Today Don't Forget to Be Awesome

“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.” 

Marvin J. Ashton

The 7 stones of Simpler Living

When I was a kid, my parents would sometimes take us to a campground called Paradise Park. It was a little camp in the California foothills: a woodsy reserve dotted with old oak trees sloping down to a well-shaded river.

Most of the time, it wasn't much more than a stream. But its bed was thick with well-worn river stones, testimony to uncountable seasons of floods and the persuasive nature of water. Over the centuries, the river had slowly carried away mountainsides, tumbling and cracking rock, reducing boulders into a rainbow of smooth, flat stones the size of a child's hand. We'd spend hours picking through the best of them, finding the perfect rock to skip across the river. Invariably, we'd build little stacks of stones along the bank.

There's something deeply satisfying about stacking stones. It's a common motif in Zen gardens, which seek to create order out of nature's seeming chaos. In doing so, they highlight the harmony and balance of our place in the world.

It's not difficult to find a lesson in the stones for those of us trying to simplify our sprawling lives. We've chosen seven from the riverbed for you today — ideas that can help you live a lighter, healthier, more sustainable life. Stack them as you will.

1. Reduce your consumption

Anyone who thinks they can shop their way to greener living has been watching too much television. Sure, responsible consumerism matters. Every purchase is a choice. But the key to simpler, greener living is pretty straightforward: consume less. A simple way to cut back on unnecessary purchases is the one week rule. Unless you have a real show-stopper, write down the things you need and sit on them for seven days. Stores are designed to encourage impulse spending, so staying away as much as possible is good news for your bank account. After a week, round up the items you still need and group them together with an eye toward combining as many trips as possible. Then stick to your list. While this all sounds very simple, you'll quickly realize how chaotic our spending habits can be — and how much money you can save through better planning.

2. Reduce your waste stream

We call it garbage; other nations might call it wealth. There's no end to things we send to the landfill. Recycling helps, but the sheer volume of waste generated by the average household is overwhelming. From obsolete electronics to that mason jar you casually tossed in the trash last night, we're flooding our landfills while robbing ourselves of things which might be put to another use. Start by thinking twice when you purchase something: is whatever you're buying too heavily packaged? Do you need it all? Think again before putting anything in a trash or recycling bin. Nobody expects you to become a packrat, but that jar could easily be repurposed as a water bottle or something to pack a snack. Food scraps belong in the compost heap. Maybe that cardboard, too. For some idea starters on keeping things out of the bin, check out this helpful list from No Impact Man.

3. Trim your energy use

Energy prices have relaxed over the past few months as a direct result of the worldwide economic slowdown. But electricity, gasoline, natural gas and heating oil still represent a hefty portion of the average family budget. Unless you're fortunate enough to live in an area already invested in renewable energy, every unattended TV or flick of the light switch means you're burning fossil fuels. That means you're directly responsible for the air pollution and all the related consumables it took to bring that power to your wall socket. Learn to weatherize; replace or retire inefficient appliances; consider more energy-efficient lighting; and rearrange your living spaces so they take better advantage of natural heat, lighting and cooling. Switch things off and pocket the change. You'll probably enjoy the peace and quiet.

4. Prepare and grow your own food

If there's one lost art in the past decade or two, it's cooking real food. By "cooking," we don't mean warming up packaged food from the grocery store. We're talking about preparing meals from fresh ingredients. That's how our parents and grandparents did it. Admittedly, society has changed: with dual-income households and ever-expanding work schedules, it's easy to fall back on processed meals and fast foods. And that's a shame. Making a meal — whether it's just for yourself or a whole family — is the one of the little rituals which forces us to slow down and be mindful of what we eat. It's also healthier, and an enormous money saver. Not too handy in the kitchen? Take a class, or spend time cooking with someone you love. Real food needn't be complicated. And consider growing some of what you consume. Even if you're not blessed with the space to plant a garden, you can grow a satisfying crop of herbs and vegetables in modest containers.

5. Reduce your reliance on automobiles

We love our cars. And why not? Virtually everything about modern living — particularly in the United States — assumes automobile transportation. Think how much blacktop and concrete there is within a hundred yards of you right now. Our cities sprawl across what used to be countryside. Stores and businesses which make provision for bicycles and mass transit are the exception, and we feel inconvenienced if there's not plenty of parking within a few paces of wherever we travel. Dust off that bicycle or grab a backpack and get walking. Perhaps you could start by taking our 10-mile pledge. The more you leave your car parked, the more money you'll save and the healthier you'll feel. Start small, establish new habits, and you'll be surprised how much you can get done without burning a drop of gasoline.

6. Reduce your personal stress

It's not an accident that virtually every one of our "simplicity stones" has a meditative component. You have to make time to prepare food, choose walking over a car trip, or even make a proper shopping list. This is a good thing, because it forces you to unburden yourself of something else. We are hopelessly overstimulated. Living a greener life is less about learning new things than letting go of the old. Think about all the tasks you do in a week that take longer than 30 minutes. Look most carefully at social obligations, hobbies — even the time you spend online. Have any of these become a chore? What could be jettisoned? It could be something as simple as dropping a social network, or a repetitive task which could be delegated to others. You could probably find a few extra hours a week in this manner. Don't be in a hurry to fill them. Pick up a book, talk a walk, or putter in the garden. Light physical activity is a great way to trade stress for a little extra serotonin. If you're doing a good job saving money, you might be able to afford that once-a-week massage. Now, at least, you'll have time to fit it in.

7. Learn to give back

You've reduced your consumption. There are a few extra dollars in the bank. Your environmental footstep gets a little smaller from month to month, and you've managed reclaim some time from the chaos of your week. Now you're ready to give back. How you join in is a personal decision. Teach your newfound skills to others, help people find jobs, or assist a faith or social group. As you learn to slow down and simplify, chances are that opportunities to serve will find you.

Seven stones — but, of course, there are more.

This great article was originally published by Mother Nature Network, and created by By: Chris Baskind. Read the original article HERE

The Power of your Mind, the motor of your Life

"Most of the people take the limits of their vision to the limits of the world. A few do not" Arthur Schopenhauer

Our present life is a consequence of our past acts but is not necessarily a statement of our future. We all have the power to shape our life by the actions we can take on a daily basis in our present. But how that can happen?

Change is a constant, we all grow daily physically and mentally; knowledge is accumulated in our mind collected from every good and bad experience that we have. This experience can be used in our favor if we pay attention to what we can do with this newly acquired knowledge. 

Our mind is a source of ideas, created by inspiration, comparison or simple logic.  This ideas are only ideas if we don't have the self believe to make then happen, and when we take control of "the making", then we can affect the present moment by creating the small steps to the future change and achievement. 

Let's take for example our health. To be healthy is not purely down to luck,accepting that somethings are out of our hands. However, in accordance withe basis of asian medicine, we all can work on preventing health diseases by taking actions today to avoid future problems.  Exercising, eating well, keeping the mind calm may sound like cliches or a very easy way to think, but when we train our body and mind, we are taking care of our future. With every healthy day that we make, we are creating a better future for our being. If we don't eat properly we are not building a solid health base of our future. So then the daily actions are creating and sharing a brighter tomorrow. 

We can talk about other examples like work, personal relationships or happiness, any of these aspects of life are all affected by today's actions. If we create the best environment around us adding great feelings, positive ideas and actions, we can start shaping the results we are looking for. 

Our mind is a powerful achiever. If we think and act negatively, the results will not match our dreams. If we don't believe in what we are doing, if we don't love or completely get involved in what we are doing, we will not be able to achieve great results, because our mind  will not create the right determination upon concrete actions.  

Take for example a sportsman participating in a hight demanding sport. Despite that all the participants have the same skills, knowledge and abilities, only the mental power will define the winner. Only those with the right mental determination will be able to compete at their best. Only the ones who will be able to adapt to the conditions of the game or race will be able to achieve their goal.  Only those prepared to win will win.

We are all sportsman in the same sport: Life; and our most important skill should be our mind and it's power to achieve actions. Because we can all dream and dream about our future, but those prepared to take steps and actions are the ones who will cross the line of achievements. 

We want to leave you with three important points that will help you to focus the power of your mind in tune to your dreams: 

1) Visualize your Dream:  Our mind works better when it can read our dreams, so place your dreams on paper, write what you want and how you think you can achieve it. Visualize the steps and the short term actions. If you want to climb a mountain start training yourself, knowing everything about that mountain and visualizing your climbing success. Small steps will make the climb easier and more achievable. 

2) Stay in the Present Moment: To stay in the present is crucial for the achievement of your dreams. If you expend all of your time in the past or in the future, you will never be able to complete the necessary actions toward your dreams. Training your mind with Mindfulness or Meditation practices can help you to stay and enjoy each moment, allowing you to use all available knowledge you can collect in your daily observations. When we are completely focused in our present, we are able to build the steps to reaching our goals.

3) Believe in yourself: Knowing who you are, where you are in your life and where you want to be is very important for any goal achievement. Its not valid to keep saying to yourself " I don't know who I am".  We may never be able to completely understand the total of our mind, but we need to take a step forward and  and believe in the person we want to be. 

We create our being and our future by our own actions, habits, ideas and beliefs.

From this base we can look forwards and start writing our future, don't wait until the moment comes to you, create it from the bases of your own believe, of your own dreams  but more importantly of your own actions and the power of your mind. Believe in you :) 

Created by D.Oballos / Huellas de Luz Blog

Mindfulness: What It is and What it can Do for You

Everybody is talking about Mindfulness, even chefs and business leaders, but what really does this word mean  and how can we benefit from it in our every day lives.

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention to our senses, with the idea of training our mind to live and experience the now, the present moment.  Our mind is very volatile, it can travel between the past, present and future in a second, and when we are not able to control it, it can cause us stress, anxiety, ego or jealousy. 

The same way we need to take care of our body with exercise and healthy food, or our skin from the sun and winter; our mind needs also care to keep it calm and happy.  If our mind is not calm or balanced, it can cause us problems such as stress and anxiety, but more important health problems. Our body directly responds to all impulses of  our mind, if we are stressed, immediately our body organs contract and they can develop problems like low defenses, pain and bad functionality. 

When we practice mindfulness, we can train our mind to stay calm and react correctly to a challenging situation. We certainly cannot change what the world has in store for us, but we can change the way we react to each challenge, keeping calm and taking the better and wiser decisions will help us to grow and accept any of life's changes. 

Mindfulness teaches our mind to use our senses to maintain balance in our mind. Like meditation, mindfulness uses simple exercises to slow down the crazy flow of ideas that can disturb our mind and cause us anxiety. 

When we slow down, we can appreciate simple things in our daily life, we find joy in observation and we can learn to disconnect from states of anxiety or stress by practicing mindfulness or meditation practices. When our body and mind are in balance, we  can find the real happiness that our body and mind needs to make us feel completed. 

Lets concentrate now on how we can practice mindfulness, in 7 easy steps. Please read all the steps and then find the place and required elements to start practicing this simple but effective routine. The idea of mindfulness is to use our 5 senses to train our mind to be in the present moment. 

1) Find a quite place and sit comfortably in a chair or in the floor. Breathe in, breathe out and repeat this exercise in a sequence of 4 breaths and then 7. Listen to each exhalation, put total attention to the sound of your breathing and the sequence. Try to clear your mind and just keep the breathing and sequence in your mind. 

2) Now that your mind is calmer, lets start with Taste: Take a glass of water your hands, close your eyes and take a sip. Start by feeling the temperature of the water, the texture or sensation that it produces on your tongue and mouth. Feel the sensation but more importantly try to find a taste that defines it. Sip as much water as you want and repeat the exercise This will help you to calm your mind while slowing things down, and by living in the moment of tasting water. 

3) With your eyes closed, lets start with exercise our Sound: Start by carefully listening to all the sound around you, listen carefully to any variation of sound, any tone and any other eco around you. Pay attention to that sound, it could be your breathing or a bird outside or the sound of the fan. Pay attention to how the sound makes you feel, bring that sensation into your mind. Repeat the exercise noticing the different sounds around you. 

4) Open your eyes and lets use our Sight: See what is around you, pay special attention to the details of the elements. Pick one  object and try to feel the  textures and colours of it with your eyes, try to memorize the shapes, understand the form and memorize the moment. Use your eyes like scanners to bring the sensation of the image into your mind. Repeat the exercise with another object. Deep breath and relax. 

5) Take an object in your hands, or if you have the opportunity walk into a garden barefoot,  feel the grass, and put your sense of touch into action. Feel the object or grass touching your hands or feet. Feeling the temperature  the texture and bring the sensation into your mind. Try to picture in your mind what your hands are telling you about the object. Feel it and create a memory to your mind.  Repeat the exercise with another object or  plant. Deep breathing and relax. 

6) Close your eyes and Smell: In the garden or in your room, experience the smells around you, pay attention to the fragrance, try to identify what it is, where it comes from. Discover as many details of the fragrance that you can, find the sensation and bring it into you mind. Make your mind feel the moment. Repeat the exercise with another smell or another place. Deep breathing and relax. 

After this session, your mind and body will feel calmer and relaxed. So find a place in your daily agenda and start practicing this technique to train your mind as well as your body.  Take care of the mind, it control everything in our lives. 

Created by D.Oballos /Huellas de Luz Blog.