Mindfulness: The Source of Suffering and Happiness

“Our level of awareness at any given moment determines the quality of our experience.”
– Michael Neill
From the book, The Inside Out Revolution

A few days ago, I woke up in a low mood, feeling a little anxious. Immediately, I started searching my mind for the cause. And then I caught myself.

I know that my thinking causes my moods. And, I am still sometimes tempted to believe that some outside circumstance caused me to feel blue.

So, I discontinued searching my mental hard drive and got about my day. A couple of hours later, after I had finished working with a coaching client, I noticed that the low mood had vanished.

I had to smile. Of course it had. Whenever I work with a client, I experience life from a higher state of awareness. I consciously structure our time together to make sure of that.

Even if I’m in a low mood when the client calls, I shift before we begin our work. I ask them if they want to leave anything outside the door. I’ve already noticed inside me if I want to leave anything outside the door.

How liberating to realize that my own thoughts and my own level of  awareness create my suffering or my happiness . . .
How liberating to realize that my own thoughts and my own
level of awareness create my suffering or my happiness . . .

Then, I create a new space for both of us to experience a higher state of awareness. I lead us through a formal opening for our time together.

How I do that depends on the client. It could be as simple as taking two deep breaths together. Or, we might listen to one note on a chime until it dissipates. Or, I’ll lead us through an affirmative prayer or draw a Soul Coaching card for them.

So, after working with my client, I felt great. I was experiencing a high mood. And, when I thought about the things that I had thought about from the low mood, I had an entirely different perspective.

From my low mood, taking the car for an oil change felt like a burden. From my high mood, I felt great about taking good care of the car and happy I found an excellent mechanic in Santa Fe.

From my low mood, I felt cranky about having to write metatags for my new website. After working with my client, I felt excited to get them written, because they would help more people find my website.

And the list goes on. You get the idea. An oil change or meta tags don’t cause my suffering or my happiness. My own thoughts and my own level of awareness create my suffering or my happiness.

I love to use tools, like the formal opening for coaching sessions, to keep my awareness level high.

What about you? If tools are fun and helpful for you, too,
I’m so excited to share a package of three tools with you:

Oak Tree

Strong from Within, 1 – The Quick Audio Package
(3 recordings)
All recordings by Ann Strong

  1.  You Are a Fountain of Blessings
      5-minute meditation
  2.  Divine Authority
      2-minute affirmative prayer
  3.  Source
      1-minute reality reminder

I found a wonderful platform from which to share this package. It allows you to name your price – even free!

My suggested price is $6.75 for the package of 3. And, if you don’t want to use your credit card on the Internet or your personal development account is taxed, then please accept this package as my gift!

I received feedback from several people a couple of weeks ago that naming your price made them nervous. How do they know if it’s worth $6.75 or $50.00? If they don’t pay, will I judge them? I totally hear you.

If you’re thinking something like that, please don’t deny yourself these wonderful recordings – get them as my gift. I not only won’t judge you, I will be thrill to be of service to you!

And, if you’d like, drop me a line about your thought process so that I can make them super accessible to anyone who wants them.

For further details, to purchase and for immediate download, click here.

Post comments and insights below . . .

Evoking the Best of You: From the Archives – Outer Simplicity, Inner Richness

Circa: 1991

Ann Strong, Outer Simplicity, Inner Richness

Thank you, Moreah Vestan, for asking for this postcard: Outer Simplicity,
Inner Richness, 69 things you can do for yourself, for children, for neighbors,
and for all inhabitants of planet Earth.

I wrote this piece in 1991. (I had to look it up!) I appreciate that you
had a hard-to-read copy in your Reflections file and that you asked to
see the original. You made my day!

Enjoy! This stuff is still as pertinent today!

Find Your Strongest Life: Strong from Within Tools

How might the world shift if we all knew and owned our own divinity?

How would your life shift if you knew, truly knew, that you are the creator of your life, the author of your story? What might you create differently than how your life is now?

What if we could devote a minute or two minutes or five minutes a day to begin making those shifts in our lives?!?

I love the way a meditation or affirmative prayer instantly changes my focus and energy. And, I am a bit impatient by nature, so I love working with simple tools that help me shift in minutes.

Yet, I found most centering tools and meditations are a minimum of 15 minutes and often as much as an hour, so I decided to create my own tools.

Today, I am so excited to share them with you!

I call this first one, Source, a reality reminder. May it remind you of your own power – strong from within . . .

Oak Tree

Listen to the 1-minute audio here.

[audio:http://annstrong.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Source_realityreminder.mp3]

Or read or follow along with the printed words below.

Source

There is One Power, One Presence; the Source of all existence.

Pure Potentiality. Pure Energy. Pure, unformed, raw material.

Everything in existence is formed from this One Source.
I am formed from this One Source.

My thoughts, beliefs and emotions form my reality,
the nature of my existence.
I am the source of the nature of my existence.

What I experience “out there,” in the world first took shape inside of me.
As I believe, so it is.

I am the source of the nature of my existence.
Each moment, I choose the nature of my existence.

What would I love to choose?
What would I love to choose?

If this is valuable to you, I’m so excited to share a package of three tools with you:

Strong from Within, 1 – The Quick Audio Package
(3 recordings)
All recordings by Ann Strong

  1. You Are a Fountain of Blessings
    5-minute meditation
  2. Divine Authority
    2-minute affirmative prayer
  3. Source
    1-minute reality reminder

I found a wonderful platform from which to share this package – and you get to name the price you’d like to pay!

CLICK HERE for further details, to purchase and for immediate download.

I’d love your feedback! If you purchase the package and use the tools for a few days, I would love to know how things shift for you . . .

Post comments and insights below . . .

Mindfulness: From the Still Point

“Anything you do has a still point. When you are in that still point, you can perform maximally.”
– Joseph Campbell

Last week, as I was driving through a notoriously challenging traffic crunch area on the highway, I accessed the still point of that particular spot. I actually slowed down to the construction speed limit even though I was in the fast lane.

I wasn’t on the phone, listening to music or eating a snack. I didn’t even take a sip of water. I became one with the highway, the cars around me, my own car. It was as if everything became a synchronized dance. The cars around me flowed with me. No one drove dangerously slow or dangerously fast. No one made any scary, careless lane changes. For 10 or 15 seconds, we all drove in the quiet of the eye of the storm.

Ah, the still point . . .

Working with a coaching client, she felt frustrated about how to resolve a situation with one of her employees. As she accepted her frustration without trying to change or get rid of it, she quit fighting herself. When she realized she had calmed her own inner turmoil, she sighed deeply. And, with her next breath, she knew what to do with the employee.

Ah, the still point . . .

When I sat down to write this blog post, I felt anxious and distracted. I had several topics I wanted to write about and I didn’t know how to choose. As I started to scan the mental hard drive of my mind, I felt this topic rise above the mental hard drive. As this topic chose itself, the anxiety vanished and my whole focus turned to writing.

Ah, the still point . . .

snow covered tree

A few days ago, it seemed way too cold and stormy to take my daily afternoon walk. So, I bundled up and went out anyway. Not long into the walk, I captured the essence of the still point in this photo. Even though the wind continued to whip cold wet snow into my face, I surrendered to the conditions as I received the privilege of experiencing the still point in the middle of a literal storm.

Ah, the still point . . .

What about you? Where is your awareness in regard to the still point within? How might you access the still point within each activity as you go through your day?

I’d love to hear from you.

Post your comments and insights below.

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