Share What You Have

I am humbled by the response to last week's blog post about simple awareness for embracing ourselves. Thank you for taking a moment to write me your personal reflection on that thought.

This week, we continue the theme of acceptance by extending it to sharing wholeheartedly the gifts of your heart and simply Share What You Have. We must begin now. We must begin where we are and with what we have. This means, no more waiting for the right mood, the perfect husband/wife, the x amount of dollars, or waiting when this is done and that is done. Say yes to now. Embrace where you are, who you are, what you got and begin sharing. I will keep the blog short and let you watch the video.

Please let me know which part of this message resonates with you. Do you have any uplifting thoughts on this? Please write me an email or do it publicly by commenting on the blog post. Thank You.

With Gratitude, Hugs and Blessings,
Sophia
 

Sophia Ojha Ensslin is the founder of Reflection Pond, Center for Meditation and Healing dedicated to helping people connect with their inner-self to live a fulfilling, joyful life using introspective media including music, films and books, e-courses and training workshops.

How To Use Simple Awareness To Embrace Who You Are

Last week's newsletter contained a video about remembering that we are beautiful and awesome and therefore, we can bring awareness to how we talk about ourselves to ourselves in our mind. In this way, we can learn to be kind in our thoughts towards ourselves as a starting point of being kind to others.

This week, I want to remind you to be yourself. I am learning that more and more myself. The YOU that is inside of your body, is vast and limitless. It is filled with infinite potential. You have within you the power to change yourself, to uplift others and to do good in this world. And you have been doing this all along. Remember that within you resides divinity. There are unlimited number of reasons to love and embrace yourself - and to respect who you are. It has to begin with you respecting yourself, loving yourself. And not just the nice parts of you but ALL of who you are, even the part that is judging a part of you as 'not nice'!

Without realizing it at times, we apologize for being who we are. There is no need to apologize for being you. Yes, we can apologize for causing hurt and pain with our thoughts, words and actions. We can apologize for neglecting a certain aspect in our relationship with another being. We can take responsibility for being unaware or insensitive or just too caught up in our own thing to have had the energy or sensibility to help another.

Yet, you do not have to apologize for being who you are. You are a beautiful gem on this planet, an angel helping and blessing everyone with you sheer presence. There is no one on this planet just like you. No one. And there never was and there never will be. You are a gift.

Begin to embrace that thought more. So that you can begin to love and respect yourself more deeply. So that you can begin to be kinder to yourself. This, you need to do, for all of us.

Allow your true, quirky self to emerge. Let no one make you feel small or insignificant. Because each one of us makes a difference with each thought, each word spoken and every action taken. If no one laughs at your jokes, you laugh. If no one admires your art, you admire it. If no one shares your thoughts, that's fine. Just let go of judging yourself. How? Simply notice when you do judge yourself. Or when you judge others, know that it is only because you are judging yourself in some way. It is not complicated. It is simple. Just become aware.

Where there is awareness, you shed light. And with light, you brighten up all that is. By becoming aware - simply becoming aware -  amazing things happen. You see reality in a new way. You are no longer in a mist, in a fog. You enter a new kind of clarity - clarity about how things are. And with this clarity, it becomes easier to be kinder. It is easier to embrace things as they are. It is easier then also to be patient and accepting of life. You are no longer fighting with life. You are no longer resisting. You are letting things be. And then you are feeling lighter, at ease, relaxed and joyful. You open up to allow joy to blossom within you. You love yourself. You love life. And your love is now felt by others.

This is what I am learning to do each day. And I invite you to do that too. This is one way we can bring peace in our world. Let us be at peace with ourselves. Be kind and loving and respectful to yourself, beginning with simple awareness of how you think of your own self.

With Love and Blessings,
Sophia

PS: There is a new short video called: How to Be Confident When Meeting The Parents, for all of you who are anticipating meeting the parents of your beloved for the first time (or at anytime) and are wanting to be a bit more confident. Enjoy!

Goodbye Fat Talk. Welcome Divine Being. How to Speak Well of Ourselves.

A very happy new year to you! I thank you for being part of Reflection Pond in 2013 and for your kindness and generosity. In December 2013, I mentioned a series of videos that I was preparing for you. As we begin our beautiful adventure in 2014, I am happy to present to you the first video. It is designed specifically for the women reading this, but it is useful to all the men who have wonderful women in their lives, be it wives, friends, daughters, cousins, colleagues and just women in our society. Know that what this video talks about has affected and is affecting women and is for helping women think kindly of themselves. As a man, if you can help by genuinely appreciating the beauty and intellect and grace of the women in your lives, you will be making a big huge difference in our world.
 

So do please watch this short video and please tell me what you think.

With love and respect,
Sophia

How You Can Complete the Year and Welcome the New One With An End of the Year Introspection

As we conclude the year and welcome 2014, here is a suggestion for an end of the year introspection.

1. With your partner or friend, look back at 2013 and recount all that you are grateful for. What challenges you overcame, what blessings you received, what new things you learned, what joys you felt and so on.

2. Then look forward to 2014 and ask yourselves: "What is the one job or project that I would really like to get done in my life right now? When would I like to finish it by? What exactly will it look like if I am really successful at this task?"*

You can spend as little as 15 minutes or go in great detail for three days, adding meditation and yoga and other reflective exercises. Regardless of the time, it is worth the effort to close the year and begin anew.

Peace and Blessings,
Sophia

*This reflective question is from the book, Karmic Management by Geshe Michael Roach, Lama Christie McNally and Michael Gordon.

Find A Way To Relax During Busy Times

With the year coming to an end, projects coming to and end and the flurry of activity around the holiday season, it seems that everyone is busy doing something during December. There is a lot to do. To be able to accomplish all that you want to do and keep your physical and mental well-being, remember to actively relax. Actively? By that I mean, put relaxation into your schedule. A few minutes of closing your eyes and breathing consciously can do wonders for you. And then see how you magically whisk through all your to-dos. Watch this video I made a video to help you relax.

Take a moment to breathe deeply. Relax.

With Gratitude, Love and Blessings,
Sophia

http://www.reflectionpond.com Take a break and relax during the busy holiday season with this guided meditation.

How The Notion of Perfection Can Help You Manifest Your Dreams

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Reflect on this for a moment:

There is a woman, named Savannah who loves to cook for people. She enjoys the process of cooking. She loves to see people smile when they taste her food. She also knows that she is still learning her craft. Sometimes the meals are not perfect as she had envisioned to make them. One day, she gets an opportunity to feed a hundred people as part of an effort to feed people who are in need of a hot meal. Savannah can and has previously made great meals for up to 20 people at a time but never for a hundred. This makes her nervous. She does not know how much time she would need to get such a large quantity of carrots and broccoli in the soup cooked to the right tenderness or what the right amount of spicing would be needed. She thinks that because of her inexperience, something may be off and her soup may not turn out to be perfect. Because she does not know if it will turn out to the highest standard she can aspire to, she hesitates and even considers dropping out of the project. She knows what a good soup should taste like and anything less is just unacceptable.

She goes ahead anyways, thinking,"ah, the people out there do not know her personally so will not judge me". With some help in the kitchen, she manages to prepare the meal. When done, she tastes the food realizing that it is edible yet slightly saltier than her ideal. Alas, it is not the perfect soup she wanted to serve! But it is too late. The people are already waiting for their meals. Savannah watched from the kitchen door as they are being served. There is utter silence. Everyone is eating. She dares to come out and watch on. Then she approaches a man who has tears running down his face as he is eats. She asks him, "Are you alright, my friend?" The man replied, "Yes, yes." He pauses and then says, "I have not eaten a warm meal in five days. And this is the most perfect soup I have tasted in my life". His tears were out of joy and gratitude.

Touched, Savannah goes back into the kitchen, closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. She knew that today she experienced a pivotal moment of her life. Thinking back, she was grateful that she took on the 100 meal project although she was so close to dropping out. She realized that it is not about perfection and it is not about being evaluated as being perfect. It is about giving her best. It is about doing what she can do because she realized that that is where perfection lies. And that is all that was needed.

~ ~ ~

Last week, we discussed how an unfinished project or a project waiting to begun takes up our precious psychic energy. And that the remedy for that is to consciously decide which projects we would drop off our list and which one we really commit to. Next, we need to take the first step and then daily take one single action toward the completion of that project.

But, I know how challenging it can be to take that first step. There are so many mental and emotional challenges that we need to surmount before we can even take the first step. One of them is the internalized pressure of perfection. We may say to ourselves, like Savannah, "I know what a good job looks like and if I cannot accomplish that, why even start." This becomes such a huge hurdle that many magnificent dreams and solutions to our problems remain in our heads or on paper as ideas, never to see the daylight in physical reality.

But it does not have to be that way. And there is a way out.

Give Yourself A Break
If you are dealing with this sort of mental thoughts, first of all, give yourself a break. You are not alone in this. Everyone has at some point thought this way because these thoughts are not your original thoughts! They come to you from the collective consciousness. So get over beating yourself up for even having these thoughts and know that you are human!

Perfection Is About Just Doing It &
Knowing That Things Can Always Be Better
Second, we need to redefine what perfection really means. Consider this. The first time you do anything, it is very rare that you do it to the highest version ever possible. Although beginner's luck does help us with new projects. But, just look at a baby taking her first steps. She falls. She stumbles. She is just learning about balance. Her first step is perfect in the sense that the perfection comes from the fact that the baby actually took her first step. And we realize, that it not about how well she can walk, or how long she can walk or how resilient she is in her walk. It in that moment, it is not even about her picking herself up again. The perfection comes from the magic and beauty of her taking that very first step. Would it not be ludicrous if the baby said, "Mama, my first step is not going to be as perfect as I envision it. I know I can do much better than stumble and wobble. I know I have got it in me to walk with regal strides and in a graceful gait- just like a queen. But right now, I cannot do that; no, not during my first step. So, I am not going to bother taking that first step. It won't even come close to fulfilling my high standards! Let's just drop it, okay?". I do not know of a single baby who would say that, if they are speaking in full sentences already by their first year, that is! ;-)

The Only Way To Move Forward
And third, the reason you need to take that first step is because that is the only way you can move forward. Yes, you can have high standards for yourself. Reach for the stars, dream big. I am a big proponent of the big vision. But no, your first step does not have to meet your high standards or your big goals - not yet. What you do need to do is to begin; however small the step, however clumsy that step may be. Just begin.

One Little Action Towards A Great Dream Realized
So if your dream is to own a cafe one day, your first step could be learning about the coffee bean or to watch a video of a barista making great coffee, or you an talk to a cafe-owner in your neighborhood about how she got started. If your dream is to sell-out big shows as a musician, pick up the pen and start scribbling a song idea, or play around on an instrument or go watch a music show. If your big dream is to create a sanctuary for to-be-euthanized and homeless dogs and cats and educate people about a healthy life of these companion animals, connect with someone who also has that dream. In this case, just write to me as that is my big dream. And as I mentioned in the last blog, there will be invisible and visible help coming to you. We live in a miraculous world and you are being assisted in every moment. In this way, your big dream will become a reality.

You Have Done This Before
Fourth, take a moment to reflect. Think back to a time when you just went for a goal, not really knowing how you would accomplish it but it happened. People and opportunities and inspiration came your way. All you did was to make up your mind and help arrived as if from nowhere. Remember that story, and write to me how that was. You will realize that you have done all these steps before and you can do it again.

Remember there is perfection in you making the effort. So what is your next step going to be?

To perfection in all - as it is,

With Gratitude, Love and Blessings,
Sophia

Thank You For Being YOU

You are a Blessing!
A simple reminder today that I am grateful for you. Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for sharing your smile with the world. Thank you for spreading your beauty and grace with all whom you connect with. May you, your friends, your family, wherever you are, continue to be blessed and loved.

With a heart of gratitude,
Sophia