ON GROWING SLEEP

Getting to sleep has become a large problem in our society. We are too busy fighting with the weeds of our day to slow down and plant the proper seeds for relaxation in our daily garden of “doing things” and then wonder why sleep eludes us. Sleep is what our body uses as our time for healing and restoration.

We should be sleeping for about 1/3rd of our lives. Deep, good quality sleep allows our natural pharmacopeia to release the chemicals inherent in us that keep us operating at peak efficiency. Without the proper amount and types of sleep, we become fuzzy brained, scattered, tired and ill. Now some of you would argue that there are pills to help with getting to sleep, but sleep should be blissful, silent and deep enough for a dream state to be invoked. In our search for this type of sleep we often sabotage our efforts without realizing it.

The most frequent reasons the dream state is not reached are 1) tranquilizers, 2) sleeping pills, and 3) alcohol.

Consider the fact that our bodies are already equipped with all the appropriate chemicals and in the proper dosages for each person to function as they should in this (and all areas of life), why mess with that? Let us look at some lifestyle changes that we can cultivate in order to access our natural ability to sleep.

Seed one) Have a light supper 2 to 3 hours before you go to bed. Have a set bedtime and stick to it. Give yourself at LEAST 30 min. quiet time before bed. Stop doing whatever you were doing and turn off everything noisy. Lower the lights, if you wear glasses, take them off and let go of your day and sink into the quiet. Let the thoughts that bedevil you stay just long enough for you to say "listening" 3 times (a Buddhist thingy) after you speak, let go of the thought. If it is a "to do thing", write it down on paper so your mind can let it go.

Next, start with either your head or feet (different for different folks-try both to see where you land) and tense up all the muscles in whatever area your working with, let them relax and move to the next group. For instance, feet; tense, relax move. Calves: tense, relax, move. Thighs and so on working your way up your body (or down as your case may be), you get the picture. When you get to your head, do your face, jaws, scalp, anything you can to stretch the muscles and relax them. Feel the difference in your tension level, it will be lower and relaxation will be in your reach. You can do this as many times as you wish.

Seed two) This one I learned from a friend of mine, Geo Clark and he calls it pyramid breathing; focus all attention on your breathing, inhale, hold 1, exhale. Inhale, hold 2, and exhale. And so on, do this all the way to 10 then come back down to 1. Somewhere in there you will fall asleep. Let me know how you manage. Another breathing technique is to inhale deeply through the nose and then exhale, through the nose in little puffs like blowing out a candle. Do this about 20 reps as a relaxation aid.

Seed three) Again quiet the room and lower the lights. If you have quiet relaxing music or guided meditation on CD you may wish to use them to help you become quiet. An aroma therapy candle (burned in a safe dish) or an essential oil or herbal relaxation aromas such as saffron or lavender can aid in easing you into a more relaxed state. Warm some milk with a touch of saffron or nutmeg, poppy seed or, if you prefer 1 Tablespoon gotacola in 1 cup water for tea.

Seed four) understand that different people require different amounts of sleep so find out what is best for you and make it part of your healthy, daily lifestyle. Mix and match the different ideas and techniques to find out your best formula and know that sometimes it will change. Don’t stress over it, just let it happen as you practice the suggestions I have laid out here (and there are others out there just a little research will bring them to light) and you will find that your sleep garden will grow better results in your waking life and your efforts will bloom brightly.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

©Chessie Roberts 2010 all rights reserved

                 

GETTING RID OF “STUFF” THAT WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE

                 GETTING RID OF “STUFF”

             THAT WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE
                  ©Chessie Roberts 2010, all rights reserved

“Childhood stuff needed to happen because it did. So are you going to use it as an excuse to fail or rewrite your memes (old ideas in your head that you don’t need any more) to elevate yourself to be a better you?” Dr. Wayne Dyer

I ask myself this question every time I feel unsure of which way I need to move because an old tape keeps playing in my head. Just because someone taught us something when we were little does not mean that it still ‘fits’ now or that it was true in the first place. Just as we grow into and out of our clothing we grow into and out of ideas, thought processes and feelings. Here is the GREAT news for us…it is OK for that to happen. Actually, it is desirable for thoughts to grow and change as we grow and change.

Being stuck in our past is never a good thing. Forward movement must take place for us to evolve. If we don’t evolve, we stagnate and that causes pain, illness and frustration.

For those of you who are realizing that this is something you need to work on I strongly recommend the book “Virus of the Mind, the New Science of the Meme” by Richard Brodie. It will define this new thought process in a way that will make the transition clearer and therefore easier to navigate.

Bright Blessings and smooth sailing, Chessie

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR SITUATION?

            HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR SITUATION?

In any given situation you have choices. You can choose to be the victim of the situation, or you can choose to rise above it and make it a learning and growing experience for yourself. Self-pity stops you cold, so decide that the situation is your next best thing. Look for the positive aspects of it and act on them.

I challenge you to truly and objectively look at your situation. Where and what are the positive aspects of it? What of the negative aspects can you turn into positive ones? How can you now benefit from this new viewpoint? If you look at a seemingly “bad” situation as your “next best thing” you will find the “good” in it for you.

Just as slow motion and stop action still photography gives you an opportunity to reevaluate what you thought you saw, so does slowing down and honestly analyze your situation. This reexamining will reveal secrets and clues within the situation that you would otherwise miss. This allows you the opportunity to see the true good in your situation, to change your perception of it and turn it toward your benefit; to make it your next best thing.

So when you feel that your situation is beyond redemption, slow down, reexamine and search out those hidden positives and turn a negative into your next best thing and grow.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© 2010 Chessie Roberts, all rights reserved

Don’t Let Life Discourage You

                     Don’t Let Life Discourage You

“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he has had to begin where he was.” (Richard L. Evans)

Chances are one day you decided to change some things in your life. You were where you were and somehow it just didn’t quite feel right, it didn’t fit. It may have been any one of a number of things, a notion that feels wrong now, an old piece of knowledge that you have just found out was incorrect information or, possibly you have found that a way of thinking about some issue or group now seems unworthy of you. Whatever made you wake up and realize that self-improvement was in order is to be applauded.

Changing anything requires you to start somewhere and I suggest that where ever you find yourself is the perfect place for you to begin. The simple fact that you have come to this conclusion is an awesome step for you, for everyone trying to make their lives better.

Start with baby steps, they get better results and as you see progress you will be encouraged to keep going. Self-improvement is always time invested in your most valuable asset, you. Like the instructions when you are on a plane to put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping the person next to you; if you are not in a healthy, whole, balanced place you can’t help anyone else.

Even if you can respect someone for being a mess because you’re a mess too, you don’t have to stay that way. Learn to respect yourself for the right reasons and watch your mess straighten out.

Some of your baby steps might be to think of all the things you feel are important to you; then ask yourself if they are worthy of you? Do they raise your vibrations? Do they move you to grow? Would they be precious to you if they were suddenly gone? If so then enjoy, if not then lose them because when you change how and what you think about, how and what you think about changes.

To get to the good things in life not only do you need to make changes in the way you think and perceive things, you have to let your walls down and take the chance that you might get hurt; this is better than feeling nothing and, as you grow toward your goals of wholeness and betterment, the absence of walls will allow your feelings to become those of joy that all of us want to achieve.

Remember that life, especially a conscious and aware one doesn’t just happen; it requires your participation so participate with joy, empathy and balance of body, mind and spirit. Know too as you work that you are the bridge between where you are now and where you want to be and that the only person who can get you there is you.

I wish you an awesome journey and Bright Blessings. Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2010, all rights reserved

Fable of the Porcupines

                                                                  A prickle of porcupines

 

 

                        Fable of the Porcupines

It was the coldest winter ever and many animals were dying because of it. The porcupines, realizing that the situation had become dire, decided to group together to share their body heat. This way they covered and protected themselves and each other. A problem arose because the quills of each of the porcupines wounded their closest companions and even though they gave heat to each other the damage of the quills was making their decision problematic.

After a long discussion they decided that they needed to distance themselves one from the other to avoid hurting each other anymore that they had already. Because of the low temperature, the animals began to die, alone and frozen. The group then realized that another choice had to be made either they accept and adjust their quills while accepting and adjusting to the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, the porcupines decided to go back to being a unified group, working together to do what they could to help each other. With their new adjusted attitude and insight, they learned to hold their quills in such a way as not to create so much damage to their fellows and to live with the little wounds that were still caused by the close relationship with their companions. By accepting and adjusting to those around them, each one was able to benefit from the heat, companionship and strength that came from the others. In this new mindset they were able to survive.

The lesson here is that the best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people in perfect situations, but the one in which each individual learns to live with the imperfections of, not only themselves, but those of others. In doing so can also admire and appreciate the other person's good qualities.

The unconditional love that we find in maturity, growth, acceptance and understanding will create a radiance that permeates everything that it touches. We also learn where to let go and where to hold on and all of this will generate healing, understanding, tolerance and love in everyone with whom it comes in contact. This spontaneous event is what raises vibrations, heals ALL things and allows us to become more consciously aware and closer to the whole balanced person that we desire to be.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2010, all rights reserved,

ADVERSITY

                                  ADVERSITY

Adversity, what is it to you? Some feel that is just bad luck, some think it is just something that needs to be lived with and so it is their way of life. To some, it’s what they feel they deserve and for others it is something unpleasant that happens to people that they neither know nor care about so is not their concern.

It is, for some, something to run from; it has been defined as problems, pain, suffering, and wounds. There are those who see it as a reason to be the victim and garner sympathy or a good reason to be miserable; some people just like to wallow in it.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Trouble (adversity) creates a capacity to handle it.” This is true because adversity is actually your life lesson, your curriculum for learning to create the whole, balanced, productive, prosperous and abundant life that you deserve.

If you feel you have it bad and wait around for worse to happen, and it will if you are waiting for it, you will find that “bad” looked pretty good. This is the thought process of a good 95% of the population. By investing the time to read and think about changing your thoughts to a more positive vein, you will have moved into the 5% that have chosen to change their thought process for the better. It has been proven that when you change what you think about, what you think about changes and that process also changes the way you act. For instance, M. Kathleen Casey said that “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” It is all in how you think about it.

So I challenge you to turn your thoughts and feelings around so that you do indeed change the way you think, so that what you think about changes. When you accomplish this, you will find that your life will start to become exactly what you truly want and you will begin to receive the best of everything that you deserve.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2010, all rights reserved

WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?

                   WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?

The dictionary tells us that “choice” means;
1 : the act of choosing : SELECTION (finding)
2 : power of choosing : OPTION (you)
3 a : the best part : CREAM b : a person or thing chosen (she)
4 : a number and variety to choose among (a)
5 : care in selecting
6 : a grade of meat between prime and good— of choice : to be preferred

Synonyms; CHOICE, OPTION, ALTERNATIVE, PREFERENCE, SELECTION, ELECTION mean the act or opportunity of choosing or the thing chosen. CHOICE suggests the opportunity or privilege of choosing freely (freedom). OPTION implies a power to choose that is specifically granted or guaranteed (the).

Why is making a choice important? The importance lies in the degree of maturity and enlightenment that is reached when you realize that you have the ability to come from a conscious, aware act that exercises your privilege to take the opportunity to use your innate power to choose how to do anything you desire. The conscious awareness of this ability and the understanding of its’ importance is one of the greatest steps in the positive direction of your growth toward being whole, balanced and closer to the higher Universal vibrations that you are striving for. This is an important action toward taking you power back; of becoming the person that you truly want to be.

Choose love; Choose gratitude; Choose positivity; Choose empathy; Choose caring; Choose truth and honesty; Choose to be generous; Choose integrity; Choose perseverance; Choose actions that are worthy of you; and Choose to evolve.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

© Chessie Roberts, 2010 all rights reserved