Do you feel the love?

 

February 13, 2023 Regenerate Your World  Build the future you want to live in. I know these times aren't the easiest for all of us, but I am an optimist - I see the glass as half-full, instead of half-empty. To brighten up your days, I publish the Regenerate Your World newsletter coming to your inbox on a bi-weekly basis. Let's Get Empowered! Do you feel the love? Hello, Regenerate Your World Readers! Life moves fast and seems to move faster by the day. Sometimes it can feel like we are spinning out of control with no end in sight. As the pace of life speeds up you may feel drawn to activities that can slow life down. One of these activities is meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh a Vietnamese Buddhist monk defines mindfulness as being fully conscious in the current moment. Thich Nhat Hanh believed mindfulness was the secret not just to happiness but to being authentically alive and who doesn't want that?!  Traditional meditation has many benefits, with practice you will begin to see the benefits of meditation including the management of anger, and social anxiety, improved concentration, and memory recall. Meditation is not always easy, be patient with yourself and you will soon see the benefits.  I remember the first time I tried meditation. I took a class in college called Suffering and Christian Healing. My meditation experience didn’t go very well and I stayed away from meditation for several years after this experience. Every Friday for 16 weeks we would go to a small cold chapel on campus, lay on an itchy woven mat, and listen to a guided meditation our Professor would read to us. (I really liked my Professor just not this part of the class).  Most Fridays, as I lay on my mat I was trying to keep warm and not fall asleep. I did not understand the process of meditation. After 50 minutes I got up off my mat feeling like I had just wasted my time doing nothing.  I didn’t know, “doing nothing” and “just being” is the point. I am glad I had this experience because I know now how important it is to be patient with myself when practicing meditation and when teaching others about meditation there are many points to share that will help explain the process of meditation. Jumping right into a meditation practice without direction isn’t very helpful. When I teach others about meditation I often share this experience because I always felt meditation is just natural and I should be able to meditate easily. Meditation is far from easy for me however I can adjust a few things in my meditation practice that make it easier.  For example, it is important to know  meditation involves the breath,  non-judgment, and  releasing attachment to any particular outcome.  Remembering to breathe and letting go of judgment helps me to stay in the present moment. While I still struggle with meditating for long periods of time and I continue the practice because I have seen the benefits in my life when I incorporate it into my day-to-day life. Meditation has helped me become less reactive to situations. I take pause before I respond instead of jumping to conclusions and making assumptions. A few additional points that have helped me are,  I try meditating in the same space and I make it easier by setting up the space ahead of time.  I like to practice meditation in the morning so I am not as distracted and not too tired. I try to be in a quiet space and it helps if there is a blanket available to keep me warm. I also remind myself to breathe and relax my jaw and lower my shoulders. Once I prepare mentally and physically it is much easier for me to meditate for a few minutes.  Have you ever tried to meditate? If so, what works for you? How have you incorporated meditation into your life? What types of meditation have you tried? There are many forms of meditation. One that has been particularly helpful for me during difficult times with others and when I am feeling disappointed is loving-kindness meditation.  During loving-kindness meditation, you focus on moving loving energy toward yourself and others.  Take a few minutes of your day to practice loving-kindness through meditation. To sign up for a free loving kindness video go to www.empowerpossible.com/p/loving-kindness-meditation-free-video How can you take a few minutes today and every day to show yourself some love?  In honor of Valentine’s day let’s do something to care for ourselves. Maybe it is meditation, maybe it is going outside for a walk, or it could be sipping your favorite tea or coffee whatever it is make time for it today and tomorrow too! “The object of your practice should first of all be yourself. Your love for the other, your ability to love another person, depends on your ability to love yourself.” ― Hanh Nhat Thich, True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Click here to get your own subscription. Poem about Love By Kailey Brennan August 22, 2019 Loving yourself is tough. Waking up every day with a proud sense of who you are can feel exhausting, or even impossible. But we all know, deep down, we can be the best versions of ourselves when we love ourselves fiercely and freely. Sometimes it takes mantras and prayers and sticky notes on the wall and chats in the mirror to make self-love stick. Poetry can help too.  Here is a poem about love. accept yourself as a work in progress the continue  to build yourself into the person you’re dreaming to be; the person you have all the potential to be.  accept your flaws, accept your truths. accept your past.  and make light of them. no one can tear you down if  you make peace with who you are and where you’ve  been.  if you are going to focus on the negative at all, focus on turning them into positives.  focus on growing.  sometimes, often times, our minds are the scariest  place to sit.  it’ll trick you into comparing yourself  to others and it’ll trick you into believing you aren’t  good enough. but you are.  you have always been and you always will be. you’re much more powerful  when you believe in yourself.  if you don’t love all of you, who will?  give yourself time to blossom.    —Reyna Biddy  In the Media Where can you find EMPOWER Possible? Besides posting on my own social media I also collaborate with other entrepreneurs.  Most recently I was a guest on Positive Impact TV. Check out the episode linked HERE to learn more about strengths and how to build them. I even highlight Gitchi Gami (Lake Superior) during the conversation! EMPOWER Possible Free Resources Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences. Resilience is part of an emotional skill set. Complete this worksheet to start building resilience today. Click the link to download. Building Resilience Take a few minutes to relax and envision an empowered future. The act of visualization helps you to practice and imagine the future you would like to have. It directs your mind to focus on your goals for the future. Click the link below to get started. Empowerment visualization Connect with me on social media! Copyright © [[account.name]] [[account.address]], [[account.city]], [[account.country]], [[account.zipCode]] EMPOWER Possible is dedicated to empowering individuals, organizations, and communities to organize and act together to regenerate our world through Self, Social, and Systems transformation.  info@empowerpossible.com \ Website \ Mission You are receiving this email because you expressed an interest in my work—thank you! You can change your email preferences or unsubscribe at any time.  Edit preferences or Unsubscribe