Some Funny Quotes

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.
      Bertrand Russell

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"”
     A A Milne/Winnie the Pooh

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak.
   Steven Wright

I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.
  Ron White

First the doctor told me the good news I was going to have a disease named after me.
   Steve Martin

Always borrow money from a pessimist he wont expect it back.
  Oscar Wilde

Adults are always asking children what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas.
     Paula Poundstone

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
      Anonymous

I always wanted to be somebody now I realise I should have been more specific.
    Lilly Tomlin

And finally one or two from Dr Seuss

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

Today you are You that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youre than You

How Wilder Penfield's Brain Maps Can Help Us To Relax ( Scroll down to Yesterday's post for the T'ai Chi Lessons)

                                    Wilder Penfield                

Wilder Penfield, is the legendary Canadian neurosurgeon who pionered neuropsychological studies on the awake patient during brain surgery.
Penfield is most famous for his experiments where he electrically stimulated the brain of patients who had part of their skull removed during surgery to record what thoughts, behaviours and sensations arose from the excitation of specific parts of the cortex
Here is a very short You tube movie  Here ( 1 minute ) to that shows how he worked.
Wilder Penfield was a cartographer he mapped the brain. This technique allowed him to create maps of the sensory and motor cortices of the brain ( more detail on this link  Cortical_homunculus ) showing their connections to the various limbs and organs of the body. These maps are still used today.

The reason I'm so grateful to Wilder  ( really love the man ) is that his insights have helped me so much in my training to relax and in my work teaching people how to relax.
Let me explain, Penfield 's maps show that a very large amount of brain space is occupied by our hands and our head as shown in the photo of the ' Penfield ' model below.

                                     Notice the huge hands and head

When  this information was first revealed there were many objections , people felt that the genital organs  were miss represented. People just couldn't believe that the hands and the face occupied much more ' nerve  space ' than the penis and the vagina.  But Penfield's findings are correct and we can use them , knowing that such a large amount of brain space is occupied by our face and our hands we can focus our relaxation exercises to pay special attention to relaxing these parts of our bodies and greatly amplify our sense of relaxation.
By learning to  paying attention to your face and regularly relaxing the muscles around the eyes and the jaw , by softening the forehead and relaxing the lips and mouth you can greatly enhance your relaxation .
 When you can remain more relaxed you will be more productive during the day and less tired in the evening. You will not need a drink to wind down in the evening because you will be  relaxed already.
You will notice that you have a lot more energy to do things you enjoy,  and being relaxed you will enjoy what you do all the more.
Practice it today you will immediately feel the difference in your energy and the more you practice the better it gets.

               

T'ai Chi Lessons Mini Form and the first 3 postures of the Short Form

Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.




Full Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.



Short form lessons 1,2and 3 from ann on Vimeo.

Your Emotional Guidance System

Here are Ester and Gerry Hicks, they have presenting the teachings of Abraham for many years.
Ester continues to spread the teaching since Gerry died. They have written many books among them Ask And It Is Given. The main thrust of the teaching is that we have in internal guidance system that lets us know when we are in tune with ' Source' ( source being  God,  Divine Intelligence or Eternal Knowing whatever name you give to that mysterious presence ).
Source vibrates on the high frequencies of Bliss , Love and Joy . The closer we are emotionally to these vibrations the closer we are to the Source  and the more we resonate with our true nature. It makes sense then that the more we tune ourselves to those high vibrations the better we feel . This is where our emotional guidance system comes in. We need to pay attention to how we feel  moment to moment and take responsibility for our emotions. We need to learn how to adjust our emotions upwards, by learning to recognise topics and activities  that lift our spirits we can take charge of how we feel and so begin to tune in to those higher vibrations.

                                                  Emotional scale
Here on the emotional scale we can see that depression , fear, grief and powerlessness are at the bottom of the scale, when we vibrate there we are a long way from our source. It is not easy to move directly from fear to bliss we need to move up the scale bit by bit and learn ways to nourish positive emotions that move us closer and closer to source.
Over the years of study and training I have learned the ways that keep me on the higher vibrations ( most of the time ).
 T'ai Chi , Open Focus Training Energy Work, Fun with my Family and Walks with Su  are some of the ways that work for me . Make your own list and use it lo keep your spirits up and watch how your life grows more fun and abundant.

Beginners Lessons and some inspiration from Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall on Spirit and Science from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.

THE OLD WISDOM

When the night wind makes the pine trees creak
And the pale clouds glide across the dark sky,
Go out my child, go out and seek
Your soul: The Eternal I.

For all the grasses rustling at your feet
And every flaming star that glitters high
Above you, close up and meet
In you: The Eternal I.

Yes, my child, go out into the world; walk slow
And silent, comprehending all, and by and by
Your soul, the Universe, will know
Itself: the Eternal I.

Mirroring

                               
                                                              Googles

Earlier this week I posted a link to Sam Barnes a seventeen year old young man with a rare disease which has stunted his physical growth but has not stunted his mental growth or mental  health. If you haven't watched the talk I strongly urge you to do so here.
Sam has a similar philosophy to many of the self help teachers I am fortunate enough to have trained with.
People like Larry Crane who reminded us to set an intention, for each day, and then keep resetting  it during the day. Larry always said "If you don't know where you are going you can't get there".
There have been many times when I have been on automatic pilot not quite sure of what I was aiming to achieve , without clear intentions.  Looking back at those times now I can see how my lack of direction and focus left me feeling frustrated and depressed.
Now I have learned to set clear intentions for my day. The more I do this the clearer, more productive and happier my days become.
Making intentions to notice love, fun and  kindness. Intending to inspire and be inspired have made my days exciting opportunities to grow. Having an intention to find fun each day is really one of the best intentions as finding fun invariably leads to laughter which lightens everything and everybody around.
It helps you deal with life's petty annoyances.
Like this morning when I was turning over to have the luxury of a second sleep ( the best time for lucid dreaming ) and Googles just insisted on scratching at my door until there was no choice but to get up and let her in. This morning I  decided to laugh at the situation to enjoy her insistence, her pushiness.  We are quite alike and often clash. Googles like me has very clear intentions and on other occasions I have allowed her focused intention to upset my mood.
John my husband loves her pushiness and when it annoys me I'm forced to wonder what button it's pressing, what aspect of me is she mirroring. Then I have a choice to smile and even  laugh, to accept and love the pushy side of her and come to love and accept a little more  the pushy side in me.

Let's Try A Diet Of Love

Just for today ,  even just for the next hour be aware of your thoughts, and notice the  thoughts you are feeding to your mind  are they thoughts of love, of joy, and abundance be watchful for the fear based thoughts that arise and gently direct your mind back in a loving direction.
This is not escapism this is creation , by directing your mind to the love that is already present you will become more aware of that love. you will actually amplify the love you feel and experience.
Look around your room , your house your garden and become aware of the objects you love.
Bask in the warm glow of the happy memories that arise when viewing a gift from a loved one.

I have many objects that inspire loving thoughts  as soon as I take the time to contemplate how I came to have them.  A beautiful old coffee pot which belonged to my grandmother ( who had died long before I was born)or her  photo  ( above)  that hangs in my living room. The photo came from my Uncle Seamus' house and I love it both because he loved it so much and also because I feel connected to her when I really look at it.

Why not take the time to become aware of the treasures around your home and derive the pleasure and love they are ready to bestow. 

Overcoming Obstacles With Su

                     We went for our walk in the little wood

                Here is Ruth  ( last year ) on the bridge we use
                             

                           But the recent storms had knocked the bridge

               Su is old now and most of the banks are just too high

                       So we searched until we found a way across

\

                  To see the trees

                  And the views we love

To have a happy walk

Consciousness Development Programme Coming To Dublin

I'm delighted to announce that the IAC are going to offer the Consciousness Development Programme in Ireland. I attended this course in London last summer and fount it to be really interesting. I learnt energy exercises at the course that have really enhanced my lucidity and awareness.
 CDP 1 is a 10 hour course and will be offered 5 hours Saturday Feb 8'th and 5 hours Sunday 9'th.

Topics covered
The CDP integrates a wide range of themes, giving students a cohesive, verifiable framework for understanding themselves, their energetic nature, psychic phenomena, paranormal occurrences, their relationships, and even their purpose in life. Key themes include:
          The multidimensional nature of our existence
          Paranormal and psychic phenomena - how they are produced, how to develop our abilities
          Energy (chi, prana, subtle energy) - using it to help ourselves and others
          Out-of-body experiences (astral projection) - what they are, their importance, techniques to induce them.
          Retrocognition (past-life recall)
          Non-physical helpers (spirit guides)
          Other dimensions (non-physical planes)
          Karma
          Self-awareness and personal evolution
          Cosmoethics (multidimensional ethics)
          Life after death
          Existential program (life purpose)

I will post details of the cost, the venue ,and how to reserve a place over the next few days.
You can find more information about the IAC in the link on my blog.

Just this morning I had another  lucid dream ,  there is something magical about waking up within the dream. This morning after I realised I was dreaming I said to the woman in my dream " I'm dreaming so you are in my dream . Why are you here ? " As soon as I asked her she began to dissolve before my eyes. Then I stayed calm ( I usually get so excited that I awaken ) .  I wanted to do something but had no plan so the dream turned a bit blank I was floating past white tiles along a corridor. Then I woke up,  now  while writing this I remember Steven Laberge  suggesting that you have a plan for your next lucid dream.
No prises for guessing what I will work on in my journal today.

Short Form Lessons And A Little More About Projection

Waving Hands to Squatting Single Whip from ann on Vimeo.




Short form lessons 1,2and 3 from ann on Vimeo.


Lately I haven't had any lucid dreams or interesting night journeys at least not ones I remember.
Studying with the International Academy Of Consciousness I learned  that we all leave our physical body each night, when we sleep our energy body separates from our physical body and hovers just above the physical body.
 Waldo Viera ( who founded the academy ) wrote Projections of the  Consciousness A Diary of  Out-of-Body Experiences. He has devoted his life to the study of this phenomenon and his book is a fascinating account of some the experiences he has had.
He believes that becoming conscious in the projected state is a part of our evolution as species.
 When we become conscious in that state and learn to direct our explorations we can meet with advanced teachers and learn skills which we can then use in our daily lives to help ourselves and others.
Since I began studying this topic I have come across fascinating accounts of OBE travels and also learned of many artists and writers whose work has been enhanced through lucid dreaming or conscious OBE encounters.
Aren't we lucky to live in an age when this evolution of consciousness is becoming more widely known and written about.
The Tibetans have been teaching ' dream yoga' foe centuries and training  monks to become conscious in their sleep.  Now we have the opportunity to learn about this level of consciousness and even have some conscious projections ourselves.

Thank God For Ted Talks and Google Truly Awesome

If you are in need of some INSPIRATION San will lift your spirits and show what is possible with the right philosophy.      Sam Berns

T'ai Chi Lessons and Some Energy Work

Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.








November workshop from ann on Vimeo.






Here Is the ' listening ' exercise we are working on at the moment.

102 1979 from ann on Vimeo.

Investigating Energy with Hsaio - Hwa last summer

Homing Pigeon's And Us

Suzie and I often meet these pigeons on our morning walk. They fly in large circles above us also having their morning exercise.
Yesterday as they flew over head I began to wonder about their ability to find their way home.
Firstly I  thought how would they find their way to someone else's place, then I remembered that they can only find their way home.
This set me thinking about us humans and our  homing device.  I began to jump up and down with delight as it dawned on me.
Our feelings are our homing device, they let us know if we are on track. By on track I mean if we are fulfilling our purpose.
 When we are in alignment with our true nature we feel good inside.
This is the good feeling we get when we have done a good day's work, or the good feeling we get from letting someone out in traffic even though we are also caught for time.
 You know that feeling of inner joy you get from helping. There is nothing quite like it and it is a great compass needle to let us know we are heading in the right direction.

Making The Most Of Volunteering

                                                 
                                                                       ARC House

Have you noticed how people who are involved in volunteering are usually positive and content ?
Now I know not every volunteer is 100% happy and positive but I have noticed that the members of the voluntary organisations I have been  involved in seem to give their time and energy willingly.

In my experience the most important factor in ensuring that you get the most benefit and contribute your best to the volunteering activity is to choose the right activity for you.

My first venture in volunteering was a disaster I was invited to put my name forward to become a volunteer supervisor  for a Credit Union  society.
Knowing of the great work done by Credit Unions and wanting to contribute to my community I agreed and was elected to the committee.
From the first meeting I knew this was not my thing but I kept at it ( God only knows why ).
 The letter announcing the upcoming  meeting would bring wails,  I'd say to John " It just can't be a month already ! ". I'd dread each  meeting and thank God  finally I said, " Enough this is not working for me and I am sure there is someone who would be better suited to this role". Talking it over with John ( who at that time was teaching economics and always interested in finance) I asked would you be interested in volunteering for the Credit union ? He thought about it and put his name forward.  John was elected to the board of the Credit union and I resigned.
Now when the letters arrive we are both delighted I thrilled that I don't have to go and discuss money and he is delighted and excited at the prospect.
Now I volunteer at ARC House where I teach T'ai Chi  I love going there, look forward each week to the Monday morning  class.
 I love the atmosphere in the house love meeting the other volunteers. The whole experience is good for me and from the positive feedback is good for my group.
So the point is be sure to choose your volunteering activity well. There is no end to the help needed in this world and by picking the best activity for you it can be a win win relationship.

Here is some research to confirm the benefits of volunteering.

A new study released today by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and the Optum Institute
 reveals four key benefits of volunteering that make a positive impact on people's health:

Health: volunteers say that they feel better - physically, mentally and emotionally;
Stress: volunteering helps people manage and lower their stress levels;
Purpose: volunteers feel a deeper connection to communities and to others;
Engagement: volunteers are more informed health care consumers, and more engaged and involved in managing their health.
The study also shows that volunteering is good for employers:
the health benefits volunteers enjoy also benefit the workplace - employers can expect lower health care costs and higher productivity from employees who volunteer;
volunteers in the study report lower stress levels; other, established research shows that reducing employee stress contributes to higher productivity and levels of engagement;
volunteering can develop employees' work skills, which benefits employer and employee;
volunteers report that volunteering helps them build teamwork and time-management skills; fosters stronger relationships with colleagues; and supports professional networking;
volunteer activities lead to stronger positive feelings toward an employer when volunteer programs are supported in the workplace.

To read the full Doing Good is Good for You: 2013 Health and Volunteering Study, visit http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/SR

Fun and Laughter

Life without fun and laughter dries up, let's look for simple reasons to smile and laugh today.
I find than when I add fun to my daily goals it helps me to recognise the fun moments and really savour them.

The Sound Of Laughter

The sound of laughter is a thing of beauty for laughter spreads the very gift of joy
That people they are drawn to happy people is not that hard for to understand why
Since everybody wishes to be happy and laughter it spreads happiness around
And only the heartless could not like the sound of laughter for laughter is a very happy sound,
Than laughter there is no more happy feeling laugh and the World laughs with you seems so true
But if you feel sad and for yourself feeling sorry the saddest person in the World is you
Even your friends would rather not be with you if they see you as one who worship gloom
The happy people attract people to them and in their presence happiness does bloom,
The sound of laughter sends out laughter ripples it is a sound one always loves to hear
And laughter it gives rise to smiling faces and never fails to fill the cup of cheer
The sad one who feels comfort in self pity is the one others do not wish to know
But if you are one who laughs away your worries your friends in numbers seem to grow and grow
And who could not but love the sound of laughter to it there always is a joyful ring
It seems to send happiness out in ripples it is a joyful and infectious thing.

                     Francis Duggan

Relax and enjoy for a moment click  Don't Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

Go On Find Fun Today  X X X

How To Achieve Goals

Another really good way to improve your self esteem is through  achieving your goals .
Firstly your goals need to be realistic to you , there is no point setting yourself up for failure be aiming too high as this will have the opposite effect ( I know this mistake all too well ).
If you haven't been setting goals start small set goals for your day and review that evening this is a really good practice.  When you succeed at small goals each day your confidence and self esteem grows naturally. You know for certain that the method works and this inspires you to set goals for your week and then month and in no time you will be on the way to your dreams and loving the journey.
If you haven't a goal set for today take the time right now to make it.
You could set a goal to contact an old friend and make a date for coffee.
You could set a goal to write of a list of 20 things you are truly grateful and thankful for.
If you have joined a T'ai Chi Class you could set the goal of practicing for 10 minutes.
Just do it.
Then review my post ( here is the link) Be Sure To Have A Dream use the exercise there each morning and evening and watch your goals, and dreams materialise.
As the great Releasing teacher Larry Crane says , " If you don't know where you are going you can't get there  '.

Self Esteem

In order to germinate and grow a seed needs moisture heat and oxygen (my days as a science teacher come in handy at times ).
If any of these are missing the seed will not survive.

In order to thrive seeds need more than the basics they need space , sunshine and nutrients.

We are not much different to plants, we too need moisture , heat  oxygen and food ( as most of us cannot manufacture our own food yet,  that  story is for another day soon ) .
 Back to us as I said  we too need the basics to survive. And like plants we need more in order to thrive. To grow to our full potential to thrive we need large amounts of self esteem.
  If we are especially lucky we will have grown up in an environment which nourished this aspect of our development through copious ' sprinklings' of appropriate praise. We will have felt loved for being us , for our unique nature.  In my experience though this 'perfect' environment is rarely if ever attained.
 Most of us have limited self esteem some ( like me ) who grew up in environments where praise was actually feared ( in case you would get a swollen head ) find it difficult to even acknowledge that we need praise and even more difficult to accept it .
 It takes work for us  to begin to acknowledge our own worth , it takes a lot of work to undo the conditioning.
However we will never flourish until we do that work, we will never be able to make our true contribution to the world until we acknowledge our worth and establish good self esteem .
We need to learn to like and in time love ourselves as we are warts and all.
As we begin to love ourselves we feel more worthy of love from others. When we feel unlovable it doesn't matter how much someone tells us of their love we cannot accept it or believe it until we have begun to feel our own self love inside.
This has been my experience , until I began to work on my own self esteem ( on going process ) I just couldn't believe people when they complimented or praised me.
Until I could look at myself in the mirror and say I love you ( and mean it) I couldn't really believe anyone who said  "I love You ".
Now I believe that developing  self love is one of our most important tasks in life because when we learn true self love we put a value on ourselves. We acknowledge that we are individual and special , each one of us is a 'one off ' with unique gifts and talents . We all came into the world with a purpose and in order to fulfil that purpose we must believe in and love ourselves.
We must recognise our gifts and talents and honour them . To do that we must know our gifts and talents.
If you haven't done it before take the time to work on your own self esteem , start by writing yourself a love  letter in which you tell yourself what you love , admire, value and honour about yourself. Then read yourself the letter out loud and take it in. Bask in the positive aspects of yourself , soak up the warmth of your own worth. Then watch as your life begins to reflect your new self belief and love.
Ps  If you can bring yourself to read your letter out to someone else all the better you will really be on your way to true self esteem and worth.

Lesson For The New Beginners

A Big Welcome to all the new T'ai Chi students it is so great to have the opportunity to share this great practice with you. Here are the first few lessons of the Mini Form to help you get started.

Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.

The Body as a ' Divining Rod '

Figure 8 partner work hands doing opposite 8s from ann on Vimeo.




We are more than our physical body having said that our bodies are amazing instruments.
Unfortunately most people fail to develop a good relationship with their body.
One of the big advantages of studying an art such as T'ai Chi , Body Centred Meditation ,Yoga  etc is that it gives one access to the body's wisdom.
Anyone can learn to use this wisdom and even a simple exercise like the one below will give you a taste of what is possible once you begin to listen to your body.

This exercise will help you to develop and enhance your intuition.

Take a moment to focus inside and feel how your body feels right now.

Ask your body to feel a YES.

And ask your body to let you know what YES feels like to your body .
( Go on close your eyes right now for a while until you get a sense of what YES feels like to you.)


Next ask your body to feel NO
Close your eyes again and take the time to really feel the sensations that arise when You say NO and really feel the NO.

Finally ask your body what MAYBE feels like inside your body.

Take the time to really register these different feelings , practice a few times with each question.

Isn't it fascinating how much we can learn when we take the time to tune in ?

Next time you need to decide about something slow down for a minute and ask your body.
You will find it has a wisdom that your conscious mind is not aware of.
This works because the body can be used as a link between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Our unconscious mind stores vast amounts of information and so is in a better position to answer our questions

Be Sure To Have A Dream

Hear is a simple exercise to connect to your true nature, it can relax , energise,  and help you to reach for and achieve your dreams.

Read the whole exercise through  then close your eyes and give it a go.

Remember that you are more than your physical  body.

Feel the presence of your energy and allow yourself to relax into that feeling.

Now take your energy and expand it out.  .   .   .   . out past your body.

Expand it out to the walls of your room .

Now out through and past the walls of the building.

Expand it out past your town, expand it out past your country , expand it out past the planet , expand it out past the moon , expand it out past the milky way,  keep expanding until you connect to the light.

You will know when you are 'there' because you will feel a certain peacefulness,  a calm  resonance  in your body.

In this space is where you can plant your dreams.

In this space think of something your grateful for that you would like to show up in your life.

Now think of your dream and say  " I am so grateful that ' this ' has shown up in my life right now  ( present tense important ).

I am so grateful and thankful that I have all my needs fulfilled.

I am so grateful and thankful that I feel joy in this moment

I am so grateful to be me.

Now that you have read the exercise take the time to remember a goal,  aspiration or dream you have .
( If you don't have a dream you can't have a dream come true so be sure to set yourself some 'dreams'.)

Then reread the exercise and off you go.

May we have great dreams and may we all enjoy pursuing them, because it is mostly in the pursuit of dreams that great deeds are done. Imagine how dull life would be if Orville and Wilbur Wright hadn't followed their dreams.

New T'ai Chi Term Beginning Next Week

                                                                  Dervish


The new term kicks off in Cork on Monday morning January 13'th with the ARC House Class @ 12pm.
A big welcome to all who have signed up for this term can't wait to meet you all.

The Dervish ' Drop In ' class is on at 2pm  I'm delighted with the interest in this new venture and am looking forward to this city centre daytime T'ai Chi and from the phone calls it looks like I'm not alone in that.

The 3'rd beginners class starts Monday Evening @ 7pm in Woodview Drive Community Cenrre Mallow

What an interesting T'ai Chi day Monday promises to be.

New beginners are also welcome to the Tuesday Evening class in Blackrock . This class starts at 7.15pm

All beginners will learn the  Mini Form shown below  ( Davis College beginners from last year ).

Tai Chi is an amazing practice.
The benefits of learning this art are well documented, our health improves and flexibility of both body and mind is enhanced.
A calm descends as we engage in T'ai Chi and somehow this calm is absorbed as if by osmosis through our cells and little by little we become calm from the inside out.
I could write more and more about the benefits however for a change I am posting a link to an article I read during the week.
 In Awakening Sight by David Ulrich he describes the changes that occurred  in his perception following an accident,  his description reminded me in many ways of my own journey and made me thankful that one doesn't have to have a serious accident in order to wake up to this wonderful  life.
Awakening Sight


Davis Class Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.

"It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time."

~ Winston Churchill

Amazing Love

 Here is the amazing story of love between between Steve Karlin And Susie Bear. I read it yesterday and it resonated on so many levels. It is a long story but I felt I should post the link so people could get the complete story. Such an inspiration and a confirmation to the power of discipline and love.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
With Love Ann
Susie Bear

Martin Heald's Story

I have been reading Destiny The True Story Of One Man's Journey Through Life Death And Rebirth.  It's writtenby Martin Heald and tells in detail how he became aware of his life and death as a member of the RAF during  the second world war. The book is a fascinating account of awakening to signs and coincidences.  His story ( a very short version 10 mns ) was made by the TV series Strange But True  you can watch it here. Martin Heald

We are beings of light having this physical experience to grow and learn. This is a mystery I am believing more and more each day. So many 'coincidences' are happening all around, so many amazing connections that bring the next step.
More and more I am realizing the importance of our thoughts and imagination. The thoughts we think have a huge influence on our daily life, on the events that happen to us and also on how we respond to the events that happen to us.
The most important work we need to do ( in my opinion ) is train our minds so we can be conscious of our thoughts. When we become conscious of what we are thinking about we can begin to recognise the relationship between our thoughts and the ' happenings ' in our daily life.
Try it for yourself just start watching the movement of your mind and in time the interrelationship between your thoughts and your experience will become evident to you.
Then you will begin to cultivate positive thoughts , you will want to read positive stories and spend your time and your thoughts wisely .

Focusing On The Positive Aspects Of Events

We met in mallow library yesterday to give a little demonstration of our practice.
On Friday night I was nervous and berating myself asking ,
" Why do I do this to myself ? I could be home relaxing and doing my own work. "
 Having gone around in circles in my head trying to understand myself and my motives I got the inspiration to follow my own advice of paying attention to the positive aspects of things.
"Focus on the positive aspects of doing the library T'ai Chi  Ann " I said to myself .
"Take the time to write them down ".
So that's what I did. It took about ten minutes to write down the positive aspects that came to mind. By the end of the exercise I was buzzing with energy and really looking forward to the event . The next day even texts from people who couldn't make it didn't upset me  ( like they usually would ). I was ready to share this amazing work even if I had to do it alone.
Taking the time to focus on the positive aspects of sharing this work made me conscious of many positive aspects.  Here are just a few that came to mind.
 Maybe it would  add  fun to someone's day, or show someone the connection possible in partner work. It would be an opportunity to stretch out of my comfort zone and be vulnerable in public.
Whoever would turn up would benefit from the practice and enjoy themselves.
What I have once again confirmed for myself is, that taking the time to tune in to the positive reasons for doing anything is a great way to arouse a really good attitude.  And having a good attitude sets a great stage for life.
Here we are below sharing our partner work and enjoying the time together.
A Big Thanks to all who turned up and shared their time and experience.



Mallow library Energy Connection from ann on Vimeo.

T'ai Chi in Mallow Library Saturday January 4'th at 2 pm

MallowLib 002 from ann on Vimeo.

We will be having some T'ai Chi fun in the library on next Saturday. This is open to new comers who would like to experience some T'ai Chi and Energy work. We will work from 2-3 .

I am looking forward to sharing our practice and spreading some good vibes for 2014.

" A wonderful harmony arises from joining together the seemingly unconnected" Heraclitus

" Much of what we call thinking is our ability to connect ideas together. Why is "joining together the seemingly unconnected " so special ? The more often the same ideas are brought together again and again, the more predictable they become, and the less thought they generate. Conversely it the connection of previously unconnected ideas that stimulate us to think, that make us say "Aha !" And see our situation in a fresh way.
Doing something new, or some of the same things in a new way is a great way to stimulate our creative process.
Even deciding to drive a different road to work can be a great way  to awaken a new outlook.
A new year is just beginning, it offers a chance to do things in a fresh way.
I for one have decided to tackle the internal self critic  ( in a new way ), instead of trying to shut her up
 (which hasn't worked so far ) I'm going to welcome her in and just allow her to comment without answering back.
 Up to this point we have often spent long sessions trying to out do each other .
My new approach is to declare a truce and allow her to sit in the corner and be a commentator.
 Treat her like the background music in the shop that plays on but doesn't interfere too much in my day.
Let's see if this new joining will prove stimulating and hopefully freeing .