April 2011

Where There’s A Rut, There’s A Way

The other night, as laid with my daughter before sleep, she proclaimed she was “utzy” and couldn’t put her finger on what was under her skin. Luckily, she is pretty quick at getting to her emotions, and sure enough, 20 minutes later bounded into my bedroom and proclaimed, “I’m in a rut!”

Join the line.

We talked about what “rut” meant to a 13 year old (this Friday) and she spilled her thoughts. Gratefully, nothing major. And yet, everything we all bump up against at this time of year. It’s Spring and I sense from lots of conversations, that folks are ready to get moving again.

We brainstormed ways to get re-juiced and agreed to tackle what we could. The rest we could use as fuel for the days to come. Here are our top 10 favorites:

Update your iPod with new music. Can’t think of what’s new and fun? Then just buy the soundtrack to Grey’s Anatomy. They have great songs by new artists all in one neat package. Plug it into your speakers and let it be background music to your day.

Don’t laugh, but buy a few new pairs of under garments. I ripped out an award winner from Real Simple last week (cupidintimates.com) and threw out everything that had a hint of gray to it. Way easier to suck your stomach in when the band on your panties isn’t broken.

Employ a few Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Shway) techniques. One of my favorite books to help you do this is The Western Guide to Feng Shui: Creating Balance, Harmony, and Prosperity in Your Environment. There are a few simple things you can do that will make all the difference, like moving around 22 objects in your house. You can do that yon your way out the door.

Move your body. Try on running for size. Here’s the link to the “Couch to 5k” Training Plan. http://www.fromcouchto5k.com/articles/training/the-couch-to-5k-training-plan/ I have NEVER been able to run, but I made a date to start next week. I need to do something new and this seems like a simple and easy way to just get my butt in gear. I’ll let you know…

Make a list of everything rolling around in your brain. By a colorful marker to cross it off with.

Buy one new plant and place it in a daily visible spot.

Download Arthur on Netflix and take yourself back a few years. When you return to today, you’ll feel lighter, for sure.

Add some lavender to your bedroom. Whether it is a misting spray, real springs or washing your sheets in lavender water, it will help promote rest. And with a little rest, things always feel better.

Think about one thing weighing on your mind and deal with it. Face it. Tell the person who needs to be told. Get it off your chest. Hard to do, easy to wonder “Why didn’t I do that sooner?”

Pray. Really. Get a bowl or a box and write down something you need help with. Then fold it up, put it n the container and let it go. Ask whatever higher source you believe in to help. Then step aside and do one nice thing today. Pay attention to what you begin to see.

Sure enough, after just cleaning out her bathroom (her idea), moving the hamper from the closet to a new space that makes it easier to use and putting the garbage can under sink, she looks better, feels lighter and is wearing things she forgot she had.

That’s the best part – remembering what we have. That alone can help us move forward. Gratitude. It’s the best fuel in the world.

How you MindFULLY get yourself out of a rut? Let us know!

Did You Know

Is there something about you that would surprise friends and family? A few weeks ago, after reading my post about scents, my camp friend, of 30 years, mentioned that he had no sense of smell – hadn’t had any since he was a a kid. I had no idea! He ordered an amazing meal for us in NYC – how’d he do that without being able to taste?

Then yesterday, I was talking with my dad about how I look for synchronicity and patterns in numbers and he told me that when he is bored or distracted, he plays a game with himself whereby he can look at a word and within seconds, tell you how many letters are in it. I threw out a few words and he threw back the letters. Humph! Who knew?!

Here’s something I’ll bet my friends and family don’t know about me… When I am in a meeting ( or when I was in school) and I am bored, I take my notes backwards. I write the whole letter and sentenced from right to left.

The funny thing is that years ago, when we were sitting around the table after my grandmothers funereal, my mom was doodling and it turned out that she writes backwards, too! Except, she does it in script. That’s kinda weird.

If you were to think about the people who know you, is there something that you realize they don’t know? Do you have a hidden talent, passion or habit that you never thought about, but might surprise them? Tell them. Show them. Crack them up!

What do you do MINDFULLY do that makes you unique? Let us know!

This Is Only A Test

Remember that piercing sound that was on TV and the voice-over that said, “This is only a test of the Emergency Broadcast System’? Well, this is neither an emergency nor a loud sound. Rather, this post is simply a test for trying to figure out why my Mindfull Monday post did not post. My iPhone is acting up, as well. Hmmm…

Not much to say. But for reading this, I will leave you with an interesting link from my sister in law on how changing our words can change behavior. Perhaps this is what I really need to test.

You Look So Familiar

People often smile at me, as if we have met before. It’s a funny phenom for me. When introduced, they often say, “You look so familiar.” I laugh. I look like every other East Coast Jewish girl. I’m not that unique.

Or am I?

A few years ago, I read Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives by Brian L. Weiss. It was fascinating.

On his website, Dr. Weiss describes the story: As a traditional psychotherapist, he was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from “the space between lives,” which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss’s family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.

After reading his book, the frequent smiles and familiar greetings began to make sense. The next time someone said “hi” with a knowing intonation, I whispered to my husband, “In a past life, I must have been a Queen and these are my peoples; I must have been a good Queen and they are happy to see me again!”

Clearly, I’m joking. But why else would strangers wave? I travel a lot for business and sometimes in the airport I make a game out of counting the number of people who smile at me. I love it. It brightens my spirits after long days and reminds me of the good in this world.

We are all so busy. And it shows on our faces. The scowls, the impatience, the disappointment. But what if we smiled more. Simply said, “Hey, how’s it going?” Took a deep breath and smiled before responding?

Today, while walking in the park, a man walked toward me, talking on his cell phone. As I passed, he smiled and waved. I smiled back. I didn’t know him. But maybe he tasted my food for me hundreds of years ago and was simply showing back up to say, “Delicious day out here in the park, isn’t it?

When do you MindFULLY notice when you meet someone familiar? Let us know.

Common Scents

Today, as I puffed up the stairs from the garage, I caught a whiff of a familiar scent – Au d’ Abercrombie. I knew my husband and daughter had beaten me home from the mall.

Scents are a funny thing. They can make you gag (like in an Abercrombie store where they pump the perfume into the air as soon as you walk in the door), they can delight and bring you back to 5^th grade and your first real perfume (Shalimar) and they can calm your nerves when you smell something worn by someone you love (Old Spice deodorant).

Smell is the most mysterious of human senses. Odor engineers need not only chemistry and physics but must also know something about history, psychology and sociology. This is the conclusion of a new book, Odors: Physiology and Control (McGraw Hill; $6.50), by Carey P. McCord, of Detroit’s Industrial Health Conservancy Laboratories, and William N. Witheridge, ventilation engineer for General Motors. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794764,00.html#ixzz1ITD68BtI

Chanel has always been one of my favorites. Last week in a department store, we stopped by the Chanel counter to sniff what’s new. My Bobie (grandmother) wore Chanel No 5, I wear Chanel Allure and Coco Chanel was a passing fancy scent for my first job (so was the job). In her new book, “The Secret of Chanel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World’s Most Famous Perfume,” Tilar Mazzeo reveals the complicated — and often scandalous — history of the world’s bestselling perfume. Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/136335/#ixzz1ITDXRXPq

I can remember good times and bad, by scent. Aeromatique by Clinique was the bottle I packed in my suitcase for my post-college, two week, whirlwind European tour – the bottle they told me NOT to pack. Of course it broke and soaked all my clothes and my duffel bag. I tried to wash everything in a tub in Austria and the smell was so strong, I stuffed towels under the bathroom door to keep the smell from wafting out. I had my shorts washed by the hotel and thinking I was so smart, placed them under the mattress to “iron” them. Only when the bus pulled onto the highway, did I smell my own luggage which triggered my memory and sinking heart, realizing I had one pair of shorts left. And they stank. To this day, if someone near me is wearing Aeromatique, I still get that little gag cough feeling.

Grace, by Philosophy, is my daughter’s new favorite. A friend of ours wears it and she is strong and successful. Tabu reminds me of Auntie Susan and her cozy, lovely home in Boston. Opium reminds me of my old self, trying to be grown up and living in LA for six, silly months and Obsession is the scent worn by one of my first bosses. I could smell her coming. It was like smelling fear.

When my daughter was born, I didn’t wear perfume. I wanted her to know my natural scent. I wanted her to know when she smelled ME, it meant “You are not alone. All is well. You are safe. You are loved.”

Scent can do so much for us. Play around and have fun. See what scent can do for you!

What scent do you MindFULLY wear and when? Let us know!