Why it's not easy to love yourself?

Can you say this to yourself, or are you filled with excuses and doubt?

"I am absolutely flawsome!"

Take a look in the mirror and give yourself permission to STOP being so hard on yourself:

your appearance,
your decisions,
your finances,
your relationships,
your life,
your health,
your routines...

It's time to embrace your FLAWsome-ness!
FLAWS + AWESOME = flawsome

It's not your fault, we're all hard-wired to look for danger, threats, and negative aspects of our life.
It's our 'negativity bias' in the brain, and STRESS amps it up.

Are you--
Finding blame, or feeling overly critical? --> Check-in and measure your STRESS.
Feeling sensitive and over-reactive or short tempered? --> That's likely STRESS too.

What can you do about it?

---> Down regulate your stress <--

ANY. WAY. YOU. CAN.

• breath slowly and deeply (most of us are shallow breathers) -try one 3 easy techniques HERE.

• exercise,

• walk in nature,

• pat a pet,

• sing, dance or laugh.

My BEST advice, if you want to see success, is to remind you to do it often.

***It takes repetition to rewire your brain, or you'll be right back where your started!***

Go get'em this week, and keep thriving!

How to Lower Stress with FOREST BATHING

I decided to celebrate Earth Day by reminding you that Mother Earth has your back.

Every single day you are supported, nurtured and encouraged to grow.

When I feel the buzzing of anxiety begin to bubble up I step outside to spend quality time with the Earth.
It brings me back every time.
That's what getting grounded is all about.

I recorded this live video to offer a simple way to amp up your walks outside.
You can watch it HERE.

Learn how to elevate your walk in the woods:

1. Where to walk.

2. How to walk in the forest.

3. The optimal time to spend in the forest.

Have fun...Forest Bathing is a stress reducing, immune boosting, mind clearing experience.
When we know why something works for us we're more likely to change our habits and follow through with it.

In as little as 20 minutes in the forest you can benefit from:

• breathing fresher, oxygenated, air,

• moving your body,

• calming your mind,

• and powering up your 5 senses.

Forest Bathing is not just a walk outside.
You can actually witness your happiness meter go up. [Don't forget that happiness is your birthright.]

So, in honour of Earth Day, let's see ourselves as part of nature.
One with the planet.

Let me know how it goes!

Build Some Inner Peace ASAP

Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month?
I only just found out!
It feels like it's been Stress Awareness Year!

Stress Awareness is important, but so is the flipside-dialing in to more ease.
Ease needs to be nurtured so it can build inner peace.

But did you know that the #1 ROADBLOCK TO YOUR INNER PEACE IS YOU?

Sorry I had to yell there, but I find that I'm often in my own way.
Mindset beliefs, fear-What will people think? What if I fail?, What if I succeed? overthinking...
These are all stress responses, and they can stop us in our tracks.
Ease allows us to grow and nurture our seeds (goals, ideas, dreams, good feelings)!

This month, I invite you to nurture your soil with some Inner Peace, Some Ease.

Building inner peace is an important life skill for:

growth, laughter, fun, contentment and joy.

• Use what works for you-hobbies, running, exercising, creative arts, mindful moments, a meditation practise, out in nature...

• And activate inner peace with any of these easy, free tools.

One more thing to remember:

As you GROW your DREAMS, sprout new habits, reactions, perspectives, solutions don't forget to:

Sprout more kindness and loving acceptance of yourself.

So, back to April Stress Awareness Month…

• Remember, if you're WAY TOO BUSY to meditate, let alone stop doing all the things...try one of my 3 free, quick, 'chase-the-stress away' tools

• Click HERE. (Instant Access) Use them often and check to see how you feel before and after.
  
  I'd love to hear from you? Are these tools helpful? Interested in more?
  Just leave a comment below or email me at michele@smoothrockmeditation.com

Leverage Your Time Spent Waiting

Will there actually be a time when we can say it has passed us?

That it’s OVER?

Who do we want to be post-covid?

In the video below Glenda and I take a candid look at 'waiting' and how we up-level lock-downs to figure out how we want to show up in our lives.

Let's face it, along with all the uncertainty, we have been doing a lot of waiting.

Waiting in lines, waiting for updates, waiting to go back to work, to hug a friend, and the list goes on.

Wouldn't it be great if we could leverage our time spent waiting?

Not to leverage it up with crazing amounts of things to do but INSTEAD the opposite, leverage it up when we do NOTHING--just waiting.

Time is very precious to us all and we often are looking for something to do while we're waiting-check emails, send a text, make an appointment, write another list.

We just don't want to waste it.

Why not try a short mindful 'Waiting' Meditation?

It's a great way to train your focus muscle. You meditate on the go, while waiting!

Let's activate clarity, expand our creativity, and open ourselves up to more compassion and peace.

Weave a few moments of stillness into your day without feeling guilty about your to-do list.

Watch the video below to learn how to power up your time spent waiting.