October 29, 2012 is the night of the Blood Moon. This moon gets its name in part because of its association with menstrual cycles and the shedding of blood from a woman's uterus. Of course, the full moon completes a cycle, delivering on intentions that were made earlier at the onset of its waxing phase. But tonight's full moon, the Blood Moon, is all about shedding what no longer serves us.

Step outside and you can feel the change in the air--the cool, crisp autumn atmosphere in which the leaves give us a brilliant show before falling from the trees. The moon, the weather, the turning of the Wheel of the Year...these energies are perfect for focusing on the transitions that may be occurring in your own life.

You may have heard the old saying cliche that the only constant is change. If we don’t embrace changes, we get left behind. When our way of life changes and we are unwilling to adapt to the new ways, even though the new ways are better for us, we become frustrated and angry. Some people refuse to change their ways because they believe, whether subconsciously or not, that there are benefits to remaining where they are. For instance, smoking is a bad habit because it causes illness and disease, inhibits the natural functions of life force energy and not to mention the fact it is a smelly and disgusting thing for others to have to put up with. But for one who is addicted to nicotine, who is set in their ways and who believes they can not change there are loads of benefits in choosing to continue smoking. 


Taking the time to acclimate to changes can be hard on anyone. Letting go of the old rules and adjusting to the new paradigms requires effort. If you are going through transformation, you have to be flexible and willing to change. You can’t keep doing things the same way and expect different results. Simply allow yourself to trust in the process of transition.  Merge into the changes gracefully and expect a few slow starts along the way. Most importantly, though, open to the possibilities and promise of what the outcome may be.

Here is a heart-to-heart video on my Blood Moon musings and how you can use the transitional energies of this time of year to assist you in your own changes.

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Failure, in our culture, is the ultimate curse word! To fail is to not meet up to expectations (either your own or others'). It places you lower on the rungs of the ladder to success, ostracizes you as "incapable." We think of failure as a bad thing. We think of it as the most devastating thing that we could ever endure. We think of it as an END to a dream.

…yadda, yadda, yadda…

Well, F@*$ this! I think we have the wrong mindset about “failure.” What if, instead of thinking this way, we thought of failure as an inevitable part of the process to achieving that dream? Instead of it being a matter of devastation, it was simply a wrong turn on this journey?

A few years ago I started an online business, selling vintage collectibles and antiques. I have long been a collector of unusual things that “spoke” to me. Literally, I can feel the stories of old objects and if something felt right, and I liked its story, I would keep it. One day I decided to clear the clutter from my space. Knowing that everything is energy, I felt like transferring my stuff for a different kind of energy—money.

Now, as far as the ins and outs of running an online business-- I had no clue! But I didn’t think it could be that hard. I created my website, I listed a few things at really low prices—once they flew off my shelves, I realized that just maybe the prices were a bit too low.  I bumped up the prices a bit and found they were still flying off the shelves. I began to more thoroughly research what I had and found that things I had been selling could have sold for three times that amount.

Failure? Perhaps some would see it this way. In fact, every time I recount this story, someone inevitably proclaims, “FAIL!” But I prefer to view it differently. This “failure” was really the cost of my education. I have since learned that it pays to perform due diligence and thoroughly research before listing.

In retrospect, once I decided to take action, there was no such thing as failure--only experiences, consequences and results. This is the Principle of Cause and Effect at play. Every action has a reaction. Failure is just one effect.

My point is this: if you are unsure of HOW to get there, don’t sweat it! Once you decide to take action, you have to trust that the Universe conspires to give you what you need at the moment you need it! Trusting that everything happens for a reason develops an inner spirit of un-stop-ability! Trusting in this process allows you to approach everything with a solution-oriented mindset.

Most importantly, learn from it! Don’t let it eat you! Regroup, figure out a plan B and move on! Many people take this initial unmet expectation as a cue to give up and never learn from it. This is where YOU can rise above and shine!

So what if it didn’t go as you expected it to!? So what if you did not meet your deadline, or make the money you wanted? So what, so what, so what?? Ask yourself instead, “What have I learned?” “What can I do differently?” “What is the benefit here?” And most importantly, “What has this taught me about myself?” If you view failure as a learning experience, you soon see that every failure is really a new possibility!

Have a plan, take action, be flexible and learn from it! You can label it whatever you want, but in my experience, failure is just another word for possibility. By choosing to look at it this way, I have grown tremendously! I have also learned that building possibility into my plan of action for achieving my BIG DREAM-- gets me there!

I was destined for laughter yoga! In fact, my nickname was Giggles when I was a little girl, because I would and could laugh at just about anything! As I got older and faced the responsibilities of adulthood, it seemed I found fewer and fewer reasons to laugh. I had more important things to worry about--mortgage, money, bills, lawn care...you know, life! I found myself repeating mistakes and life's lessons constantly presenting themselves to me. I denied my own inner truth, tried to run from my problems, found myself in toxic relationships, hating my job, dissatisfied with much in life...then I suffered a TIA, i.e. a mini stroke. It was not devastating or life threatening, but it was enough to stop me in my tracks and wake me up to the fact that in my pursuit of "living the dream," I was neglecting the most important thing of all--my health! (For without health, we have nothing!)

As we get older, we tend to lose our child-like wonder and playfulness. As children, we didn’t need permission to laugh. But what happens to us? What hardens our attitudes? Why do we find it so hard to find wonder and joy in the simple pleasures of life? As we get older, we take on responsibility like marriage, jobs, caring for a family, bill paying, mowing the yard, taking out the trash…all these things can add stress to our lives!

Isn’t it funny, though (no pun intended) that most of us maintain a sense of sarcasm in our everyday communication? To many (myself included!) sarcasm can be funny. But did you know sarcasm is rooted in anger?
I believe sarcasm is a mask we wear in order to protect the ego. When the ego is engaged, we care too much about how others perceive us. Sarcasm allows us to express pent up rage in a “safe” manner—we are not directly “attacking” anyone, we get to express ourselves and we elicit a laugh from others (albeit, most usually a nervous, timid laugh...) And this is okay, to an extent. But when it becomes so common that sarcasm is part of your personality, the use of sarcasm can be detrimental to your emotional wellbeing.

What we need to do is shed the mask, let go of ego and laugh for no reason! Not everyone is comfortable with laughing for no reason. Many of us need to watch a comedian or a funny movie or listen to a joke in order to make us laugh. To combat this hurdle, here’s a trick you can do…give yourself permission to laugh. And then, just do it! And remember, laughing for no reason is a skill that gets better with practice.

Fortunately for me, and through a strange cosmic synchronicity, I found laughter yoga shortly after my TIA experience. It was the answer to my hardened attitude and today, I laugh-- ALOT! With practice, laughing for no reason becomes natural (and the benefits to your health are amazing! But that is another topic for another blog post!)  

If you would like to incorporate more laughter into your life, join me in January as I will be providing one-on-one laughter yoga coaching.

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