Progress
Progress. That sometimes elusive element that makes our heart soar, sing or sink depending on if we have touched it or whether it has, once more, escaped our reaching hands.
I started this post one year ago and want to get some notes down on my journey since. My blogs, like my life in horses and in other areas, have stuttered and started in fits and lurches forward, backward, sometimes stagnating altogether.
I've been working on my own emotional and mental fitness for the bulk of 2014. I am feeling now that all of the various offshoots are starting to come together and reference materials are over-lapping, coalescing into simpler and clearer paths. Similar messages resonate strongly with me in the various materials I have selected to study.
My work is centered on getting myself more disciplined and strong. Yoga is a good tool and I'm enjoying both the physical challenge and results from Trudie Styler and James D'Silva's Warrior Yoga dvd. After only two weeks of working with this dvd, I already notice an increase in flexibility and stamina.
For mental and spiritual fitness, back to my old friend and nemesis: meditation. I commit to five minutes a day; if I do more, that is good, if not, I can still do my five minutes and I think the daily practice is more beneficial than the length of time spent doing it.
Habits can be my friend as well as my enemy, and what I practice, I can do more easily, even if that practice is finding reasons NOT to do something! How often I have not done even five minutes of something because I couldn't do it for a longer time stretch....silliness! Five minutes counts! I've come to respect the power of the baby-step.
With a bit more focus, I can steer the ship of my life voyage more diligently. Materials that have helped me chart this path and to understand the whys and wherefores of the stumbling blocks I CONTINUE TO CREATE for myself are:
"The Happy Books":
10% Happier, by Dan Harris. Entertaining as well as informative and the reason I am once more committed to meditation. I will be listening to this again; great on audio-book while walking.
The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor.
The Charge, by Brendon Burchard.
"The Hanson Materials":
Just One Thing, Buddha's Brain, Hard-wiring Happiness, all by Rick Hanson. Life-changing.
And a little 10-minute video by Brian Johnson which has led me to The Power of TED: The Empowerment Dynamic by David Emerald. See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5hSa16FX94
All of Rich Roll's podcasts which continue to inspire me to become the best me possible. www.richroll.com Rich continues to be a personal hero for me.
For more on the spiritual side of developing a stronger sense of TRUE self, I've been exploring the work of Thich Nhat Hanh and am reading his book Fear and the wonderful Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.
Developing the presence of mind to HAVE presence of mind is infinitely applicable to my work/play with my horses......as I can gather ALL of myself and bring that to THIS moment, my resources to engage with them in the best way I can become available.
---------------
I turn 60 in a little over two months. As much as I have prided myself on age not being a factor in my life, this milestone does seem to hold signficance for me. Now is the time to do what I want with my life, to hone the goals, to stop breathing life into the barriers and to achieve all that I know I can.
Onward.
Sue
I started this post one year ago and want to get some notes down on my journey since. My blogs, like my life in horses and in other areas, have stuttered and started in fits and lurches forward, backward, sometimes stagnating altogether.
I've been working on my own emotional and mental fitness for the bulk of 2014. I am feeling now that all of the various offshoots are starting to come together and reference materials are over-lapping, coalescing into simpler and clearer paths. Similar messages resonate strongly with me in the various materials I have selected to study.
My work is centered on getting myself more disciplined and strong. Yoga is a good tool and I'm enjoying both the physical challenge and results from Trudie Styler and James D'Silva's Warrior Yoga dvd. After only two weeks of working with this dvd, I already notice an increase in flexibility and stamina.
For mental and spiritual fitness, back to my old friend and nemesis: meditation. I commit to five minutes a day; if I do more, that is good, if not, I can still do my five minutes and I think the daily practice is more beneficial than the length of time spent doing it.
Habits can be my friend as well as my enemy, and what I practice, I can do more easily, even if that practice is finding reasons NOT to do something! How often I have not done even five minutes of something because I couldn't do it for a longer time stretch....silliness! Five minutes counts! I've come to respect the power of the baby-step.
With a bit more focus, I can steer the ship of my life voyage more diligently. Materials that have helped me chart this path and to understand the whys and wherefores of the stumbling blocks I CONTINUE TO CREATE for myself are:
"The Happy Books":
10% Happier, by Dan Harris. Entertaining as well as informative and the reason I am once more committed to meditation. I will be listening to this again; great on audio-book while walking.
The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor.
The Charge, by Brendon Burchard."The Hanson Materials":
Just One Thing, Buddha's Brain, Hard-wiring Happiness, all by Rick Hanson. Life-changing.
And a little 10-minute video by Brian Johnson which has led me to The Power of TED: The Empowerment Dynamic by David Emerald. See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5hSa16FX94
All of Rich Roll's podcasts which continue to inspire me to become the best me possible. www.richroll.com Rich continues to be a personal hero for me.
For more on the spiritual side of developing a stronger sense of TRUE self, I've been exploring the work of Thich Nhat Hanh and am reading his book Fear and the wonderful Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.
Developing the presence of mind to HAVE presence of mind is infinitely applicable to my work/play with my horses......as I can gather ALL of myself and bring that to THIS moment, my resources to engage with them in the best way I can become available.
---------------
I turn 60 in a little over two months. As much as I have prided myself on age not being a factor in my life, this milestone does seem to hold signficance for me. Now is the time to do what I want with my life, to hone the goals, to stop breathing life into the barriers and to achieve all that I know I can.
Onward.
Sue
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