Tag: family

How to Find Wonder On Your Daily Walk

Hey guys, hope you’re all well.  I’m really excited to share with you my article that was published in the July 2020 issue of The Inspired Guide magazine (here) enjoy.

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The universe is always revealing and offering amazing gifts, and if we’re willing to be open to it and accepting, we can be the receivers of these gifts.  We can see the magick and the wonders in the simple things of our everyday life.  Walking can be an act of sacred union with the mystery, and fill us with great joy.

I love to go out for a walk, it’s part of my self-care, it gives me the opportunity to slow down and connect with nature.  I love to walk with the awareness to receive the amazing, and although I walk mostly the same path, walking with the intention to see the wonder makes my walks exciting, special and magical.  I’ll hear the sound of a bird that oh, I haven’t since last year.  Or, I’ll suddenly notice the amazing scent in the air as I breathe.  A feather on the ground my angels saying hi.  Gorgeous purple flowers, or I’ll notice the trees are starting to shed their leaves getting ready for the winter months.  Each season brings with it its own special gifts and charm.

walk wonder

I’m not always open to receiving, life gets in the way, emotions arise, I can’t seem to let go of thoughts that are disturbing my inner peace.  But even on days when I’m not all there, just the act of having set an intention opens the door and a little bit of wonder finds its way into my heart.

I started to set an intention for my walks a couple of years ago, an idea I got from an online course I took.  This practice has evolved over time and this is what I do now:

  • Before I go out, I set the intention.  I ask the universe to reveal wonder to me and I invite my angels, spirit guides, animal spirit guides, all beings who are with me to come along.  I ask for their protection, their wisdom, their love and to help me see wonder.
  • I have a rule, no thoughts allowed that will disturb my inner calm, this is a time that I give to myself to stay in mindful union with the mystery.  When unwanted thoughts enter my mind, I refocus back to my intention.
  • I have my cell phone with me for the sole purpose of taking pictures, I keep the sound turned off.
  • I bring happiness to my mind, I say I’m happy happy happy, and I step out with a feeling of happiness and a knowing that wonder will be revealed to me on my walk today.
  • At the end of my walk I always say thank you.

Taking a walk can be inspiring, energizing, joyful, peaceful, it can connect us with nature, it can elevate our spirit.  It gives us the opportunity to slow down and get grounded.  Even just a ten-minute walk can make a world of difference in how we feel.

Turning our walk into an intention for finding wonder is a gift we give to ourselves.  When we open ourselves to notice, to smell the air, to see the details, to hear the sounds…we enter into a magical awareness and a oneness with the universe, honoring ourselves and honoring the universe and her gifts.

Happy walking & blessings.

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

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Why Pay Attention to our Thoughts

Hello everyone, hope you’re well.  Here’s a little something to consider.

thoughts

Mostly we don’t pay attention to our thoughts, we just have the same thoughts repeating themselves day after day, over and over in our mind, but the thing is that

every thought matters

every thought creates a feeling

every feeling creates an experience and

every experience dictates our every action, which is directly linked to our thought.

The result is that this is our life.

If we want different results, if we want change, we have to start with paying attention to our thoughts.

Change your thoughts and change your life.

Blessings

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

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5 Simple Ways to Bring Joy into Your Every Day

Hello everyone hope you’re well,  I wrote this article back in March 2020 for the May issue #11, of The Inspired Guide magazine, here, pg 64 – Whether we realize it or not, we need joy in our life every day for our well-being.  I’m delighted to share this article here and I hope it inspires you.

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I believe that now more than ever, we need to feel anchored, grounded and hold onto a sense of balance in our daily lives.

For me, like many of us, one minute I feel great and the next I’m stressed, anxious, fearful or on edge.  It’s a roller coaster ride of emotions and I need to return to my daily rituals of self-love, and self-care.  I need to bring into my day those regular things that support and nourish my well-being. I need to regain my sense of calm.  I need to create balance and have positive uplifting things in my day so I can cope with the rest.  I need to bring sunshine into my heart, I need – JOY!!!

Joy is what illuminates the darkness, joy is what heals our mind and body.  Joy is what brings moments of bliss and fills us with love.  Joy lights us up, and opens our spirit to shine.  When we’re full of joy, we emanate that energy out into the universe, and the universe needs all the joy we can muster.

joy-2Joy is my daily sanctuary, it’s not always possible, life happens, but when you can I invite you to join me, get creative and gift yourself a little time each day to do something uplifting and joyous.  It’s those few moments of creativity, of being immersed in something that makes you feel good that will uplift and brighten your days.

Here are 5 easy, feel good ways to bring joy into your day:

Take a photo – Challenge yourself to take a photo every day of something that makes you feel happy when you look at it.  Doesn’t have to be big, or complicated, you can use the camera in your phone and just snap.

Kindness.  Do something kind from your heart for someone, it will raise your vibration and fill you with joy.

Learn something new.  Learn a language, how to knit, how to draw, Yoga, how to fix a cabinet.  There are endless possibilities.  Just involve yourself and give yourself a new experience.

Connect with nature.  Walk barefoot on the grass.  Hug a tree. Listen to the birds chirping.  Bring flowers into your home.  Go for a nature walk around your neighborhood.  Watch a show on TV about nature.  Just admire nature, if you’re open to it, nature will open itself to you.

Love yourself.  Cultivate the habit of loving and nurturing yourself.  Make time for you.  Give yourself what you need, rest, jump, read articles on how to love yourself.  Find one thing you love about yourself every day and give gratitude for it.

Joy is not indulgence, it’s a necessity and it’s our choice and responsibility.  It’s our empowerment.  There’s magick in feeling joy, it lights us up, makes us feel good, fills us with energy.  Joy can help us combat stress reenergize us and boost our resilience.  Joy keeps us healthy and sane.  It strengthens our immune system, and we can rely on it to pull us through difficult times.

Joy is an essential part of our daily life; we need joy for our well-being. Even if we spend just fifteen minutes a day doing something that makes our heart smile, we will raise our vibration level, uplift our mood, elevate our mindset, and just plain feel joy-filled.

Joy-full Blessings.

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

 

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Make a Wish and other Things

Hello everyone! Happy today –  I’m so excited to share with you that I am now a regular contributor for The Inspired Guide magazine – a wish come true, YEAH!!!!! If you’re not familiar with the magazine I invite you to check it out here, it’s free and every month it’s filled with inspiring and informative articles, beautiful picture, a feast for your soul.

I will be posting my articles every month from the previous month here on my blog, but I encourage you to subscribe to the magazine, it’s free, and read my articles as they are published every month, and nourish your soul with all the other amazing content.

make a wish

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flower2In other news:

I’m at home, I only go out for a walk around my development, the pictures in this post I took while on my walks.  I love going out for a walk, I love to find wonder and when I set the intention to, I find it most of the time.  I wrote an article about this for the July issue, can’t wait for it to come out.

Like a lot of us, I’m trying to find balance, inspiration and get motivated to write or read or clean.  I have good days, creative days, no energy days, don’t want to do a thing days.  Stay in my PJ’s days.  Don’t want to cook days, and a good thing that on those days I have something in the freezer already cooked, just need to heat up.

I’m also posting on Instagram here and on FB here, come on over and join in.

What are you doing, love to hear from you.

Blessings

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

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Decluttering for an – Ahhhhhh!!! Feeling

It’s a beautiful day here today, it’s Monday, it’s a brand new week, I’ve been walking around with a heavy heart but today I’m filled with renewed hope.  I wrote this article before the pandemic that has hit us all, and it appeared first in the March issue of The Inspired Guide magazine, here pg 84.  Now that some of us or most of us are at home, if you haven’t read it already, I hope it will inspire you to do a little decluttering and get that Ahhhhhh feeling.decluttering2I don’t know about you but I’ve jumped on the decluttering bandwagon and I love it.  I’m in the process of decluttering and with every clearing I’m feeling more of that Ahhhhhh! feeling that fills me with lightness and joy, it’s magical.

I’m committed that 2020 is my change year.  I’m more clear about what I want this year than ever before and that clarity has overlapped into every area in my life.  Self-care, self-love, manifesting my desires and living in harmony with universal laws are my priority. And that means inner clearing, out with old beliefs that are keeping me from moving forward, as well as decluttering my home, making room for energy to flow, I’m ready for it all.

In the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui, it’s believed that clutter prevents energy from flowing. Clutter holds energy so it becomes stagnant, and that can affect your wellbeing, cause mental weight, make your body feel weighted down, and you’re not living in harmony with the way of nature.

To honor my self-care, self-love I’m decluttering to gift myself a harmonious home, a place that elevates me and is in harmony and balance with my beliefs.  Just smudging my home to remove negative energy is not enough, I need to create space to allow the flow of energy, so I can feel spacious and light and good when in my sacred sanctuary.

One day in a conversation with my son about this, he said that when he buys a shirt, he gives one away.  WOW!  I never thought of that.  What a great idea, and how simple, buy something, give something away.  This way the flow of energy in your home is constant.  It’s always clean and airy and feels good.

So, here’s my plan of action:

Simplify and remove the overwhelm of decluttering.  First, I needed to get real about this and find a method that works for me.  Decluttering my entire house in one day, or one month is stress overwhelm.  Instead, I do something every week.  Whether it’s clearing out sweaters, pots and pans, or jewelry.  This may not be correct with the experts, but it works for me.

Adapt a system.  I love Marie Kondo’s system, declutter by category where you can, not by room.  For instance, gather all your books from around your house into one pile and work on them all at one time.  And then use her philosophy, when you can’t decide, ask yourself “does it spark joy” if not, give it away.  And my mother always said, if you haven’t used it in a year you’re not using it now, give it away.

Keep it going.  I’m following my son’s process, buy something, give something away.  In this way you’ll always have flowing energy because you’ll never accumulate anything.

When we talk about self-improvement we don’t really think of decluttering as being a part of self-love/self-care, but it most definitely is, and OMG you guys, I can’t even tell you how incredibly amazing this feels.  I feel lighter, more energetic it’s like a heavy weight has lifted off me.  As I go along every week, not only is this creating space for ‘new’ in my home, but it fills me with a sense of spaciousness, accomplishment and joy – I love it!  I’m empowered with a feeling of – I’m in charge of my life.

What can decluttering do for you?

Create spaciousness in your mind and body.

Create a sense of inner freedom.

You’ll gain greater self-confidence.

You’ll feel more empowered over your life.

You’ll feel in harmony with universal laws.

Living in an un-cluttered home – is magical.

Being surrounded by only those things that ‘spark joy’ – is magical.

And let’s face it, don’t we all want that delicious – Ahhhhhh – feeling that we get from a clean, clear, energy flowing space?  And what about the feeling we get from knowing that our precious things that no longer serve us, are now bringing joy to someone else.  A blessing back to the universe –  Happy decluttering.

Blessings

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

 

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A Time for Extreme Self-Love

This is a time for extreme self-love and self-care, and I like all of us, need some extra special love right now.  I’m trying to be strong for my kids so they don’t worry about me, but the truth is  that I’m a bundle of emotions.  I have moments where I’m totally stressed out, on edge, anxious and then I have moments where I’m feeling calm and joyful and I know everything will be all right.

I think that practicing self-love & self-care right now is more important than ever.  Loving ourselves and caring for ourself has to be an essential part of our daily routine. It’s not a luxury, it’s an essential part in keeping ourselves healthy, strong, and maintaining a healthy immune system.

hello self

One of my self-love practices is, I write myself a ‘love note’ and I like to place it on the end table in my hanging out room so I can see it throughout the day.  Every time my eyes land on – hello self I love you – it makes me smile, uplifts me and fills me with joy.  I wrote this a couple of months ago, and I’m still looking at it every day, and it’s still nourishing me.

If you need some extra special love right now, try this – write yourself a love note – place it someplace where you’ll see it throughout the day, it can be anything that makes you feel good.  Your own words, a phrase from a book, lyrics from a song…anything that will elevate your spirit, make you smile, feel good, feel happy and fill you with joy.

Buddha said “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

And now more than ever we all need to do whatever we can to empower ourselves and give ourselves self-love & self-care to get us through this time.  And let’s remember that this will pass and – Everything will be alright.

Blessings

COPYRIGHT MASHA G. ELLMAN 2020

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