wonderfulness. I didn’t have to make anything happen!

Yes, I’ve spent hours, days, and years laying the groundwork for these experiences, but today I needed to rest. I needed to restore myself. And when I listened, it turned into abundant magic!

Never underestimate the power of ‘doing nothing.’ We all need some of that in our lives. We also need attention, intention, and focus. They are not mutually exclusive.

Like Deepak says, conscious awareness brings your life purpose into focus.

So, my friend… Are you paying attention to your body/mind connection? Could you use a little more meditation and magic in your life? My suggestion… Notice and nurture the nudges of your life. They are there for a reason. You might never know what that is if you don't take the time to pay attention.

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If you missed this gift from me: A Ponderer's Dozen, click here to download your copy. It's filled with selected readings from As I Lay Pondering: daily invitations to live a transformed life as well as fine art photos from my talented husband, Bill Hughlett.