whole living: samskaras (giveaway)

what are you ready to create for 2013? what house can your words create. what can you build with your thoughts. and perhaps just as important, what can you release, tear down, and let go?

"Creation can be exhilarating. It can also be painful."--Ally Condie, "new year, mud bird."

olivia wrote an AMAZING post on "how to resolutions" detailing five steps for the process of creating a vision for 2013.

affirmations are a way to keep those resolutions and intentions at the forefront of our days. i would HIGHLY recommend felice austin's parenting affirmations for a great introduction to affirmations. these are not just for parenting. really, just BUY THEM NOW! you won't regret it. i have shared these with so many friend who have loved them.

tim still laughs at the post-it notes filled with "i am good enough" phrases on the bathroom mirrors, in our closet, on the dresser and the fridge.

honey, i'm just busy retraining my thinking, which is why i wear my 2013 phrase around my neck.

i'm still working on a mantra for 2013. . .but here is what i have so far.

i am brave.

i seek light every day.

i receive light

and give it to others, freely.

i am open to new experiences and welcome them.

i create a light-filled home.

i am lighthearted with my children and husband

and enjoy life.

every day.

i lovingly release the past so I may carve out space for more light today and in the future

it is easy to receive inspiration

and act upon it.

i am safe.

and i look forward to becoming lighter and lighter

and stronger and stronger

each day.

samskras is a hindu concept often used in yoga--they are described as patterns of consciousness.

"It's the job of your brain to follow patterns. Your brain neurons like doing familiar things. Every time you repeat a familiar action your neural pathway are actually strengthened. So every time you react emotionally in a similar way to someone or something, that nueral pathway becomes deeper and more easily traveled by your neurons.

You can picture these neurons pretty easily if you think about water traveling down the side of a hill. The water from a rainstorm doesn't just go any which way. The water finds squiggly little grooves and stick to it. And so it is in your brain for now.

If you have created neural pathways that aren't productive, you need to change them. Fear of your body, fear of change, fear of the pain, a doomsday approach to life and healthy. . .the same quality of the brain that made it so easy for your old patterns to form is exactly what's going to help you make new ones.

The brain takes to new things really well, as long as you throw repetition into the mix. In brain science terms it's called neuroplasticity. If you create new grooves and pathways, the existing ones will heal up and disappear if left on their own. Those brain grooves are literal applications of samskaras. The easiest way to change your samskaras is with practice, love and patience. Over and over again. Working on your samskaras give you freedom, choice, and power, all essential elements to achieving optimal health."

Amy then explains about visualization and how it takes 28 (or 66) days to make a new habit.

"I recommend it [visualizing] before going to sleep at night so the peaceful, powerful energy lingers in your subconscious throughout the night. In fact, if you can record your script and listen to it on a loop through the night, even better. Live, eat, feel, breathe, dream, and pray your experience as if it's already happened so you can more easily manifest it." -- --Amy Jones, "Whole-istic Woman packet" (click on the preview to read a list of emotions that kill or heal).

"All patterns, even samskaras, represent order. When we leave an old pattern behind, we enter a liminal space—a bardo, to borrow a Tibetan term. Like the space between an exhalation and the next inhalation, this place is ripe with unlimited possibilities for new choices.

This in-between space can be unsettling. During a recent session, a woman poignantly asked, "If I let go of these beliefs, will I still be myself?" We often resist new patterns for fear of losing the identities we've so carefully constructed. And it's true that when we change a long-held pattern, we undergo a rebirth of sorts. This rebirth hints at a new incarnation, a more evolved version of the self. Yet improving oursamskara brings us closer to our true nature, which is the goal of yoga.

Samskara is also defined as a perfecting and polishing, a process of cultivation. Shifting samskara, then, is the ongoing work of chipping away at our negative patterns to illuminate the purity of the soul. Like alchemists in our own transformation, we constantly refine and direct our samskara into healthier designs.

The good news is that the ability to shift our patterns—once we've sown the seeds—is self-generating, self-sustaining, and self-renewing. When we're patient enough to facilitate samskara's organic process, to honor its inner sound and slow rhythm, change simply flows. And it's a joy to taste the reward of all this hard work in its natural form, the sweetness that arises from seeing long labor and preparation come to fruition." from this source

i'll talk about giving gifts in another "whole living" post. but, i would like to giveaway some of my favorite resources in whole living this year. to get you on your way, for you to try something new out. i have ideas for oils, herbs, books, handmade goodness, whole foods, etc.

today's giveaway gift: an mp3 download for the parenting affirmations (i'm hoping i can gift them, like i can via amazon. . .). trust me, you want these. or your kids want you to want these:).

COMMENT (share your word or phrase for 2013) or if you are shy, send me an email!

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