A 5 Minute Morning Meditation to Lift Your Spirits and Put a Smile on Your Face

BAM VP - Be A More Vibrant Person in 2012
A daily energizing routine of Breath work, Affirmations, Meditation, Visualization and Progressive Relaxation will help you meet each day more Bold, Awesome, Motivated, Vibrant and Powerful.
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A 5 Minute Morning Meditation to Lift Your Spirits and Put a Smile on Your Face

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

Set your alarm five minutes earlier tomorrow.  When you get up, find a quiet place to sit and gaze out a window.  Look up at the sky.   Really notice the color and expanse.   Follow the shape and movement of the clouds.

Let your thoughts drift as you enjoy the morning stillness.  This is your time to focus on what is good in your life - not the worries of yesterday, today or tomorrow.

Begin your meditation by focusing on your breathing.   The rhythmic rise and fall of your breath.  Since breathing has a strong effect on emotional change, it is a natural bridge to begin to meditate.  Slow measured breathing has a calming effect.

Gently close your eyes and tune into your body.   A word will come to you that describes what you are feeling.  Calm, relaxed, peaceful, happy, confident.  That is your relaxation keyword.  Spread the word throughout your body.  From the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

Put your relaxation keyword in a phrase that inspires you to handle stress differently today.  For example, "I am calm and relaxed" when you are feeling tense and anxious.  Use this phrase whenever you need it throughout the day.

*Inhale slowly and  mentally repeat, "I live with a happy heart, a peaceful mind and a playful spirit".  Stay with it for a minute or two.  Inhale deeply and in the privacy of your own mind quietly shout, "I deserve health and happiness!"

Just before you are ready to open your eyes, begin to stimulate that positive energy that is a smile by recalling something you enjoy.  Something that makes you feel good.  Let the corners of your mouth turn up.  Smile.  Send this smiling energy into every bone and every organ and every nerve and every cell in your body.

Now take that smiling energy up into your heart.

Decide what you would like to take with you into your day.  Something of a positive, inspiring nature.  Open your eyes and start a day you look forward to!


*From Quantum Focusing - Finding the Zone by Michael Ellner and Alan Barsky.

End Your Weight Loss Struggles

BAMVP - Be A More Vibrant Person In 2012!

B is for Breath. Periodically during the day put the to-do list on hold. Take a moment to relax and recharge by focusing on your breathing. Slow, deep breaths from the diaphragm relax the muscles and flood the body with renewed energy. Make a daily commitment to BAMVP in 2012 and rediscover your joy of living!
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End Your Weight Loss Struggles

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other". --Author Unknown

Is your resolution to lose weight in 2012? The same weight you lost in 2011 and 2010? Why can't you make that weight loss stick?

*Dawn had the same question. For three years she resolved to lose 10 to 15 pounds to jump start her weight loss program. No diet was off limits. Low fat. Low carb. High protein. Even all liquid, all cereal, all cabbage soup. And each year she lost those 10 to 15 pounds. Unfortunately, when she started eating normally the weight came back. With an extra pound or two for added measure. Help!


Eating to Relieve Stress

Dawn slowly realized that dieting was not a permanent solution. And until she understood her compulsive need to eat it would always be a temporary fix. Dawn is a single parent with sole responsibility for raising her two children. Juggling parenting, household, commuting, a job she hated and a boss insensitive to her unique needs left her exhausted and frustrated by the end of the day. The stress was making her fat because food, and plenty of it, kept her company during the long, lonely nights after the children were put to bed.

Finally fed up, literally and figuratively, Dawn turned to BAMVP techniques to help her relax and eventually get control of over eating. She found that writing down the troubles of her day gave her peace of mind. And she spared no punches in her private journal letting her real feelings out! Using words she dared not say out loud, especially to her boss was freeing. Dawn found less need for food when asserting herself this way.

Permanent weight loss is no longer a struggle for Dawn. The need that drove her to compulsively eat has been replaced.

*From the book, "When You Need a Timeout".

Note: BAMVP Be a More Vibrant Person - see 11/2/10 post.