[Day 4] How do you treat your body?

"Your body is your home"

Rich Hanson

For years I neglected to listen and respond to the signals my body was sending. Headaches, pain in my back, insomnia, nausea, panic attacks just to name a few of the signals.

The body was just sort of in the way, and at times I felt that it was robbing me of the chance to really get to a place of success and freedom - "if I can just do a little more, THEN I can relax" I would think to myself. The thing is you can ALWAYS do a little more, and more and more.

I was stressed and although It didn't come from bad intentions, I had never learned how to slow down enough to really respect my limits. A lot of us aren't friends with our body, it becomes our enemy at times.

By beginning to listen to the body's signals with gentleness and curiosity you can create enormous shifts. They may seem small, but just knowing where you are in this moment can help you respond more skillfully and in tune with what you need. The first step is always awareness with what is.

So, what is your body telling you? Get more sleep, eat less, eat more, less sugar, stretch, exercise, release tension, drop your shoulders a bit, relax your jaw, feeling strong, healthy, light, big or small, what signals is your body sending?

As Rick Hanson puts it "Your body is your home" and how does living there feel? Maybe you treat your body really well, how does that feel? How can you begin to treat your body like a good friend?

Remember this isn't about judging yourself, but observing with compassion (we will be diving into that some more later on ).

Now write a post or grab your journal and write about your reflections, experience and share your story.

I am LOVING your posts! 

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Recommended reading

Not Quite Nirvana: A Skeptic's Journey to Mindfulness

by Rachel Neumann

[Day 3] - Sit

We are starting off slowly in this challenge. And one good point in all of this is, that this isn't about rushing to become more mindful... :)

We have covered what being Mindful means to you. Important to define for yourself so you know what your starting point actually is. It helps you know what you expect from the challenge and yourself. Yesterday we connected to the breath. An amazing place to begin to stop and bring your awareness back to the present moment.

Today is about the formal practice - meditation, and in this case the sitting meditation.

Do a 10 minute sitting meditation (if you are experienced or feel you have more time, then sit for longer). 

You can use the following instruction, an app or sign up of the mini mag on the front page and you will receive a free audio you can download. You can also youtube "Mindfulness sitting meditation" and use one of those.

• Sit on a chair or cushion, you can also lay down on the floor if that is more comfortable for you. The back should be straight and let the shoulders drop slightly towards the floor. Close your eyes or let them stay open, and find a focus point in front of you.

• Let your attention rest on your breathing. Follow your in-breath from the nose and its movement through the body to the stomach. Follow the out-breath up through the body and out through your nose. How deep in the body does the breath go?

• Let the focus be on the breath. Every time you discover that your attention has shifted away from breathing, observe what the mind is occupied with, and gentle bring your attention back to the breath. As best you can. not judging yourself, because your attention has shifted. It happens again and again and is completely natural.

• Next time your mind has wanderd off, pay attention to whether it is thoughts, feelings, or body sensations that has filled your awareness.

• At times your legs might begin to feel restless, or your nose starts to itch, there can be an unsetteled feeling in the body, you start to worry about what you need to do when you're done? It can be anything. Is it possible to observe what it is?

• Before the meditation ends bring your attention back to your breathing allow your attention to rest here before opening your eyes and gently take in the room.

Now write a post or grab your journal and write about your reflections, experience and share your story. If you already have a solid practice maybe reflect on what that practice means in your daily life. If you are a beginner what comes up for you when meditating?

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[Day 2] B R E A T H E

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

We are often told (in the world of meditation) things such as "remember to breathe", "It starts with learning how to breathe" etc. I get what they are aiming for - I think. But as I see it, we are lucky beings because breathing happens whether you are intending to or not.

At last something in our lives we don't "have" to control... blink wink blink...

The breath is a very supportive way to anchor our awareness and can be used as a resource to come back to the present moment. It can be a way in to what is happening right now.

Anytime we want to, we can bring our attention to the breath and notice how it moves in the body.

For just a moment we can allow thoughts, feelings, sounds take care of themselves and just sit, stand, lay down with the movement of the chest and stomach. Giving ourselves the chance to show up - right where we are.

Simple - Yes. Easy - No not all the time. Available - anytime you want.

For me in my daily life it is my way of stopping, observing, letting be and connecting to what is important in that moment.

Now write a post or grab your journal and write about your reflections, experience and share your story.

1. Add the URL http://www. mindfulground.com/30-day-living-mindfully-blog-challenge-day-2 as a TrackBack

2. Add a comment with a few words about your post below with a link to the blogpost

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Click to tweet: Connecting to my breath with @mindfulground ’s 30 Day Living Mindfully Challenge. Come join me http://tinyurl.com/p9mr8sy #LMBC13

Recommend reading

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life

By, Jon Kabat-Zinn

A few posts from Day 1

Habits, Bringing larger awareness to life...

Krista, being mindful and floating happily through the day...

Charlotte, Denmark - om bevidst nærvær og børn..

[Day 1] Welcome to the Challenge

  Yay, we are ready to start 30 Days of Living Mindfully and thank you for joining. I am so happy that so many of you have the intention of creating more space for yourself this November and beyond.

Allow yourself to be inspired, touched, challenged and create space to feel all the in between. I can't wait to read your posts.

Thank you for the willingness to turn inward and the courage to share your story.  <3

A little house keeping

Before we get to today's challenge here's a little info about the challenges, how to go about them and how to join.

There will be a few guest posts with some really cool teachers throughout the 30 Days. Everyone of them have a different perspective (as do we all), and field they work in. Some challenges will speak to you others may not.

Also...

• Don't feel the pressure to take everything in, believe or love it all. Instead reflect, look at resistance, why you like it or why it just might not matter. Being mindful includes it all and there is no right or wrong.

• Listen to your body and system along the way. You are the only one who can feel your limits and respect them. Be respectful of yourself and be responsible throughout the challenge.

• When commenting and interacting always be respectful of others. This isn't about judging others. Any rude, abusive or cruel comments will be removed

Now for the fun part

Now write  a post about your reflections and/or experience, and share it with us.

How to share and submit your your link:

If you're joining as a blogger or writing about your experience along the way you can do 2 things:

1. Add a trackback link to your post. The link you want to use is the URL for that day's challenge for example

http://www.mindfulground.com/30-day-living-mindfully-blog-challenge-day-1/

Past the link in the TrackBack box - It normally looks like this

When you hit publish, we get a notification and a link to your blogpost. This is the easiest way for us to find you and round up and share your posts.

2. Or you can add a comment below with a few words about your post and the URL to it.

Share the challenge with your followers

Click to tweet: I joined @mindfulground ’s 30 Day Living Mindfully Challenge. Come join me http://tinyurl.com/p9mr8sy #LMBC13

What the hell is she doing anyway?

I have to face the fact that I am a talker. I have serious issues at times with getting clear. I have a mentor that always "suggests" a less broad language... hmmm well ok, I am working on it. Some might say it's bad for business, or how will people know what to come to you for IF YOUR'RE NOT CLEAR??? And as always with this blog challenge I am doing, I am asked to get crystal clear... The blog challenge Day 10 is:

Which are the key online revenue streams you want to focus on in your existing business?

So basically "What are doing with the your life and business Carina?" Sometimes I find it hard, because in the field I am in, there is no ONE or RIGHT way. I work with life, and that happens is all sorts of ways. I draw on my experience with meditation, mindfulness, yoga specialized in women's body and energy and sometime fall short in how put that into a few bullets...

I know what's important to me though. And that's that people feel connected, worthy, happy, and that they feel that they belong - because everyone deserves that in their life. I want people to own their stories without being caught up in the drama of it, finding peace and ease in everyday life. 

As to how I want to bring this to life in offerings and ways to connect is:

• through one on one programs. These are for the people who are so ready to commit that they feel it in their bones. I love these connections because it is a safe place.
• through the Free Blog Challenge. A way for people not ready to take the big leap, to try out the idea of letting go of a life ruled by stress, auto-pilot, worry and unhappiness.
• through retreats that give people some intense time to look within, relax, meditate and take a break from everyday life, to see it in a clearer light.

And a few other cool things that I am cooking up...

I may not always be clear in my sales pitches and pages, but I am so clear on my vision and WHY I do this work in the first place.

Without any spiritual dogma, and keeping both feet on the ground I want YOU to feel compassion, connection and care for yourself!