04.27.07
Posted in Make Your Life Easier, Paths to Bliss
at 10:53 am
I’ve been reading a new book by Byron Katie called A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony With the Way Things Are. It’s an amazing book about coming to know and accept what is in the present moment. Reading it has been challenging for me–she’s responding to the Tao Te Ching and her experience of life is so foreign to me that each chapter takes a while to sink in. 
I read a little bit, and then I wait a day or two and notice that what it said is popping into my brain in various situations. Then I know that I need to continue. I love that this book came into my life now because it’s all about a way to change our stories (and if you’ve read even half of the posts I’ve made on this blog since January, you know how much I love the idea of changing our stories!)
The power of her book comes from a process of questioning that she calls The Work or inquiry. Through this process, we pick out thoughts (i.e. stories) that cause us stress or pain and take a look at these thoughts one by one to investigate if what we’ve been telling ourselves is really true. If you approach this process with an open heart and really go inside yourself to answer the questions as fully as you can, it is extremely powerful work. I invite you to go read about this process on her website and then watch the videos (in the right hand sidebar) to see it in action so you have a better understanding of how to approach the inquiry process. I wasn’t really sure until I saw those videos and then it just blew me away.
I find myself thinking, “Is that true?” naturally when thoughts pop into my head since I began reading her book and thinking about this process. Just that moment of questioning is powerful. It has made me a more conscious and deliberate person. This inquiry fits in so nicely with the questions I posed at the end of my last post. If you read those questions and are having a hard time investigating them, this may be a good way for you to get at them.
Registered members of the Uncover Your Bliss Community can discuss this book and/or The Work here.
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04.24.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss
at 11:41 am
I’ve 
been having fun watching the debate about The Secret grow as it seeps into the popular consciousness. It’s fun for me because a) the ideas of the Law of Attraction are really starting to go mainstream and b) when someone argues about their interpretation of the ideas in The Secret, I often get an intimate peek into their deepest held world views.
There are people who believe The Secret is pure hooey. They know that in order to get the things you want in life you have to work hard. They know that sometimes things just happen and we have to deal with things that happen for good or for bad as they come into our lives. Maybe there’s a plan for us, maybe there’s not but the idea that we can affect reality with our thoughts is ridiculous New Age crap.
There are people who believe The Secret is absolute truth. They know that their thoughts are powerful and they know it’s important to hold positive intentions and take full responsibility for everything that is in our lives right now. They know that if there are things they don’t want in their lives, they are somehow responsible and need to find better ways to think about things. They find empowerment in the idea that if they think hard enough they can generate what they want from the Universe.
Read the rest of this entry »
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04.18.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss, Quick Tricks
at 2:20 pm
Most of us live busy lives. We juggle making a living, family, friends, obligations, and our needs every day. Unfortunately, our needs often get pushed to the end of that list. It’s easier to deal with everything else first because most of things affect other people. Ironically, when we put ourselves last, we have less to give everyone else. Sometimes selfishness is good. If our energy tanks aren’t full, we don’t have any overflow to give the people around us. It’s time to put ourselves first and reclaim ourselves as #1 in our own lives.
Today’s Trick
As you’re going about your day and must choose between doing something that will make you feel better or doing something for someone else, deliberately choose yourself. If that means canceling a dinner with friends because you’re tired and want to veg-out at home, do it! If that means putting off some work so you can have some time for self-care, do it! If that means that someone else will be inconvenienced because you’ve decided you’re a bigger priority, do it! Today, you come first. Try having a day like this at least once a week to start. If life intervenes and you can’t swing this for a whole day, try doing it for a couple of hours.
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04.17.07
Posted in Make Your Life Easier, Website News
at 2:28 pm
I’ve added a customized Google start page to the Uncover Your Bliss website.
Just go to http://google.uncoveryourbliss.com .
The best thing about the customized start page is that it includes the RSS feeds for this blog and for the community, as well as the google calendar I’ve set up for the website. If you prefer to read the feeds in your own RSS reader here are the links to the feeds:
http://www.uncoveryourbliss.com/blog/feed
http://www.uncoveryourbliss.com/community/rss.php
(Please note: You have to be a registered user of the community to read posts within most threads.)
Enjoy!
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04.16.07
Posted in Our Bodies, Paths to Bliss
at 9:09 am
In honor of the first Monday since I launched the new site, I’m going to link to an article I wrote about how I approaching living in my body.
Over the course of the past five years or so, I’ve been trying to come to terms with my body as it is and try and “figure it out.” I’m a problem solver and my relationship with body was just another thing to figure out, right? Perhaps you can see how it took me a while to work through my basic assumption that was, I can tell you with great confidence now, wrong. My body is not a problem. My body is a wondrous solution. My body is the answer. I don’t like the word “overweight” because it implies that my body is reacting to my environment in ways that are counter to my well-being. I realize that’s not an intuitive statement considering how much information about the dangers of obesity are bandied about these days, but my body always acts in my best interest.
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04.15.07
Posted in Gratitude, Paths to Bliss, Website News
at 8:07 pm
As you probably noticed, I have completely overhauled uncoveryourbliss.com.
After a lot of soul searching and Reiki practice, the work I am supposed to focus on became clear. I discovered that not only am I supposed to turn my holistic experience and training into a business, but I am supposed to provide the resources for plus size women that I always wished were available to me.
I am still going to be blogging about positive thinking, The Law of Attraction, and tips for living a life of happiness. I will also be blogging about issues facing and resources for plus size women.
New Additions to the site
About - fairly obvious, this is the about me page that talks about who I am and my motivations behind this business
Holistic Services - this page details my holistic services including life coaching, tarot reading, reiki treatments, and guided meditation
Web Services - I will also be offering web development and hosting services to the holistic community
Community - I’ve created forums to foster a support and resource community for plus size women
Contact - I’ve created a web email form so readers can easily contact me
All of these links are available on the right under “Navigation”.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in my life who have supported me as I journey towards bliss by doing what I am truly called to do–especially my husband, mother, and aunt.
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04.11.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss, Quick Tricks
at 11:38 am
Here’s something while I work on my other big plans: I’ve run across an idea so simple and obvious and the fact that it didn’t occur to me sooner still amazes me. Why don’t we start motivating ourselves so we can feel good rather than to avoid feeling bad? (I told you it was obvious.)
If you’re like me, the follow scenario is an old story. There’s something you know you should do like paying your taxes or eating more vegetables or quitting smoking. You know you should do these things because the consequences of not doing them (fines, body issues, lung cancer & yellow teeth) are not something you want to deal with. So you think about how you’re going to do them and then make a vow that you’ll start tomorrow and then if you manage to start, you kind of grudge your way through it until, in all likelihood, you give up and go on with your life–or you do it and remember how hard and awful it was to do it and are therefore not inclined to do it again if you can avoid it.
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04.04.07
Posted in Website News
at 11:32 am
I’ve had several epiphanies lately and am restructuring this website as well as retooling my focus. Posting will be sparse during the next couple of weeks while I finish up the infrastructure changes. Wonderful things are in the works so check back soon!
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