Do You Find Yourself to be a Habitual Rusher?

A passage from the Tao te Ching that inspired me today:

"He who stands on tiptoe

doesn't stand firm.

He who rushes ahead

doesn't go far.

He who tries to shine

dims his own light.

He who defines himself

can't know who he really is.

He who has power over others

can't empower himself.

He who clings to his work

will create nothing that endures.

If you want to accord with the Tao, 

just do your job, then let it go."

This passage speaks to me in so many ways.  Lately, I have watched myself get really frustrated around my work.  Around it not moving as quickly as I would like it to, not bringing in all the clients I would like to work with and projects I have been working on for months still not come to fruition.  I have watched this frustration really bother me and cause a lot of stress that I put on myself.

I have been in the past a habitual rusher.  I have always kind of felt this nudge in the back of my mind saying do more, keep going, there is always something to do, rush rush rush.  The crazy thing is that I despise rushing.  I don't feel good when I do and it never turns out.  I know from all those times that I don't rush, that I am in the flow of nature and life, how much better I feel and how everything that I need to get done and every where I have to be happens very easily.  I am more present and have more to give.

I have also learned to really slow down during this Mercury in Retrograde that is happening right now. It is a time where communication can get confused, where contracts really should not get signed and where things just generally work better when we slow down and not rush them.  I feel like there should be workshops on how to slow down, The Art of Slowing down.  I feel like as a society we have all lost that ability to slow down, to pause, to check in with our self and to allow.  We all need to learn how to slow down again.

"He who tries to shine dims his own light."  Also rings very true for me, the whole bit about rushing, clinging to your work and trying to make things happen instead of just doing your work and letting it go really hits home for me.  When it comes to my business and what I am passionate about I feel like I do cling to it, I do try to control the outcome, I do rush through my to do list to make sure I get it all done.  Instead of just doing the work and letting it go.  Plain and simple.  No clinging, no trying, no rushing, just letting it be.  As long as we are clinging to our work and trying to control the outcome of anything we are never going to get the results that we are hoping for.  Everything in life is backwards!  That is what I find.  Everything you think you should be doing to get what you want, usually tends to be what is keeping you from fully receiving it.

This passage is going to be my work this month.  I am going to commit to doing the work and letting it go.  I am going to commit to not rushing or clinging to my work.

Can we do the work and then let it go?  What are your fears around doing that?  How does that look for you?  I would love to hear your comments below.

Keep shining,
Erin

Being The One

I have started a new workshop called Being the One that I am launching this Wednesday from 7-8:30pm, which can be done from any where via conference call.  I am really excited about sharing this work and the book Calling in the One with you all.  This book changed my life and really helped me to see where I was blocking love from myself and because we are all mirrors of each other, I was blocking love from others as well.

After doing this book for 3 months, I met an amazing man at a yoga festival and we have been going strong ever since, before that I was single for a few years!  This stuff works!!

Being the One will help you to release any limitations that you may be holding that are keeping you from anything you may be wanting in life; financially, physically, health, career and relationship.  It all starts with us first.  When we can get honest and clear about our own limitations and the ways we have been holding ourselves back, then we can see the change begin.  

It is also all about our willingness to change.  If you are not willing, you will not see the desired results. But, if you can be really honest with yourself and see how you have created your life up until this point and be willing to try something different to create different patterns and habits you will then be able to begin creating the life you are wanting to live.  

We are so powerful, powerful beyond measure.  Yet, it is our very power that has never been shown, or expressed to us.  We have not been taught how powerful we are!  We are our own creator and the creator of our universe.  When you can fully step into that power and take ownership that you can create what you want and that you have created everything you have up until this moment, that is powerful!  

This workshop will give you some practical tools to help you do that, as well as a guide to follow with little exercises to help shift things around in your life.  The first step in making a change in your life is awareness.  With the group dynamic that we create, we will be able to support each other through these 3 months of change and growth.

Workshop starts Feb. 13, 7-8:30pm and goes until April.  We meet twice a month, each month.  

You must be open and willing to shift!  In order to get something different then you have ever gotten, you have to be willing to do something you have never done!  

Please email me with questions and to sign up!

I look forward to being on this journey with you all!

Where do you Sabotage Yourself?

Self sabotage...that thing that we all do.  We all do it some where in our lives.  Mine happens in various forms that I am becoming more and more aware of.  I often look at what other people my age are doing in the areas of work that I am interested in and think I should be doing that, I should be that far by now, I should be more known in my field, etc.

On the same token, I used to think I wasn't good enough to be that far, doing those things I longed to do.  Someday was a favorite word of mine.  But as I once heard Suzi Orman say, "There is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but there is NO Someday.  Get Rid of That Word!"  

Someday just leaves us to think that yes I will do that, I will have that, I will, I will...which is just reiterating to the subconscious mind that we don't have those things already.  If we believe we don't have what it is we want, then we will continue to not have it.  So we have to eliminate the word Someday from our vocabulary.  

Learning how we sabotage ourselves is the next important step to manifesting the life we want.  Because we can visualize all day long, but if we are resisting in any way, or being critical of ourselves we are limiting our ability to get what it is that we want.  Watch what you say to yourself.  Would you say that to a best friend?  Where do you limit yourself in life?  What limits do you put on yourself?  Limits can be as simple as "I have to get 8 hours of sleep a night, or I hate onions, or I get sick easily."  Those can all be seen as limits, because it is a statement that you are making about yourself and you are setting that in stone in a way.  It is becoming you.  Maybe you tried onions when you were five and didn't like them then, and you have never even opened yourself up to the possibility of liking them again. 

 It is so important to stay open to the possibility of change.  Because life and nature are always changing and so are you.  If we can be open to the possibility of change then things can shift in our life and we have to make room for the shift to occur.  We have to be willing to be open and we have to be willing to shift.  Everything we need we already have, we just have to be open to allowing it to come forth.

To learn more about all of this join me Feb. 6 from 7-9 pm for The Art of Manifesting workshop, this workshop will be taped and available via a podcast.

Keep Shining,

Erin

What Are You Willing to SHIFT?

My step dad always used to say to me "If you want something, what are you willing to give up to get it?"  As a high school kid I thought...nothing!  I don't want to give up anything.  But those words have always stayed with me.  I believe my new question is "If you want something, What are you willing to SHIFT?"

I am in to the idea of shifting my life right now.  I have been into that idea for a long time, but didn't see the results happen as quickly, or as I had thought they would happen.  This brought me to the conclusion that if I want to see a massive shift in my life, if I truly want things to change, then I have to do some things I have never done.  Because, in order to live a life that we have never lived, but would like to, we have to do things we have never done to get there.

There have been many things I have said that I would like to do.  One being a cleanse.  I have done cleanses before, but never a full blown really get down and dirty cleanse!  I have known for a while that I have had an addiction to sugar and probably caffeine.  Although I have gotten much wiser about my sugar and caffeine addictions eating (healthier) sugars and drinking Herba Matte instead of coffee, I noticed it was still hindering my ability to just be.  If any little issue came up I watched myself race to the kitchen for a cup of Matte, or something sweet.  I saw myself reaching for sweet after a meal.  I am trained in how to watch my brain and thoughts, I watched all of that happening, knowing it was just some illusive craving of my mind, saying "I am uncomfortable, let's do something about this fast," and every time I did.  I have decided to do a cleanse that involves taking out all things that contain sugar, even fruit and potatoes.  In case you haven't heard, sugar is a drug, just like nicotine.  I was tired of being a victim of my mind.  I have also cut out caffeine and cheese and a list of other things.  I have been doing that for about a week now and today I am starting my second attempt at a juice fast.  Day one and so far so good. The last time I tried this I caved in the evening and ate some crackers, but I think it is important to have a plan as to how you are going to do this and have a lot of liquids just ready to go around you.  I am excited to make this commitment to myself and my body, I had been having a lot of digestive problems and was ready for a change.

So the number one thing I am shifting is kicking my sugar and caffeine habit.

The second thing I am shifting is tithing.  Byron Katie says "If you want something and you don't have it yet, you don't want it bad enough."  If I am truly ready to bring in prosperity like I have never known, then I have to do something I have never done and that is donate 10% of ALL my earnings to a charity, or a place that gives me spiritual nourishment.  The concept of tithing is another thing I have been wanting to do, but just kept putting it off.  The whole concept of if you give you shall receive is so vital.  But it goes beyond just receiving something from what you give.  If you are giving 10% of what you earn, even when you are seeing that money go out and thinking, wow I really need some new yoga pants, or I could pay a lot of bills with that money and you do it Anyway and TRUST that the universe has your back, you are making a big shift.

The Ego has a "get" mentality instead of a "give" mentality.  Giving gives you the essence of abundance.

I had this sense of trust when I was traveling that I was being taken care of always, but I get back to the hustle of LA and I lost a lot of that.  Now I am putting my full trust in the universe and giving 10% of what I make to help someone else.  It feels really good, but I must admit that it is not easy, especially when I am wondering at times how I am going to pay my bills.

The other thing I am shifting is to take 10% of what I earn and put it in my savings account.  Which is an account that has not heard from me in a while!  I am committed to doing this for myself and for my future.  So right away 20% of my earnings are taken.  I asked the question to a friend who suggested I do this "What if you don't have the money to do either of those things, then what?"  She said, then do it anyway.  You have to start trusting that all your needs will be met.  This really shocked me and I immediately saw how doing these two things will shift my concept of money and deepen my trust that I am always being taken care of.  I decided to commit.

The third thing I am still in the process of working on and committing to is getting up at Sadhana hours, 3:30 am and meditating daily.  This is a practice that is strongly suggested in Kundalini yoga, because it is the hour when the veil is the most thin.  That makes it the best time to meditate.  I want to devote more time to my spiritual practice and nurturing my spark!  It is of vital importance to stay strong and be a light in this world and the only way to do that is for us all to nurture our spark by meditating.  I am still working on this one, but at the very least I want to get up at 6:30 or 7am everyday and do my practice.  Making that commitment to myself is important to me and I feel off when I don't do this.

So there you have it!  This is my plan to create miracles in my life.  I have to make room for miracles to happen.  If I want to have a life like I have never experienced before and have abundance beyond my imagination I have to do what I have never done.  It is that simple.

I would love to hear what shifts you are wanting to make to create the life you have always imagined.

Much love and light,

Erin

Let Love Win Over Fear

As I was driving home from a client's house today, I was flipping stations on the radio, I stopped when I heard about the tragedy in Connecticut.  I was surprised that I made myself stop and listen, instead of doing what I normally do, which is switch the channel quickly, to shield myself in a way from the terrible happenings of this world.  I am not one for current events, I never watch the news, I sometimes prefer to live in my little bubble thinking that terrible things do not happen.  But the truth is that they do and we are all connected and we all feel what happens to each other.  I stopped and listened as the father of one of the 6 year old children named Emily that was shot talked.  I cried as I listened to him, feeling his pain.  He was so strong as he talked about how amazing of a spirit his daughter had and how kind and generous she was with everyone.  I cried for him and for her.  

We accept that there is suffering and pain in this world.  As adults we have all suffered and felt pain in our own lives.  Yet when tragedy is done to children, we begin to question things.  We begin to think that the world is going down the tubes, that there are no good humans left, that we need to stay inside our bubbles, inside our houses and not let our children out of our sight.  I can agree to this.  My initial reaction to this tragedy was to think oh no, people are loosing it, it is getting scary out there, I don't want to leave the house.  This was not my higher self talking, this was my ego that wants to protect me talking.  But my higher self knows that during this highly charged time, we are being challenged to go into fear.  

Today I overheard a friend of a friend saying very seriously that she thinks the world is ending.  

When something this terrible happens, how could we not go into fear?  Our hearts are breaking for these families and these children.  While I am not saying we put aside our aching hearts, or forget that something this tragic just happened, I am saying let's let love win over the fear.  We are in such transitional times, where what we think about is happening instantly.  If we stay in fear, fear will win and I can't say what will happen to our world then.

If we can accept that our hearts are broken and know that when your heart breaks you come out on the other side stronger than before, with more determination and a deeper sense of gratitude we can begin to go into love.  If we can find the place within us that is strong and a fighter, we can have the grace to go into love and have the ability to let love win.  We have the ability to live in Heaven on Earth here in our future if we let love win. 

It is not a time to go into fear.  Keep doing what you normally do, keep living your life as you normally live it.  Don't let the negativity that is out there bog you down.  Go inside your heart.  Go silent.  Go within and find the answers that you are searching for during this painful time.  But don't let fear win.  Let's stay strong and stay in love through this most intensely charged week up until December 21st.  Where the light can be downloaded much stronger into us and onto the planet.  Remember to get still this week and meditate as often as possible.  Let yourself be open to these new energies that have not graced this planet for over 26,000 years!  Stay open!

Stay open to what is coming up for you.  Don't numb it, or push it down.  Stand up and fight for love.  Find it within you and then share it with others.  Let's all let love win.

Love, Light and Happy Holidays,

Erin

What I know now...

What I know now is nothing.  I return back into the nothingness and sit peacefully with it.  Allowing it to have its way with me.  The earth and all things come from the nothingness, so if I can sit and be with it, miracles can and will happen.

I no longer fuss, or worry over the nothingness.  I accept it and allow it to be.  I don't know what will happen.  We don't know what will happen and we can either be ok with that, or try to fight it by worrying and causing drama and lose.

What I do know is that everyone is breaking down around me.  We are all breaking down in some way or another.  Things that used to excite us no longer do, we are changing.  Including myself, although I seem to be at peace with it for once in my life.  What I do know is we are all being asked to go deeper, dig deeper into ourselves.  What we once could push down and hide from in ourselves keeps revealing itself louder and louder now.  What I do know is there is no more hiding from the parts of ourselves that are closed up, or closed off.  From the parts of ourselves where we don't love ourselves and expect more for ourselves.  From the parts of ourselves where we think we don't deserve better than the fear, doubt, resistance, negativity that we've been putting up with up until now.

What I do know is that if we can sit through those deep seated feelings and really get to the bottom of where they come from we can move past them.  What I do know is that those "parts" move out a lot faster than they used to if we are willing to acknowledge them.  We don't have to keep going back and rehashing them over and over again.

What I do know is the chains and walls on our heart that we think are keeping us safe are coming off easily.  Letting us be more open and more loving.  Love is stronger than fear and love is what wants to move through us now.  What I do know is that it is becoming easier to step from fear into joy, if we allow it.

What I do know is the time is now and you are exactly where you are supposed to be in this moment.

What I do know is that after the chaos there is peace and there is peace in the chaos too.

What I do know is that if you haven't went through the dark, you can't see the light.

What I do know is we are being asked to reclaim our personal power and connect to our very essence and just be ourselves.  What I do know is that our very essence is limitless, changeless and all-knowing.

What I do know is that when we do that our life will change and miracles will happen.

What I do know is that we will find that re-connection to our true essence in the stillness and the nothingness.  When we get still and listen.

What I do know is there is great joy and love available to us always.

Much love and light,

Erin

What Have YOU Been Putting Off?

I stare at the blank page of white before me.  The task that I have at hand seems daunting and always has.  Yet that voice from deep down inside of me whispers...write anyway.  Ok, I yell back drinking my coffee and eating Milk Duds.  Something I never, ever do, but seems to be my way of coping with the anxiety I have created from my daunting task.  Maybe it’s just daunting because I keep saying it is.  Maybe the dark cloud I feel myself in can be removed with a single type of the keys.  I have been wanting to write a book for at least 11 years now and I believe maybe even longer.  For the longest time the excuse was, who will want to read what I have to say?  What makes me think I have anything of value to talk about?   Or, the kicker I am not good enough to do that.  

I have found every possible excuse why not to do what I have so dreamed of doing.  If even just for myself!  Writing has been a way of expressing myself and a way of releasing stress.  I was always afraid of what people would have to say about my writing, afraid I would hurt someone I love if my book got published, afraid that I would FAIL!  I have finally, by the grace of God, gotten to a place where I don’t care any more.  Even if the book goes out to 5 people and it is because I Gave it to them, I don’t care.  There comes a time in your creative life where you just have to say this is what I am going to do and I am going to do it for me and no one else and if other people like it and get something out of it, then that is a huge bonus.  

For so long I was worried about writing to my audience.  I would be writing and then stop and think oh, no what if my audience doesn’t like that, or this.  Which would then leave me starring at my computer screen at a blank sheet after deleting everything I had just put down.  There are many people out there who have studied what you need to do to get your book published, to know your audience and sell millions of copies.  You can sit and study all of that until you are blue in the face, but at the end of the day you probably still have not written your book, or even a page of it.  Maybe after you have written one book, then you can start studying and know the facts for how to get it out there and yes, you should have an outline and a general idea of what you are doing.  

But my advice, more to myself than anyone else, is just to write your book for you.  Write what you want to write on the first draft and don’t think about anyone else.  Just write.  Because then you will get some where.  Then you will begin to believe in yourself and what you have to say and then you will begin to put your book together.  And who knows, maybe no one will read it, or maybe you will be a best-seller, but at least at the end of the day you can say I did what I wanted to do for ME.  And really what is more important than that!?!