Dedicating Yourself To A Distraction Free Holiday

“Today I will stop looking at images and news feeds that take my focus off what really matters. Today I will distance myself from people who cause me to question what I know is right for me. Today I will discard or destroy items that open wounds from a dream never realized or a past hurt. Today I will offer myself a clear, unfiltered view of the beautiful life I am meant to live.” Excerpt from “A Hands Free Life” written by Rachel Macy

In the name of “distraction from what matters” and “the busyness of life”, this quote struck me deeply. Not only because it is so right on but because it can be so difficult to do.

I have found myself distracted on Social Media numerous times. Not a good distraction, but a distraction of jealousy or sadness or wonder. I wish my life was like that. I wish I had a relationship like that. I wish I was a better mom.

I have found myself questioning what I know is right for me when someone questions my work or my life choices.

I have found myself feeling hurt and sad when a dream I thought was going to turn out did not.

I have found myself opening past wounds of hurt and allowing them to seep into present time.

Haven’t we all…isn’t it the nature of our lives.

Sometimes we feel powerful and confident and solid and sometimes we feel powerless and shy and all over the place.

In that place of powerlessness we are out of touch with our own selves, we may feel lost or unclear.

In these times it is important to shut down our devices, to log off social media, and to distance ourselves from people who bring us down.

And instead offer ourselves a “clear, unfiltered view” of what lies deep within. A clear and unfiltered view comes from giving yourself the space to really be in your life.

Imagine a world with no distraction, no tv, no cars, no airplanes, no telephones. Just you, with the people you love and who love you. Just you…in your life. Imagine the peace you would feel. Imagine the kiss, the hug, the touch, the conversation, those small moments that tend to pass us by.

Our reality is obviously much different, we do live in a world of distraction, so we must make the space for those moments to remember what really matters the most to us.

What really matters to YOU!

The holidays are fast approaching and they are the perfect opportunity to stop and create space to just be.

I hope this holiday season you are able to take in the smell of the christmas trees, the laughter of the children, the sound of the wrapping paper, and the taste of the pie. I hope that you make space to be in your life. It is an opportunity that should not be missed.

How to Go For What You Want In 2016

When I was writing this I couldn’t stop singing…”Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long”. You will see why in a moment.

For the past two years, around this time, I review my past year and make a plan for the future year. I don’t do this because I am a big planner.

I do it to boost my confidence in making big choices to nurture my health and happiness.  

Now, I am a firm believer that I am not really in control of anything and that anything can change at any time. But I also believe in the exact same breath that I am the creator and the director of my life. I can and will make choices along the way.

Total opposites existing at the same time!

I think of life like this…(this is where the highway rolls in)

You are driving down the highway with no exits.  You are moving in one direction and one direction only.  No matter what choices you make, what lane you choose, you are still moving toward the same thing.  It is right here, right now.  And in the end, it is all the same, we all leave this life.

So why not make big choices, big decisions, and really go for what you want!  I know, I know, easily said than done.

Which is why I use a simple excel spreadsheet to write down everything I want/desire in the next year.

And then once it is down on paper, I get the courage and confidence to make choices while cruising down my highway.

Several people have asked me for the spreadsheet which I cannot take credit for.  I discovered it last year via Chris Guillebeau.

My 8 Obsessions For 2015

In honor of December, the month where I spend time honoring and reviewing the past and planning for the future I thought it would be fun to tell you first ….”My 8 Obessions for 2015″.

Obsession seems bad. I mean, the word obsessed means “a thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind”. And it can be bad, especially if it is an unhealthy obsession. But I like to think of obsessions as activities I spend a lot of time doing regularly that make me ME, a healthy and happy me.

I think of them as the things that we truly could not live without (even though I’m sure we could). They are the tried and true things we do most everyday.

These are the things that make me ME. And they are the things that make you YOU.

I invite you to discover your 8 obsessions. Take a look at your life, take a look at you, and reflect on your obsessions. If there are unhealthy ones in there, I invite you to do more of the healthy ones so that you lose the unhealthy ones.  And then do them with pride and celebration!

Okay so onto my 8 obsessions for 2015:

1. I’m obsessed with Latte’s and smoothies in the morning.  After sitting quietly with thoughts (i.e. Meditation) I make myself a latte and a smoothie. I don’t always drink my smoothie right away but it will be consumed by 10:00.

2. Speaking of meditation. I am obsessed. I sit quietly every day. I have learned more about myself by studying my thoughts than any other thing I have ever done. And it’s FREE.

3. I’m obsessed with learning and growing, contemplating and reflecting.  You probably already know this about me if you read these emails.  I am obsessed with growth and growth comes from self-inquiry, learning from others, reading books, taking online and in-person courses, practicing yoga, practicing meditation, journaling, writing, teaching, and probably many more things.  These are the ones I do.  And growth leads to HAPPINESS!

4. I’m obsessed with taking my kids to school and walking them to their classrooms (everyday) and I will do this as long as they will let me. I learn more about them, their friends, their friends parents, their teachers, their janitor, their school grounds, their principal, their yard duties, their life at school! And they are proud to have me by their side.

5. I’m obsessed with making a healthy lunch at home. Everyday during the week you will find me in the kitchen somewhere between 11 and 1 (depending on the day) making a healthy lunch for myself. Sometimes it is leftovers from dinner the previous night but it is always healthy and has some sort of greens involved (Kale, Spinach, Arugula, Romaine).

6.  I’m obsessed with a weekly date night with my husband. We spend one night a week with each other. Uninterrupted quality time with each other. We remind each other we want the same thing, a life filled with love, prosperity, and utter happiness. And we want to do it together. It is an obsession I will NEVER let go of.

7. I’m obsessed with smells, natural ones. Only the good kind of course.  From oils to incense to burning sage to fresh ripe fruit to fresh herbs to natural soaps to fresh flowers.  Anything real, anything natural, anything good. If it ain’t good smelling, it is out, QUICKLY.

8. I’m obsessed with sleep. Some say sleep is overrated. I AM NOT one of those people. I sleep at least 9 hours every night. Sleep is important, it keeps us healthy. I think of it as meditation. My mind is quiet and restful for most of the night and I wake up refreshed and ready to begin again. Let it be known to all the world, I am a sleeper, I am obsessed with sleep.

Okay your turn, tell me your obsessions.

With Love + Appreciation,
Shauna

PS: I am also obsessed with the sky, the sunrise, the sunset, clouds, stars, birds.  If nature did not exist, I would miss the sky the most! I hope one day I get to see the Northern Lights.

I Failed and Then Fell In Love Again

Hi Beautiful,

I have been in a space of “what next?” “What shall I do next, if anything?”

Have you ever felt that way? Maybe something felt like it failed… a project, a relationship, something you were aiming for.

For me it was a project. In my opinion it had failed. Now that is not to say I didn’t learn a ton from it, I absolutely did! And in that respect it was not a failure.

But with respect to time and money, IT WAS A FAILURE!

It sort of reminds me of a relationship with a partner. We work hard at it, in hopes that we will marry or have children or have a lifetime partnership.

We spend time getting to know the person really well, often lots of time. We give up time with our friends and family, we get intimate with them, we put money into seeing them, we put our heart and soul into it, and then it fails.

And then we have to start all over again. At first, we don’t want to. We wonder, what next? Maybe I should move, run away, hide. We question everything as if our life is over.

But then something happens, we open up, only to meet someone even better. If we had never let go, we would have never known the latter.

“If we had NEVER taken the risk to let go, we risked never falling in love again.”

So here I was in this intimate relationship with a project. I got to know it really well. I spent time on it. I gave up time with my friends and family. I spent money on it. I put my heart and soul into it. And then it was done, it was over. Our relationship was over and it was time to move on. At first I didn’t want to let go, but I knew it was time.

I wondered what next? I questioned my failure as if it was the end. I promised myself I wouldn’t start another project until the other felt successful.

And then I let go completely, I completely let go.

And guess what happened? I am in another project relationship. And I am really excited.

I am taking a risk to fall in love all over again. And it feels really really good.

Is it scary? Definitely, but I am willing to move through the fear.

Take a risk, move through the fear, the world needs you to fall in love all over again.

Why Are You Doing What You Are Doing?

I believe in living a purposeful life.  

I am not talking about knowing or discovering your life’s purpose and then living that out. Although that would certainly be living a purposeful life.

I am talking about living your life on purpose.  Living your life doing things because you enjoy doing them.

Doing the dishes, washing the clothes, cleaning the house because you enjoy taking care of your family. Staying committed to your partner because you love having a close relationship. Choosing to work at a job you love because you spend most of your time there.

Asking yourself why you are doing what you are doing leads you to living purposefully? 

Much of the time we don’t even realize why we are doing what we are doing. We do the dishes and we are angry because it feels like a never ending task that has to be done over and over.

But if we start to look at why we are doing what we are doing we realize there is usually a deeper reason.

We may realize that it is not just about a clean dish (that will get moldy and gross if we leave it there for too long). We realize that we love to have our kitchen clean before we cook a nourishing dinner for our families whom we love.  We realize we are doing it because we enjoy taking care of our family. And this makes for a much better dish washing experience.  We are washing dishes on purpose rather than just because.

When we ask why, we begin enjoying our lives more, spending more time IN our life rather than wishing we were doing something different.  

The next time your are doing something, anything, ask yourself why you are doing it? If your why is positive, go on and be in it, enjoy it.  If your why is negative and you cannot come up with a positive reason, keep asking why until you really discover the reason because if it is truly negative, you may want to re-think what you are doing.

What do you love about yourself?

Every week I teach yoga to my son’s classroom.

They are young and vibrant and have tons of energy because they are sweet 2nd graders.  They don’t hold poses for very long before wanting to move and make noises.  They have trouble sitting still or lying in Savasana without blinking an eye or slyly tapping their friends.

I have realized after doing this for a while that they aren’t meant to go inward like we adults are. They are meant to go out an be in the world, to move and shake and play with their friends.  Their bodies and minds are growing so fast and it would be a burden on them to sit still for too long.  

Is mindful movement bad for them?  No.  Is sitting quietly useless?  No.  They love it, they try hard to get it right.  They learn that breathing calms them down and that yoga stretches their muscles and feels good, well most of the time.  They learn that Savasana makes them sleepy.  They are learning valuable tools at a young age for their teen and adult lives.

But the thing I find most useful for them is what we do at the beginning of our yoga time together.

I first choose three children to tell me something, anything.  This is by far their favorite thing to do.  Their hands eagerly rise up and wait patiently for me to call on them.  They tell me stories about camping last summer or falling off their bikes when they were 4 or about a crazy experience they had last weekend.  Their friends listen in hopes they will be next.  And when the 3 chosen children have told their stories, the others slowly let down their hands and I hear a big arghhh, darn it.

They want to be heard.  They love to be heard, they love to tell a story, any story about themselves because it makes them feel important and validated.

What happens next is MY favorite part.  

I ask them a deeper question, one that breeds a deeper conversation about life and love and compassion and their connection to one another.  And each child has a chance to answer.

Last week the question was “What do you love about yourself?”, this week it is “What do you love about the person next to you?”, next week “What do you have in common with the person next to you?” and so on…

Some of them are very uncomfortable with the questions which I totally understand but most are open, honest and totally willing.  And the ones who are uncomfortable or cannot come up with anything are eagerly saved by their friends.

I want for them to learn love and compassion and connection at a young age.

They want to be heard and validated and understood.

We all do.

So today, I invite you to ask your children a different set of questions:

What do you love about yourself?  What do you love about each other?  What do you love about your brothers and your sisters and your mom and your dad?

And I invite you to listen closely and then ask yourself these same questions.

They are important, they are real, and they are what we all need right now.  

Love Shauna

My 8 favorite products (for all the ladies)

Hey hey hey!  I am here to tell you all about my FAVORITE products.  

I was inspired to do this by my dear friend, Mandy.  She emailed my friends and I asking what our 8 favorite things are.  There are 8 of us, hence the 8 favorite things.

I got to thinking about my 8 favorite things and knew I had to share products because I am a total product girl.  I don’t have a lot of products but the ones I do have are my favorite and I use them ALL OF THE TIME.

So this beautiful Tuesday I have a special video for you along with links to my favorites.

This one is for you beautiful ladies! I love you so…

1.  Trader Joe’s Lavender Salt Scrub: Trader Joes $6

2.  Bath Body Brush:  Whole Foods or Online

3.  All Good Goop: http://www.elementalherbs.com/all-good-goop-2oz/ $13.99

4.  Incense Natu Rense Oriental Mind:  http://www.dsbodyworks.com/#!product/prd5/1575280805/natu-rense $7.99

4.  Incense Shoyeido Great Origin: http://www.shoyeido.com/product/great-origin-daigen-koh/daily-incense $2.95

5.  Scent of Samadhi: http://store.devapremalmiten.com/products/scent-of-samadhi-3/ $24.99

6.  Arnica Gel and Peppermint Oil:  Whole foods or Online

7.  BareMinerals Warmth All-Over Face Powder:  http://www.bareescentuals.com/bareMinerals-Warmth-All-Over-Face-Color/US50466,en_US,pd.html $20.00

8.  David Elliott Open Heart:  http://www.davidelliottstore.com/products/4th-chakra-%252d-Open-Heart.html $20.00

9.  Annmarie skincare Herbal Facial Oil: https://shop.annmariegianni.com/products/herbal-facial-oil-for-normal-and-combination-skin-15ml?variant=1124779053 $37.95

9.  Annmarie skincare Neroli Toning Mist: https://shop.annmariegianni.com/products/neroli-toning-mist-50ml?variant=1124779977 $27.95

 Love Shauna

How to breathe during yoga practice

I often get asked the question, how am I supposed to breathe when I practice yoga?  

When first learning yoga, the simplest answer is to breathe in through your nose and out through your nose because focusing too much on the breath makes things complicated.

You first have to learn how to get into the pose before you can begin to focus on your breath.  Just remembering to breathe can be a challenge.

As you practice yoga, the breath begins to guide you and makes for a deeper awareness of your body and mind in your practice. 

The important thing to think about when working with the breath is the inhale expands, opens, and feed you. The exhale brings you more depth, strength, and softness.

The inhale will open your chest, expand your rib cage, feed your muscles oxygen, create space for all your organs, expand your mind, and feed your soul. The exhale will allow you to go deeper, stretch more, contract your muscles, become stronger and relax deeply.  It quiets your mind and softens your soul.

As you move through your practice and get into your poses, take a moment to stop and feel the inhale, feel what it does for your body and mind and then the exhale and do the same.

Feel, Breathe, Feel, Breathe and Move.

Tell me a time when your breath really served you in your practice and in your life?  Visit the comment section below and share with us.

Love Shauna

Why develop your mind-body connection

Yoga develops your mind-body connection.  

You have probably heard this before and maybe you aren’t sure what it means, I didn’t know when I first began doing yoga.  I knew it was changing my mind and body but I didn’t know why and I didn’t know I was developing the connection.

Imagine, you are in class, your teacher is instructing you to get into the pose, once you are there, she begins to tell you to ground your foot, stretch your arm, rotate your chest.  Your mind goes to your foot and then your arm and then your chest.

When you practice yoga your mind talks to your body, telling it what you want it to do.

As you practice this, you are able to talk to many parts of your body at one time and the body begins to listen.

And a remarkable thing happens, your body begins to talk to your mind.  It begins to tell your mind what it needs.

It says things like, no I don’t need you to move that foot there because that doesn’t feel right, I need you to move it here instead, ah that is better.

As you develop your mind-body connection everything improves, from stress levels, to anxiety, to pain in the body, to relationships.  

You are more connected to your mind and body and they are more connected to each other and that connection deepens as you practice.

How has yoga helped develop your mind-body connection?  Leave me a comment below.

Love Shauna

Intuition or thought creation

You know when you say to yourself, “I had a feeling that was going to happen.”

I happens to me all the time and it has me wondering about intuition and thought creation.

By intuition, I mean when you know something is about to happen or going to happen.

And by thought creation, I mean when your thoughts become reality.

I wonder when that happens, when you say to yourself, I knew that was going to happen, did you intuit what was already going to happen or did you think it and then it came to creation.

Sometimes I think it’s intuition and sometimes I think it is thought creation and I can’t decide which I think is more true.

And then I wonder if maybe both are true.  Maybe they work together in a big messy circle. Or maybe it isn’t messy, it is a perfect circle.

You see, I am totally confused about this one.  

I have a lot of really strong beliefs, I firmly believe that when we die it is a beautiful thing.  I also believe that every thing happens exactly as it is supposed to.  And I believe that something that seems bad, is not really bad, it is just perception. I believe there is an opportunity in every situation, you just have to look for it. And many more…

But this one, this one confuses me to no end.

Someone once told me to look within to find the answer.

And within tells me it is intuition but I question it.

What do you think?  Leave me a comment.

Love Shauna