12 Powerful Paths To Harmony

by Judith Pennington

What’s your stress index these days? If it’s high, try these sure-fired ways to evoke and preserve harmony and light.

1. Phone a friend. One of the best ways to reconnect with the deeper, core self is to talk with a friend. Besides the relief in resonating with a sympathetic, loving person, speaking your truth opens the throat chakra so that light can flow up from the heart and down from the crown of the head to infuse the energy system with inspiration and balance. Friends and family are wonderful mirrors, and we see ourselves more clearly in them. Listening to other people’s constructive ideas frees up our own.

2. Spend time in nature. Go outdoors, immerse your senses in nature’s beauty and allow her frequencies of vibration to ground and center you in a higher reality. Nature’s resonant frequencies are 8 to 14 hertz, the alpha frequencies of brainwaves that responds to sensory awareness and produces a relaxed, diffused, daydreaming state of awareness. Relaxing in nature heals the body and stimulates creative ideas and soul inspiration.

3. Stay in the Light. Immerse your awareness in the Light just above and toward the back of your head for twenty to sixty seconds. Simply connecting with this light will steady your mind, strengthen your body and open your heart to the loving perspectives of your soul. Do this at any time and in any place. You will immediately shift into emotional balance.

4. Put good energy into everything. Embarking on every new project with an open heart, clear mind and positive expectations patterns the project and strengthens it to withstand fluctuations in the field. If the project falters, use the light in you to rebalance and harmonize it.

5. Use right action and right timing. Sometimes we need to push a stuck door to open it. Sometimes it’s the wrong door. Right action and right timing are critical today. If you are unsuccessfully attempting to open a certain door and the result is unmanageable stress, you may need to let go of that doorknob. Saturate it with light, but if nothing works, let go and pull the plug on your stress.

6. Heed your intuition. It’s always wise to listen to the inner self, which knows more than the logical mind and ably guides right action and timing. In a quiet, contemplative state of mind, ask for guidance in everything. In the intense light of these times, your intuition will grow stronger and more accurate. Connecting with feelings puts us in touch with our intuition. You might consider journaling, writing a song or creating a work of art. Creative work connects us with the deeper, subconscious core self, where the soul resides.

7. Reach out and send light. It’s hard to watch people do greedy, selfish, unkind and mean-spirited things. We want to protest and oppose wrong action. But if you do so and cannot stay peaceful, withdraw until you can. The best path to change is peaceful activism. Showering people and events with light restores them to the Divine Harmonic.

8. Stay in your power. Recently I lost an important relationship by overextending myself to the point of intolerable stress. A good diet, adequate rest and exercise, nature walks, daily meditation, beneficial friendships and constant self-inquiry enable us to work from a solid base. If something feels bad, it probably is. Stay with what feels and is good for you. If you feel divided, don’t do anything until you know what to do.

9. Cultivate happiness. Examine what makes you happy and give it to yourself. Too often we expend our time and treasure on everyone else. Put yourself first! Soon your lasting happiness will overflow to uplift the lives of others. When you feed and nurture your happiness, the Law of Attraction brings more of it to you and to everyone around you.

10. Dream for guidance. If you do not meditate, ask for a guiding dream to discover what your soul wants and needs. Set an intention before bedtime, place pen and paper by your bed, and expect to wake up with a solution in mind. Do this until you know your next best steps.

11. Sing for harmony! Listen to music that gives you joy and sing anything that comes into your mind (for laughs, amusing songs like “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Camptown Races” or “My Boomerang Won’t Come Back”). Perhaps even better, bring musical tones up and down your body’s energy system (chakras) and allow the frequencies to orchestrate harmony. Sound is calming and it resonates in the body. If you like to sing or listen to soaring spiritual harmonies, you will love Deva Premal’s exquisite album of Hindu music, “Dakshina.”

12. Remember who you are. There is nothing in this world more powerful than the open heart aligned with its body, mind and soul. In this we are powerful enough to become the gods we are meant to be and are becoming.

Improve Your Conversation Performance By Changing Your Thoughts

by Royane Real

Have you ever had a conversation with someone where you start to get nervous and shy, and worry about your conversation performance? Do you start to think that everything you say sounds stupid or awkward or insincere? Do you start to obsess over what other people think about you? Do you criticize yourself?

Once you start to criticize yourself in your mind, your ability to make conversation successfully will go down hill very quickly.

What can you do to improve your conversation confidence?

One of the best ways to become more confident at making conversation is to notice what negative messages you are sending yourself about your conversation ability.

You may have negative messages to yourself that are very automatic, that start appearing in your mind as soon as you say anything that you think is less than perfect.

The first step in getting rid of your negative thoughts is to notice what you are saying to yourself. Only then can you fight back against your negative messages by putting new positive messages in their place.

Pay attention to your negative self thoughts. Write them down so you can examine them. Chances are that your messages to yourself are very critical. For example, you may be mentally calling yourself names like "loser" and "idiot".

Why would you do this? This may be a habit you have developed because you have low self esteem. Or you may be simply repeating the kinds of words your parents often said to you.

Why would you put yourself down this way and repeat this harsh criticism to yourself?

The real reason is that some part of your mind thinks that by criticizing you harshly with such negative words you will change your behavior and suddenly become a confident, competent person.

Does this technique actually work? No! If you have been criticizing yourself this way in the past, you already know that it does not make you perform better. In fact, all this negative internal criticism will only make you more nervous, more awkward, more embarrassed and more tongue-tied.

So, how can you switch your mind to a more positive way of thinking so that your confidence and your conversation performance will actually improve?

There are several different ways to do this, and you may benefit from using more than one method.

One good method to use as a starting point is to counteract the actual content of what you are telling yourself when you say those negative criticisms. You counteract your negative automatic thoughts using positive logical statements.

Here's an example. Suppose that while you were having a conversation with somebody, you just said mentally to yourself, "I'm such a loser. I never say anything right. Every thing I say sounds so stupid. These people must all think I'm an idiot. No wonder no one ever likes me."

These are certainly very negative statements to use on yourself. Will such negative thoughts help you to perform better in the future? Will they give you the confidence you need to relax and enjoy talking with other people? No they won’t!

And they are not even realistic statements. They are not based on real facts. They are just very negative, automatic statements that have become a habit for you.

First, tell yourself to stop thinking the negative thoughts. Give your mind a clear signal to stop. You can simply say "Stop!" to yourself. Say to yourself, "I will no longer make such negative statements to myself. I will search for a better, more positive message to send to myself in the future."

Here's an example you can use:

"I just noticed that I'm automatically saying all those negative things to myself again. I called myself an idiot over and over again. But am I really an idiot? That's just name calling. I'm not really an idiot. I'm actually smart in a lot of ways. Do I really say stupid things all the time? I probably say stupid things once in a while, but not any more often than everybody else does. I don't know whether other people think I'm an idiot or not. I'm not really a mind reader. And I guess if some people sometimes think I sometimes say stupid things, it's unfortunate, but it's not really the end of the world."

"When I tell myself that nobody could like me, once again I'm making negative statements where I exaggerate and think that I really know what other people are thinking. I don't know for sure whether all other people like me or not. It's more logical to think that some people like me and some people don't. All I can do is to try to be myself."

When you consistently retrain yourself to change your negative thoughts about the way you perform when you are talking with others with positive thoughts, you will become much more relaxed and confident when you make conversation with others.

Success Habits from the Inner Child

By Debra and Bradley Warren

Our playroom. This is the place where it all began, our decision to get started in network marketing, and the place that continues to be the backdrop each day in the journey of building our family enterprise. Usually decisions are made in the boardroom, but our playroom is magical. There's an innocence and high energy of youth that prevails among the four sky blue walls dotted with fluffy clouds. This energy feels no boundaries or fears. It's a place where dreams are made and the keys to success are abundant.

This room is filled with tools that engage the mind of the entrepreneurial spirit. Wooden trains are chugging around the tracks with confidence in their never-ending journey. Puzzle pieces are scattered on the floor ready to connect a vision of greatness. The art table is full of crayons, markers, colored paper, and scissors; all the tools to design and build a masterpiece. Books on the shelves are overflowing with promising stories of inspiration, wisdom, and adventure.

It's in this room that we find the wind beneath our wings and learn the most valuable lessons. As we play with and teach our children each day, we marvel as they problem solve, fearlessly try new things, act with determination and achieve new milestones. What would the little child who you used to be think of the person you are today?

We've gathered great wisdom from our two little balls of fire as they have reminded us of 5 Success Habits from the Inner Child.

1. Forget About Paint by Number
Trust yourself and create your future. Paint a vision of the life you wish to lead. This will be your tapestry for inspiration and daily action. While duplication is a solid principle, take the outlines, instructions, and methods from others and design them to fit your strengths and style. Acknowledge all the creative tools and resources available to you and focus on the opportunity of what can be accomplished with your personal gifts. Goethe reminds you, "As soon as you trust yourself, you'll know how to live."

2. Eat Your Broccoli
Embrace your inner courage as the banquet of life is spread out beautifully for you to explore. Be open to change and trying new things. Realize that change equals possibilities and an opportunity to grow your experiences and expand your world. Learn to live with the uncertainly at hand, yet act with boldness and confidence. Recognize that fear, change, and adventure are synonyms. Run toward the things that scare you most.

3. Try, Try, Again
When faced with a challenge, focus on what's right with the situation. Believe that solutions always exist, and keep looking for that next possible right answer. Commit to the results you're looking for in all areas of your life. Move beyond your best and take yourself to the edge, spread your wings, lean out, and soar.

4. The Bedtime Story
From a very young age, we develop the habit of reading a bedtime story. As parents we understand the importance of reading to our children and opening up a world of adventure, wisdom, and great lessons. This nightly reading ritual should never end. The books may look different as we mature, but the pages still embrace a journey to personal growth.

Gaining knowledge is the responsibility of the person who wants to create their own life. Assume your role as a life-long learner. Invest in your personal development and cuddle up with a book that will challenge and transform your thoughts. Absorb the wisdom of the experts and implement what you learn. What book is on your nightstand?

5. Get in the Game
Children never do anything in a small way. Their animations, expressions, and voices are vibrant. As an adult, you can't play small on the field of life. Get in the game, play big, and give passionately to your dreams and the opportunity of your business. Be a champion for the successes of your team players. Take massive action and have fun.

A family friend and mentor once told us, "Success and growth occurs at the crossroads of courage and opportunity". Our children have given us the courage to take action on our dreams. Network marketing has given us the opportunity.

Reach inside, unleash your inner child and grab those wings of courage. As you do, you'll begin traveling the road between who you are and who you will become. Embrace the journey!