12/8/2014 2 Comments New Habits.... As people raise their glasses, we take pause in the continuous momentum of time to mark the end of one year and the beginning of the next. We remember the joys and losses of 2014, and turn to the New Year to set new intentions. By February, the majority of those intentions will be forgotten. With deep longings to live in the direction of our dreams, why do so many resolutions fail? Both ancient wisdom and modern science agree. Habit. Habit nature starts as simple tendencies, with little hold on us. When we engage the tendency we create a groove in the brain (technically more like a lightening storm). The more we engage the tendency, the deeper the grooves get. The deeper the grooves, the more likely we are to fall into them. We begin to live by this habit nature, doing what we’ve always done and getting what we’ve always gotten. To create something new, we must make a new groove, which is a lot like building a muscle. It takes practice, repetition and time – at least 30 days of repetition according to the experts. Whether you want to lose weight, get organized, fall in love or create a more peaceful life, here are some skillful steps to for creating new habits in the New Year: 1) Create a Clear Goal Know the exact shape, distance and size of a target. It will produce better results then simply shooting arrows at a vague idea. Also make it visceral. When you can see it as well as feel it you can better hit it. 2) Understand Why Losing weight may be the goal, but the deeper driving desire may be to feel more free and comfortable in your body and life. Identifying the underlying needs offers both flexibility and fortitude for the journey ahead. 3) Make a Realistic Plan Flesh out the day-to-day action steps. What is the very first step? Can you commit to it? What about the next and the next? Action steps must reflect your personality and also mesh with the realities of your life. 4) Identify Obstacles Each goal will inevitably bring up obstacles, from family and friends to inner beliefs and attachments. Strategize for the ones you know and be willing to compassionately address new ones as they arise. 5) Plan for Slips We most likely will not be perfect in creating a new habit. Accept this and create strategies that keep you headed in the right direction, even if you step off the path from time to time. 6) Make It Fun If you are not having fun, you probably won’t stick with it. Mix it up, give yourself rewards and celebrate the small steps. Just like bees, we like honey much more than vinegar. 7) Enlist support Accountability helps. Whether you enlist friends, support groups, on-line forums or a professional coach, checking in daily or weekly can help you stay honest with yourself and your progress. As you step into new habits have faith in yourself and keep an eye out for the happy accidents that support you along the way. Jackie Dobrinska is a wellness coach, yoga therapist and owner of A Simple Vibrant Life (asimplevibrantlife.com). You can reach her at jldobrinska@gmail.com, or by phone at 828.337.2737.
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11/20/2014 2 Comments The Wise Progression of HealthLike a yoga practice, there is a wise progression (krama) to health. Often it is most helpful start with what is most gentle and has the least amount of potentially harmful side effects. Yet sometimes, we need to jump in at the top of this progression, depending on our condition. If you have a large organ infection or have a motorcycle accident, emergent care is necessary. Yet even in those times, make sure you support the foundational pieces as well.
STEP 0 - DO NOTHING · Literally do nothing. · This means slowing down our habitual activity · Sleep · Unplug the clock and computer and TV · Go to a restful retreat · Give your mind and body a chance to reboot on its own, for as Hippocrates says "Let thy body heal itself." STEP 1 - COLLECT INFORMATION · Start to notice when the dis-ease is active · Keep a food diary, sleep diary, note stressful situations in your life and make notes as to when the issues is more alive. · Think back to when the problem began. What else changed in your life around that time? · Notice patterns. · Get some low-tech diagnosis · Read books, · Do on-line research, · Find support groups or a coach. STEP 2 - ENGAGE THE ENERGY · Practice Meditation · Cry and express anger in ways that are safe · Laugh · Engage in a ceremony · Pray · Employ energetic modalities such as energy healing, flower essences, homeopathy. STEP 3 - NOURISH AND TONIFY · Exercise in a manner that feels nourishing (yoga, qi gong, swimming) · Choose foods that are nourishing, with vitamins, minerals, protein, as well as fats that contain good cholesterol for hormones, cells, and brain function. · Get a massage · Give and receive hugs · Work with herbal infusions, vinegars and tonics · Engage in Samyoga practices, those that nourish us and connect us to our deepest aspect of self. STEP 4 - STIMULATE & SEDATE · For every stimulation/sedation there is an opposite effect sooner or later. · Employ herbal tinctures that drive the energy · Work with Acupuncture, cleanses and other practices. · Engage in Viyoga practices, those that separate us from who we are not, the things that limit our fullness. STEP 5 - USE DRUGS · Employ extreme, powerful herbs that edge toward the toxic side of the spectrum. · Employ supplements that are synthesized or concentrated vitamins, minerals or food substances. · Employ nutraceticals and pharmaceuticals. STEP 6 - BREAK & ENTER · This includes going into the body · Not only surgery and invasive diagnostic tests such as mammograms and C-T scans · Also colonics, radiation therapies, psychoactive drugs. [1] This is taken from and based on Susun Weed's Six Steps of Healing, which has been modified with yoga techniques and my own understanding of her system. 10/30/2014 1 Comment MEDIATION FOR SUCCESSWe all want to thrive. To accomplish our best at any given moment and achieve exactly what we hope for. This is true in business and at home, on the playing field as well as in our personal life. Meditation is a time-tested tool that helps us achieve success in all areas of life. From Twitter’s Evan Williams and Aetna’s Mark Bertolini to basketball’s Lebron James and even Oprah Winfrey, meditation changes lives, helping people dealing with physical pain, lower stress, address chronic diseases, and even tap into intuition and change long-held habits. While the benefits, from lowering blood pressure, decreasing heart diseases and addressing sleep problems, anxiety and depression are clear, many people still do not meditation. “I’m too busy”, “I can’t” or “My mind can’t shut off,” are common complaints. Meditation can take less time than brewing a cup of coffee and can be done by anyone with proper instruction. It also is not a process of "not thinking". The mind is meant to think, and when we try to “not think” we usually end up having a whirlwind of ideas and thoughts flood into our awareness, which makes people believe they cannot meditate. Instead, meditation is a practice of focus, where we drown out all other things to the exclusion of one. That has far-reaching implications for all kinds of success – from understanding our golf swing to creating the life of our dreams. Jack Kornfield, an American author and teacher of vipassana meditation, says in his book A Path with Heart that meditation is a bit like training a puppy to sit. We lead it back to the same spot over and over again and tell it to sit. If we beat it, it cowers. When we train it with kindness and consistency, it thrives. Meditation trains the mind in a similar way. The “sitting spot” is important. Traditions around the world give similar focal points -- paying attention to the breath, listening to the repetition of a sound or feeling subtle sensations. These points of focus have wisdom. They help change our brain patterns, facilitating the alpha and theta brain waves that create relaxed, clear insight. Resting here, we generate spontaneous new ideas, creative solutions and greater understanding of problems that may have otherwise perplexed us. Like any skill, meditation takes regular, daily practice, and the effects are often cumulative. It is best to get instruction initially to avoid developing bad habits. With just 5-10 minutes a day, one can adopt this simple, effective tool that assists in thriving in all areas of life: body, mind, health and game. 10/30/2014 0 Comments The Whole Medicine BagHow often do you know what is good for you, and not do it? Or the opposite? Know what is not good for you and do it anyway? If you're like me, probably more often than you would like to admit. Yogis call this "a-dharmic", going against your nature. And they say is the root of our problems. Through wisdom and practice, we learn to make more "dharmic" choices -- those that serve our life, from friends to food to free-time activities. Yet even as we make dharmic choices, sometimes we get sick or have set backs. It's easy to blame ourselves, thinking we did something wrong. But perhaps the "problem" hasn't appeared because we failed. Perhaps it is simply another alley in our leaps of growth and expansion? Helping us become more aware and conscious? Recently I got a major organ infection. I was sad and angry, as my herbs, diet and yoga practice were not putting me back into health. I was required to reach for a pharmaceutical drugs, and felt that I had somehow failed. My "magic" had failed. Yet, working with western medicine gave me an important experience. Drugs are powerful. And fast. Taking an antibiotic, I felt better within hours after weeks of pain. Western medicine became my ally in health, for the first time in a decade. I also became acutely aware their side effects. In pulling out the "big guns" -- i.e. those that are employed when all else fails because, as they heal one system, they often harm another -- I was also overwhelmed by nausea, dizziness, out of body experience and more. These are the "big guns" for a reason, and unfortunately due to misuse, now kill more people than illegal drugs. While I gained a valuable experience and am grateful for western medicine's role in my life, I'm even more grateful that it is not the only tool in my medicine bag. My tools include a wise progression of health - diet, exercise, herbs, acupuncture, massage, laughter, emotional fluency, meditation, yogic wisdom, wise woman wisdom and so much more. With such an arsenal, I can reach for the tool that is just a little bit bigger than the issue at hand. For, like a parent correcting a small child, I want my tool to be just big enough get the point across. Not so big it blows up the whole landscape. While it will take weeks, months and maybe longer to repair the landscape of my body from antibiotics, they were the right tool at the time. Next time, something goes "wrong", I will return tools with fewer side effects, and trust in their power to heal. I know that not ever minor injury needs a big gun, just like every problem doesn't need a hammer. Yet with a varied medicine bag, and the wisdom of how to use the tools within, I now have an expanded ability to act dharmically, whatever may arise. May we all have circle of healing allies that support our everyday happiness, wellness, passion and purpose. Namaste, Munay and Blessings, Jackie Dobrinska Simple Solutions for a Vibrant Life 3/27/2014 1 Comment How we begin
3/16/2014 1 Comment Life in Wise Progression
1/15/2014 0 Comments Weaving Light into our Darkness
12/12/2013 0 Comments Deep Nourishment
12/6/2013 0 Comments Navigating Transitions
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Jacquelyn
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