Every day, I participate in a Geotran call. We use Geotran to clear the stress in our life or we celebrate together. 

This morning, one of the participants shared that she had had an experience of self-love. She explained that she didn’t know how to describe it other than it felt as if her heart was more open. 

It is the same for me. It is hard to express what self-love feels like. Yet, when we experience it we know. 

Being in a group where we talk about it makes it easier to access. 

I am grateful for my friend sharing her experience of self-love. 

I have been wanting to talk about spirituality but I tell myself that I don’t know how. If I ask myself what I want to say about it, here is what comes up:

I feel that my practice of Geotran helped me access spirituality and this access has had a deep impact on my life and my happiness. But what is spirituality?

I looked up the word in the dictionary and found “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.”

Brené Brown writes: “Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”

This definition was first published in The Gifts of Imperfection.

What does spirituality means to you?

I have been in several conversations with my friends about the I-don’t-feel-like-it voice. It’s the voice that comes on with a winy tone when it’s time to get off the coach and get something done.  

In his book, “Self-Coaching”, Joseph Luciani calls this type of voice the child voice within and gives us ideas on conversing with it. 

It reminded me of one of my childhood friends: we were very close and I was the one who decided most of the time. So just because I live with a I-don’t-feel-like-it voice doesn’t mean it has to decide what I do or don’t do. 

And something else I read made me think that noticing being swayed by this voice could be part of being faced with my humanity.

All this jumble of thoughts lead me to decide that one of my goal this year, as part of increasing self-love, is to befriend my I-don’t-feel-like-it voice. What is that voice / part of yourself that you could befriend while not allowing it to control your life?

One of the guideposts of wholehearted living is cultivating Gratitude and Joy, letting go of scarcity and fear of the dark.

Sometimes, I might believe that finding things to be grateful for requires an amount of energy I may not have. But it is not true. It’s a lie that we may tell ourselves to justify sitting in “it” for a bit longer. 

Today, I am grateful for singing on the phone with my dad. I am grateful for my new found interest in decluttering. And I am grateful for having so many wonderful friendships in my life. 

Today, I read my earlier posts to find some inspiration. 

It’s a sign of self-love to be able to value our creativity. 

And for added inspiration, I listened to  a podcast from Hal Elrod: How to achieve your goals when you’re struggling. I loved this podcast and I want to listen to it again.
Today, I was able to use what Hal Elrod talks about: the miracle equation: unwavering faith + extraordinary action. 

Yesterday, I lead a Wheel of Life session. I started that last year: we looked at 8 areas of life and set 3 goals for each area: a lofty goal, an easy to reach goal, and a maintenance goal. 

In June we did a review to see where we were at in each area. 

Yesterday, we reviewed our 2023 goals, celebrated our achievement with gratitude and acknowledged the goals we didn’t reach with self-love. Once 2023 was complete, we set our goals for 2024. It was energizing!

At this time of year, I am reminded of an article I read in 2014. It said that research found that people who set New Year’s resolutions are much more likely to reach their goal than people who don’t set New Year’s resolutions (there were actual statistics in the article that I don’t remember). So in 2015, I decided to find a type of exercise that I would enjoy doing. I tried different things during the year like mini-trampoline exercises, line dancing, and other classes. And on December 28, 2015, I tried crossfit and I loved it!

Since then, I am all for setting New Year’s resolutions in January and in September!

Today, I understood an aspect of visualization I had never seen before. I thought visualization was similar than meditation. But in his instructions, Hal Elrod talks about visualizing the steps we are taking towards the outcome we are visualizing. He add to see in our minds eyes as if it was happening from inside ourselves. Today, I wanted to soak my bathrobe in a de-stainer. Well, I have wanted to do it for 6 months.

So I practiced visualizing the steps it would take, but I kept being stopped. I didn’t know what container to use that would be big enough. I didn’t know how to measure 5 litres of water to be able to put the appropriate amount of the product. So I visualised walking around my house looking for the container and then looking for the best measuring device. And I realised that the visualizing included some type of figuring out. It was not all Zen-like or meditative like I thought it should be.

Well in the end, I got to soak my bathrobe. It came out whiter but the stains are still there. Better luck next time!

I experienced serendipity and connection: 

Last week at the gym, a woman I had never talked to before told me about this podcast she was listening to. She insisted that I take a picture of her phone screen to remember the name of the podcast.  That’s how I discovered the Miracle Morning.

What is the Miracle Morning? The Miracle Morning is the fastest way to wake up every day and create the life you’ve always wanted (even if you’re not a morning person).

The Miracle Morning practice includes Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (S.A.V.E.R.S.)

The author, Hal Elrod, started by practicing for an hour each morning but he found that even 6 minutes with one minute for each practice is enough. 

When I first heard the podcast about the Miracle Morning practice, I noticed that I was already doing 4 of them most days (I wasn’t reading or journaling). But now I have more intentionality. 

I have been doing the 6 practices for the last 6 days and my creativity has been through the roof! I got to restart 2 projects that had been on hold for more than 6 months!

Happy, thank you, more please!

Yesterday after posting my paragraph on my purposes, I noticed that my website host included a feature for AI feedback.

Curious, I clicked on it and I received a paragraph of AI feedback. I am still working on not taking feedback personally. Well, I found a way to practice: getting AI feedback is a reminder that what I write is not perfect.

That’s when I can remember to apply the second guidepost for wholehearted living: “Cultivating self-compassion: letting go of perfectionism.”

My intention is not to write perfectly, give tips, or provide guidance. My intention is to share my personal experience in case it inspires someone to ask themselves a question that leads to discovering more on wholehearted living. Take that AI Feedback. 😊 Can you imagine if the AI Feedback only said “Well done”?

Cultivating laughter at the expense of AI Feedback!!!