Meditation serves many purposes. It can be used to calm the mind, settle the body, connect with spirit while you give your being a full dose of a much needed slow deepened breath in and out. Take a few pauses today to really connect with your breath. Pause, feel the air enter into your nose or mouth, feel yourself let it out, emptying yourself completely.

Allow yourself a few moments to slow down and breathe in big and deep, pause, and breathe out big and deep and pause again before breathing in again. Dropping your breath into your belly while you do this can give you a very nice relaxing feeling! Start with just a few of these nice deep breathes in and out at times when you need it most or can remember to do it today! 

Much love, 
Liz, Rooted Living Wellness.

One of my best friends once told me, "you know, people come into your life for a reason, season or a lifetime". That statement impacted me on a deep level. Seeing the human connection as a temporary entity can create feelings of both relief and anxiety. It's in the attachment of relationships that we can feel the greatest joy and pain. It's that beautiful connection with another bright soul that can feel so invigorating. At the same time, the beautiful connection that made us feel so good, can also make us feel at our worst when it feels like that connection has died. 

As the buddha stipulates, the root of all suffering comes from attachment. Being attached to a permanent idea of a certain connection can get us into trouble quickly, as there really is no permanency in this life, there's just the illusion of it. If you can understand that connections and things happen as they do and then they are gone again, then you can have an impermanence about your living, and in theory, you will experience no suffering. Practicing having an open heart for your connections in the moment while being able to let go after the interaction has ended can support your ability to practice this concept of non-attachment. 

However,  for those who you have lost a deep loving connection to another beautiful being in the physical world along the way or who may be out of reach for a long period of time, I also find it very powerful to engage in heartfelt connections from a far. You can place one hand on your heart, bring a loved one (whether alive or dead, whether we still connect in the physical world or not) and you can send them some love from your heart and spirit. This activity is not about attachment, it's about sending a loving connection. When I do this, I instantly feel connected to them without having any expectations on the relationship; it's just a simple heartfelt connection. 

But what about those times when you feel like you do need to let go of what has felt like a longer lasting relationship? Those times when it feels like it would be best for this person to have been for a "reason or a season"? It makes me think back to the time when I lived an unsober life; a time when alcohol was more of the ruler of my decisions than a true heartfelt connection. This focus seemed to draw in more heavy drinkers into my life. As I embarked upon the path to sobriety, it was evident that I had to let go of certain relationships if I wanted to be successful with my new direction. This letting go provided a combination of guilt, loss and relief all rolled into one.I didn't want to say goodbye to people I had spent much time with, but I realized that much of the time was centered around alcohol and it was clouding my spirit. 

Sometimes we stay in relationships with others out of a sense of pure obligation or routine. We don't want to leave others or have them leave us. But, if we can come back to the fact that people come into your life for a "reason, season or a lifetime", you can practice a certain letting go of the mind's attachment to forever and struggle/control over others. All relationships have their ups and downs. When the road feels like a continuous rocky path that takes you further and further away from your authentic light self, it may be time to practice a letting go. Feel into your light and look at the reason, honor the seasons and breathe into the lifetime. The fact is that we simply don't know how long relationships will last nor how long we or others will live. 

Much love, 

By Liz Myers, Rooted Living Wellness

There are so many aspects to wellness that it can be challenging at times to feel like you are juggling them all in balance. I'm sure you have seen this image of the "wellness wheel", which breaks down the different areas of focus for your balanced well-being. The main categories tend to focus on the following key areas: Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual, Physical, Social, Environmental and Financial wellbeing. Of course, your personal wheel may vary a bit depending on your unique life. 

When finding yourself out of balance with a certain area of your wellness wheel, it helps to first bring awareness and focus to that area with a sense of compassion. Observe and ask what that area needs in order to feel/be more in balance and well. Do your best not to attach to any judgement arising from the current situation. Instead, focus on what that area needs in order to be nourished so it can flourish and flow. 

Now, you may look at this wheel and find that more than one area, if not several, are in need of a nurturing tune up. However, I invite you to choose one at a time. Focus on that one that is calling just a bit louder for action than the others. Once you've chosen that area, follow these simple steps to resolution!

In the brilliant book, The Kaizen Way: One Small Step Can Change Your Life (Maurer, 2004), the main lesson is centered around making small steps for success. It's concept is very similar to the familiar phrase, "take it one day at a time". The greatest example I can share from this book relates to creating financial wellness. The identified piece of the wellness puzzle is financial and the identified balancing component for this example is to create savings. We all know it can be a challenge at times to save money, especially during the holiday season. However, the ease of this task comes with the small steps it takes to be successful. Since we have 365 days in the year, we can use this one day at a time mantra to our advantage. Start by committing to saving just $1 a day. Having a daily commitment of just a dollar a day will get you in the habit of saving up those dollars one day at a time. At the end of the year, you will have a guaranteed $365! It may not seem much to some, but to others that is a great success. And the achievability of reaching this goal with ease will bring a positive energetic flow to your relationship with money. It will allow you to enjoy and engage in the art of saving. If you are artistic, it can be fun to decorate a savings jar. If you are more into electronics and seeing those dollars raised online,  create a separate savings account for your fun 365 dollar adventure. Be sure to mark off your daily success on the calendar, it will give you a good dose of happy success endorphins. 

If $1 feels too easy, start with $2 a day or choose one month where you change it to $2 or even $3 a day just for that particular month. Whatever you choose, be sure that it's small enough to commit to over the long haul. Success and habit creation are the keys to this wellness equation. 

This daily commitment can apply to any area of your life. You can add something in once a day or take something away once a day. Maybe you could benefit from taking one less sip of caffeine each day. Or how about squeezing in one extra sip of water each hour. Make it something you commit to and be sure to checkmark your progress. 

Happy wellness balancing folks!

~ Liz Myers, Rooted Living Wellness
  
Maurer, R. (June, 2004). The Kaizen Way: One Small Step Can Change Your Life. Workman Publishing; New York.