Appreciating & Intending ~ Applying the Spirit of Yes And
As we move into 2011, some of us begin thinking about or acting upon new intentions. One of the intentions I have this year is to practice appreciating what I have in my life as a foundation for setting intentions and manifesting my desires. The Spirit of Yes And teaches us to acknowledge, appreciate and accept what is here in this moment (YES), and then to build upon it in creative ways (AND). Actualizing our intentions is more possible when we first appreciate what we have in our life now. By spending time daily acknowledging the good in your life, you are creating a strong foundation of abundance into which you can plant your seeds of intention. There is a saying that what you focus […]
Designing Your Impact ~ A Simple and Powerful Skill
“Don’t Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.” ~ Miguel Angel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. A week ago a friend and I had a Play Day together, a day trip which included swimming, hiking and bocce ball. Fun! As we began our adventure, my friend did not seem his usual self. He was stiff, withdrawn and difficult to communicate with. I noticed I began making assumptions: Is he mad at me? Am I talking too much? Am I annoying him? I was also aware that I was working hard at connecting to him, […]
Allow for a Day
What if for just one day you have complete faith in the unfolding of your life? What if for just one day you allow life to be as it is, and practice the Spirit of Yes And by accepting what is? Instead of questioning, judging or condemning why something is the way it is, you allow it to be as it is Instead of trying to change someone, you allow them to be as they are Instead of proving your point, you state the basic facts and allow the rest to be Instead of directing the flow of conversation, you allow the flow to present itself to you Instead of being angry and flustered when stuck in traffic, you trust the traffic is working for […]
Co-Creative Conversations #2
“We don’t need to think, we know. We don’t need to do, we are. We keep moving in the wisdom that this is our only prayer. Faith happens when my mind is in my feet and I am not thinking at all.” — Gabrielle Roth, founder of 5Rhythms. We are continuously offering expressions of ourselves in the form of energy, sound and movement. An energetic “offer”, as I like to call them, is our current emotional state that we are emanating such as joy, frustration or confusion. An offer of sound can be verbalizing a perspective, laughing or even sneezing. And movement can be gestures, facial expressions or a simple wave of the hand. Each offer is a signal that informs and has emotional impact. […]
Three Levels of Playful Mirroring
“Mirror your partner’s dreams; the relationship will grow.” ~ Unknown. I was walking down the street the other day and I saw a little girl pretending she was a soldier. She marched along, erect, focused, her arms swaying straight as an arrow and in perfect rhythm, painted with a stoic countenance. She was a soldier indeed! And walking right beside her was her father (I think it was her father), who mirrored her exactly. She marched along, and so did he, walking side by side in unison and intent, with a spirit of playing along. Mirroring is a great way to practice Yes And and honour the creative contributions of another. It invites what I call the Dance of Yes And where two or more […]
The Spirit of Yes And
Yes But sees Limitations. Yes And sees Possibilities. But Separates. And Joins. We live in a society that is well trained to say Yes But. We are more conditioned to see limits than possibilities. Saying Yes is respecting your, or someone else’s, feeling, idea or circumstance and being open to what it may have to offer. It is about acknowledging, appreciating and including without judgement, without the need to fix, and without even the need to agree. Saying And is finding creative ways to build upon it and then playfully seeing where it goes. There is no aliveness or potential in Yes But. It keeps us in the proverbial box and living in the status quo. The adventure of life begins when we take the […]