Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts!  As I was preparing for my coaching class today I began to review the notes from last week.  As I sifted through my scribbles and highlighter marks I returned to a very powerful exercise I would like to share with you.  My teacher and coach Michael shared this exercise with our class last week.  

In my studies, we have learned about a model called the Victim Triangle.  Creators, David Hartman and Diane Zimberoff use this model in their Heart Centered work.  It is a very powerful and life transforming tool.  In the Victim Triangle model we see the energy of the 'Victim'- life is happening to me, I am helpless to change.  Another player in this triangle is the energy of the 'Persecutor'- How dare you do that to me, who do they think they are, can you believe the nerve?  And then the final player is the energy of the 'Rescuer"- I know what is better for them than they do, I need to save others in order to prove my worth.  

Take a deep breath my friends and maybe a sip of your coffee!  We have all participated in this triangle at some point in our lives.  As I have moved through my own personal work I have seen just how imperative it is to participate in the healing of these energies in your personal relationships.  The Victim Triangle energy lives in our third chakra, or solar plexus- the home of our personal power.  If you think of it in these terms, how powerful are you when you are in victim mode, persecutor mode, or rescuer mode?  

This exercise introduced by my coach Michael is a wonderful tool to help pull you out of victim consciousness.  These are the moments when you begin blaming others for the narrative of your life.  Here it goes.  

• You are 100% responsible for your experiences!
• If ______________________, then I wouldn't be so __________________.
• ie.- If my boss wasn't such an asshole, then I wouldn't be so angry and upset.
• Now you are going to strike out the beginning of the sentence and you are left with, "I wouldn't be so angry and upset."  If you are doing this exercise on your own, perhaps record it on your phone so you don't have to spend the time thinking and can just be in the experience and then play it back for yourself to see what you come up with.  
• With rapid fire thinking and saying this OUTLOUD, you are going to come up with 6-10 endings for your remaining sentence.  
• I wouldn't be so angry and upset if I stopped trying to control my boss.
• I wouldn't be so angry and upset if I extend love to myself.
• I wouldn't be so angry and upset if I was more self aware than other aware.
• I wouldn't be so angry and upset if I focused on my potentials rather than my weaknesses.  

​This is a great activity to do whenever you feel like someone else is holding responsibility for the unfoldment of your life.  My friends take this activity into your life with compassion and a willingness to grow your curiosity.  How does it benefit you to be the victim?  How does it benefit you to blame others?  How does it benefit you to rescue?  We learn patterns and ways of being in childhood, so have patience with the unfoldment of your process.  Show up.  Be brave.  Cultivate courage.  Practice love.  Learn forgiveness.  Just love.  Take back responsibility for the experiences of your life.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah   

Happy Monday beautiful hearts!  I had the absolute joy of watching my niece over the last week and as I hung out with this insanely adorable little babe, I was reminded of how vitally important it is to be in the present moment.  We played.  We ate.  We watched.  We dreamed.  We laughed.  All the while, this little sprite of light kept reminding me what joy lives in each and every moment.   I can't believe how fast she is growing.  Here are a few life lessons that I learned from my favorite little human:

1. If you're not hungry, don't eat it.  This little grazer knew when she was "hung" as she so clearly announces.  She ate until she was full and came back for more when she was ready.  She sipped down water, feasted on strawberries, and polished off a round of sprinkles.  She was content and it was a delight to be reminded of eating when we're hungry, not when we're bored or sad, or whatever else we have devised as a distraction.  What are you truly hungry for my friends?
2. Use your imagination.  As I sat amidst her toys I found my imagination being sparked by her curious play.  She had dolls mingling with dinosaurs and it all worked.  She colored, and not in a 'boxed in' kinda way.  Her artwork was full of her personality.  As I reflect on these moments with her, she was totally living from an inspired and ingenious perspective of the world.  So my friends, how would your world change today if you increased your imagination game?
3. Live in wonder.  This little nugget kept seeing the same sights with new eyes.  Her enthusiasm still makes me giggle.  When she gets super excited, she opens her mouth wide and takes off with a big smile.   You can feel her joy streaking through the room.  She explores her world taking it all in.  She might be full throttle in one direction, but something steals her attention and she pauses to explore and then takes off again.  How would your life be different if you paused periodically throughout the day to notice the wonder surrounding your life?
4. Love.  It really is all about love when I hang out with her.  She loves everyone from her kitties to her babies, and especially her 'Mama' and 'Dada.'  Her crystal blue eyes radiate love.  Her little hands hold onto objects and people with love.  Her posture with life is one of excitement.  Her tears come easily.  Her laughter fills a room.  Her heart is magic. She expresses.  She feels.  She lives.  She is love in action.  How can you bring a little more love into your life today?  The kind of love that is uniquely from you!  Let your heart overflow into your life my friends!

This babe has taught me so much about life, and I'm fairly certain that over the course of my life she will be one of my grandest teachers.  It is an absolute delight to be her Auntie.  May we all tune into the grand life lessons of the dear little ones in our lives.  May we remember that there is a dear one living inside each and every one of us.  May we nurture.  May we protect.  May we dream.  May we envision all the joy of this moment!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

Happy Friday beautiful hearts!  As you set sail into another chapter of your life, how will you slip into the leading role?  Only you can determine how you will routinely show up. This precious life that you are living is miraculous.  May we live from the pride lands our hearts!  Awake and attentive to the ease of being.  "Your soul cares only about what you're BEING while you're doing whatever you're doing."

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

Happy Thursday beautiful hearts!  Today I just can't stop laughing and for that I am  grateful!  May your sides hurt from laughing and your abs feel like they just got a workout!  As Audrey Hepburn so beautifully said, “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” 

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

I don't profess to know a thing about politics or big business.  
Most of the time you will find my nose buried in school work or a psychology book.
I'm not a civil engineer or an oil tycoon, I am a Yoga teacher and a prolific writer.
I drive a Subaru and sometimes enjoy giving trees a hug; although that's not a requirement.  
I'm not bound by a party line, I prefer to intently listen to all sides.
I'm not interested in who is cool, I want to know who is real.
I don't subscribe to bullshit as frequently anymore, truth seems more fitting these days.
I'm a work in progress, but I am committed to doing my work.  
Sometimes when I can't understand the happenings of the world I write.  

I'm a Capricorn, so I totally get the grounding vibe of Mother Earth.
I adore the constellations of Father Sky.
​I see the reverence and respect in the systems of the Earth.  
How they synchronistically work with one another;
the sun radiates life and every living being soaks up the rays of glory.  
Trees provide shelter, water cleanses, winds bring change, rains bring relief, fields bring harvests, bulbs bring flowers, snow brings magic, light brings life, darkness brings rest.

I love fall, and summer, and spring, and winter; these are the seasons of our lives.  
Today my heart is feeling tender and full of tears.
Raw with angst and clouded with grief.  
I can't make sense of this disrespect.  
I sit with compassion.
I sit with anger.
I sit with love.
But today I stand.
I stand with the people of Standing Rock.  
~SLD~

May You Sweetly Seek, 
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 



​

Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts!  I enjoyed another amazing class last night on maximizing our imaginative activity, so I thought I would share some of the thoughtful highlights from my teacher David.  

Have you ever had a really big decision in your life that you were contemplating; perhaps moving, getting married, changing careers, having children, retiring, etc?  At these pivotal points in our lives, we could have a propensity to flee our imagination which can be a joyful companion in the co-creation of our lives.  

In the psychology world, we might refer to this tendency to limit as Cognitive Inhibition.  Simply put cognitive inhibition keeps us in our comfort zones.  At times we may have trouble filtering the valuable information that offers creative opportunities and solutions.  It is in the co-creation with our imagination that we are able to see worlds and possibilities that we never even dreamed of.  We are antenna's of energy sending out and picking up energy all the time, so as we filter internal and external information it becomes imperative to know what energy is ours and what energy is another's.  

One of my favorite powerful questions is, "What is your dream for this lifetime?"  As I lean into this question in my own life I find 'fault lines' surrounding the perimeter of my dreams. Fault lines in the mind are the way that we have organized imagined scenarios.  It's like we already know what is going to happen, so we don't deviate from the map of the mind.  I like to think of these lines as the box that we have perhaps placed around our potential.  If we always stay within these lines, we will struggle to envision an alternate dream and future for this lifetime.  As you peer into your own life, how can you expand past your own lines with the knowledge that success is guaranteed to you? There is no way that you will not make your mark.  The whole of the Universe is conspiring for your greatest good, your highest level of expansion.  

Our imagination is a muscle that we must work with and engage on a daily basis.  One of the questions that can help us to nurture our imaginations is to ask, "What is missing?"  The very act of identifying and tapping into your imagination allows you to envision additional information. 

So my friends, may you continue to expand past the fault lines of your mind, exercising your imagination and asking yourself, "What is missing?"  I can feel the dream of your lifetime coming awake within you.  Honor it.  Nourish your imaginings.  Live your life.  Know that you are so supported and loved!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

Happy Monday beautiful hearts!  Today is brimming with possibility and grace.  This is a day of new beginnings and clean slates, it is a day to declare who you truly are.  In the Yogic path many teachings highlight the path of Dharma.  In the great text of the Bhagavad Gita, we see that following one's own Dharma is of utmost importance. It is better to live one's own Dharma fully than to live someone else's path incompletely.  Perhaps our perception is that it is easier to conform to the structures around us rather than to live outside the boundaries of the norm.  

As you gaze into your own life, how will you know when you are living your Dharma?  Your Dharma is the unique energy that you were born with that truly sets you apart from every other being on this planet.  Perhaps you have always had a burning passion to be a mother, a photographer, a doctor, a business owner, a massage therapist, you fill in the blank--but maybe something stops you from this grandness in your life?  Can you identify what fears, insecurities, and ways of being hold you back from fully expressing your unique talents in the world?

Close your eyes for a moment and envision how your body will feel once you are living in alignment with your Dharma.  Feel the energy of aliveness coursing through your body.  Vitality and health are yours.  Feel the energy of your mental body.  Perhaps notice yourself dropping old stories of hurt, regret, anything that keeps you stuck in a loop of the past.  The past is over and cannot be changed, only your reaction to it can evolve.  As Ram Das says, "Be here now!"  Drop into your spiritual center and notice how your spiritual awareness will be functioning as you follow the path of your Dharma.  Can you feel the adventures that you and Spirit can enjoy together?  Stay curious to how you'll grow your joys.  Stay in the center of your life.  

Our Dharmic path is clearly laid out for us.  Think of Dharma as your passions, the innate qualities unique to your energy that allow you to serve the world in a very astonishing way.  As you move into your week, and this brand new day, what's one thing that you could do today to get in touch with your Dharma?  Don't think too much about it, drop down into the center of your heart and allow yourself to experience the answer from this center of your awareness.  In essence, permit your heart to speak.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

“When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you 
don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not 
doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or 
less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have 
problems with our friends or family, we blame the other 
person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will 
grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive 
effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason 
and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no 
reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you 
understand, and you show that you understand, you can 
love, and the situation will change” 
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“AFFIRMATIONS TO ENHANCE MANIFESTATION • Every day I am becoming more aware of what I prioritize and what I tend to focus on. I prioritize my goals. I focus on all that I have to value. • I am choosing to be more and more conscious of what I have to appreciate in my life. • I am conscious of my resourcefulness, my creativity, and my power to create a great destiny. • I know that my consciousness creates my reality. I always choose an optimistic mind-set. • I consciously choose hope, joy, and peace in my daily life.” 
― Sandra Anne Taylor

Happy Wednesday beautiful hearts!  Today I am pretty stoked to explore how when our minds, hearts and beings are in alignment that we can manifest the heck outta our lives!  There are so many ways in which to create a more magnetic life for yourself.  

Begin noticing the quality of your internal and external atmospheres.  Become aware of the language surrounding the creation of your life.  Become aware of the company you keep.  What does the environment feel like around you?  Who is doing the speaking in your mind?  Is this your voice?  Your belief?  Or perhaps an old voice from your past?  It takes guts and glory to delve into your life, but if you don't, who will?  We have to be willing to dismantle old constructs and ways of being so that our brilliant and beautiful selves can shine through and create our lives in the most beautiful manner. I'm not suggesting to see your life with rose colored glasses, but what I am suggesting is to notice where you routinely trip in your mind, your life, your languaging, your default settings--and then get curious about how perhaps those ways of being are manifesting the opposite of what you might want in your life?  

We are all in this together and sometimes we need to remind each other to choose our words with kindness and love, to speak with compassion, to move with grace, and to manifest the shit outta our lives!  You are a precious gem waiting to be revealed, so shine your unique radiance into the world!   Choose all the glorious wonder that you would like your life to be built upon and then watch the possibilities explode!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts!  As I progress through my newest coaching module, my teacher Michael asked that we each begin envisioning what our success is going to look like.  So my friends, after sitting with these rich questions, I'd invite you to explore what success looks like for your life.

• What would success mean for me?
• How will I know when I have gotten there?

How will you know when you have reached the pinnacle of your success?  Will your external world become different?  Will your bank account be the deciding factor?  Will you be surrounded by a new community?  How will you be celebrating the daily act of living?  In essence how will you be living the next 24 hours of your life?

As I sit with these questions in my own life, I begin to gain momentum towards a personal reply.  Success in my life looks like waking up each morning and giving thanks for another opportunity to experience the sensory world around me.  Success is chanting with my cup of coffee while the birds tweet and the world wakes up.  Success means that I am in an ever changing state of evolution--that I am not quite certain about anything, but curious about everything.  That I stay devoted to my passions and seek to grow my understandings and awarenesses.  That in some way I have dedicated my life to the betterment of the whole.  Success in my life means that I am the creative engineer, the CEO, the artist, the healer, the student, the teacher, the world traveler, the soul that offers thanksgiving for the gift of being alive.  Success in my model is alignment with Source and dedication to the journey of continually re-awakening. Success is sloppy kisses, tender embraces, smiling children, thoughtful lovers, travel adventures, and warm homecomings. Success is compassion and forgiveness for self and others.  Success is the endless recreation and refinement of the dream.  

And I will know that I have gotten there when I can stop asking this question of myself.  When I am so busy living my life that arriving is no longer my concern.  I will be busy serving, loving, and growing my talents so that I can connect with the world in a more enlivened manner.  I will be abundant and wealthy in ways that can be both measured and immeasurable.  I will be encouraging other's to share their passions, to develop their possibilities, and to remember their divine nature.  I will work in communities of like minded individuals where the goal is the whole.  In these communities we will hold a space for one another to do our healing work.  There will be seasons of planting and seasons to harvest, but all the while success will be beaming on the horizon.  I will wonder about success through the lens of writing, Yoga, and various other healing modalities.  

My coach and friend Michael reminds us that, "The most successful view of the self is the way in which the world will grow."   How will you grow your world my friends?  Perhaps invite yourself to begin working with your definition of success, and allow yourself to know when you have arrived.

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah