Category: Relax

Welcome to Winter

Carol Griesmeyer

Winter. It is the Yin season. If fact it is the Yin within Yin season, the most Yin. Surrounded by the dark and cold. The perfect time to get deeper into our caves for warmth, protect our energy and actually restore the energy we used up all last year. It is not about total disconnection, though.

The connection or rather, reconnection, we should make at this time is with our inner selves.  Getting to know You time.  With the great darkness outside we need to shed some light but on the inside and discover the essence of our self. We spend most of our lives not connected to our spirit, soul. We are not grounded. We keep trying to have an out-of-body experience. As Wayne Dyer would say ‘we need to have an inner body experience.’

Water is the element of the winter season, its’ organ system is the Kidney.

We look as Water as the beginning. The beginning of our life and the next seasonal cycle. Our life started in water. Think of carbon life forms coming out of the oceans onto the earth. We came out of a placental sac filled with water. Water is considered deep and dark and it is connected to our source and our reserve bank.

Most things move slower in the winter. The cold contracts and make movements more restrained. It is the time to restore our reserves, filing them up for the busy year ahead. When we want to preserve food we put it in a cold and dark storage unit – refrigerator. We need to do this with our energy.  In reality, we should be getting up later and going to bed earlier. Our society is not one that likes to go with this flow of seasonal energy. It creates its own flow which is more like a perpetual tsunami, and in the process we exhaust ourselves. We reward ourselves and others for going above and beyond. With our longer life expectancies this is not necessarily the best option.

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and are considered part of the Kidney system. Because we do more and more to exhaust ourselves, working beyond our natural limits and draining our energy it is important that we make the time to rest and replenish. Try putting meditation onto your daily calendar just like getting up and going to work. You can take 10 min before you get up and 10 min before you go to bed. Just like learning to walk this takes practice. The important thing to understand is that your mind will never shut off, it’s not supposed to. You learn to master what you focus on and keep returning it when it wants to wander. You can also take short breaks during the day to do this. It really doesn’t have to be a long session. It is proven to slow heart rate, lower blood pressure and help you to better focus on the tasks to be done. It is the easiest way to get your second, third or fourth wind during the day. Free, no calories.

Every element has an emotional aspect and for Water the emotion Fear. Everyone is fearful from time to time. It is appropriate to use caution and act in a safe manner. However this fear is more a feeling of not having enough to face the challenges ahead. When you are constantly exhausted it is easy to feel even more fearful. Think of all the challenges our society faces today. Our new term ‘Homeland Security’ has become a euphemism for paranoia. When you are that scared, everyone is out to get you and you must arm yourself. Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t unpleasant people out there but everyone needs to take a step back, nourish our bodies and minds and educate ourselves in all aspects of these problems. Knowledge and understand are the balancing activities to conquer fear, not guns or hatred. The energy and attitude with which you address a problem with is what will come back to you. Try calm, meditation, understanding and a willingness to listen. It’s about communication, inner and outer.

So find a warm, comfy, dark place and spend some time exploring the inner You and understanding the world around you. It really needs to be done. This is the perfect season. What has been said for thousands of years “As on the inside, so on the outside.” If you see chaos all around you it is a reflection of what is going on inside you. Only you can change that. You can’t do it for anyone else but one person changing themselves can impact the world. It is the Power of One.

Love the great outdoors

Carol Griesmeyer

This year REI decided to be closed for Black Friday so people could spend time outside – not in a shopping mall.

Good for them. Works quite well for me. If you are not a skier then just go for a walk.

There are some great walking locations in the Portland, Oregon area. Here are some I heartily recommend:

Mt Talbert Nature Park : http://www.oregonmetro.gov/parks/mount-talbert-nature-park

Cazadero Trail http://www.traillink.com/trail/cazadero-trail.aspx

Tryon Creek State Park: http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=103

Oxbow State Park: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/parks/oxbow-regional-park

In the city itself  enjoy exploring Oaks Bottom and Forest Park

Here is a link to search through the options in the area. You will find photos, articles and maps to many of our great places to enjoy outside.

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/93736

Tryon Creek
Camassia berries
There’s so much beauty to enjoy around here. Get out there and breathe it in.

 

Gratitude Greetings

Carol Griesmeyer

I wanted to share a concept that is not new. Many others have offered their version of this meditation. But I wanted to create my own.

You may want to do this in the morning. It is so much nicer to greet the day in gratitude rather that moaning about how awful your day will be. Hey, maybe it won’t be awful. What you think you create so stay positive. If you have less baggage hanging off you from the start you stay less stressed and are better able to handle to brown stuff that may come slinging your way.

Get into a comfortable position to do this. You can keep your eyes open or closed. Look at a tree outside your window or a pleasant picture or a candle. This can be done sitting, reclining or lying down. The purpose is to stay alert and engaged in the process, not go back to sleep.

Remember to breathe slowly and deeply into the belly. Let everything relax. There is not time limit. Each time you do this is will be unique to that session.

Start with smiling. It will begin to set your attitude for the rest of your day.

  1. See yourself surrounded by a bubble of white light filled with the energy of compassion.  Feel surrounded by this.
    Take the time to slowly allow it to expand to surround you and everyone in the room or house        Everyone you will see on the way to work,
    Everyone at work,
    Everyone on the way home.
    Now expand to encompass city,
    country,
    world,
    even those people you see on TV that you don’t want to know about.
    Breathe in and out.
  2. Think of 3 things in past 24 hours you are grateful for.
    Connect with the joy you had when you experienced it.
    It could be about your career, home, relationships, car, adventures.
    Feel that feeling you had when you first experienced itNext think about yourself.
    What do you truly love about yourself. This may be hard for some people.Feel proud and grateful for having these qualities or abilities.
    Recreate any emotion you may have had the first time you were aware of these qualities.
    Breathe in and out.
  3. Think of someone in your past that still carries an emotional  charge for you that you need to forgive.
    Think to yourself: I forgive you. I ask that you forgive me.
    Breathe in and out.
  4. Visualize your perfect day, each hour developing in most perfect way.
    How about a no-hassle breakfast time or commute.
    You can have amazing meeting or event.
    Celebrate fantastic lunch or the fact that you get lunch at all.
    Imagine how your day with unfold and pretend that it will be so.
    Be the captain of your Enterprise and make it so.
    Breathe in and out.
  5. Connect with whatever higher power exists for you. You don’t have to be religious, you can be atheist. Feel and see a beam of light shining down on you as warm supporting energy.
    Feel it move down your head, your face and neck.
    Your arms all the way to your finger tips.
    Have it fill your chest and  abdomen.
    Let is wrap around your hips, thighs, knees, calves.
    All the way to your feet and toes.
    Express gratitude to this higher power for its support.
    Breathe in and out.
  6. Now bring yourself  back to the present.
    Start to move in place, wiggle your feet, shake your arms and hands.
    Move your head from side-to-side.
    Stand up and stretch.
    Look at something beautiful, maybe something you see in a new way.
    Breathe in and out and smile.

Do this daily. You may be grateful for the same things every day and new things may pop into your life. Nothing wrong with that.

Mostly stay grounded, stay grateful.

 

 

 

Holiday Stress

Carol Griesmeyer

Holiday stress!

Hopefully you have already started your shopping, organizing, cleaning and whatever.

It’s not too late to be ready with everything you need.

Start tonight with getting more sleep. Ask others who will be participating in the festivities to lend a hand. You do not have to be Atlas holding up the world here.

If you haven’t already gotten the bird and it will need to be defrosted, plan on a different meat. Or if someone who is coming has bought a bird have them start defrosting that one for you. They can bring it over tomorrow and exchange your frozen one for the thawed one.

Plan on not having to be up in the middle of the night to start fixing whatever will be served.  Starting the day exhausted doesn’t add to the fun. I feel that being up before 7AM should be illegal – particularly to cook.

Maybe next year consider ordering the meat cooked and delivered. Just make a budget on what you want to spend and stick to it.

If you have a ‘split family’ situation plan on people coming and going. Have it more buffet style open house without the formal sit-down dinner. Some come around early, some later.

If you have someone with special diet needs, ask them to bring their favorite dish. Bring copies of the recipes so everyone can learn how to eat differently and address other’s diet needs. Again, you don’t have to do it all.

For those traveling to grandmother’s house, leave plenty of time. Plan on delays and problems. The most important thing it to get there alive, unharmed, un-dented. Just get there. Remember to celebrate the gathering and each other’s presence. It’s not a ‘beat the clock’ game.

If you’re a bit behind the eight ball then you need to prioritize what you really need. Make a list. Use this Thanksgiving time to plan ahead for the rest of the holidays. There’s more to come you know. Don’t use up all your energy now. You may need to trim some of the usual activities in to make room for the holiday festivities.

Be nice to yourself. You can’t do it all and you shouldn’t expect to. Really, it’s OK!

And remember to laugh. One Thanksgiving the blender with the gravy in it got knocked over onto the floor. There were a lot of pale faces at the loss of gravy but a lot of laughter as we slid around on the kitchen floor trying to clean it up. That grease is hard to remove.

Most of all enjoy the holidays, whichever ones you honor and celebrate.