Saturday, August 9, 2025

Fit for Life - a New Beginning

Of course, the book I pulled off my bookshelf before I left home was Harvey Diamond FIT FOR LIFE A NEW BEGINNING - funny how when I trust myself I have everything I need to guide my next best step. . . This book has been profoundly informational on so many levels: 

Here are some of my favorite frames - words that left me thinking or triggered or both:

.Body is essentially machine that requires fuel, turns fuel into energy in order to carry out its many functions and generates waste in the process (just like a car); from internal and external sources. Internal waste - consequences of cell regeneration (old cells replace with new cells) 

Problems arise when the buildup of toxins exceeds what body can eliminate. If on daily basis, more toxins produced than are removed, excess remains in body, where problems develop because of it. Distended abdomens is buildup of waste that has not been eliminated. Skin problems, high blood pressure, sinus/respiratory problems all conditions of dirty bodies.
.
When you pull plug of tub and leave water running, the tub will overflow. In body when this happens with toxins, it spells pain and disease. In house where floors are not cleaned, garbage not emptied, bedding not washed - this is kind of neglect happening inside bodies 

To understand Health we must Understand Cancer . - Cancer is not problem, it is end result of problem - Cancer is easiest malady of human body to prevent 

Instead of studying cancer (effect)we need to study the factors that bring on cancer (cause) - things happen for definite reason; things we do jeopardize our health - when we focus on cause we have prevention; when we focus on effect we have after the fact treatment . 

What is a cancer cell? . Cancer cell is a normal cell so deranged by toxic substances that it loses contact with and is no longer controlled by brain - literally been driven crazy by poisoning, In cancer, unrestrained cell growth leads to buildup of tumors which consumes and destroys normal cells. . Cancer does not attack, it evolves . 

WHERE it happens isn’t most important - why it happens is the issue - Smoking - single most toxic offense against health in existence Cancer will never just happen - result of causes that were not removed over a long period of time. Cancer is classic lifestyle disease (takes 1 year for single cancer cell to become 12; 6 years for cancer to be size of pencil point and 10 years for it to be detectable) Surgery, radiation and chemo attack problem at end stages of growth, after the fact; it is attacking the effect while ignoring the cause. Removing prostate gland or cutting off breast without removing cause of cancer and thinking cancer won’t return is like picking all apple off a tree and thinking no more apples will grow 

 When toxic conditions that resulted in abnormal cell growth are removed, then health begins to be restored (HOXSEY) HEALTH IS NORMAL NATURAL STATE OF BODY When healthy, body automatically directs efforts to maintaining that state. Body strives for optimum health under any and all circumstances in quickest and most efficient way (HOXSEY detox and plant medicine). 

 Body has built in mechanism that warns us when health is in jeopardy. Sometimes, her warnings are not recognized or ignored or masked with drugs Disease never just happens; it takes a long time and a great deal of neglect and abuse of body for disease to finally occur 

 And then he lists 7 sevem stages before we call it the big "C". 

 1st stage - ENERVATION - body not generating sufficient energy for tasks it must perform or tasks body must perform are greater than normal energy supply can cope with 

 2nd Stage - TOXEMIA - uneliminated material saturates blood, lymph nodes and tissues of body. Warning sign: FEVER - body in mode trying to cleanse itself of toxin 

 3rd Stage - IRRITATION -common warning of irritation due to toxemia is itchiness - Skin is body’s largest rogan AND organ of elimination. When skin becomes itchy, classic sign that toxins are being removed - when they reach surface of the skin that area becomes irritated 

 4th Stage - INFLAMMATION - Body’s most intense effort to cleanse and restore itself - Inflammation causes PAIN - pain's purpose is body’s most effective warning signal - specifically designed to alert us to fact that without corrective measures you are endangering yourself Stage 4 is pivotal juncture in that actions taken at this point determine whether or not you are going to recover your health and return to a state of vibrancy or fall deeper into diseased state 

 5th Stage - ULCERATION - Body has been under assault for such a long time that massive amounts of cells and tissue are being destroyed 

 6th Stage - INDURATION - body’s way of quarantining the toxic material, holding it in one place so it will not spread freely throughout the body. 

 7th Stage - CANCER - cells are no longer under control of brain and are multiplying wildly in unorganized manner - in best of circumstances, with healthy regimen, cancer can be arrested and revered - it takes diligent concentrated effort - every part of body is as sacred and important and cherished and protected as any other ; just like when the sun shines, it shines on everything equally - no favorites 

DRUGS are worst possible enemy - old way of thinking - we are conditioned to respond to pain with drugs - drugs dont heal anything - drugs mask symptoms - drugs prevent you from doing the right thing for yourself by giving you a false sense of security Everybody who allows lymph systems to become overburdened with toxins will get warning from their body in the guise of pain or ill health - where in body depends on individual’s weakest link 

 Cancer is cancer no matter where it shows up 

 Disease ill health pain are all points at which uneliminated toxins finally overwhelm body’s ability to contain them - to prevent them or reverse them, toxins must be removed from lymph systems Cleaning lymph system ends pain and ill health With accumulation of toxic elements in lymph nodes system the flow of lymph can become sluggish - fluid becomes thick and T-cells and macrophages of immune system become bogged down and dont move around as well - with regimen that cleanses lymph system of toxins, peeps recover - opening up lymph system and restoring immune system to proper functioning  


DIGESTIVE SYSTEM - Digestive tract is 30 feet long starting at your mouth and ending at your ass where waste finds it way to outside world Along the way twists and turns wrinkles and folds cracks crevices nooks and crannies corners and pockets Small intestine is 22 feet long - small describing its circumference not its length Empties into large intestine, which is 5 feet long but wider in circumference Large intestines referred to as colon Lots of places where uneliminated waste accumulates stagnates and becomes inflamed if not removed After all processes of metabolism have been performed and everything body needs from food has been extracted, waste is held in colon before elimination Most disease has single cause and single remedy Ingredients in fruits vegetables and other plant-based foods retard bodily breakdown Cells protect themselves with compounds called antioxidants - fruits and veggies are packed with them Flavonoids found in all citrus fruit 

 SO MUCH INFORMATION to learn and absorb and embody and feel where it rings true for me and we. 

 Thank you Harvey Diamond for sharing and caring

Life before the big "C"

I was in Rome recently - I spent 4 days in the city with a groove Goddess from Denmark checking out the sites (we saw Goddess Athena she kept on beckoning), cruising on the canals, and finding hidden gems. 

 I was about to meet a group of girlfriends to celebrate La Dolce Vita in Tuscany a la groove style (www.worldgroovemovement.com). And then he was at the doctor's office - me listening in while sitting at dinner on the river - listening on WhatsApp to the consultation with a hematologist for a high white blood cell count reading. 

 The doctor walked in and started yelling - these numbers are too high - you have Chronic Lumphoma Leukemia and you need to be in a hospital right now. Again, screaming as the doctor found out there was no insurance - what the chemotherapy treatment is $15,000/month. We will put you in touch with the Hope Network and you need to work with them to get insurance so we can start you on treatment right away. He had only just met his patient and delivered this news in a cold disparaging way that left no space for comments, rational thought or even discussion. 

 How can someone say something about you and your longevity and it immediately changes your life - not that it changes who you were five minutes before you knew AND it changes everything in your life from that moment on. 

 I decided it would be best to support my beloved from this kind of medical treatment and canceled the remaining part of my trip to Italy to fly home and be there in person to deal with this diagnosis. A few days later, I am home. 

 We go to the beach to connect and decompress and absorb the impact of these words. We listen to the waves. We surrender to the Universe and wait for words of wisdom or the next step or a message to appear. 

 I remember this movie I saw 20 years ago called "How Healing Became a Crime" - and how this vet called Hoxsey put a horse out to pasture because of cancer. When checking on his horse, he noticed she was eating grasses and herbs that were reversing the effects of cancer on her skin. He made a paste to use on animals and eventually humans and it gave people with cancer relief and sometimes even a cure.  

This is what I found on the internet about it: In 1924, Harry Hoxsey (the grandson) claimed a cure for cancer, herbal remedies discovered by his great-grandfather. Thousands of patients swore the treatment cured them, but medical authorities branded Hoxsey the worst cancer quack of the 20th century and he was arrested more times than any other man in medical history. By the 1950s, Hoxsey's Texas clinic was the largest private cancer center in the word with branches in 17 states. Two federal courts upheld the therapeutic value of the treatment. Even his arch-nemesis, the AMA, admitted his treatment was effective against some forms of cancer. Although Hoxsey won almost all the battles, finally he lost the war and moved the clinic to Tijuana, Mexico, where it continues to claim an 80% success rate today. The film exposes the overall failure of the War on Cancer, while revealing how yesterday's "unorthodox" treatments are emerging as tomorrow's medicine. It probes other promising unconventional cancer treatments that have also been condemned without investigation, delving deeply into the powerful economic forces behind this suppression. 

 We decided to go the Hoxsey route - we found the clinic in Tijuana - www.hoxseybiomedical.com and made an appointment to visit. 

 Before flying to San Diego, California to get driven over the border with medical transport permissions, we did some more blood tests (very high white blood cell count, very low red bloow dell count, very low hemoglobin) and some CT scans showing lumps in his lymphs. Even though we felt hopeful and curious about this new healing adventure, deep inside we were very scared - conventional chemotherapy and radiation were not even options that we could consider - poisoning yourself will never help you heal. We flew into San Diego from Fort Lauderdale - we drove over the bridge to Coronado so we could be close to VitaminSea.
I call it LIfe Before the Big "C" because people think about you differently once you tell them you were diagnosed with Cancer. They make sad or squinty faces and apologize for something they didnt do. They mean well, of course, however, that is not how it comes across. It sounds like a death blow that has been already decided regardless of what is asked next. Keep my hopes up and my mind focused on this challenge the Universe presented me and my beloved with so we can see and feel more connected to our bodies and what they are trying to say.

Monday, November 24, 2014

FAITH and the way I see it


This week I pray for FAITH.

I just returned from Northern California.

It was not part of my planned trips for these last few months of 2014.  However, an email about studying with the elders, a retreat with the Sequoia Trees, showed up in my inbox.  I sent a Thank you email for the inspiration and please keep me posted for upcoming trips in 2015.  

I get a phone call Wednesday night telling me that there is space and what would it take to make this trip hahahappen and be in California on Friday.  I was going to say No.  I already had plans for the weekend (visions of pink and SisterGoddesses and South Beach).  And a flight less than 48 hours away?  Hahaha.

To tell you the truth, thinking of the trees brought me great pleasure - a warmth in my heart and a tingling of excitement in my body.  I  took a deep breath and had a good laugh.  I said YES let me see what I can find.  I got on the internet to check itineraries and prices.

For those of us who have booked last minute travel - especially from Florida to California - price of airfare can be pretty hefty.  Direct flights from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco were $1,200 pre tax.   I was about to give up a when a little pop-up for USAir showed up on my screen.  A non-direct flight through Charlotte with minimal layover time would have me arriving on time to San Francisco to meet the designated shuttle.   The flight price was a more reasonable $460.00 tax included.  Trying to book the flight online proved futile.  I picked up the phone and had a pleasant conversation with a young man named Josh.  He pushed some buttons and typed in code and all of a sudden for $400.00 and points, I was traveling first class to California and back.  My NO turned into an emphatic YES YES YES.

Once I had my tickets, I called to find out where exactly in California this retreat would occur.  Ben Lomond, the voice at the other end of the phone said.  Ben Lomond?  Of all the cities in California,  this is one I know quite well.   My cousins - Auntie Sylvia's niece and great niece and great great nephew hahahappen to live in Ben Lomond.  I've been blessed to be in Ben Lomond twice for weddings.

I could see Auntie Sylvia's hand, RIP, all over this trip.

Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., less than 24 hours after purchasing my ticket, I boarded my flight. I was beyond exhahahahausted.  Besides getting up at 3:00 a.m. to catch my flight, we had Auntie Sylvia's funeral the day before.  My emotions were a mess as was I.

I surrendered my fears and concerns and not knowing to the Universe and started my adventure.

The privilege of first class, it is quite nice.  You are the first to board the airplane, one of the first to deplane.  There is always space overhead for a carry on and there is no fee to check in a baggage. The seats are big enough to sit crisscross applesauce (once you take off your shoes).  Blankets are provided to ward off the chill and you are only a few rows from the bathroom up front.  You also get as much water, as often, as you want.   

Leaving Florida's warm and balmy 77 degrees - I encountered Charlotte's freezing and blistering winds and 34 degrees and then transitioned to the sunny and frigid skies of San Francisco registering at 54 degrees.   However, the landscape totally shifted as did my state of mind.  The 1 1/2 hour drive in the shuttle helped me loosen my layers.  I was finally able to release all the pressure and stress and tension that had been accumulating in my body.  As we climbed into the mountains and were surrounded by trees, I took a deep breath of the crisp air.

I had the pleasure of meeting a tribe of bee Goddesses - women who identify with bees as a busyness model - women who had heard the calling of the Trees and gathered in Ben Lomond at the Sequoia Retreat Center to be nestled in the Redwoods.   These Elders, Sequoias or California Redwoods are the tallest trees on earth.   They grow in a very narrow strip along the coast of California.

I came here to learn about being grounded and rooted into the Earth.  I found my way here to find my balance.  I was led here to remember my purpose.  I am here to release my stress and hahahand it to the Trees.    I am here now to be One with the Elders and uncover my bliss.

I am here hugging trees.  There is something so magical about connecting with a tree trunk and putting your arms around it. When I am still with the tree, I can feel energy coursing out of me and right through to the tree.  In return, I am filled with a sense of peace and comfort.

It has now been confirmed by science that hugging trees can beneficially affect human health by altering vibrational frequency.    Read More: HERE

I was under a lot of stress this past month.  Trying to cope with family illness and helping parents adjust to a new way of living and being an aunt and a domestic Goddess that maintains and runs my household - it's been a little overwhelming.  I kept on thinking I had to do it all.  I was taking life way too seriously and not having as much fun on this Heaven on Earth as I am entitled to enjoy.

I needed to return to the trees to gain perspective and patience. I had to sit under the trees' shade and do some deep breathing and being.

Trees give me a reality check - they dwarf me until I remember that I am but a speck in this Universe. They reMIND me that all is well and this too shall pass.

I am humbled by my experience with these trees. Their size - their beauty - the energy of peace I feel when amongst these giants - it helps me laugh at my life.  It helps me laugh at the things I take so seriously and focus on what I take for granted in my life.  My faith is restored when walking amongst the Elders and kissing their sacred skin.


Mike Dooley, at www.tut.com, shahahares this story about Faith:

Yesterday I watched a small bird, flying very fast, disappear into the canopy of an oak tree. So dense were its leaves that it was impossible to see what happened next, though I can tell you it remained inside.

I wondered how the little bird found its opening through the leaves at such a speed, and then managed to gently align its fragile body on the branch it chose to land upon, all within a fraction of a second. Not to mention the impossible to imagine flying maneuvers required: the banking, the curling, the vertical and horizontal stabilizations, the deceleration and landing.

Memory? Calculation? Not in that tiny brain. Instinct? Maybe, but how does instinct know which way the branches of a tree have grown when no two are the same?

That little bird just knew. It had faith, in spite of not being able to see how things would work out, that if (and only if) it stayed the course the details would be taken care of; that an opening would appear and a twig would be found. In fact, had she slowed down enough to carefully and logically inspect the tree first, the prudent thing to do, she would have lost her lift and fallen to the ground.

Kind of like reaching for your dreams. Neither memory, nor calculating, nor instincts are the deciding factors, but faith coupled with action.
Tallyho,

The Universe

Here's a little bit more about Sequoia Trees and climbing them.   This is Richard Preston's Ted Talk on Climbing the World's Biggest Trees


P.S.  I did get to hahahang with my cousins in Ben Lomond and meet a whole new generation of cousins.  Auntie Sylvia and her sisters are laughing up there in heaven seeing that our family keeps on growing so beautifully, like these trees.



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

COMPASSION FOR WE


 This week I pray for COMPASSION.

WOW – Wise OMazing Women and Men of the HAHA Tribe – these last few weeks hahahahave been crazy busy with chahahange and chahahallenge and chahahamps.
                  
It’s like the lunar eclipse and the SuperRedMoon and the recent solar eclipse created a shift.  A NUDGE.  As the planets re-align, I am caught up in a powerful wave of energy.  My quiet and peaceful weekly routine gets ruptured with blessings of chaHAhaos.

For NoAHAhahaand I, experiences all ways hahahappen twice.  Of course, I married an ArkMan and know his story well.  It just catches me by surprise and wonder when it hahahappens again.   A deeper gratitude to feel and understand the importance of the MOMent.

This week, two OMazing peeps  - CHAhahamps - left their bodies here on Earth and passed on.  Both pioneers to laughter yoga, these were the oldest members of our HAHA tribe.  And both of them were related to your laughter leaders.   

For SisterGoddess Barbara and for me, these last few weeks have been about hospitals and LOVE and touching and laughing and crying and spitting and sweating and crying some more.  More touching and hugging and handholding and crying and laughing and letting go.

This week I got to hold my Auntie Sylvia.  

For the first time in 17 years , I got to hug her and hold her and kiss her in a way that has never before hahahappened.  I laid down next to her on the hospital bed.  I put my arms around her and cradled her head.  I touched her scalp with my fingertips and helped her release tightness in her cranium.   I put her cold hand into my hand and warmed her up.  I helped her laugh as best as we could without hurting her broken ribs.  And then when she was ready to let go, I sang to her and massaged her keppe. I held her hand until she was as warm as me.



This week I celebrated WSM Irving’s 92nd birthday with SG Barbara.  I sat on his hospital bed and held his hand as he took phone calls from his family.  This man used to recite love poetry he wrote for his wife.  He lived to laugh and shahahare his words.  When the time came, he left. His big smile, twinkling eyes and chahaharming manner will always be remembered.


These two OMazing people played big roles in our lives and were the first of the laughter ambassadors created here in Broward County.  They were also the first members of our family who showed up to support us and laugh with us.

They understood our purpose to bring laughter to the world.  Having witnessed so much chahahange in their lives, they understood that by laughing you could chahahange your perspective as well as your world.

I feel so blessed to have these two OMazing peeps in my life.

Funny how life has compassion on us.  She makes us laugh when we need to cry.  She helps us open up to the flood of emotions – gratitude, sadness, love.  She lets the memories seep through until all is the left is the essence of the experience.

Here is some extra footage of the phenomenal woman I knew as my Great Auntie Sylvia and the memories that I will cherish in my heart.








Wednesday, October 8, 2014

INTEGRITY


This week I pray for integrity.

This week I made choices that were so totally freeing to my soul and yet  contradictory to my family’s tradition and culture.

This weekend was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.  According to Chabad.org, it is the "day on which we are closest to G-d and to the quintessence of our own souls.  It is the Day of Atonement.  For nearly twenty six hours, practicing Jews abstain from food and drink, washing their bodies and sex.   They pray indoors, in a synagogue, in a type of religious fervor until the end of the Fast when they share food together.

This tradition no longer felt right for me.   On so many different levels, I was seeking a more spiritual experience of connecting with my divinity.    Friday night, after sitting with my parents for their Friday night meal (cooked by LoverBoy – woohoo), I took myself to Raja Yoga at Anuttara Yoga Shala.

This Friday, our class was smaller and more intimate.  I had the opportunity to practice right next to my yoga teacher, Philip, and right in front of a mirror.  The music embraced me while the heat in the room allowed me to release the tension in my muscles and access a deeper layer of myself.
 
This form of practice tranquilizes the mind while energizing the body and soothing the soul.  For me, it is an opportunity to open my body and heart and empty my mind.  My teacher, Philip has a peaceful engaging voice which keeps me present and focused in my body – melting into my bones while my connective tissue expands and my hips open.

As I listened to his gentle voice guide my body, his truthful words were punctuated by powerful thunder that matched the electromagnetic energy we were creating in the room.  A bolt of lightning illuminated the top windows in the Tapas Hall and lit up the statues of Shiva Shakti and made my experience even more mystical. 

Philip reminded us of the sacredness of our practice as it was also the 9th day of the Navaratri holiday – a Hindu holiday that honors Shakti (the Divine Feminine/Mother) and looks to her for spiritual cleansing, guidance, and enlightenment.    With sweat pouring out of my cells, my body felt limber and my mind was at peace.  I knew I was in the right place, at the right time.

I prayed during my practice for my forgiveness and asked for more compassion and patience with myself.  I prayed for more listening to the guidance from within.  I prayed to the inner child that I honor her and laugh with her and put her first.

Even though this is not how many Jews practice this High HolyDay, this is how this recovering Jew became in integrity with her spirit.    

For me, integrity is finding my way into the world truthfully – not because my parents said so, or religion dictates or this is how everybody does it but rather because it resonates within.  It creates an inner experience that radiates my light into the world.


And so, I laugh at loud and follow my own path, knowing that this is my way of bringing peace into this world and chahahanging history to herstory.

Nico & Vinz sing it like it is.  Enjoy!!!


Thursday, October 2, 2014

CONSISTENCY is KEY


This week I pray for CONSISTENCY.  

Over the years - I have added so many new hahahabits in my life.  The only way I know how to do this is to show up and take a baby step in a new direction and then repeat and repeat and repeat.

I did the same thing when I wanted to lose weight.  I started walking.  Walking out the door of my house and walking to the end of the block and then back home again.  At first, I would go towards the right when I walked out my door.  I would walk past 4 houses to the stop sign and then turn back and walk home.  I did this consistently every day (thahahahank you Susan Powter and Stop the Insanity) for a week.   The following day, I turned left and walked past 6 houses to get to another stop sign.  I did this consistently for a week.   Those were my first two weeks of walking.   Daily - short and sweet - action steps.  By the end of week 2, I was feeling really good.   And my pants were looser.

I learned that it didn't matter how long I walked each day RATHER that I walked daily.  Once I became consistent with my walking everything else fell into place.  Like increasing my capacity to breathe and stamina.  On week 3, I went past the stop sign and continued up the block.  Crossing the street and walking by 7 more houses.  Now, all these years later, I've upped my game.  I no longer count houses.   I measure miles.  I've also lost 80 pounds and went from big boned to petite.

This is how I learn to do things.   I decide to try something.  I show up.  I do it once.  I do it again.  I do it a third time and I start to build muscle memory.  It gets easier to do.   Over the years, this CONSISTENCY formula has served me well.    It's how I became hooked on Pilates.  It's how I began to meditate.    It's how I became a yogini.

 

This is how our Laughter Yoga started.  I showed up once and then again and then again and here we are seven years later - going strong and with a powerful haha muscle.   



What I've noticed over the years are these 3 STEPS to making CONSISTENCY work:

1.    THINK IT - set my mind to something 
2.    DO IT - just do it - whatever I committed to in my mind, I apply into my life - for 5-15 minutes
3.    REPEAT - woohoo - done it once, now do it again

These 3 steps move me into ACTION where my thoughts become my new reality.

This week, I pray for CONSISTENCY in other areas of my life - relationships with people, art and creativity.  I pray for the COMMITMENT to make these priorities and to follow through until the muscle memory builds and makes it easy.  

Monday, September 22, 2014

Attitude of Gratitude


Gratitude is a powerful transformative practice.  It creates all sorts of abundance and hahahappiness in my life.  It also shifts my energy in subtle, and OMazing ways.  

Psychologists Robert Emmons of U.C. Davis and Michael McCullough of the University of Miami found that practicing gratitude can actually improve our emotional and physical well-being.

Their ongoing Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness found that people who keep weekly gratitude journals had fewer physical symptoms, exercised more, had a better outlook on life and were more likely to reach their goals.

Truth:    WHAT WE FOCUS ON, WE GET MORE OF
It’s true.  I have been practicing gratitude since I first heard Oprah share her practice of writing down 5 things every day.  This daily practice has helped me shift my focus to what is really good in my life. 

In the beginning, I started small.  Grateful for my breath.  Grateful for my legs that walk me to the bathroom.  Grateful for my bowels that release and empty.  Grateful for this new day and whatever gifts it brings.

It helped me shift my perspective. I used to notice the clouds first before seeing the vast blue sky.

I notice that when I take a few moments to remember and record my gratitude, it gives me the opportunity to digest and appreciate my life.


Gratitude creates changes at the emotional and mental levels, and also changes my body at a cellular level.  

Truth:  GRATITUDE IS A MULTI SENSORY EXPERIENCE
Gratitude is more than just something I write down or say.  It’s something I feel.  It’s a sensation of joy and awe that I get deep within whey I see the sunrise and paint her colors across the sky.  It’s a feeling of happiness that washes through me when the wind blows and a fresh breeze cools the sweat on my brow.  It’s the fabulous smell of a fresh peeled orange in the morning that makes my nose wrinkle with delight.  It’s the pleasure I get from wrapping soft cotton modal fabric onto my.  It’s how my heart softens as I touch my cat’s fur and hear her purr.

Using my senses to experience gratitude heightens the experience.  It fills my reservoir of delightful and delicious experiences I can draw upon in my memory bank.


Gratitude opens the gates of tenderness - and lets my heart feel even deeper.  Each day that I practice gratitude, I feel connected to the Earth, to people I meet, and to the flow of life.

Truth:  GRATITUDE IS A MUSCLE
Gratitude - saying thank you on the INside and out - to each and every thing that comes my way, no matter what it looks like when I receive it.  

When I get lost in my thoughts or lose my focus, I stop and breathe and go into gratitude - counting my blessings and thanking the Universe for all the chaHAhallenges and opportunities in my life to love.  
The Universe works in mysterious ways and what I see is not always what is.   Being in gratitude allows me to chaHAhange my perspective - see things differently or just be in appreciation for my life right now.

I flex and strengthen this muscle daily.  I stretch the muscle by writing in my journal.  I work it out by putting my gratitude on paper and writing thank you notes or doing a Act of Random Kindness (ARK).   I expand my muscle by knocking on a neighbor's door to sit and chat or calling a friend and just listening.  I cultivate gratitude by sitting in the grass and taking in the nature that surrounds me - hugging a tree and being One with my surroundings.


Here are 3 ways to build this GRATITUDE muscle:

1. Practice even when you don't feel like it. 
"One of the mistakes people often make in our culture is thinking you have to feel grateful to practice gratitude," says psychologist Miriam Greenspan, author of Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair.  

Whatever we can find to focus on as a prayer of gratitude – I’m still breathing, I have a roof over my head, I have friends I can reach out to, the sun is shining – shifts our body’s experience to the light, where LOVE resides.

A Gratitude Practice rewires our brain to look for good things.  The body remembers the sensation of searching for blessings and the feeling of joy and peace it brings.  Doing the same practice day after day hardwires the experience into long term muscle memory.  It becomes something you choose to do to start your day in a positive way

2. Thank you. 
Bless everything and everyone you see.  No matter what it seems like on the surface.  The simple practice of saying these two words – under my breath or out loud – has a way of chahahanging a situation and bringing LOVE into the picture.   These two simple words – saying them, thinking them, feeling them – raises our Abundance Consciousness. 

3. Imagine what life would be like WITHOUT a certain blessing in our life.

Imagine not having hands or eyes or the use of our feet.  Sometimes, I take for granted that which most needs to be appreciated.  I forget about the blessings of living in Florida and the wonderful weather we experience.  I forget about the OMazing trees in my neighborhood and the wildlife that inhabits it.

For me, I am blessed to have my parents still living and in my life.  I am blessed to be able to breathe with my own two lungs.   I am blessed to be typing this right now so I can shahahare with you what I know to be true for me.

Gratitude reminds me that we are all One - spiritual beings having a human experience on this Heaven on Earth right here right now.
All is very good, very good, yay – as I pray for Gratitude, my Attitude gains Altitude.