Today's Happiness Practice - Practice

Today I am going to practice all of it.

Today I am in a most delightful situation - at a conference, gathering, retreat, hang out and get steeped in my peoples; I am at the Threshold Choir International Gathering. An event where one is expected to break out into song, and be in meditative contemplation - often at the same time!

Learning, singing, teaching, being around curious growing harmonic persons. And there is green, life filled nature outside my window. Pretty close to Nirvana for me.

I could easily slip into an enjoyment vortex - just let myself float on the music and the love.

But then I wouldn't really enjoy it. I wouldn't really be a part of it. And I certainly wouldn't be able to contribute my share of teaching, learning, and harmony.

So I am going to practice breathing. I am going to practice being myself. I am going to practice self-care. I am even going to practice moderation! (Well...)

When I feel myself becoming twitterpated (so easy to do with all these voices and experiences and song writing skills), I am going to step back, slow down - yup, doing it right now - and breathe. I am going to return, reconnect with my inner self. I am going to check my shields, receive only when I want, give only when I want, drink water, and remember my peeps.

I am going to stand with and be with, play with and sing with. Not to, or from, but WITH.

Today, I am going to practice being the best full, connected, breathing, calming, healing, singing, learning, wry, explorative, curious, spiritual, happy, healthy, wealthy me I can be.

I hope you have a great, full day!
-Lila

Today's Happiness Practice... Keeping track

Today I am keeping track - of how I feel after specific events.

I am at the airport. As always, my carry on is heavier than expected. And the CPAP machine is a flaming nuisance.

Being concerned about security, I was pleasantly surprised to find the lines relatively short.  I knew 1 set of lines was shorter, but a longer walk. So I asked myself which way I wanted to go.

Myself said B.
But the security Lady said A.

So I followed the security lady. Upside, I got to compliment a window washers work. Downside, it was a long, confusing walk.

And now that I'm finally sitting down, wondering if my heavy carry on will actually fit under the seat with the CPAP machine, I'm reminding myself to trust myself next time. For my health and happiness!

No judgment, just awareness.

I am also practicing (though it may not seem like it) allowing the situation to be what it is without whining. My bag will fit where it fits. I won't know until I try. I will remember to take the medical device off the plane with me.

And it is going to be an amazing weekend.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Today's Happiness Practice - Whatcha gonna do about it now?

Today I'm going to do something about it.

As my brain tries to paralyze me with anxiety and infinite possibilities, I am going to respond with actions.

For example, my car was wouldn't start yesterday.

Part of me is fine, and calm, and connected.

And part of me is running in circles, freaking out. Oh my god! the money.  Oh my god! how am I going to get places? Oh my god! I MUST keep these very important appointments. OH MY GOD!  (who is responding -  Quit Shouting! I can hear you!)

Happily, I have enough practice to know what to do. I present myself with options.

Worried about money? Work on the Intro to Happiness Seminar. Apply for another job. Balance the check book so I have knowledge of what is currently available.

Appointments? Check out my options. Look up Uber. Look up Cab companies. Look up bus schedules.

Want a new car? Look up those options. Get information. Schedule a test drive.

Action helps bleed out the anxious energy and gives focus to the area of concern.

Today I have a plan of action.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Today's Happiness Practice... Stop

Today I am going to stop when I told myself I would stop.

Today has been a very productive day; I have done so much. But OH! the list of things still to do. And the piles of sorting to do. And the writing and planning and projects and newsletters and....

But I told myself that I could stop at 5. (Yeah, it's actually 5:15 now.)

So I am going to stop. I am going to post this and change out of my happy work clothes and into my happy at home clothes and I am going to take a break and then do something other than work. Because I love my work, but I do get to stop. Before I drive myself into a ferocious headache trying to WILL everything into being done before dark.

I am going to let whatever's left be done tomorrow.
Or the next day.
 As there is time.

I have done what I could today.

And now I'm going to stop.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Happiness Practice - Enhancing my Calm

I am amazing and awesome and wonderful and I DID it! Squeeeeee!

 And I am going to enhance my calm.

Old habits would include getting all jittery and excited and planning grand futures on this awesome feeling of success and connection.

And while old habits have brought me here (thank you, Lila) it is the changing of many of those habits that has brought me happiness.

And I don't like the jittery feeling. The breathlessness. The mind numbing plunge into infinite possibilities. It's distracting, and it makes it difficult to do simple things like make coffee, or put my shoes on.

I DO like feeling happy, excited, and awesome. And capable.

And when I take a deep breath, as I would when I'm stressed, and allow the feeling to just be the feeling; when I allow the joy and the accomplishment to be, to feel good and NORMAL, I can connect it to myself.

I can BE the person who does this kind of thing every day.

I am Lila. I am a Happiness Practitioner. I write, I sing, I coach and counsel and teach. I hug.
I create. It is amazing.

And I do it every day. Calm, focused, open and expansive, allowing, and happy. Every day.

So I take a deep breath. I feel the joy and the awesome and the happiness, but I release the jitters and the grandiose.

I enhance my calm.

And I go do it again.

I hope you're having a great day!
-Lila

Enlightenment is Awesome - and Every Day

The thing I find most amazing is how I work, how my brain operates. How many times I have to run into something before it starts really sinking in.

Over and over I have come to the conclusion that the Happiness Practice is an every day thing. Partially because each day is different, and therefore the truth of each day is different. But also because in order to get really good at something, in order for something to become effortless, in order to BE the truth, you have to practice.

I have to practice.

Every day. Every minute of every day.

Whatever the mantra. Whatever the skill, whatever the tool. Whatever the situation. I have to practice.

So why is it there are still some skills that have yet to make my "Practice Every Day" list?

Specifically, manifesting.

Through this last year I have discussed visualizing - or Invisioning - and how it is an excellent tool for creating the future. I have allowed myself a new bed and a new couch through this tool. And even had some excellent interviews.

And yet, today, thanks to my path partner, I realized I am only using Invisioning as a special tool. When I know what I want. Or when I have a specific vision in mind. Or as a response to fear or anxiety.

I think it would serve me better, and I would become better at it, if I used it every day.
If every day I took a few minutes to see myself accomplishing my chosen tasks and being happy with everything that has happened.With everything that IS happening.
If every day I Invision myself being everything I want to be.
If every day I Invision the possibilities and allow myself to feel the strength of my Love and Acceptance and Uniqueness.

If Every day, as I go about my day, when I find myself in a frustrated thought or with a furrowed brow, I step back, and I breathe, and I Invision the desired state of being.

Wouldn't THAT create the reality I desire? Wouldn't that constant practice, daily focus, strengthen the muscles of belief and visualization and feeling and being until it is effortless? Wouldn't that bring me happiness?

Every day. Every moment.

Yes, I think so too,

Invisioning, visualizing, manifesting, praying, believing, whatever you call it. It's not just for those big moments. It's for every day.

Because we want to be happy, every single day.

I hope you have a great one! I Invision I will. 🌈
-Lila

Thank You for the Music

Today's happiness practice is, well, everything.

I am breathing.

I am reaching down and in, to connect with myself, calming the frantic Lila.

I am allowing energy to feed me; and I am allowing today to be a great day, instead of whining, grasping, demanding a great day.

I am practicing (really hard!) disciplining / training my cat from a place of connection instead of a place of blind rage (MY COMPUTER!).

 And I'm balancing the desire to take pictures of all his adorable stunts with the need to keep him from jumping up there EVER again.

I am moving forward, one step at a time, and not yelling at myself because I feel like I'm missing some vital step, or because I'm moving slowly because I'd much rather be...  Well, because I THINK I'd much rather be reading. 

The truth is (are you listening, Lila?) I am happier when I have accomplished things, whether it's Tai Chi or filing the in-box. And reading, much as I love it, is not accomplishing stuff in a way that brings me happiness. 

Though reading is still awesome. I am so grateful to Tanya Huff, JD Robb, Rachel Neumeier, Robin McKinley, Sharon Shinn, Terry Pratchett, Lois McMaster Bujold - My go-to people when I need inspiration and relaxation in one sitting.

I am practicing gratitude.

Oh, so much gratitude.

Because this morning, when I was coaching myself toward getting out of bed, connecting with the universe and floating on the snuggly warmth of "Just one more minute", I realized there was a song in my head. 

This is not unusual.

But this song was not one I have been trying to write, nor one I had been practicing, nor one I had been listening to, nor even one of those annoying ear worm ones you wish to blast out of existence.

This is a song I had never heard before.

Some soft, female voice was singing "You are wonderful. You are wonderful. You are wonderful."

Definately practicing gratitude.

And listening.

\And believing.

I am pretty wonderful. I am unique. I am one of a kind. There is no one like me, today, and there never will be again.

 I am the shining moment of possibilities - a baby's laugh, a first kiss, a sunrise and a sunset, the moon on the water, the cuteness of a young animal, the spark of an idea, the blank page, the empty stage.

I am the burnished moment of experience - a mother's smile, a father's pride, the conversation in a glance, the sigh of accomplishment, the weary joy of memories, the frost of winter, the grief of the last words written, the final curtain.

I am wonderful. It is an honor to be me.

Happily, I am not the only wonderful person in this world (that would be pretty lonely). 

You are unique. You are one of a kind. There is no one like you, today, and there never will be again. You are the shining moment of possibilities. 

You are the burnished moment of experience.

You are wonderful.

You are wonderful

You are wonderful.

We are wonderful.

And today is a great day!

-L

If you're life me... cycles of belief

If you're like me, last week was amazing. You felt the confidence gather and grow; ideas burst forth; you got out and did things and stayed in and did things and really connected with the world. Last week was what you want your reality to feel like almost every day! If you're like me.

And if you're like me, today you're sitting in a kind of daze because, well, totally awesome amazing you seems to have left the building and you're back to hanging out with anxious, uncertain you.

If you're like me, it's kind of pissing you off.

Happily, if you're like me, you have tools for this sort of situation. So you sit. Calmly. Instead of rushing around trying to fulfill the list of "maybe I shoulds."
You fix your favorite drink and you take heartburn medication, because in the spirit of celebration you may have eaten a little too much yesterday.
 You breath, deep into your diaphragm.
 You journal.
 You expand outside of the situation.
You think about taking the calming coaching voice in a throttling grip, ripping it like a weed from your mind, giving it a good flame throwing, and running around like a spastic kitten (is that redundant?) just for the feeling of getting things done and where the HECK is that awesome person from last week she would know what to do!

But you know giving into the treadmill / monkey mind / lizard brain / quantity before quality thought is not actually productive or even helpful, so you take a deeper breath.

And you let it out!

And you take a deeper breath.

And you feel the relaxation easing down over the feverish brain, settling like a comforting hand around the shoulders.

And that helps you take a deeper breath. And you settle into yourself.

And you realize your calm awesome amazing self is right there. Sitting with you. Waiting for the storm to pass. Secure in the knowledge that there are always going to be vortexes but we have the tools and we have the plans. We know, now, what it feels like to be happy. Amazing. Top of the world, ma!

And we know what we want. To feel like that. As much and as often as possible. Even if we're not sure what exactly we're going to be doing - work, play, relationship, experience wise - we know that in this place, in this space, in this awesome confident mind set, we can try anything.

We believe in ourselves.

If you're like me, you woke up a little concerned that the amazing being of last week was just a short term event. But it's not. It simply that living isn't static. Life cycles. Energy shifts. Things happen. And now that we've practiced with our awesome amazing self, it's time to test drive her or him in slightly more difficult terrain. All we have to do is stay connected with ourselves. (simple, right?)

I hope you have a great day, and plenty of reminders to breath deep!

-Lila

Today's Happiness Practice - Allowing it to be a good day

Today I am going to allow it to be a good day.

It's one of THOSE days - where I can't sleep, but don't want to get out of bed.

I have things to do and I'm ready (on time!) but I also feel disconnected, strange, even portentous about the day.

And I am fretting about the future - do I really want the kind of work that requires getting up with the sun?

And I am practicing allowing myself to be fully myself and feel all these disparate feelings of hope and frustration.

But that doesn't mean today has to be a draggy, grumbly, day. With all these feelings and explorations and trying stuff, today can be a great day! I just have to let.

Instead of peeking into the next hour and thinking, "oh, this is going to be so difficult. I don't wanna!" I can simply breathe deep, and allow it to be easy. Fun. Shiny.

I don't even have to expect it or force it to be a good day. I just have to allow it.

So today, I am going to allow it to be a good day. Perhaps even great!

And I hope you are allowing a great day also!

-Lila