Needing Relief?

There will be times in our lives when we feel overwhelmed, exhausted and emotionally beaten. When we are experiencing these things and are wanting to feel some relief, we must remember that we have a choice.

We can focus our attention on something in nature, like the trees, the sky and clouds and feel appreciation for the attention that Universal Source continually has upon us.

We can focus our energy and feel appreciation for the divine support we have, divine guidance, divine love and this will ease our suffering.

Suffering is a result of living disconnectedness. Yes, it is true, we are disconnected from happiness and good feelings sometimes, but we are always connected to our Universal Source.

Focusing on the eternal connection will bring us ease.

Yup, It was the Chicken Pillow

I don't know if any of you have ever encountered this situation, but I thought I'd share just in case anyone else has had this perplexing experience. I feel fine, actually I feel great. I have lots of energy and feel an overall exuberance for life. I dance through my days and generally have fun every day. However, when I go to bed, all of a sudden I get a stuffed up nose. I'm not able to breath through my nose at all and I start sneezing quite a bit.

I wake up with puffy eyes, a very dry mouth (from mouth breathing all night) and completely clogged up. The last time this was happening to me I discovered I was either allergic to or severely sensitive to my pillow. It was a down pillow, but I not so affectionately referred to it as my chicken pillow.

The pokey end of the feathers would stick out and poke me in the uber sensitive parts of my neck, like right behind my ear, and I would just hunt for the pokey end and pull that sucker right out. It was often the middle of the night, so I would just throw it on the floor. Some times I'd set it on my night stand, but for real it was a feather, so it inevitably it would end up on the floor anyway.

I finally went to my naturopath and he suggested that I "cook" my pillows. What? You want me to do what to my pillows? He suspected I wouldn't know what he was talking about and my facial expression confirmed his suspicion, so he quickly suggested placing the pillows in the dryer on the highest heat available for about 30 minutes.

OK, but why? Why? Oh, to kill dust mites. Ewe! WARNING!!! DO NOT GOOGLE DUST MITES!!!! It will creep you out. There, now, I am not responsible if you get a wild hair and decide to look it up anyway. That shit is on you, cuz I warned you. Just know that I'm still trying to shake the heebie-geebies from looking it up myself for this blog. Ewe.

You don't have to look up dust mites to start cooking your pillows. You could simply trust me and start cooking your pillows today and be free of congestion, sneezing and puffy eyes caused by these little buggers. Oh and I should also mention that I no longer have a chicken pillow, more commonly known as a down pillow. I switched to a hypoallergenic pillow. Ahhhh, much better.

A bit of relief

I have been struggling with feeling paralyzled by helplessness. It can be so challenging when someone you love is hurting so badly and struggling to find their sense of normal again, but I'd like to share with you a few things I've learned in the last 24 hours.

There is a tremedous sense of relief to be found in allowing yourself to totally feel your feelings. It is not fun to cry and feel vulnerable, but when you give yourself permission to truely feel the full range of emotions associated with challenging times it helps to move beyond those feelings. I can't remember where I heard this, but it goes something like the frame of mind that percieves a problem can not be the same frame of mind that can invision the solution.

So, how do you change your frame of mind??? Excellent question! To that I refer to the wise advice of my friend Susan, "Find one thought of gratitude and breathe that thought into your being. Breath brings life force energy into the body. Which provides a state of peace and awareness, so you are not caught up in incessant thought." When I read those words today, they stopped my tears in their tracks and provided a much needed break in my feelings of helplessness. Thank you.

How did those perfectly strung together words reach my ears today? Another secret revealed right here in Apozitude. Right here. Right now. You gotta open up and let people know you are spinning out of control. All I had to do was send out a single sentence in a private facebook message. That message was this simple. "I am feeling paralyzed by helplessness today." Ask for help.

The next thing is delightfully simple, so prepare yourself. I mean it. Take a deep breath and don't try to make this more difficult than it really is, ok? Think simple and know that when you are feeling down in the dumps you are only one positive encounter away from a changed perspective. Open yourself up to something funny, open yourself up to something light and there it will be, delivering the smile you've been craving. It may take several recommitments to opening up to something funny, but one smile is just a bit of relief and that bit of relief can be the beginning of a better day.

Sending love, happiness and relief out into the world.

Change your mind

I read one of those little meme things on Facebook recently that read, It's hard to stay positive when it seems like everything is going wrong, and my response to that was, If it seems that everything is going wrong, it may be time to change your mind.

What I mean by that is, perhaps, if your mind were focused on something that brings you joy, then maybe you could begin to feel a bit of relief. I know it is hard to do sometimes, but it is possible to change your focus. It is possible to retrain your brain. I know it's possible because I do it.

Imagine for just a moment that you're sitting in a cold drafty room with a leaky roof and there is slow constant drip right on top of your head. This water is dripping, dripping, dripping right on your head, constantly nagging you. Every single time it drips on you, your body has a slight flinch and over time this flinch causes you to tire and feel exhausted. Your muscles tighten and you can't seem to relax.

Then all of a sudden you realize you can get up from the chair and walk away from the drip that has been driving you crazy! You can seek out a more desirable place to be.

Imagine what a relief you would feel to be away from that nagging drip. It can be as easy or as difficult as you choose and yes, you can choose.

You have the power to make changes in your life. All it takes is for YOU to make up your mind that you want better and then reach out and grab it! Reach for happy feeling thoughts. Reach for a sense of relief. Begin by taking the needle off the record of all the thoughts that drive you crazy. Bring peace into your current moment. Rest your brain and allow peace to drift in and imagine your body relaxing as you let go.

Just let go. Release your grip on that negative source of frustration. Release your grip on that confusion and open your mind to certainty. Start with what you know. I know I am sitting here right now, I know I am breathing right now. I know I want change in my life. I know that breath is the source of life. If I am not breathing I am not living and I can feel my breath. I know I can sit here for just a minute and focus my thoughts on my breathing, so I can experience a moment of relief. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The point is to feel relief.

As you do this and begin to experience a bit of relief, you may find that sense of relief very desirable. You may want to practice getting a moment of relief more and more and you find that you rather enjoy it. One moment of relief turns into two, and then 5 and so on. You may find that feeling a sense of relief is much easier than you thought and that is how you change your mind.

Change your mind, change your life.