LIFETOOLS

Along Your Path

Tools for mindfulness, clearing and growth

Just Today

“Quickie” heart openers and mind refreshers, just for today,

just for the fun of it!

Just today, try this:

Program your heartbeat. Put two fingers in the hollow of your throat and feel your pulse. Then imagine a short, simple phrase that you’d like your body to resonate to, and repeat the phrase a few times in rhythm with your heartbeat. Examples: “You… are.. loved…” or “I… am… well…” or “I… love.. life…” Let your heart’s drumbeat fill all your cells with this truth.

Or maybe this:

Body Blessings. Find one part of your body you can really love, and send it a silent pulse of love 5 times today. Have you thought about how wonderful it is to have opposable thumbs, for instance? Or where you would be without your kidneys?

Or choose this:

Good office vibes. When you walk into your work space for the first time today, take a good look around. Find one thing in this space you truly enjoy and appreciate. Before you leave the space, look at that thing twice more and send it appreciation.

I chose this painting my father did on a Vancouver Island beach in 1948, with his six-year-old daughter looking on… a favorite memory and a much-loved addition to my office wall!

Listening to Your Heart

Use when a difficult event (physical challenge, disappointment, or increasingly toxic situation) shows up and you suspect it may be asking for action on your part.

Is there an event or physical state that’s shown up in your life that you feel has something to tell you—but your mind just can’t get the message? Try listening to your heart, which can tune in to your deeper, body-and soul-based wisdom. Here’s how:

Write down the event or symptom you’d like to know more about. (After years as a driven workaholic, for example, Pat-that-was developed severe fibromyalgia.)

Now place your dominant hand over your Heart Center in the middle of your chest, and let your heart complete these statements, speaking aloud if at all possible. When each statement comes out, write it down. Then place your hand back over your heart and continue.

1. My heart says: this ________ is showing me that I am __________________________________.

(For example, Pat-that-was might have said, “My heart says this fibromyalgia is showing me that I am in a lot more pain than I’ve been willing to acknowledge.”)

2. My heart says: this will get worse/happen more if I don’t __________________________________.

(Again, Pat might have said, “… if I don’t start paying attention to my body’s needs.” Or “… if I don’t cut back drastically on my work hours.”)

3. My heart says: a first small step toward doing that would be _________________________________.

(Pat might have said, “… would be setting an alarm to remind me to eat.” Or “would be turning off my phone and computer at 8:00 p.m.”[I meant that about having been a workaholic!! Small steps...])

4. My heart says: I will be more willing to take this first small step if I first ________________________________________.

(Pat might have said, “… if I first stock the refrigerator and freezer with some healthy, quick-prep meals.” Or “… if I first tell my partners, firmly, that to work effectively I need more rest.”)

5. My heart says: my mind will object that ______________ ________________________________.

(Pat might have said, “… that I just don’t have the time to shop or cook.” Or: “… that my partners will just tell me I’m lazy, malingering and there’s no time around here to rest.”)

6. And my body, heart and soul say: ___________________ ________________________________.

(Pat’s body, heart and soul would certainly have said, “… this will kill me if I don’t take steps NOW! A few hours shopping and cooking, or a few unpleasant minutes with my partners, looks pretty insignificant compared to dying by degrees.”)

Then, consider next steps. Is there an outer action to take? An inner action? Do you care enough about yourself to take it? What does your heart say?

(P.S. Pat-that-was had to take several steps before the fibro left, but it did. Dramatically quickly, once I took action. I needed help, though. How about you? If there are inner blocks to action you need help clearing, I’m here.)

Listening for “But… because”

Set a firm inner intention to hear yourself every time you use the word “but” closely followed by the word “because” in either your thoughts or your spoken words.

When you hear “but… because,” listen especially closely to the words that preceded and followed it. Are they a simple statement of fact (“It’s sunny right now, but I’m going to take an umbrella because I think it’s going to rain later,” for instance)? Or are those words an excuse for stopping in your forward motion, or taking a detour? For not doing something you know your soul is asking you to do? For putting off answering what is calling you? And underneath them, is there a toxic self-story lurking, one that truly doesn’t serve you? Here are some examples:

“I know I should tell him how I feel about that, but I can’t because he’ll be upset.” [Story lurking: “I’m not allowed to upset other people; it’s not safe; they’ll reject me”; whatever your version is.]

“I’d love to go after that position/ follow my dream/ express that talent but I can’t because I’m too busy with my family.” [Story lurking: “I have to choose either this dream/opportunity/gift or my family. I can’t take proper care of both.” And look out for another “because” here: “… because I have to do it all myself.”]

“I really need to meditate/walk/get out more/do my art but there’s no time because I have to meet this deadline.” [Story lurking: “Other people, especially bosses, get to control my entire life. It’s not safe/it’s bad/it’s impossible to stand up to others.”]

If this is a stop-you-in-your-tracks “but… because,” take a few moments to really listen to the story hiding behind your words. Ask yourself, “Does this story really serve me?”

If this story does not serve you, envision yourself taking out a pair of sacred golden scissors. Cut off that story line wherever you sense it is spinning out from your head. Snip it off close to your head and let it spin away into the ethers, never to return.

Take a deep breath and proclaim to yourself, “I choose to be free!”

Thank yourself wholeheartedly for identifying and cutting off a toxic story, and for listening to your soul!

Now, if appropriate, make a new decision based on what your heart and soul are saying you truly want or need to be deciding and doing. (To hear your inner self better, try using the “My heart says” technique from the Listening To Your Heart tool: “My heart says what I truly want/need to do is_____________________”.)

Or try this:

Three times today, take three long, deep breaths and let each one out slowly with an audible “aaahhh….” Red traffic lights are great for this; or when you walk into or out of your house; or…

I am loving my right hand today, with all my history engraved in it. They say the hands reveal our age more than any other area of the body – I say, good for them! Our hands reveal our beautiful history and all the ways we have responded to life to bring us here, now. Love and gratitude, hands! My life is written in you…

Extra health benefit from this one: it brings your stress indicators (heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, etc.) down to your early-morning baseline. To keep them there, do this once an hour...

Here’s an angiogram of a healthy heart. Isn’t it gorgeous? Aren’t WE gorgeous?

Missing something?

Know there was a tool or a Just Today item here – and now it's gone? Check out the Toolkit page... it's archived there.