Masha

A Sign from the Universe

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Lately every place I look the words simplify and slow have been showing up, along with a couple of others. No matter where I look, there they are in multiples, blaring at me to notice them.

I believe that the universe is always giving us signs, and I’m so grateful that I now know enough that, when the universe is trying to get my attention, I listen.

So, I spent some time journaling on this and I realized that I’m still holding on to habits that no longer serve me, for example, in the morning I have a habit of rushing, I have no idea why I’m rushing. I’m retired and unless I have an appointment, I’m free, but I feel like I have to get up by a certain time, and hurry through my morning ritual. Instead of what I really want and that’s to savor that special time.

The other thing is that, I’m not being present and I feel rushed throughout the day. When I go out, I’m rushing to get home. If I’m doing something, I can’t wait to finish. These words are nudges that I need to slow down and be in the moment, you can’t enjoy anything if you’re always rushing off to the next moment.

And I have a tendency to make things so big in my mind, that they become overwhelming , and that stops me from doing anything and stresses me out. Instead of keeping it simple.

Looking at this I see these are old habits that I’m continuing. I think that habits can become so ingrained into our being and become so a part of our every day, that we don’t notice when they are no longer serving us but we’re still in them.

So, I’m taking this as my invitation from the universe to create change for myself. I’m holding on to these words and allowing them to guide me. I am simplifying and slowing down, taking time to breathe, finding the joys the day has to offer. Creating space for myself, giving myself the opportunity to notice what wants to be noticed, and allowing the unfoldment of spiritual bliss to show itself to me.

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Thought you may like

Love her astrology forecasts, Kari Samuels.

WOW! this looks so good.

And

YAY!!!!! The new and improved mini mag The Inspired Guide is out and it’s FREE and my article “Change the Narrative Change your Life” is on pgs. 16/17. Check it out.

Hope this posting inspires, and serves you. What are you up to? Are you noticing when the universe is trying to get your attention? I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

September 5, 2021

Masha4 Comments

5 Things that Feel Good and Joyful

Hello fabulous YOU!!! Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Can you believe it’s already the end of August? This year is flying by, and now with the holiday season just around the corner, my self-care is now more important than ever. So I wanted to share a few ideas with you in hope that it may serve you as well.

I intentionally make time to do things that make me feel good and joyful in every day, like taking a photo of these peppers.

Self-care doesn’t have to be a, hard to do thing, there are many ways to self-care for both your physical and mental health. And self-care doesn’t mean that you’re soaking in a tub full of rose petals all day, although that’s great if that’s what you want.

So, here are 5 things that make me feel good, bring me joy and are great for my wellbeing.

Flowers in my kitchen make me feel good and joyful. This week I didn’t go out shopping so I picked these Carnations from Albertson’s website and had them delivered along with my groceries, and they really make me soooo happy.

Baking cookies for myself makes me feel good and joyful. I never baked much, maybe a few times when my kids were small and that was out of a Pillsbury box. But now because of IC I can’t eat chocolate, but I can eat carob chips. Since I couldn’t find anything already baked that I could eat, I decided to bake myself and that makes me so happy. I really love baking, I even make the same cookies for my kids but with real chocolate chips LOL and my house smells so delicious when I’m baking.

I love taking pictures, I take all of my pictures with my iPhone. And that’s so handy because no matter where I am, I always have my phone with me and I can snap a picture of something that catches my eye, when I’m walking around my neighborhood, or in a store…Every time I take a picture like that, it sparks joy in me, makes me feel good and joyful.

I really love cooking, I love shopping for the ingredients, cleaning everything, cutting the vegetables and herbs, it’s like a stress buster. Having everything ready for when I start cooking, makes it more joyful to cook. And don’t laugh, but I even love cleaning up, washing the pans, feeling the warm water on my hands and through my fingers, ahhhh joy.

Writing in my journal every morning is happiness, I don’t always get to it, sometimes I have an early appointment but, journal writing in the morning is the greatest thing for my mental health because it’s the place where I can sort things out, dump out all my frustrations and everything else out onto the page. I adopted this method from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist Way. After journaling I’m happily ready to start the day.

Feeling the joy in the ordinary every day things, makes me feel good, joyful and blessed.

How about you? What daily acts make you feel good and bring you joy.

Worth sharing

Can’t fall asleep? read this.

Did you know that your Gut is your second brain? This is worth reading.

And

Cause I love red, this week in my kitchen, red carnations.

Hope you enjoyed this little posting today. What are you up to? What makes you feel good and joyful? I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021

Masha4 Comments

Ways to Simplify

Hello fabulous you!!! – Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like this week just flew by in a minute? Before I turned around it was Saturday, and to be honest I couldn’t come up with anything to share and instead of stressing I decided to cut myself some slack. So, for this week I’m reposting this short blog post I originally published over a year ago.

Slow down.

Declutter.

Set boundaries. Say yes, only to what you really mean yes to.

Accept to love yourself without guilt or shame.

Let go of what doesn’t matter.

Let go of what’s not yours to worry over.

Let go of other people’s drama.

Liberate yourself and let go of limiting beliefs. Weed them out and let go of them, and take that first step towards freedom.

You choose – decide to be healthy, happy, prosperous, worthy, deserving, loving…

Have gratitude for the little things, even the ones you think are meaningless.

You cannot get to your true self while you’re covered up with overwhelm.

Live consciously.

Create an easy morning routine that supports you.

When you simplify your life you’ll gain more energy, you’ll remove extra mental and physical clutter, you’ll feel lighter, you’ll gain space and time. You’ll be opening doors to your own inner self.

Simplify your days, simplify your life. Make room for your true self to shine.

What I’m doing

If you love cut flowers in your home, here’s how to make them last longer.

I recently started following the Self Care Express.

Check this out on my own feed here.

And

Well, I never did finish reading this library book, and I’m now reading this.

Hope you enjoyed this little posting today. What are you up to, what are you reading? I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

August 22, 2021

Masha4 Comments

Celebrate Your Little Accomplishments

Hello fabulous you!!! – Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Today I’m sharing an article I wrote for The Inspired Guide magazine and –

I have a question for you – are you celebrating your fabulous self?

Are you living each day fired up about the possibilities that lie ahead for you?

Are you living your life NOW, or are you waiting for when you reach the top of the mountain? For when you get that promotion. Lose 50 pounds. Meet that special someone. Start your own business…Are you busy rushing about on the gogogo forgetting yourself along the way?

If you’re not celebrating your journey along the way you’re missing out on your life.

When you celebrate yourself, you’re being a participant in your own experience, you’re showing up for yourself, you’re honoring your own actions. My health is important to me, and every day when I step off that elliptical machine I say ‘thank you’ and I’ll shout out a big ‘YES’ that’s my celebration of myself. I DID IT, YEAHHH!!! I FEEL SO GREAT!!! I know that 20 minutes of elliptical exercise is not a big deal, but it is for me, and every time I acknowledge my accomplishment, I’m empowering myself. It fills me with happiness, I feel proud of myself. I took a step towards keeping myself healthy, and celebrating it motivates me to want to do it again the next day.

I’m writing this to invite you to pay attention to those everyday little accomplishments. I’m inviting you to remember yourself, you are important, you are magnificent, you’re doing the best you can and that is worthy of celebration. Keep your eye on the prize, stay focused on your dreams and goals but, the deliciousness of your life doesn’t lie in the big things only, it’s also found in the little everyday steps that you take towards the big goals. In those moments that when looking at it create joy and bliss and happiness, and fills you with a feeling of being proud of yourself. You can find them when you live with that intention and stop and celebrate yourself along the way.

What you can do:

First thing every morning give thanks for your life, acknowledge the sacredness of your being. It only takes a minute, but for me, this puts me into a higher vibrational state and fills me with abundance of joy. It also puts me in a positive mindset and I look forward to getting things done that day.

List your achievements daily or weekly, and go over them. Keeping track of your accomplishments, seeing them written out on paper, is a great motivator.

Acknowledge yourself throughout the day and give yourself a high five, a gold star, as you go along. When you take the time to acknowledge the little actions you took towards your goals, they get repeated. The law of attraction states that what you focus on grows.

Reward yourself with something physical. Get a massage. Have lunch in the park. Buy yourself a little present.

So, whether you cleared out ten or fifty emails from your inbox, started to put together your resume, cleaned out a drawer in the kitchen cabinet or you actually cooked a meal for yourself…these everyday big or little accomplishments, need to be acknowledged. Celebrating yourself along the way will empower you, motivate you and fill you with greater self-confidence. When you celebrate yourself along the way it reminds you that you’re successful, you can do it, and let’s not forget happiness, you will feel happiness.

So, I invite you today to start to celebrate your fabulous self. Don’t wait to reach the top of the mountain. Start to look at yourself in a new way now. Commit to yourself, recognize your accomplishments, make it a habit to reward yourself and celebrate yourself. And the thing is that you don’t really even need a reason to celebrate yourself – celebrate yourself just for the simple reason that you exist and this is your life.

Your every day is a gift meant to be lived, celebrate every step of the way.

Are you celebrating your daily successes, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

First published in The Inspired Guide magazine, March 2021

August 15, 2021

Masha4 Comments

The Simple Joys I Miss

Hey wonderful you. Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

I’ve been thinking about how I’m missing the simple things that I used to do that filled me with joy. Those moments that fill my heart have now become like a luxury item. Going to lunch with my son, giving my granddaughter a big old hug. Just having a conversation without a mask on.

I miss putting on makeup, since I wear a mask I haven’t. I miss going out to the mall and just walking around looking at all the clothes and things in the stores. Getting my hair done and meeting a friend for lunch afterwards. Or, not being concerned that the store may run out of an item I need. September two years ago I went to my granddaughters school for grandparents day lunch, right now living with the restrictions of COVID that is not a possibility.

This pandemic has definitely put a stop on social interaction the way we knew it. The one good thing that I’m loving is my family’s weekly zoom gatherings. Something we didn’t do before and we’re loving and hoping to continue after too.

And I miss taking my little trips to Las Vegas to visit with my son and family, going to Tivoli Village for a cup of coffee, sitting outside and watching all the people walking by. Can’t wait to get back to all of it.

What I’m doing

Cause’ I love berries and I love red, I thought I’d share these photos I took a while back.

Well, I can’t believe how fast this week flew by, and I only read a few pages of this book. To be honest, I really didn’t want to get into it, because I’m writing an article for the magazine. But, I hope I can finish it before I have to return it to the library.

And talking about magazine, yeap, The Inspired Guide is coming back and I’ll continue to be a regular monthly contributor. So excited and happy. First issue is due out on 9/1/21, I’ll keep you posted.

Worth sharing. I love grains but I’ve never eaten Millet so I’m going to try it.

And

If you’re feeling kind of out of it, sluggish and need a little boost, take a walk around your neighborhood.

Hope you enjoyed this little posting today. What are you up to, what simple joys are you missing? I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

August 8, 2021

MashaLeave a comment

Don’t Drag the Upsets of yesterday into the New Week

Hey wonderful you. Happy Sunday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

This week I was thinking about how we carry stuff that weighs heavily on us, from one week into the next. Stuff that limits us, makes us feel bad, anxious and stressed, not realizing that we’re blocking ourselves and hurting our own selves. This stuff creates heavy energy within our bodies that can potentially create serious health issues.

Nothing is worth keeping inside of you that is not nurturing you.

Try something new this week and don’t drag the upsets of what happened yesterday into the new week.

Life is not simple, things happen, and we tend to hold onto the stress it creates and replay it in our mind over and over again. Someone says an unkind word, a not so flattering comment on social media. And even we ourselves, at times we put our foot in our mouth and then beat ourselves up over it. We cling to stress and hold on to that powerful emotion.

We let ourselves get so caught up in stuff, that we loose sight of the big important things, like our own well-being, our health and our joy.

The most important thing we can do for ourselves is to let go of that which makes us feel anxious, frustrated, less than and a host of other negative feelings.

I’m not saying that things don’t happen to us, that we don’t need to process, or that we should just dismiss, and that’s a whole other blog post. What I’m saying is that, the more we hold onto what makes us anxious or stressed, the more it eats away at us. And while it may not show up on us now, it can potentially show up on us years later in unhealthy ways.

But, here’s the thing, we do have choices and we can practice accepting what was and let go of it.

So my invitation to you is –

And this works great for me, is to do a weekly check in with yourself, this way you can leave what doesn’t benefit your highest good and start each week with a fresh, clear mind and body. You can also do this daily too.

Look at what you’re holding onto. Decide how important is it to you? Why? Ask yourself, is it important enough to get stressed out over and put your health in jeopardy? Stuff that angers you, makes you frustrated, annoyed or shameful, is not nourishing you. So, it’s not important, let it go, release it out of you, it’s your choice, you have the power to decide.

Start the week with a celebration of yourself. Declare 3 things you love about yourself. Write them down, look at them throughout the week, especially in moments when frustration may rise up. This week my 3 things are that – I love that I trust in myself. I love that I support myself. I love that I value myself.

Instead of focusing on stuff that upsets you, turn your focus on what makes you feel good and happy.

What I’m doing

In my home this week, cause I fell in love with these luscious yellow Pums. I got a large bunch so I put some in a couple of different rooms 🙂 I love yellow, don’t you? It’s such a happy color.

I had a different book I was planning to read but then my book came in from the library so I’m reading this.

Worth sharing, Simone Biles, on why mental health is more important than medals.

Check out my cute, fun, post this week on Instagram here.

And

For all my procrastinating friends I thought I’d share these words from Gretchen Rubin “Nothing is more exhausting than the task that’s never started.” Love it, a reminder to myself.

Hope you enjoyed this little posting today. Let us know what you think, reading, doing, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday & week ahead & blessings!

August 1, 2021

Masha2 Comments