Artwork, Kiki #LoonLife

  “Charting your own course isn’t just more necessary than ever before.

It’s also much easier — and much more fun.” Pink’s quote inspired this updated blog title.

Spun pink gold~ Aha moments, When Pink was a guest adviser on The Voice, season 10, she shared an Aha zen moment; she said, “clench your butt cheeks” to hit the high notes.  Sounds true, Pink is on point, when we clench our butt or pelvic floor muscles aka a root lock we’re activating our miracle diamond of mindfulness to unleash our brilliant performer.  Our miracle diamond-mindful posture tool embraces and uplifts us on point. This adds supercharged breath supporting power.  Pink  (more bad ass quotes)

My Aha zen moment to switch my user name from @zenmommie to @mindfulposture was inspired by re-defining my purpose. In 2009  I was working with the Schofield family and Jani called me zen mommie. She experienced me sharing zen tools to help her and the family find their quiet center during the inevitable daily storms.  Read more and check out Oprah’s interview re. Jani’s mental illness, her story has had vast media coverage. (Jani and Oprah in Photo)

Now, my passion is spreading the word about The Miracle Diamond, A Mindful Posture Tool. The Miracle Diamond effortlessly helps us align our posture and breath with mindful awareness. When these 2 come together (posture and breath), we can glide into the zen eye of the hurricane. Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind says, “The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.” My pure intention is simply to clarify how being mindful of posture is the essence of zen.  We can all benefit  from learning how to stand tall, light, and firm from the inside out. Once we make gravity our friend, we can experience levity (lightness of being) effortlessly.

 In the words of Gary Zukav, author of Seat of the Soul, “The most that we can do is comment on the movement, the thought and the form, but those comments are of great value if they can help people to ~learn to move gracefully, to think clearly, to form ~like artists ~the matter of their lives.” 

Legendary ballet choreographer (American Ballet Theatre) Antony Tudor, president of my family Zen Institute in Manhattan, NYC, drew the best out of his dancers.  He intuitively knew the inner dancer’s mantra, “when the body lifts, the mind shifts, and the spirit soars.” Now, this mantra is yours too.  Activate it by wearing your mindful posture tool, (the miracle diamond) to maintain feeling embraced and uplifted on point.

“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”

Howard Schultz – Starbucks CEO.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus

In the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Everyone has a soul story. And there’s something to be learned from every experience.”  It’s a documentary in and of itself to share how long it took us (from winter 2014  to summer 2016) to get this blog written. We’re all in this struggle of life together, and perhaps sharing these innovative tools will ignite your “we got this” creative spirit to begin seeing yourself as the superhero of your own story.  Having a zen perspective is looking at things differently, so we can start to make sense of what we’re going through. Instead of labeling a situation as a misfortune we can see it as a learning experience in the moment, and neutralize it with appreciation. Did you know that new ideas inspire creativity?  Gary Zukav, author of  The Seat Of The Soul, says, “The universe backs the part of you that is of clearest intention.” Turning knowledge into action steps, requires a game plan (strategy) and roots of blisscipline (self discipline, self love and self respect) to manifest your vision. 

“When you choose to respond to life’s difficulties with compassion and love instead of fear and doubt, you create a “heaven on earth”-you bring the aspects of a more balanced and harmonious level of reality into physical being.”  Gary Zukav, Seat of the Soul

Why not start now, to feel that what you want is coming into manifestation. Watch how children often stay magnetized to their wishes until their dream is realized. The one thing children need is our ongoing support and encouragement. Without support, the seed lies dormant until it receives nourishment. The best conditions for your ideas to bloom is to feel grounded, nourishing roots of self love to love others.  And grateful, spreading your wings to celebrate seen and unseen gorgeous blessings on the way.

 Check out Lululemon’s Manifesto to get the conversation started so you feel inspired, and rewired, to start your own inner fire.

“Our manifesto is one way we share our culture with the community. It’s an evolving collection of bold thoughts that allow for some real conversations to take place. Get to know our manifesto and learn more about what  lights our fire.”

“Creativity is maximized when you are living in the moment.” Lululemon

“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”Nobel Prize Winning Chemist, Linus Pauling 

Food for Thought: If you find one idea here that resonates that’s fabulous. Just being willing to learn to see the world in a new light plants new seeds.   You are always free to make your own choices. This is key, in the words of Bruce Lee, “absorb what is useful,” use it, make it work for you. Consider being an artist of life, and this is a brilliant buffet of creative ideas to inspire your creative genius. Take what you need, to water the seeds of intention. We’re serving your spirit in bite-size pieces. You are welcome 24/7 to come back to the FunZen Bakery again, and again, and again, for more soul treats. I hope you zenJOY!

“Creativity is just connecting things.” Steve Jobs 

So here goes, FunZen girls took our time to make sure that this blog gets across the message we want it to- the message that you can be the author and hero of your own story. To show you how, Grace and I are sharing some of our own real-life examples of how we use FunZen tools in our day to day lives to share what helps us can help others.  I’m motivated by Steve Jobs words, “I like making tools  that are useful to people.”  In the spirit of nurturing your soul, and serving your human spirit we want to build an online community or Ohana (family in Hawaiian) one person at a time, where no one is forgotten or left behind.  Learning mindfulness with a beginner’s mind creates possibilities to be our best doing one thing at a time to spread hope, deepen faith,  practice self love, self trust, and  remember love is sustainable.

 Warrior Within Strategy: We have both an anxious worrier and an enlightened warrior living inside of our heads.  To apply our spiritual strategy of  shifting from a worrier to a warrior on the spot, we simply need to remember that the warrior is decisive with intention to get to the heart of the matter and be part of the solution, not stuck in problem.  S-he has a zen or spiritual perspective and practices a Tibetan compassion practice (tonglen) that en-courage-s us to BREATHE and smile at fear (and watch it disappear) to activate enough self love to have compassionate clarity for ourselves and others.

Enlightened author, Pema Chodrun, elucidates the practice of Tonglen brilliantly in her articles, books, and seminars. As Kristin Neff, author of Self Compassion makes clear,”self compassion is a more effective motivator than self criticism…love allows us to feel confident and secure (in part by pumping up our oxytocin) while fear makes us insecure and jittery (sending our amygdala into overdrive and flooding our systems with cortisol)” stress hormones. The enlightened warrior chooses to be  mindful, non judgmental and responsible, the ability to respond. By choosing to be “present centered” with difficult emotions like our first reaction- anger, annoyance, anxiety, and impatience we practice having a spiritual or zen perspective. Simply put, we recognize we can get look at things differently.

By staying centered we can gradually transform difficult emotions into unconditional self acceptance, empathy and forgiveness. Gratitude is our magic wand to activate magical control follows mindful awareness. The moment we say “I choose” self compassion we are taking control of our mind. Zen or meditation training can be seen as the art of mental self control or self discipline. The power of our spirit is self control, grit or poise. (Galatians 5:22-23) 

    

Each moment is a zen second to recognize that we can activate Audrey Hepburn’s quotable, “impossible means i’m-possible.” Here’s  a short, sweet, and to the point Zen tool to mindfully walk your talk;  marrying deep breathing with your intention or any illuminating idea or quote will center you in the here and now. For example, using the simple is powerful  message from Audrey Hepburn’s quote; Let’s reset and focus, Ahhh, Inhale, ~ I’m ~ Exhale slowly ~ Possible ~w/ purpose, positivity and peace.~

Search Inside Yourself Leadership Insights:  “Listening is magic: it turns a person from an object outside, opaque or dimply threatening, into an intimate experience, and therefore into a friend. In this way, listening softens and transforms the listener…And, it turns out that sustainable happiness is achievable by simply bringing attention to one’s breath…positive qualities to nurture, Attention training, Self knowledge, Self mastery, Creating useful mental habits.”

Chade Meng Tan, Author of Search Inside Yourself Leadership

Mindfulness: To remember or check in.  Centering Charm, press zen button: Breathe out ahhh or whoosh to mentally start over, instantly reset.  Now, close your eyes or lower eyelids, smile at fear (and watch it disappear) Focus on Breathing in white light  slowly and deeply to your core or  quiet center,  pixie pause,  reaching stillness,  Long breath out ~Ahhh~zen pause, relaxing all over, radiating white light from your center, dissolving pain, calming  the anxious mind to help you quiet the zen monkey mind chatter to stay focused, clear, present centered, repeat throughout the day to be strong  all day long.

Zen heart note: Pressing our zen button, right below our navel is an instant stabilizer to help us reach the zen eye of stillness in the hurricane. It works like a mantra, to re-focus when we need it most, in the spinning tea cup moments   What we’re really doing by reaching stillness is releasing any ego static to clear the soul channel. Inspired author, Dr. Wayne Dyer, says there are three things that clog our soul: “negativity, judgment and imbalance,” such as regrets, anxiety, shame, blame, guilt. When we accept and feel the dark feelings we can heal them, and return to our original nature (authenticity), and nurture ourselves by detaching from them and letting them go.

 Quotable by Reba McEntire to Activate Tri-harmony:

“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”

 “If you concentrate on breathing and posture, the attitude of mind automatically comes right and wisdom is manifested spontaneously” Taisen Deshimaru, Roshi -Zen Master

 Anxiety to Serenity Now: Andrew Weil M.D., reminds us “Breathing is the master key to self healing.”  Don’t wait to exhale! to breathe is to feel, when negative or positive emotions arise, feel  the feelings that arise and let them go, release them. This rut buster tool is what our warrior within uses to detach from unhelpful thoughts without getting stuck in habitual reactions.

Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Feelings come and go…Conscious breathing is my anchor.” The gift that we receive is learning to value what we feel.  Trusting our vibes or gut awakens what Ralph Waldo Emerson calls our “creative genius” or intuition.

Brene Brown’s quote, “We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we numb the positive emotions.”  Brene Brown

Zen heart notes: This too shall pass: “Emotions are like passing storms, and you have to remind yourself that it won’t rain forever.

You just have to sit down and watch it pour outside and then peek your head out when it looks dry.” Amy Poehler

Martial Arts Legend, Sensei Benny Urquidez, and his beloved student, Ukidokan warrior, Sensei Nadine Champion remind us that it takes up to 10 seconds of courage to shift from a worrier to a warrior, in the moment, on the spot with internal training.

 Author, Coach, Cheryl Richardson, shares the samurai secret to being “present centered” with a short, sweet, and to the point guideline to help us elevate our potential to keep calm (pause) to weather any storm. 

  Cheryl Richardson says, “If you learn to be still with yourself, you’ll be able to make better choices.” 

Success is a Choice: “Preparation and research are two keys of staying away from stressful moments…It’s all about preparing to face pressure…you’re confident in your strategy (plan of action) and ability to handle whatever is thrown in your path. ” Rick Pitino

Zen heart note: other words that imply still or stillness are, calm, pause, peaceful, quiet, wait.

Out of stress free simplicity find clarity: Create Outer order and Inner calm: “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” Deepak Chopra

Reaching  Success Through Stillness,  “In short, a calm mind is a creative mind. And a creative mind is going to bring a lot of success into your life.”  Russell Simmons (@UncleRUSH)

In the words of Michael Beckwith, “Surrender, is the stance of the spiritual warrior.” We have a choice each moment.  Every upset is a set-up for our higher self to teach our lower self a life b-lesson for our comeback. Who will we feed or listen to? our  inner worrier’s voice of fear and anxiety who says, f.orget  e.verything  a.nd  r.un  or the heart’s voice of  love and courage  that whispers to the warrior, breathe in self-love and breathe out gratitude to activate Susan Jeffers famous quote, “feel the fear and do it anyway,”  f.ace e.verything  a.nd r.ise, hence, “No mud. No lotus.” Thich Nhat Hanh

I love how author, Glennon Doyle Melton,  of  Carry On, Warrior,  and Love Warrior, A Memoir, makes the brilliant point that  “We can do hard things…Just do The Next Right Thing, one thing at a time. That’ll take you all the way Home.”  

“My courage will come from knowing I can handle whatever I encounter there – because I was designed by my creator to not only survive pain and love but also to become whole inside it. I was born to do this. I am a Warrior.” Love Warrior, A Memoir

Enlightened Warrior Bruce Lee says “Simplicity is the key to brilliance” and “Knowing is not enough, we must APPLY. Willing is not enough, we must DO.”

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