Organic Wisdom :: Think About It

May 18, 2012 By TheOrganicSister Leave a Comment

Side note: We’re at DrumStrong with The Conscious Caravan this weekend! If you’re in the area I’d love to see you there. And stay tuned for the official introduction to the rest of the Caravan!

Every Friday I try to share some of the quotes I post on Twitter and Facebook, with some of my expanded thoughts and feelings on it here.

“Organic Wisdom” is what I have found speaking to me in those quiet moments, that guides me and that echoes Truth in my life. Please feel free to download, or share this image in any way you’d like.

We live in a fast-paced culture.

Ideas, thoughts, images, words, stimulation in one form or another is constantly flying by our heads.

We’re over-stressed, over-committed, and overwhelmed.

And although we know there is a time to process, to feel, to sink into our sorrow and experience what it’s offering us, we’re all craving that deep sense of gratitude that reverberates in our bones, craving to be overwhelmed with joy.

You don’t have to chase gratitude and joy.

You just have to stop and think.

Close our eyes and think about who your children are as people (not as the makers of mistakes).

Close your eyes and think about the core intentions of your partner (not the way he or she has learned to act on those intentions).

Close your eyes and think about what your body is capable of (not what you criticize it for).

Close your eyes and think about Who You Are – beneath the commotion and the ideas and the fears and the incessant need to impress or resist.

Just create a little space – in your schedule, in your home, in your head – to experience what is aching to fill the spaces of your heart.

What are you thinking of these days?

Filed Under: Organic Health, Organic Parenting, Organic Wisdom Tagged With: choosing happiness, gratitude, mindfulness, partnership, stillness

External Reflections of an Internal Joy (My Thoughts on Meaningful Consumerism)

January 18, 2012 By TheOrganicSister

Tiffani and I were sitting on the edge of my bed when I had the epiphany (I’m calling it “The Epiphany with Tiffani”.)

We were looking through my closet trying to find the perfect thing to wear during the dready photoshoot when she said something extremely obvious along the lines of “Pick something that reflects you and that you feel really good in” and I realized how much I felt “comfortable” in or “okay” in, but nothing to fit her description.

I started talking about how much of my clothing I don’t actually *love* or that doesn’t fit me well and how much I dislike to shop because I can never find what I want and love, when it hit me that I had my closet and my head so full of what I didn’t want that I had no space in either for what I did!

I know the value of creating space in my life (physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally) for the things I’m ready for. But I hadn’t applied it to the simplest of things. (Duh.)

I then proceeded to yank things off hangars and throw them on the floor, where they stayed for several days (Justin loved me for it. ) instigating me to finish the task.

And I did. I purged over 80% of my closet over the next week.

Then within 4 days I had found a handful of new things that I love and can’t wait to wear each day!

I created space and Life rushed in to fill it with the things I was ready for.

These things reflect me and highlight my favorite parts of me and make me feel radiant and comfortable at the same time. Yum.

Then last week I got a new iPhone.

I had milked my last phone until the last possible day, when it went haywire and started calling China like a curious 3 year old.

And I love my new iPhone! It’s fun and easy to use and syncs with my everything and has Siri which makes me feel like Tony Stark telling my robot what to do for me (or asking it the meaning of life – seriously, try it. Several times.)

It makes my life easier and I feel high-tech and hip and fun. I’m playing with Instagram and Hanging with Friends and getting automatic updates to my calendar.

But All This Triggered Me Too

I’m writing all this because it has me reflecting on consumption and my reasons for it.

We gave away nearly everything we owned when we hit the road and I’m suddenly finding value in “stuff”?

On top of that is my strong resonance with sustainability and eco-conscious living.

We live in a pretty consumable world and we (as a culture) love to consume.

And I’ll admit it. I loved the “high” of finding my new purple, off-the-shoulder top and tapping away on my new iPhone.

It feels good, especially to someone like me who hasn’t done a lot of shopping or consuming outside of thrift stores and farmers markets, based on the principle of it.

And so I can understand why it can feel so easy to fill a void with the superficial, the “stuff” in life.

Because it’s not the “stuff” we’re after – it’s the feeling it might offer us that we’re hungry for.

Maybe it’s a sense of newness, a clean state, a change that doesn’t actually scare us.

Maybe it’s the idea of deserving, of self-worth, of “I earned this”.

Maybe it’s the connection we experience when we fit in with our crowd, know what they are talking about and can share our experience of the same.

Maybe it’s the beauty and the inspiration from filling our homes or our closets with the things that make us smile, feel comfortable and radiant or offer us less stress or more time.

It’s easy to mistake what we’re really after with the means to get it.

It’s easier to get caught up in the “retail therapy” to make us feel good again than it is to actually DIG IN to those uncomfortable feelings that keep us from feeling good all the time and address them once and for all.

It’s also easy to demonize the “stuff”, to point fingers at consumers, to make ourselves or our kids go without for fear of creating waste or feeling (or fearing we look) shallow or conventional.

One way or another, it’s easier to get caught up in the surface, the superficial, than it is to look beneath the surface of our experiences to the real human experience happening within each one of us.

I’m finding it more and more true that the real solution is to notice when the “stuff” is suddenly a tragic attempt to access that joy we all so desperately need to experience, or whether it’s an external reflection of an internal joy we’ve already found.

As I reflect on all this – on my own consumption, my own guilt and concern in contrast to the positive feelings I’m experiencing as a part of this new “stuff” – I am noticing that the happier and more grounded I feel internally, the more I want my external environment to reflect that.

I want to paint my walls and wear rich and vibrant colors and take gorgeous photos faster and organize my life better to reflect what I know as Truth – that the world is beautiful, colorful, inspirational and enjoyable and I want to get back to the act of living it to its fullest potential.

When I keep my focus on the external being a mere reflection of the internal I find my consumer choices are more conscious and simple and eco-friendly, anyway. I choose things that will last, I care for them better and I make sure they are just right for me so that I have no regrets. Because that’s my internal experience as well – full of love, care, mindfulness and value.

If I had to summarize all these reflections I think my point would be this:

Love what you do. Love Who You Are. Let go of the fear and move into Truth. Live your life from the inside out. Find value in yourself and your life, and reflect that in all you do. Reflect outside yourself the Truth you experience in your heart. Allow every choice to count. And INSPIRE the world to something greater, starting with you.

Filed Under: Organic Living, Organic Wisdom Tagged With: beauty, choices, consumerism, inspiration, mindfulness, organic beauty, shine

Stepping Into This Opening Space

December 21, 2011 By TheOrganicSister

Today is my last day online before I honor my intentions for The Holiday Reset challenge. I’m wrapping up my online commitments, setting my autoresponder and looking into this week with a bit of unknown.

I feel two opposing forces within me, one with a desire to plan and organize and control this digital sabbatical I’m taking; the other to allow it to unfold and flow organically.

The latter is winning out.

But before I sign off for a week of stillness, I have many swirling thoughts to articulate.

My weekend with Tiffani, my photographer, was incredible.

Yes, the dreads are gone and she’s promised to have all the after photos and the videos ready for the world by next Wednesday, when I come back online.

I have SO MUCH to share on that process, but I’m still stringing together inadequate words.

Soon, I promise.

But I do want to offer you a little sneak peek:

Just wait until you see them all.

This past weekend has perfectly fed into my upcoming week offline.

I have intentions of making physical space by clearing out some old things I’m ready to let go of (clothing I’ve come to discover through our photo shoot prep that does not feed my soul) and reevaluating my past (incredible) year while setting my intention for the upcoming year.

Stillness, reflection, clarity…yes, please.

And then, of course our Christmas celebrations with our rosemary Christmas “tree”, and lots of fun plans we have to celebrate at Universal Studios.

Even if I don’t know exactly what this will look like, the intention and mindfulness tell me I’m on the right track.

My hope is that you are intentional with the end of 2011 as well. Whether you’re joining us in the Holiday Reset or creating a celebration in a totally different way, may it meet your deepest needs for connection, freedom, love and laughter this week and into the new year.

Need Help In Creating an Intentional Holiday?

I’d like to offer you the tools to create peaceful dynamics between the most difficult people, to feel grounded throughout the season and into the next year, to meet your deepest needs with intention and mindfulness.

This kit is only being offered until the end of the day today.

Think of it as a last-minute gift to yourself…the kind that offers so much more than any more “stuff” really could.

Click here to get your toolkit.

Or click here to purchase it now.

Filed Under: Celebrations Tagged With: digital sabbatical, holiday thriving kit, holidays, intentions, mindfulness

The Holiday Reset Challenge: I Double-Dog Dare You! (Video)

December 19, 2011 By TheOrganicSister

Hannah Marcotti and I connected recently around the idea of taking a digital sabbatical and decided to create this improv video.

It’s all on the topic of finding stillness, the importance of prioritizing our own well-being and the work-life balance of raising a family, owning a business and celebrating the holidays in a way that sustains us.

We’ve made a declaration of our own intentions.

And we are offering you a challenge to join us!

(Don’t have time to watch the whole thing? Skip to 31:30 for details on how to join our Holiday Reset Challenge!)

Links mentioned in the video:

My recent interview on Erin Goodman’s blog
Hannah’s Website

Will you join us? Click over to Hannah’s blog post to let us know!

Are you needing to experience mindfulness this holiday?

Dealing with the “mainstream” when you feel so unconventional, handling the comments or the increased energy or the expectations and obligations…it’s pretty much the epitome of “survival mode” and it pretty much sucks.

If you’re ready for a different experience, I invite you here.

Filed Under: Organic Tribes, Organic Wisdom Tagged With: community, digital sabbatical, hannah marcotti, holiday reset challenge, intentions, mindfulness, stillness, videos

“Surviving” Sucks. Get The Holiday Thriving Kit!

December 6, 2011 By TheOrganicSister

Let me tell you how this Holiday ~~Surviving~~ Thriving Kit all began.

I was freaking overwhelmed. I had a plate piled high and my mind wandering off in 14 different directions all at once – quite painful, I might add.

I was finding myself feeling unrooted, scattered, unable to be present or feel authentic. (Not authentically overwhelmed; I had that covered. But authentically my real self: grounded, kind, patient, compassionate.)

So I began to practice my own mindfulness meditation.

I would practice it in the tiny slivers of a moment between the action and my reaction.

I would practice it after it all took place.

But soon I found I wanted to practice it outside the moments all together, so that I could get firm in it before the world shook beneath my feet.

So I created a Guided Mindfulness Meditation for myself.

No intentions of sharing it. I created it just for me. And I practiced it.

And it was goooood.

I felt myself settling in…feeling rooted, grounded in mindfulness and the benefits of it.

I felt the chatter of my mind start to fade as I practiced listening deeper in and out of the most overwhelming days.

And as I sank deeper into my own mindfulness, it began to ripple around me.

My sweet husband, Justin, began to breathe with me, to reflect back to me the inner work I was doing and to organically begin to practice it himself. Even Zeb, at 12, started to notice and would begin to reflect it back for me, asking me how I was feeling when he saw my tension rise, unconsciously giving me that gentle reminder to move into mindfulness.

But it’s effectiveness truly showed itself during one of Life’s trials.

It was when we had a really hard couple days, when some really challenging things threatened to shake us up, when my ability to remain grounded was tested to the extreme and I knew my ability to remain mindful meant the difference between total success and total failure within the situation.

It was exhausting, and emotionally heartbreaking and took every last ounce of energy from me.

But no matter how exhausted I became, how close to my edge I thought I was, when I needed it the most I found myself able to remain grounded and mindful through this practice, transforming the challenge with the compassionate presence I found I was never without.

I had been wanting to offer this guided mindfulness meditation for weeks. But it wasn’t until I recognized just how powerful a practice it had become, that I truly felt ready to share it with you.

The Organic Sister’s Guided Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness is remaining present and deeply connected to Who You Are within any moment or situation.

It’s the ability to remain calm and centered around your values and the organic actions that spring from your values.

Life challenges that mindfulness. It offers so many opportunities to lose yourself.

We all know what it’s like to not feel mindful.

When we’re not mindful, we feel scattered, uneasy, irritable, overwhelmed, unable to see clearly and prone to losing our temper or our stability, to losing ourselves within the drama or commotion or emotion flying around us.

Gaining or regaining that mindfulness is crucial to what you’re ready to experience in your life.

This meditation is for anyone ready to:

Move out of the chaos of your mind’s chatter
Cut through the layers of complexity in any moment
Experience the deep grounding feeling that mindfulness brings
See clearly through the eyes of Compassion and Wisdom
Learn to stop your knee-jerk responses – you know, the ones you regret later
Offer support and steadiness to those in need around you
Bring calm, clarity, and kindness into your interactions with others.

This Guided Mindfulness Meditation is an organic practice. And as you practice it, both within the meditation and using the practice in your everyday life, you will experience the power that mindfulness holds for you.

What You Can Expect From This Meditation

This Guided Mindfulness Meditation is a 45 minute mp3 that is immediately available upon payment via download.

You can upload it on your iPod, your smartphone or save it to your computer.

And slowly, gently, it will guide you through a process of relaxing, grounding and connecting you to your awareness, to your body, to your heart. Then I will guide you to bringing this into any moment with the confidence that you can make this happen, that you can create the results of mindfulness in your life, before leaving you with several extra minutes to finish your meditation practice at your own pace.

And then The Holiday Thriving Kit was born.

In that same place of meditation I felt a very clear call and sudden call to create something more.

Something WITH the Guided Mindfulness Meditation…AND some other practical tools.

Tools I had recently shared with the Organic Tribe.

Because I know, as we come up on the holidays, mindfulness is a necessary and powerful practice to transform your experiences.

And I know that sometimes you might find you need a little more than mindfulness…you might need something to do next.

For a limited time, only until Wednesday, December 22…

I’m offering The Holiday ~~Survival~~ Thriving Kit, which includes:

The 45 minute Guided Mindfulness Meditation, described above, to give you a practice that you can use before, after and within your holiday season

An 80 minute Organic Tribe audio: Being Organic Around Conventional Wisdom, with four exercises to help you to remain true to your values around the people you love – the family, friends or even strangers – who don’t share those values. This Organic Tribe session is full of the coaching, the Aha moments, the tools you need to not be triggered by the things others say or do (to you, around you or about you), to continue to shine Who You Are, despite any odds.

And a 90 minute Organic Tribe audio: Stop Surviving the Holidays and Start Thriving (5 Things to Get Instead of Stressed), with the guidance and practices that you can use starting right now to change your experience of the holidays from overwhelm, discontent or unhappiness to joy, gratitude and Love, and includes another 20 minute guided meditation to help you remain connected to yourself, to what it is that feeds you and what it is that guides you toward truly loving and appreciating what is.

It’s all the tools, the coaching and the practices that you can use to truly thrive this holiday season.

What is your sanity worth this year?

Receiving this amount of coaching and tools personally from me would normally cost several hundred dollars or more in one-on-one coaching.

But for a short time, only until December 22nd, you can receive several hours of tools, coaching, and support for $74 or choose the meditation alone for $35.

Most gifts we give ourselves last a few hours, maybe a few weeks or months…

This gift will last you years.

And not just over the holidays. These are tools you can apply all year long.

Give yourself a gift this year.

Mindfulness. Grounding. Peace. Clarity.

The ability to think straight.

To hear your own Organic Wisdom and trust it.

The experience you and your entire family are needing.

P.S. Yes! Anyone who purchases either the Guided Mindfulness Meditation or The Holiday Thriving Kit will be invited to join The Organic Sisterhood! You’ll get that info upon payment.