Do you believe in angels? If so, do you believe they stay with us and help guide us?

I personally have never had any experiences with angels that I am aware of, although I do believe there is a strong possibility that they exist and that most of us don’t yet understand how to connect with that higher energy.
Just like there are more colors in the spectrum than humans can physically see, I think it is possible that there is energy not all of us connect with.

I’m very curious about people who have said they had experiences with angels. I think it would be amazing to talk with someone who has the ability to connect with spirits and see what they have to say. What I am even 
more curious about than what they say is how I would feel speaking to them.

As a teen, I remember my Mother telling me that I have very good instincts. At the time I don’t think I completely understood what she meant. At this stage in my life I believe I am good at reading energy, sensing the energy I feel from people and listening to that. As a young girl I believe my Mom meant I was good at listening to my instincts about picking friendships, in other words if there was someone I should stay away from I somehow already knew. Through maturing I have realized having good instincts, for me, means paying attention to the energy and feelings that come over my body, and most importantly trusting them.

Part of the reason I would love to talk to someone who can see or feel angels is because I am really curious how I would feel in their presence.  Would I feel like they are speaking truth to me? I consider myself a really open person. I truly 100% believe that anything is possible.

Lately, I’ve been wondering about angels and if they exist, and whether their presence is continually around me. I suspect maybe yes, and would 
love to learn more from a teacher in that area.

Have a lovely & blessed day friends!

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*Today I have a guest post- Reaching for Love, on my friend Kelly Naturally’s beautiful site. Please do check it out and stay awhile, she is very inspiring and there is so much to love about her articles.

You are walking along a path. The path is green and lush. It’s vibrant and almost glowing. This is your life’s authentic path. To the side of you is mountainous terrain, steep and rocky.

There are points along the path where you experience falling rocks. You’re frightened. Scared of being tumbled and crushed by the rocks you see coming towards you at faster and faster speeds.

Instead of keeping your course, you act out of fear. You leave your lush and luminous path in an effort to avoid the stones. Soon you find yourself much worse off. Not only have you been unable to change the fact that the rocks are crashing all around, you now find yourself in coarse rugged terrain. You find it hard to keep your footing. You’re tripping, falling, getting scraped up and increasingly frustrated, but your chance of getting hit by the falling rocks had not decreased at all. In fact, one might argue your increased negative energy might work towards drawing in your worst nightmare,
being pummeled to death.

Had you stayed your course on the vibrant green path, what would have happened? Sure you still may have been hit by a rock, but your ground and
footing would be solid and supporting you. By following the path you are guided, instead of running directionless through the mountainous terrain.

Sometimes in life we see rocks falling around us. We can act out of fear, and run widely in a different direction, or we can stay the course that feels true in our heart, keeping to our path. It doesn’t mean that rocks won’t fall, or that we’ll never get hurt, but on our path we are guided by following the lush green glow.

This story is a reminder for me in some conversations the best, most kind and loving thing you can do is to say nothing at all. Instead of entering the often very ugly terrain of the ego, choose to stay on your path and act out of love. You may not stop the hurtful words from falling but by sticking to your path of love and light you will not get lost in the darkness.

Here’s to following your heart and staying true to your path in life, no matter what debris falls your way. You are love.

Almost every day I turn on quiet, soothing music. I read a few pages of an inspiring book to uplift me, to calm and soothe my mind from the daily chaos. I say a quick prayer, followed by 10 minutes of meditation. That is
my time to really check in with myself, to connect with my own heart. After my meditation practice I write. This process is an incredibly healing one.

Most of the time I don’t believe I carry much negativity or pain forward with me, and I think it is because of the clarity the meditation and writing ritual provides. So much of what stresses us out in life can be washed away by connecting with the big picture. When I take time to remember what is truly important to me, what really matters in my life, all the little things seem to float away. Taking time each day for self-love and clarity helps keep the pebbles of daily life from building into a wall or blockage.

Life can feel so busy and repetitive sometimes, that without checking in I might not know what my pebbles are, let alone clear them away. Connecting with myself also gives me guidance when I am not sure whether or not to do something, to say yes or no. Clearing my mind of distractions through meditation often reveals the answers I am searching for.

In addition, writing and meditation help to reveal the changes I need to make in my life to stay on course. Through the quiet I can’t escape knowing whether or not my actions are in line with my soul. Am I coming from a
place of love or ego? It is all so clear in the silence.

Now that I know how to set aside the distractions, to be still and listen to my heart, I wouldn’t be able to live any other way and feel authentic. Instead of hiding from what lies within I allow it to flow through me. It has proven to be the best gift I could ever give myself.

My intuition is always there; ready to speak, when I am willing to listen.

Recently, I’ve been trying out GaiamTV. My husband and I are really into exercising at home, so GaiamTV is right up our alley. There are loads of exercise DVDs you can stream online, from Power Yoga with Rodney Yee to Jillian Michaels Extreme Shed and Shred. We were already fans of Rodney and Jillian’s workouts, and have some of their DVDs in our home collection. It was wonderful to see many more workouts of theirs to choose from on
Gaiam.

What I love about GaiamTV, as opposed to buying DVDs, is that there is a lot more you can choose from to keep your workouts interesting. My husband and I can only stick with a DVD for a month or two before we need a change of pace to keep us motivated to exercise. GaiamTV has a giant selection, so if you don’t like something you can easily move onto another exercise  routine without having spent money on a DVD you’re no longer going to use.

Not only does Gaiam have a large selection of yoga and fitness DVDs, they also have movies, documentaries, and interviews- my favorite section being spirituality. We watched Gaiam Inspirations: Lisa Garr with Gregg Braden, which we found incredibly interesting! I love learning about the intersection of science and spirituality. From Gregg Braden I learned the importance of striving for your own excellence, not to compete, but to cooperate. Research shows that competition is destructive. I also learned about the huge need for our science books to be updated!

There are many more interviews I want to watch on Gaiam Inspirations, including one with Deepak Chopra. Gaiam also has the documentary I AM, to name another, which I have seen and loved! Honestly, I’ve had to restrain myself from sitting in front of the computer for endless hours watching
everything I’m interested in. It seems like such a good fit for me with topics
I’m passionate about. Watching GaiamTV has been especially awesome because hockey playoffs are going on right now, so when the kids go to bed my husband watches hockey, which makes him happy, and I can be uplifted and inspired watching GaiamTV, which makes me happy :).

We’ve been enjoying exercising together with GaiamTV, and being  introduced to new people. Last week we tried Peak Performance Yoga with Rod Stryker and felt incredible relaxed afterward. I could go on and on but I’ve got so much more to try first. I’ll keep you posted about great finds on GaiamTV and what I love!

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Disclosure: I received a free trial to GaiamTV.com for review purposes. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review. The opinions expressed here are honest and my own.

Is it better to share our feelings or keep them in? 

Having lived both ways, pre-blog- very little sharing, post blog- tons of sharing, I would without a doubt say share your heart with the world. You are so very important, more important than you sometimes know. The world
needs you, all of you.

It is not always easy for me to share my feelings, to let others know my struggles and triumphs, but it is incredibly rewarding and healing. Through sharing and connecting I have come to realize more and more how similar
we all are. Being open and truthful about who we are, what we believe in, is how we connect with one another. Our connection is vital to our own well-being, as well as the wellness of our planet and the future of evolution.

When sharing who we are with the world, we give the gift of our light. Imagine how bright and luminous the world could be if we all found outlets for sharing the gift of our life. There are many ways to express oneself, whether it is art, writing or music, to name a few. Find an avenue that feels right in your heart, and let it all out.

Although it was scary to open myself up to the world, revealing my inner-being, I realized that what happened in the process was the creation of more space within. Letting thoughts, feeling and emotions out, created more room for good to come in. Loving energy does not like to stay still. It likes to move around and continue flowing. 

Breathe love in and out. Let love flow; resist trying to trap it inside. We are love, so go ahead and share it, all of it. The heart knows there is nothing to fear, it is the over-thinking mind that gets in the way. Quieting the mind with meditation allows the heart to pour open.

Giving everything I am to the world is, for me, the only way I know how to live a life that feels fulfilled.

I believe there are coincidences that happen each and every day. Coincidences that are there to guide and inspire us. Our lives have great meaning, and when we open ourselves up to that we are better able to live out our dreams. Think of loving energy surrounding you, and filling you from within. This loving energy wants to help you. Will you let it?

When I read a passage that touches my heart, somewhere deep inside I feel maybe I was guided to the information that I needed. Paying attention to the signs has proved invaluable. The signs are my North Star and I aim to trust and follow where they lead, instead of letting fear hold me back and keep me from achieving the greatest version of myself.

There are some who believe that seeing certain animals are signs meant to guide you, there to remind you of things about yourself that you need to be aware of. For me, believing that we are here for a reason means searching
inwardly to remember what that reason is. What is the greater vision for my
life? What am I here to do?

It is never too late to figure it out, and never too late to start acting and living in alignment with your purpose. In my heart I feel my purpose is to teach love, and I think there are a great many souls who share this purpose with me.

What do you feel called to do? Is it to help others in need, to teach people how to care for and respect their bodies, to help animals, to protect and love our beautiful planet?

Be still. Embrace quiet. Ask why you are here? Listen within. Be patient. Keep asking until you know. When you’ve found the answer you’ll know with your entire body. Your heart will cry YES!

To living out your life’s great vision.


With love

As a Mother, setting an example is something I am consciously aware of. When you are not thinking about it, it usually comes knocking on the door in the form of a mirror. I’ve seen my own behavior in my children many times, therefor I know that what I do impacts my children and will affect how they act or react in situations in their own lives.

There is a peaceful place inside all of us. The waters remain calm there no
matter what is happening around us. I call that place our divinity. Think of it
like a warm underground spring. The trick is to access this spring of peace and love in moments that are challenging or test our patience.

There are many ways to find your inner peace, your divinity. Yoga and meditation are two of my favorite ways. Some find it through art or music. Practicing getting in touch with this inner serenity as a daily ritual strengthens your ability to access it more quickly in heated times.

The more I visit that place of peace within myself, the more able I am to drink from its fresh calming waters in times of thirst.

My son and daughter-in-law have been doing a boot camp of their own making and they look terrific. They are exercising with Brooke Burke workout videos and alternating every other day with Yoga. While I was visiting I joined them for a session, I mean, really, how hard can it be? 
Let me just say…Brooke is extremely fit and it is inconceivable to me that she could have 4 kids and still look that good.

I thought I was going to collapse during the workout but I stuck it out. I guess I didn’t realize how seriously unfit I have become. I also hadn't anticipated how I would feel the next day. I was so stiff that the mere motion of rising from a seated position was like climbing Mt. Everest.  The
next morning I lurched stiffly down the stairs, stifling a whimper and gripping the handrail for dear life. However, something inextricable happened to me during that work out…. I got motivated!!!  I borrowed
Transform your Body and trundled back to Canada.

Day one was unbelievably hard for me but I was determined. Day 2 harder still. I get to the abs and I feel like someone has put a car on my stomach and I can't move.......... Holding my legs in the air is agony and they are shaking so much I look like I am having some kind of seizure! Through the torment I kept hearing Brooke say things like “stay with me I couldn't do this when I first started” and that ever annoying "you have to work hard to see results.”

During the dead bug I lay there wishing I WAS dead so I didn't have to face the next moves, more ab-crunching … stay with me she quips it's almost done!  Easy for her to say! Also, I didn't have any dumbbells so I grabbed the first thing I saw, a couple of dusty tiki statues left over from some distant Hawaiian holiday. Sometimes you have to improvise… I'm glad no one was there to see this or frankly any of it. Trust me this is not a pretty sight. Picture a 60 year old out of shape female sweating, swearing, grunting and stumbling around in a basement. My pathetic moaning and groaning was annoying my husband.  When it was time to do a floor stretch Brooke daintily does a back curtsy and sinks elegantly to the floor. I, on the other hand lumbered down like a baby ox and crashed landed with a loud grunt.  Hey I got there didn’t I?

Day 4 comes along and it didn't seem quite so long and I wasn't quite so stiff.  Lets not kid myself; I was still stiff, just not so much. 

Day 5 …miracle ...did the workout, got through most of it. Not stiff.         
 
Day 6   Another miracle.... I was actually looking forward to it! 

Day 7   New goal…sink to the floor without rupturing my tailbone. 

Day 8   Worked hard, sweated hard.  Hair seriously wet. 
 
Day 9   More hard work. Hair looking really bad at end. 

Day 10  Did the whole work out, every bit of it! So proud of myself. 
 
Day 11  There is a God. Got through the workout again. 

Day 12   Whole work out no modifications!


On non-workout days I walk, do yoga, or go for a bike ride.
I feel like a million bucks! 
Motivation courtesy of Daughter-In-Law Wendy and Brooke!! Thanks!

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Check out Traveling Pat’s previous adventure here.