Staying positive: 5 fabulous and inspiring sites

Staying positive: 5 fabulous and inspiring sites

Are you struggling with finding inspiring and positive media to immerse yourself in? Here are 5 fabulous and inspiring sites:

  1. Pinterest… I’ve talked about the rabbit hole of news and negativity. Well Pinterest is a rabbit hole of pretty pictures and positivity. Spend some time surfing Pinterest and you’re bound to be inspired.
  2. Positive news sites: Let’s focus on great news stories. We hear enough about what’s wrong with the world. Here’s what’s right with it.

http://positivenews.org.uk

http://goodnewsau.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-news/

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org

  1. TED: It’s been around for a long time now but TED is still an amazing portal into speeches and ideas that educate and inspire. Make it a regular hangout this year.
  2. TINY BUDDHA is a lovely site where you’ll find posts about happiness, motivation, inspiration, love, relationships, meaning, possibilities, mindfulness, and letting go. Bookmark it this month.
  3. What’s your passion? Travel, food, parenting? Go in search of your top three sites within that genre, bookmark them, and regularly spend time feeding your spirit there.

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February challenge: why are we doing it?

February challenge: why are we doing it?

Space is important. It’s vital for change. I don’t mean space from loved ones, or your own personal space. The Space I’m talking about is an essence that’s more difficult to access. It’s deeper. It’s not just pushing your partner over to his or her side of the bed.

This Space is where you connect to the True You.

When you understand what this Space is… once you can connect to it… it’s in this Space that change takes place.

More than that… it’s where you can consciously create change.

You can alter vibrations, and create your reality.

To grasp and access this Space you should go and sit in a cave for a year, with no TV, no one to talk to, nothing to read… just you and your mind.

Only kidding. Who has time for that? Instead, let’s fit this into our lives, and take it slowly, step-by-step over the next ten months.

I’m taking you on a journey to destination SPACE. It’s an internal destination and once there you’ll never want to leave.

In January, we cleared the Space around us at home. Continue doing that.

This month we’re clearing a lot of the negative chatter that comes from what you read and watch. You are training your mind. It starts with what you put into it. Choose wisely.

Month-by-month you will feel clearer. Your energy will be vibrant. You’ll be more productive and have more opportunities coming your way. Month-by-month you’ll feel happier and more balanced.

It’s not difficult. Follow the Travel Light program and it will happen. It’s simply the laws of this amazing universe.

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Remind yourself to follow through

Remind yourself to follow through

“I keep forgetting to do the program. I really want to do it, but I only remember once I’m in bed trying to fall asleep.”

That’s a quote from an email I got last week.

Sound familiar? If that’s you, create some visual triggers around the house to remind you to spend time focusing on the program.

Changing a habit takes work and persistence.

Use post-it notes, or something similar, as a reminder.

Before long, you’ll remember without the notes. The habit is formed.

January

January was clear-cut: declutter.

Whether or not you really did clear your external space, only you know. But the great thing about each monthly challenge is that they continue all year.

CONTINUE DECLUTTERING ALL YEAR FOR THIS TO WORK.

You don’t need to declutter daily, like you did in January, but it’s important to continue the habit… THE HABIT. And if you followed through on the January challenge then it should be a habit now. If not, you can still make it one.

This program is about creating twelve new habits that together will completely change your life in amazing and positive ways.

Got it?

Great, now choose five things that need doing next week. Don’t do them now… just choose which ones you will do.

Next, stick a Post-it note to each. The notes will remind you to do one each day next week… and toss the note once it’s done.

Alternatively, write a list of seven things that need doing and stick that to the fridge… and cross them off as you go. Notice the list, see what needs to be done on that day… and do it. No matter how small the task is the act of doing it keeps the energy flowing.

Do it regularly. Be consistent. Don’t forget… if you forget it’s not habitual. Use triggers to stop you from forgetting.

Feb

February is more challenging: filter your information.

It’s so easy to fall down the Internet rabbit hole and surf crap online. Let’s create a new habit where we use that time wisely.

As a reminder, find a photo or a meaningful quote and use it as a desktop image to inspire you to actively search out positive media and reject negative or inane media.

This is an important challenge, which I’ll write more about in my next blog.

Until then, love and light.

focus

 

Feb Travel Light challenge: update

Feb Travel Light challenge: update

I’ve been quiet for the past week because I’ve been practising what I preach… I really have toned down my online time and the content I’m consuming.

Admittedly, I’ve also had a flu, which helped.

I could barely move for days so instead I read and watched movies.

Now that I’m better, I’m trying to catch up on my work, which means a lot of procrastinating and aimless surfing the net.

Usually.

The past few days I’ve been focussed on not allowing negative and meaningless stories to filter back into my daily routine.

  • They waste my time.
  • They waste my mental energy.
  • They trigger emotional responses in me that I don’t need to have, such as fear.
  • They block me from forging new habits and new neural pathways.

The longer I refrain from clicking through on silly kitten clips and frightening news stories, the easier it becomes to move towards the content that feeds my spirit.

I’m not sure what Kim Kardashian is up to this week (and that’s a relief).

I have no idea what ISIL is doing today.

My one struggle is not knowing the latest updates on Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s execution date. It’s the one news story I have problems switching off from. But that’s the point of February’s challenge. My heart aches for these men and their families… their mothers. But my life is in no way connected to these men, and yet my emotional energy is being impacted daily. I’ve allowed that.

Here in Australia it will be hard to escape the media after they die. But I’m doing what I can to not obsessively watch it unfold… and instead, when they cross my mind I send light to them and their families.

I’m even swamped energetically, writing about this now… so let’s move into a more positive vibration.

This month’s challenge is to filter the media we consume. To stop ourselves from disappearing down the rabbit hole of negative media.

So what have I been doing?

  1. I’ve set up an ebay shop (remember all that clutter from January? The best pieces are on here)
  2. I’ve been putting together a teaching course.
  3. I have been spending time reading up on Japanese Yoga, the form of yoga I practise and adore.
  4. I’ve been reading more about Vipassana meditation.
  5. I’ve been planning a holiday for my kids, later in the year. There’s nothing I love more than putting together an amazing itinerary for an overseas adventure. Sometimes I think I should be a travel agent.
  6. I’ve read a couple of books and seen some lovely films.

And I’m feeling clear and inspired. How are you going?

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Declutter your mind

Declutter your mind

 

We spent a month decluttering our external environment. This month we’re starting the internal declutter.

First challenge is to FILTER YOUR INFORMATION. Diminish the meaningless and often harmful chatter. Mindfulness is about awareness. It’s not just about sitting in meditation for twenty minutes a day. It’s about being aware of every action, every reaction… every thought.

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We begin this journey by becoming aware of the chatter—the information we absorb.

  • Is it positive?
  • How does it make you feel?
  • What are the ripple effects of those feelings in your life? For example, does watching the news make you fearful?
  • What will you gain from switching off to negative or meaningless information online?
  • What will you lose?
  • What are your trigger points?—Those moments in the day where you find yourself surfing sites online that don’t nourish your spirit?
  • Can you consciously use those trigger points to add information to your life that will nourish your mind and spirit?

Think about it.

Don’t think about Kim Kardashian, or ISIL, or the cute kitten video that’s going viral at the moment…

Think about the information you consume and how you can use it to help change your life this year.

Be mindful of information.

focus

FEBRUARY CHALLENGE

FEBRUARY CHALLENGE

Okay, January is over (but not forgotten… so keep decluttering!)

This month… your Travel Light challenge is… filter your information. 

Studies have shown that your typical social media user consumes 285 pieces of content daily, which equates to an eye-opening 54,000 words, and, for the truly active, as many as 1,000 clickable links. Everyone is bombarded by the equivalent of 174 newspapers of data a day.

Each day we take in 5 times more information than we did in 1986.

Most of it’s meaningless. Much of it is negative. And each piece of media and information has an impact on how we think and feel.

It shapes our world.

focus

This month we will take care and be aware of what we’re reading, watching and absorbing. Don’t click on the links that take you into a world of violence. Don’t spend your time on things that are superficial or inane. Use your time online wisely… Search out positive images, videos and stories. Or turn off and read books.

Inspire yourself. Motivate. Learn. Be mindful. 

You will be amazed at the difference a month makes when you commit to consuming positive rather than negative media.