Guess Who is On Your Side

January 24th, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

When you bump up against challenges in your life–how do you respond?  Do you fall into negativity saying–”this always happens to me–things never go my way”.  Or are you able to stay positive and affirm that whatever is happening is ultimately going to be a good thing for you.
 
I believe one of our opportunities as we journey through our lives is to determine what our mindset will be in the face of challenges.  Many of us can adopt a similiar pattern of how to handle challenges as our parents did. 
 
So notice if that is what happens for you.  Do you get angry like your Dad did when things don’t go your way–or are faced with a challenge?  Do you avoid what is happening like your Mom did?  Do you vent or complain but never take positive action?  Just for a moment notice what pattern you tend to have in the face of challenges.
 
I had a client years ago that when she faced a challenging situation she would imagine  the worst case scenario immediately.  When she did this—it would stress her out tremendously and as she would say “I just freak out.”
 
What we uncovered at the root of this reaction was a belief that the world was against her–and she had to really fight for what she wanted.  This stemmed from her experience as a child of her parents not supporting the things she truly desired–and that she had to fight to get what she wanted.
 
Her reaction was an old response mirroring how things used to be for her when she was younger.  We discussed that her experience had shaped her experience of how she felt about the world—and even how she felt about her spiritual connection.  Instead of the Universe and her spiritual connection being supportive of her—she felt like they were somehow against her.
 
We did some work to help her connect more with the truth by doing some guided imagery for her to connect more directly with her spiritual connection.  By doing this she was able to experience this incredible unconditional love and support—in a way that she never had felt before. 
 
She began to see that her spiritual connection was on her side and wanted only the very best for her.  She realized her parents were operating from closed hearts and their own fears—but not from how the Universe and our spiritual connection truly operates.
 
We all have this kind of loving support around us each and every moment.  Whatever your spiritual beliefs are—you are surrounded by love and support all of the time.  The Universe is truly on our side.  The more you open up to this in your own life you can trust that when challenging things happen
that the Universe does want you to “win” and even if on the surface it appears “bad”—these events are ultimately leading you to good things. 
 
When challenging things happen see if you can affirm to yourself “I trust—the Universe is on my side and this will utlimately lead to good things for me.”

Inner Bonding, Breathwork and Joy Tele-Class Audio Recording

January 22nd, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

Here is a link to the audio recording MP3 from the tele-class Tuesday night titled “Inner Bonding, Breathwork and Joy Overview”.  In this call you will Learn:

Enjoy!   If you have a problem downloading this–let me know and I will send you the MP3 directly

inner-bonding-breathwork-and-joy-tele-class2

New Years with Niyo

January 9th, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

Boy—this really tastes good!

Is there any more left?

Oh yes, there is more!

I want to make sure I get it all!!

Jump Start Your Dreams

January 9th, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

“Nothing happens unless we first dream.”  Carl Sandburg

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”                                    Christopher Reeve

Are you pursuing a dream that you are passionate about?  Do you have a dream that you have sat on for years and have not taken action on it?   Do you even know what your dreams are?

Dreams are actually part of our guidance system in life.  They give us clues and a road map for what roads we should be traveling.    So if you feel unclear or confused about your dreams you have lost touch with your “dreaming” self.  Your dreaming self is that part of you that is connected with all of the possibilities in life.  It is the part of you that truly believes in the magic and joy of living. It is the part of you that will guide you to the sweetest happiness and fulfillment you could ever imagine.  So often people get disconnected from their dreaming self at a very young age by parents who stopped connecting with their own dreaming selves.

When I work with clients, part of the healing process is to re- connect with their dreaming self.  The part of them that has expansive dreams.  Very often they believe this part of them is not even there anymore -that it is lost and they never can retrieve this part of them.  The good news is that this part of them never goes away-it is just buried under the limiting beliefs of their conditioning and fears.  It may take a bit of time, but they can re-connect with this dreaming part of themselves and then start to listen to this voice.

You may be in that same position of being disconnected from your dreaming self too.  If that is the case I will give you some tips to help you make this connection.  Others of you may have some clarity about your dreams, but you have not taken action to pursue your dreams-I will address how to get beyond this too.

Tips to Reconnect with your Dreams

•1.       Let Go of Your Critical Thinking- To hear the voice of your dreams you first must quiet the critical voice inside.  If you think of what it is like to share a dream with a friend and they shoot it down with criticism.  How likely are you going to share your dreams with that person again?  Not very likely.  It is the same way with your internal voice of criticism.  If you bring a dream into your own mind and right away you find ways it won’t work or judge it as a stupid idea-the voice of your dreaming self will grow silent and pretty soon you have stopped dreaming.  Open up to being loving and supportive of your dreams.  This will create a safe environment for your dreams to come forward and be voiced inside of you.

•2.       Make a list of 100 things you would like to Do, Be or Have.  This may be a bit of a challenge to start this, but as you work on this list you will be taking the heavy lid off your dreaming self and it will begin to speak to you—and you will be able to add things to the list.  By starting the list you are priming the pump for more ideas to come through.  Here are some examples of things you may have on your list: travel to Hawaii, learn to salsa dance, learn to paint in watercolors, go on a weekend camping trip alone, take a family trip to the Grand Canyon, start your own business, be more adventurous etc.

•3.       Notice When You Like What Someone Else is Doing- Sometimes our dreams are brought forward because we see someone else living them.  This can sometimes come out in a statement like “Oh, I wish I could do that”.  For example if you have a friend who travels a lot and you love to hear the stories of her adventures-this may be a dream of yours that you should take action on. Pay attention to when you feel this way -this can give you clues to your own dreams.  What do you see other people doing that you would LOVE to do?

•4.       Forget about the “How” When You Are Dreaming- You may disregard your dream because you can’t see how this dream could ever happen.  You may say “I could never quit my job and do this thing I love-I can’t see how it can happen.”  The most important thing is to identify the dream and decide if this is the dream you want to pursue.  I have seen over and over that once people decide and commit—and move forward in action towards their dreams-the pieces of the puzzle of the “How” fall into place.  You will not experience this if you hang back and try to figure it out in your head “how” to do it before you will decide if you will do it.  The ideas, inspiration and the “how” come to you after you decide and commit.

•5.       Go somewhere Special and Inspirational to Contemplate Your Dreams- Take time from your busy schedule to reflect on your dreams.  Sometimes people are so busy with their day to day lives that they don’t have the time to reflect on their lives.  You need time and space to drop down into your feeling self-that is where the dreaming part of you lives.  Find a café or other inspirational place to go and reflect. Write at the topic of the page “If I could do anything I would……..”-and just let your mind drift and write down the ideas that come to you.  And remember like I mentioned above to quiet your critical voice while you are doing this.

•6.       Decide You Will Love Yourself Enough to Honor Your Dreams- It is an act of self- love to listen to the voice of your dreams and to pursue these special dreams.  Just like you want the people in your own life that you love so dearly to be happy and to pursue their dreams-love yourself in that same way and listen to your own dreams.  The level of happiness you feel in your life is directly related to how well you are listening to your dreaming self-and taking these dreams seriously.

•7.       If You Are Not Pursuing Your Dreams or are Confused about Your Dreams-What Are You Afraid Of?- If you have been stalled on pursuing your dream,  know that there are some fears that are holding you back-some of these are conscious and some of these are unconscious.  If they are conscious fears that you are aware of-write them down.  Look at what you wrote from the highest part of you-the part of you filled with faith and trust.   From this perspective write a response back to this fear.  An example of a fear could be “I could never make money at doing a job that I love-I have to just stay stuck where I am at-besides things are so unstable with the economy right now I can’t take any risks.”  Your answer back could be “Yes you can make money at doing a job you love-it just takes time, effort and persistence.  Trust that as we pursue what we love we will be supported on every level.  We can take steps now to move in that direction and trust that the right opportunity will open up for us.  We actually will be in a better position with the economy if we move in a direction of doing what we love rather than staying stuck out of fear.” Some of your fears may be more unconscious.  To address these unconscious fears ask yourself on a piece of paper.  “You aren’t taking any steps towards your dreams-why are you so afraid?”  Close your eyes and just listen in to what thoughts pop into your head-or the feeling you feel in your body.  Write the response down and do the same thing as I listed above-which is to right a response to this fear from the highest part of you.

•8.       Get Support- Out of everything I have listed above this is the most important tip of all.  Get support from believe who believe in you and the beauty of your own dreams.  In my last Life Purpose Mentoring Group some of the people had these dreams in their hearts for years but never took action to pursue them.  With the support of the program they made more progress in 3 months than they did in 10 years of sitting on their dream.  Others were able to step out of the confusion of going around and around again about trying to figure out their Life Purpose and were finally able to get the clarity they needed to move forward.  It was amazing-it was like seeing a group of people become alive again after years of holding themselves back and not fully living.  The power of positive, inspirational support is a key element in moving beyond your fears into the joy of living your dreams.

Begin today to re-connect with your dreaming self and listen to its beautiful wisdom.  Allow this wisdom to guide you to a life that is filled with joy and possibility!

Holiday 2008

January 9th, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday. Here are some pics from mine.

This year we added the pets of the family in the gift exchange. Here is Mandy–my Dad and Step-Mom’s dog waiting for her new squeeker toy she got. We spent half of the time focused on their gift openings! That is what happens with a group of animal lovers:)

Here is Bogie the cat enjoying his new cat carrier. Bogie was a stray that came to my Dad and Step-Mom’s door over a year ago. Everyone LOVES Bogie.

Here is my Step-Brother Ryan, my sisters friend Kyle, my sister-in law, Kathy and niece, Natalie preparing mentally for the next game of Bingo:) My brother, Barry, is in the background coaching from the sidelines.

I had been coveting my sisters Holiday Penguin that she won in an earlier round of Bingo —but then I won my very own Holiday Snowperson that had a light inside that would flash on and off. It will be a treasured prize for years to come:)

The most competitive game of the Holiday for our family is the DVD exchange which we do like a white elephant exchange. You roll dice and if you get doubles you can exhange DVD’s with someone to get the one you want. You can see the look of concentration and focus on my niece and sisters face.

Nessa (in the gray) is excited because she has the DVD that she wanted but…….the game is not over yet

In the last minutes of the game Nessa loses the DVD she wanted and got back the DVD she was trying to get rid of–”My Dog Flanders” a slow moving older film that I had unloaded in last years DVD exchange! She is crying out in pure frustration—it was so funny.

Here we are doing the annual sledding at a new hill. Here is my sister, sister-in-law, step-mom and Kyle planning their strategy for the hill. We went sledding after we went to see “Marley and Me” (surprise we went to that film:)–if you go–make sure you bring tissues).

Here is a picture of the hill they were going down. They stopped going down the hill which was to the right and began going down the service road to the left that was much faster.

My sister and her hubby. Aren’t they cute!

What is a Vision Board?

January 7th, 2009, by Shelley Riutta

A very powerful way to manifest your dreams is to create a Vision Board.  A Vision Board contains images and phrases that illustrate the dreams you are manifesting.  You put it up in your home or office as a constant reminder of the things you are wanting to draw into your life. The above picture is an example of a Vision Board.  You can have pictures randomly on the Board —or you can section off the areas of your life into 4 quardrants–1. Love and Relationships 2. Health and Fitness 3. Career and Money 4. Spiritual and Emotional Life—and put pictures, phrases, colors that represent your dreams in this area of your life.

I suggest to all of my clients that they create a Vision Board every year and update it as they begin manifesting what they have posted on it.  This Saturday January 10th I am hosting a Vision Board group from 10-Noon.  I have 4 spaces left in the group if you would like to attend.